ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRIP TO GUATEMALA & Newsletter #2 Feb. 2017 in English & Espanol -- CHULUC SCHOOL IN SESSION

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Six months to go for our

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

EXCITING TRIP TO GUATEMALA EXPLAINED
IN THE NEWSLETTER
EMOCIONANTE VIAJE A GUATEMALA EXPLICADO EN EL BOLETIN
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PARTNERSHIP WITH  Garth Norman and THE
ANCIENT AMERICAN FOUNDATION
You can learn about the Foundation at the following link
https://ancientamericafoundation.org/

Learn more about Garth Norman at:
http://www.vgarthnorman.com/resume/

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THE "ARIEL & INES ANDERSEN" CHULUC SCHOOL IS NOW IN SESSION
We'll insert a few photographs below of the beginning of the school year....with recent reports that the number of students has grown since these first pictures.

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THE SCHOOL SUPPLIES PROJECT  IN SANTA CRUZ IS STILL BEING WORKED ON....picture below from last year.  A full photo report will be given in the next newsletter.

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OUR NEXT REPORT WILL BE ON THE 
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO IZAPA
& VALPARAISO

With 6 months to go, everything is getting exciting.
PLEASE HELP ALL YOU CAN!
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CELEBRATE JULY 4th VIEWING JULY PROJECTS...and HELPING!

New YouTube video shows June-July Projects and needs plus Independence Day celebration at end.

Please help give freedom to those enslaved by poverty.  

xx

The Patzicia Foundation School

Patzicia School

About 40% of the school's 250 students are rock bottom poor and receive what we call a full scholarship, exempted from monthly fees, and provided school supplies and the simple uniform.  Nevertheless all help as mentioned below, and participate in the Community Improvement Program, giving of their time in projects to improve their school and community. For more on this program go to:  COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT.

The Guatemalans connected with the school are now donating about 25% to the school's expenses:  

The children donated in March...........$46.00

Parents donated in ........................$282.89

Graduates of the school donated......$144.70

Humberto's sister donated...............$611.84

                TOTAL........................$1,085.43

• The Foundation's contribution is about $2,500/month to educate 250 children or $10/each per month.  Your donation of $100 would assure one child getting a quality education and becoming a productive Guatemalan.
• We need additional help to take care of emergency needs once in a while.

For the complete report on the school, go to Success Stories or click on:  PATZICIA FOUNDATION SCHOOL.

Ariel and Ines Andersen Chuluc Village School

For details go to:  Chuluc School.

This school was donated to the  government by the Foundation to operate, but  to improve the quality of education we pay the wage of one of the 3 teachers and help with the nutritional supplement the children receive each mid-morning. This is usually around $240/month for the 60 students.  

We also need help from time to time for emergency needs, but

THE SPECIAL NEED IS A SCHOLARSHIP FUND TO HELP GRADUATES FROM THE 6th GRADE BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THEIR EDUCATION IN PATZICIA--5 miles distant.  They will need help with daily transporation,  educational materials, and the required uniform for the government Junior High.  A donation of $15/month would take care of each student. It's too late to begin this year, but we would like to begin forming a fund to help those who graduate from 6th grade in October.

Please help all you can for this worthy goal of eventually havng teachers in the school from the village itself.

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Educational Projects in Alta Verapaz

The big project of providing educational materials for over 5,000 rural students was accomplished in January and early February.  You can see the collage of most of the 5,560 students by scrolling down, or see the Success Stories, clicking  on:  SCHOOL SUPPLIES.

We have on file requests from a number of schools.  Some of them are:

1.  New classrooms for several schools with growing student populations.

2.  Several schools need quite desperately sanitary facilities.

3.  We have 3 requests for school kitchens.

OUR APPROACH--is one of 3-way partnership and cooperative action:  The Foundation, through our Guatemalan directors, helps the community with a need organize themselves to plan the project and provide at least 30% of the costs, usually with volunteer labor and donations of local building materials.

Above we see Federico, our Regional Director, meeting with the Valparaiso Improvement Committee to lay the groundwork for a needed classroom at the school.

Our directors then coordinate their efforts with the local municipal and educational authorities to acquire as much of their help as possible.  

The Foundation then steps in with what is lacking, usually around 30%.  

NOTE:  The Foundation's share of each of the projects listed above cost about $2,000 to $2,500 each.

In the photo composition we see the system in action:  A donation of property was acquired for the school.  A meeting was held with the community and municipal leaders and the community organized to build the school.  The Foundation provided  construction materials.  The community provided volunteer labor. The municipal government provided the necessary skilled labor.  A school was created.

School Supplies for 5,560 STUDENTS

This has been a Foundation tradition for quite a few years in the project areas:  The Patzicia Foundation School, the Ariel and Ines Andersen Chuluc School, and in the Municipality of Santa Cruz Verapaz' rural schools.  

Theoretically the government is supposed to do this to begin each school year, but usually it doesn't happen until several months into the school year,  This makes it impossible to get the year started right, and of course the finish isn't good either.  On April 1, 2011 the government teachers all went on strike as the government still hadn't provided the supplies, nor the school nutrition supplements, etc. 

 Our schools, and the government schools in Santa Cruz didn't strike as they had what they needed.  Below is a composite photo of most of the schools where we distributed  supplies to 5,560 children.  Click on the photo if you want to see the enlarged version.

Thanks for Federico, our Regional Director, who almost wore out his 4 x 4 pickup grinding his way all over Santa Cruz Verapaz to get supplies to 30 rural schools., and of course thanks to all the donors who so generously made this project successful again.

Emergency Projects

These projects by their very nature can't effectively be planned for, but we need to have at least a couple of thousand dollars in the account to be available immediately. 

Please help us turn so many like these into happy and healthy children like Moncho you see below--one of the many from Valparaiso. His mother and two older brothers, Carlos and Ruben, were accepted as an emergency situation, not having anywhere to go.  He grew up in the Central House and with Foundation aid got a good education, even studying for 18 months in Provo, Utah. His wife, Gloria, was also a student at the Valparaiso CID--Center for Indian Development, which helped her prepare to be a good wife and mother.

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Today they live in the Valparaiso community where you see below the family in front of their home.  He and his family are productive Guatemalans and contributors. This is another of the many "THIS IS WHAT WE DO" success stories.

School Supplies for 5,560 Students

SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR STUDENTS EACH JANUARY

This has been a Foundation tradition for quite a few years in the project areas:  The Patzicia Foundation School, the Ariel and Ines Andersen Chuluc School, and in the Municipality of Santa Cruz Verapaz' rural schools.  

Theoretically the government is supposed to do this to begin each school year, but usually it doesn't happen until several months into the school year,  This makes it impossible to get the year started right, and of course the finish isn't good either.  On April 1, 2011 the government teachers all went on strike as the government still hadn't provided the supplies, nor the school nutrition supplements, etc. 

 Our schools, and the government schools in Santa Cruz didn't strike as they had what they needed.  Below is a composite photo of most of the schools where we distributed  supplies to 5,560 children.  Click on the photo if you want to see the enlarged version.

Thanks to Federico, our Regional Director, who almost wore out his 4 x 4 pickup grinding his way all over Santa Cruz Verapaz to get supplies to 30 rural schools, and of course thanks to all the donors who so generously made this project successful again.