Food needs For 2011

Bad Omens for 2011 – FOOD-GUATEMALA

By Danilo Valladares

Food distribution from Safe Homes for Children

GUATEMALA CITY, Oct 16, 2010 (IPS) - Guatemala needs to take steps to prepare for even worse problems of hunger in 2011, caused by climate change and farmers' heavy dependence on a few basic crops like corn and beans, experts warned on the occasion of World Food Day, celebrated Saturday.

"The phenomenon of La Niña is expected to last through 2011, bringing extremely heavy rains," Eddy Sánchez, director of the National Institute of Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology, told IPS. "Extreme climate conditions will continue to be seen over the next few years."

La Niña is characterised by cooler than normal sea surface temperatures and unusually strong trade winds in the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean, which often bring torrential rains.

El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of a Pacific Ocean cycle that affects temperatures in the ocean and the atmosphere above it. They repeat every three or four years on average, and are the extremes in what is known as the Southern Oscillation.

Mothers and children waiting for dontions

The proportion of malnourished people in Guatemala rose from 15 percent (1.4 million people) in the 1990-1992 period to 21 percent (2.7 million people) in the 2005-2007 period, according to the "Panorama de la Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional en América Latina y el Caribe" 2010 (Overview of Food and Nutritional Security in Latin America and the Caribbean).

Honduras and Nicaragua, meanwhile, reduced their malnutrition rates from 19 to 12 percent and from 50 to 19 percent respectively, in the same lapse of time, the report adds.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) study released this week warns that the food security situation in Guatemala, as well as Bolivia and Haiti, is serious.

The production of corn, the main subsistence crop in this Central American country, has declined due to the impact of climate change. The projected harvest for the May 2010 to May 2011 period is 28 million quintals, while average annual consumption is 40 million quintals, according to the United Nations agency's office in Guatemala.

Sánchez said that in order to counteract this situation, the country must adopt measures to adapt to global warming, using flood- and drought-resistant seeds, and diversifying crops, for example.

The situation has not been easy for Central America, especially Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in the region. Half of the population in this country of 14 million people lives below the poverty line and 17 percent of Guatemalans are extremely poor, according to U.N. figures.

Tropical storms Agatha, in May, and Alex, in June, and torrential rains in this year's rainy season left more than 100,000 people homeless and caused serious damages to roads and other infrastructure.

Paradoxically, the main problem in the region last year was drought, which caused severe losses in grain crops, and even the malnutrition-related deaths of at least 54 children in Guatemala.

Furthermore, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala are still feeling the effects of the devastation caused by hurricanes Stan, in 2005, and Mitch, in 1998.

"We are entering a more alarming stage," Roberto Cabrera, with Action Against Hunger, told IPS. "We have had three years of virtually continuous shocks since the 2008 global economic crisis, the drought caused by El Niño last year, and the excessive rains this year."

The expert said small farmers have not had "a single successful harvest season" due to the erratic climate conditions, which "this country is not prepared for."

This year's heavy rains caused crop losses mainly in the south and the west, while the so-called "dry corridor" in the centre and east of the country continued to suffer the effects of drought and the food crisis, although there was less crop damage, Cabrera said.

Guatemala needs "an integral government policy that creates alternatives which would free farmers from having to grow corn and beans, their main sources of livelihood," he said.

Sucely Girón, with the Food Security Observatory, told IPS that it would be very important to "put a priority on food and nutritional security" when the government budget for 2011 is being discussed.

She called for strengthening the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security information system in order to map out where the hungry are located, and for the earmarking of funds for the institutions that make up the National System of Food and Nutritional Security.

These institutions were created by law in 2005 to promote policies and mechanisms specifically designed to fight hunger. However, they have not yet had tangible results.

Girón also said it is necessary to invest in studies to explore other possibilities of subsistence for people in rural areas, such as tourism. "People cannot continue to depend on the cultivation of corn," she argued.

In addition, "crop diversification must be promoted, as well as the use of agro-forestry systems," or the combination of agriculture with the planting of trees, to optimise production, she added.

Gustavo García with FAO Guatemala also commented to IPS that alternative sources of income in rural areas must be explored. But he stressed that access to credit must be improved in order to do this, because "many farmers would like to diversify their crops, but don't have the means to do so." (END)

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Posted by Vicki at 3:21 PM

Patzaj

Here is another aldea near us that was washed out by the mudslides. They did not have much to begin with and now they have even less. I was not in the country at the time, but a couple of our volunteers were. They along with our employees set up 3 shelter box tents for them, gave them food and took clothes. Our stock of clothing is limited and the stock of shoes is gone. They took pajamas and the mothers put them on the kids right away for warmth. I can't wait until our 140 buckets on the container arrive at our place. Then we will have tons of clothes and shoes and some school supplies and shampoo and kitchen items.
One of the pictures shows a woman overcome by the loss and despair at the amount of clean up work.
One shows the muddy road you have to take to get into Patzaj. Many are of the tents and the people. All over Guatemala people are suffering. Thousands have lost their homes. Many have lost loved ones. And several hundred thousand have lost their food supplies of corn and beans.
Help us to help them. Push the donate button.
Thanks
Vicki

Info for buying books

We are holding an Usborne on-line Book Fair (eFair) to benefit Safe Homes for Children! Usborne is a leading publisher of children's books, offering high-quality commercial-free books.

For total Book Fair sales of $200-$499, Safe Homes for Children will receive an additional 25% in free books. For total sales of $500+, Safe Homes for Children will receive an additional 50% in free books! For example, if total Book Fair sales reach $800, Safe Homes for Children will get an additional $400 in FREE books!

There are two ways to shop... both Wishlist sales and personal use sales count towards this total.

Please go to the website below, then click on "Safe Homes for Children" under Active e-Fairs. There is a Spanish book wish list for you to choose from. Once you get to the check-out, choose "Ship to Organization – Safes Homes for Children", and the shipping will be free. Also, there is no sales tax.

Or, if you would like to shop for your family, while benefiting this Book Fair, just
click on "Safe Homes for Children" under Active e-Fairs and begin your shopping. Once you get to check-out, choose ship to your home and your order will ship immediately.

The Book Fair will be open until Sept. 15th. At the close of the Book fair, the Spanish books will be mailed to Vickie Dalia, then make their way to Guatemala.

Thank you for considering supporting this Book Fair!

www.OrderGreatBooks.com

Please buy books for you and help us get more for the library

A report from one of our volunteers on the success of the library.

The library: One of the biggest successes is the library. Children love coming around or staying after class to read a book or two.

The access pass: their parents’ permission.

The principal from the school told me that there is a difference of day and night between the kids
that stay in the program and the ones that don’t, she also told me that they have improved their reading speed and reading quality by tons. One of the programs that I was going to start on the Wednesday was the reading contest. I left the poster ready on the side of the closet that has the TV on the main central room. It is ready to have names posted on it and how many books were read in the period of two weeks.  Children are reading between 2 and 5 books a day! They also learned silent reading. The kids loved lying down on the petates or sharing a chair and reading. They would come to me after reading and before leaving and they would tell me how much they loved the stories and what they were all about.

Desperate Need. As posted by Vicki Dalia

first let me say i am at an internet cafe with no caps that work on the computer and is missing several keys. love guate. we have been so busy. the first day here mike with shelter box tents called me asked if we needed more tents. he had given us 50 some right after the hurricane and he was in the country ad had more and had my guate number. i told him we were going to do a needs assessment the next day would let him know. well in one day we found over 1000 homeless people living in horrible shelters or out in the open. the children were so sick from living in the cold , 40 degrees, and rain with only a t-shirt and pants and some with no shoes. 600 of them had zip in the way of food. not even beans and corn. safe homes for children is buying 1500 DOLLARS WORTH OF 100 POUND BAGS OF CORN AND BEANS AND BOXES OF SOAP. GUS, OUR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR FRIEND HERE IN COUNTRY GOT A TRUCK FROM THE MUNICIPALITY AND IS PICKING UP ALL THE TENTS TODAY. THEY WEIGH 110 POUNDS EACH AND COST 1000 US DOLLARS EACH. WE WILL BUY THE FOOD TOMORROW AND SPEND ALL DAY TOMORROW, FRIDAY AND SAT SETTING UP TENTS AND GIVING OUT FOOD IN 3 COMMUNITIES. I WILL BE SO HAPPY FOR THE CHILDREN TO GET OUT OF THE RAIN AND COLD. I HAVE SHOES FOR THE WORST OF THE CASES.either there is no caps or all caps. gosh i miss my computer . other organizations are begging us for small meds tools. please go to all your doctor friends. we need the thing you look in the ear with. a stethoscope and the thing you listen to the babies heart beat with.. we need them for several clinics. also many meds as the homeless people are all sick. also money for food. and to ship our container that has many pairs of shoes. oh yeah we are out of formula.

yesterday at our mamas group we had 44 mamas and 100 children. another crippled boy who can not walk, a two year old who had been hit on the arm so bad it was broken and the dad would not let us take him to the hospital. we have a 13, 9 and crippled 6 year old living by themselves that need help. tons of malnourished and starving kids and moms. i will write more and send pictures when i return. but samuel has his new braces and walked across the room to me with a huge smile on his face. he walked perfectly. it was amazing. the 8 year old who came in yesterday and can not walk is named tony and is 8. my son at home is named tony and is 8 so i fell in love with him immediately. my twins were there and they are so healthy and cute thanks to the formula and clothing we gave for them. i started teaching the mamas the steven covey 7 habits yesterday and they had no idea what being proactive meant, but by the time i finished they said they knew and marie is going to work with them on the habits for the next year helping them grow in their effectiveness in life. i love our new managers, russ and marie. they organized all our books and classified them and we now have a genuine library, the only one for an hour around.

love all of you and really miss you, but sure do realize how lucky you have it.

vicki

Formula and Building a Communidad

I leave to go to Guatemala tomorrow for two weeks. We will be looking at all the homeless communidads and assessing needs. We have about $2000 donated dollars for food. We have a man trying to raise money for a water system for them. We also have a man that is talking about providing housing for 76 of the families. We will be working to aid in the accomplishment of all of this. We will also be meeting and training our new directors and buying chickens for our completed 100 bird house. And checking out all our existing programs.
We got a call last night about the twins that we are helping with their support. They are two months old and can not tolerate any formula but Enfamil Supreme. It is not available in Guate so I went to Walmart and bought $275 worth of formula for the babies in our programs who need special formula. Thanks to one of our donors we had money for this.
So the pictures are of one of the twins and children from the communidad that will receive the homes.
Thanks to you our donors.
Also thanks to my two adult daughters who have come in babysit our kids still at home.

Vicki
Safe Homes for Children

Help Needed!

We had a man from TN go down to volunteer recently. I had told his story about a dream/vision he had of a young boy in a blue and yellow shirt a few blogs ago. After the dream, he had searched the internet until he found the boy from a picture I had posted on a blog that same day. So Bryson felt impressed to help us. He went by himself two weeks ago, but in Sept. wants to bring his wife and two young children down. Bryson helped with our projects in Los Robles while there putting in a cement wall on the third floor so that rain water would drain better up there. Then he visited the homeless villages. The 24 families in San Andres and the 76 families in Panamache. He was very impressed with their need for everything. He took incaparina to the children and clothes and shoes from our storehouse. He came back fired up to help the 76 families get water. They basically have none: to bath, to drink,etc. He wants to raise the funds to put a permanent water system in. The only problem. There is no electricity there so pumping it up from a hand dug well would take a generator and trying to collect rainwater would only work 6 months out of the year when there is rain. ANY IDEAS? WANT TO HELP? Push the donate button. The pictures are of the kids that belong to the homeless families. The one of the plastic bags is their makeshift shower. I would guess you would have to be pretty dirty to go do that.

I have been asked to supply the finances for 4 teachers to go to the 76 families to teach the children. There is no school there, but there are 120 elementary children who need the structure and learning supplied by school. CAN YOU HELP? To do this for the next 4 months will cost $4000.00.
Also we have enough donations to send a container down. I have a hospital and dentist willing to give us equipment when the container goes down. I can buy a container and send it for $10,000.00. The container will belong to us and can be used as a storage shed. With all the projects we are doing, we need a storage shed.. So we need money for this. We also would like to take our preschool program/lunch/elementary tutorials to Panamache. They will donate the land and do the building. We supply the materials and hire the cook and teacher. Can you help with this? Please pass this blog to everyone you know. We need some grant writers or just plain rich people. But we like the $10.00 a month people too and the praying ones. Put this blog on your facebook. Do what you have to to help us grow and help the people. 100% goes to the people to help them help themselves.

thanks
Vicki
Safe Homes for Children

Hunger in Guatemala

Good article on hunger in Guatemala. A quote from the article.

"Just under 50 percent of children in Guatemala are malnourished, the highest rate in Latin America and one of the highest in the world, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "

The rest of the article.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52309

Vicki

Living conditions after Hurricane Agatha (By Vicki Dalia)

Pics from the bottom up
1] the road leading to the 56 families and where they live
2] how would you like to cook for 350 plus on this the grounds that the families live on; at least it is flat
3] this is your living room not a picnic and then go home to comfort the storage room and kitchen area
4] one of the sad eyed starving children
5] Debbie told me this little boy kept scraping the bowl for one last drop of black beans; it never came
6]How would you like to live here
7]HOME SWEET HOME

Well I had a hard time sleeping last night because I could not stop thinking of what it would be like to sleep in a tent like this. Not for just one night or even two but indefinitely. What do you do if there is a downpour like there has been for the last week. What if you have an infant or a sick 3 year old or a elderly mother with pneumonia.? No blanket, dirt floor and rain pouring in. No food to keep you going. What about the picture of the little boy who keeps licking the bowl trying to find enough black beans to keep his stomach from hurting. or the little girl whose eyes show the despair she feels at such a young age.
this is how over 350 people have been living since hurricane Agatha caused enough dirt and water to destroy their village. A kind man has given them this land to live on indefinitely and is supplying them with wood to cook with and try to stay a little bit warm. CAN YOU HELP WITH THE REST/ JUST PUSH THE DONATE BUTTON. AND REMEMBER 100% GOES TO THE PROJECTS.

Vicki

***UPDATE***

I worked really hard the last couple of days and was able to procure 56 shelter box tents. They provide so much more than just tents. here is a picture.

http://www.youngshelterbox.org/inside.php

Families from Chutinamit homeless because of Hurricane Agatha Friday, June 11, 2010 24 (By Vicki Dalia)

We finally have an official report on the 24 families that the mayor of San Andres asked us to help. Safe Homes volunteer Debbie and her volunteer team of one woman and 5 teens visited on Weds. and went back on Thurs. with donations. Here is what they found.
Image , if you will, that you are in your 10 by 10 home that, if you are lucky, has a cement floor, if you are not. it has a dirt floor. It is maybe made of cement or maybe of corn stalks. It starts raining and it does not stop. You remember Hurricane Stan from 2005 and you start to worry. You are already worrying because you can't keep your children dry with all this rain. Then the mud and dirt start moving into your home. Gullies start forming outside and then gorges. Big holes start forming in your house from the rocks that are falling with the mud and soon the mud is coming in in torrents. At some point your terror gets deep and dark enough you know you have to leave. Soon the whole community of 24 families is moving into the school. When the rains stop and you look out the pueblo is destroyed. The houses are too beat up and full of mud to live in, but worse so much of the mountain behind you has fallen that you know it is impossible to live there any longer. The school is nice for a while. It is new and has something of a kitchen for cooking and dry floors to sleep on. It has a small courtyard for the children to play in. But it has one major flaw. There is a big sinkhole that has formed behind it due to the massive rain from the storm. It is a matter of days before the school falls into the sinkhole. The mayor sends up beans and a little rice to feed you, but that is all you get for 101 men, women and children.
That was the state of affairs when Safe Homes' team visited on Weds. They went back that night feeling fortunate for their nice dry place to stay and that they were the ones fortunate enough to be able to help. The pueblo is reachable only by 4 wheel truck and so the San Andres police loaned us a truck and driver for both trips. The teachers from the school were wonderful to help with all the coordination. Here are some pictures of the families receiving aid. Our team bought rice, oil, potatoes, instant soup, soap, cookies, water, incaparina and milk.. Enough food for each family to eat for 3 days. That cost $300.00. They took clothes from our donation room as the families did not have time to gather anything as they left their homes for safety. And now it is covered in mud. The teens palyed games with all the children wile the women distributed what they brought. Safe Homes has $500 more to donate towards food that will be used ofr the very basics like big bags of rice and amseca and beans, but after that WE NEED YOUR HELP. PLEASE PASS THE WORD AND PUSH OUR NEW DONATE BUTTON AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE.
These pictures are of passing out donations. later i will post more pictures of the devastation.

SAMUEL AND THE WALKER AND OUR PRENATAL GROUP Thursday, June 10, 2010 (By Vicki Dalia)

We had five pregnant ladies come to our first prenatal group.One of them was Samuel's mom who was due to deliver any day [ she has delivered but I have not heard whether boy or girl ]. One of the community midwives was there. Her name is Lillian. She has more education than most as she finished 8th grade. She is also very interested in the women becoming educated.We gave out beautiful baby blankets made by a woman and her mother in the states to each woman at the meeting. They were so thrilled to have something new for their babies. None of them had been to the doctor. They were scared of delivery because the closest hospital is an hour away by car and they do not have a car. At least in our birthing room , it is clean and we provide needed supplies as well as baby items. They don't have the excitement American women have over the new baby items and cute little clothes that offset some of the fear of delivery.
I got a donated child's walker from a PT that works with a friend's children. Sherrie picked it up, put it in the mail. Safe Homes paid shipping and I hauled it to Guatemala and out to Los Robles. The first children's playgroup, I had the walker ready. Samuel crawled over to it, pulled himself up and then walked with it for the next 3 hours. We have another child who is using it also. It is Angel. He is 6 and has never walked. He looks normal and no one has any idea why he has not walked. He also loved the walker and we paid to start Angel in rehab. My cook Dominga is taking him.

Our First Child Development Class/Lunch Wednesday, June 09, 2010 (by Vicki Dalia)

The first Tuesday I was in Guate, we started our child development classes.
We had 50 mamas and 100 children under 4. The kids were to go in the playroom while the mamas had classes and then everyone would eat. I am used to US kids and it never crossed my mind that these children had never seen a toy and did not know what to do with one. My son and daughter blew up over a 100 balloons when the kids first got there and the mamas made sure that each of their children got one.Then we took them in the playroom. It took some dedicated effort to teach them what to do with the brightly colored tables and chairs and the toys that were scattered all around. While my teacher Gil was struggling with this, I was telling the mamas what our plans were for the future in terms of the child development class. Basically we want them to help them learn some basic parenting skills including nutritional info.We also want to learn form them what they need and want. We then served lunch to all 150. First the mamas and then the kids. It was interesting. We had a chicken/vegetable dish over rice with a white roll. In the US this meal would have met with some resistance by the toddlers. Comments like "I want a hotdog" or " I don't like that" would have been heard. Here tho the mamas rushed their kids to the serving line, made sure they each got a bowl and made sure it was all eaten. I figure it was different because they are starving and so the US kid pickiness does not exist.This was my favorite thing to do while we were in guate and each tues. here in the US, I wish I were down there amidst all those kids and mamas.

More Updates on the Mayan victims of Agatha (Update from Vicki Dalia of Safe Homes for children)

I have received more heartbreaking news from my daughter Hannah and friends who are in Panajachel. Hannah said all the lettuce crop is completely ruined from being under water so long and the coffee crop is ruined because of all the rain. Don't understand why that is, but this is the third time I have heard this.
The streets of Panajachel are still covered with mud and makes for a muddy mess when raining and a dusty walk or tuk tuk ride when sunny.. But lots of families are being forced to live in their broken down one roomers with 4 feet of mud covering all their belongings because they can not afford to do anything else.
All but one of the bridges in Panajachel is broken down including the brand new concrete bridge that the Korean's paid for after hurricane Stan. One bridge remains; the big yellow bridge that was built by the Army Corp of engineers in 1940. The bridge between Pana and San Andres went down and now you have to walk across the gorge. The result is that all the volunteer teams are helping those on the Pana side of the fallen bridge. The mayor of San Andres called us asking for help for the 121 homeless families above the bridge who have no clothes, blankets or food. Tuesday my volunteer team will investigate the needs around Los Robles, Godinez and the 121 homeless families. We are prepared to give out clothing and shoes and blankets where needed. These are the families that the mayor requested medicines for.
Some of you that have been on this blog for a long time will remember the small pueblo of Jabailito where Jody and I used to escape to Volcano Lodge when the stresses of living in a third world country and running an orphanage got to us.. I heard tonight that the entire community is being evacuated because of a crater above the town that is filling will water. Experts are afraid that the next good rain will bring a mudslide that will bury the entire community. The lodge itself is full of mud and water. And the indigenous people there were desperately poor.
So much pain and misery.
WE CAN HELP MORE AS YOU HELP MORE. Go to Guatemal Childrens Project and click on the donate button. Or contact us for more info infogcp@guatemalachildrensproject.org


PICTURES
1] The store where I used to buy my phone cards
2] The swinging bridge that my kids would walk on to go to the basketball court
3] my helper daughter in Guatemala

UPDATE ON CONDITIONS IN GUATEMALA (as posted by Vicki Dalia)

My daughter, Hannah, arrived in Guatemala on Thursday morning and was met at the airport by our friend Antonio. He drove her out to Lake Atitlan by way of CA1. Hannah and Antonio both said there were only two lanes open as mud and rocks were on the other two.. They had to drive slow, but made it to Panajachel fine. Our volunteer house has water and Juana has made back and is cooking and cleaning for the next team that comes in tonight. There is much work for them to do.
One of the first things they will do is go check on Manuel and Rosa's family. We heard they had alot of mud and water destroyed the things in their house and all their food. So I guess they lost the blankets I took them as that was all they had. The team of Robert, my daughter Hannah and Debbie and the women who came with her are going to Manuels house. They are taking them food and see what esle they need. They are also going to talk to their mom and Manuel and Rosa and offer them the chance to move into a rented room near our facilities where they can come to our feeding and tutorial programs. We can make sure they have clothes and shoes and school supplies. I hope they see the benefits.
Pictures are of Hannah and Manuel and his brothers Rolando and Carlos.
Remember to Donate to get our orphanage opened and give kids like Manuel and his brothers a life. Go Guatemala Children's Project and click the donate button.

101 Families in San Andres area loose their homes (By Vicki June 3, 2010)

101 families are living in shelters & schools in & around San Andres. Many have lung and intestinal problems. We have their wish list for meds

This is the email I got from Robert yesterday. The government has hired two social workers to visit all the pueblos and get the stats on what happened to them because of Hurricane Agatha. San Andres is our county so to speak. I have not gotten the official word yet on Los Robles as they were canvassing the families as he wrote this to me. In the meantime there are 101 Mayan families in our area that need help. We have people going to Guatemala to volunteer in June. If you can donate meds, let me know and I will have you send them to the closest person. Or it cost about $40 a month for the "house" the Mayans live in so if you want to help a family get back into housing, let me know. The social workers were going to collect half of what we had on hand in the way of meds at our clinic in Los Robles to take to the sick and injured.
You can donate thru our donate button at Guatemala Childrens Project or http://www.safehomesforchildren.org
or contact me for a mailing address. As always 100% goes to the people. and the projects.

ANOTHER REASON WE NEED THE ORPHANAGE (Post by Vicki Dalia June2, 2010

The last day we were in Guatemala turned out to be pretty adventurous. Actually the whole trip was. This one tho struck the chords of my baby loving heart. I got a call from one of the midwives who comes to prenatal classes. She had delivered a baby the night before at the Solola hosp. for one of the families in our community. They were doing fine, but she had another situation she wanted to talk to me about. Another woman had delivered boy/girl twins by c-section the night before and was not able to take care of them. She had 5 other children and her husband had died that year. She had no money, not even enough to pay for the blood transfusions she needed and they would not give them to her until they were paid for. The midwife's husband had also died this past year and she wanted to take care of the babies she said. But she needed help with the formula and diapers and clothes that we give all newborns in our community so she was making sure she could get that. I told her we would make sure she had those things. I went to the hospital to see the babies and the mom before I had to fly back to the states. The mom was in terrible shape. I was worried she would die on the bed in front of me. I paid for her transfusions and meds there on the spot. The babies were adorable and weighed in at 6 and 7 pounds. The midwife has them now, but wants me to open the orphanage so they can go in there. I told her I was trying to.
YOU CAN HELP US DO THIS BY GOING TO http://www.safehomesforchildren.org and clicking on the paypal button to donate or sending my a check to
Safe Homes For Children
3303 Pond Mountain lane
Whitetop, VA 24292

We now have $650 a month committed and one time gifts of $750. So we are gradually getting there. The atty. to do the papers is $3000 and Evelyn has met with him. The monthly fee will be between $4000 and $5000 a month. 100% of your donation goes to where you want it to.
The pictures are of the family who gave birth from Godinez.They are so excited to be getting the basket of gifts we give new moms. Diapers, blankets and clothes. One picture is of the ob/gyn room. Six beds, no pillows, one thin ragged blanket. Then pictures of the babies. The boy. The girl . My daughter Scotia holding the boy who we fed as the mom could not even lift her head off the bed much less feed him.
Help us save lives literally.

More Damage Reports from Agatha

I just talked to Robert and got a list of damages that immediately concern us.

1]No gas for the tuk tuks and pickups to run. The road has been cleared today to CA1 so tomorrow they are expecting gas
2] The mayor of San Andres [ the county seat for the area] called today and asked for as much medicine as we could give them. They had a lot of injured people from Agatha and not near enough medicine. We have some stock thanks to the big medical team that came in March and bought $2000.00 in meds. Gary and Sylvia, we need a medical team and more meds. We promised to give them half of all that we had.
3] The yard is washed out and needs a landscaping crew to repair gully's. The wooden retaining walls did not retain the dirt and it washed into the kitchen area. The big round cement bench washed into a gully. Our road to the next level needs massive repair work.

Our new chicken house is fine and Robert is sending pictures which I will post.

Vicki

Volcanoes and Hurricanes (posted by Vicki May 31, 2010)

Many of you have asked about the natural disasters going on in Guatemala right now.  My friend and supporter Evelyn is in Guatemala with a 15 member team that has been working on our projects. They checked into the Barcelona Thurs night to do some touristy stuff and were there when the volcano exploded. Three members of the team had thought to hike Pacaya on Thurs. and at the last minute changed their plans and went with the rest of the group to Chichi. They are stuck now at the Barcelona but were able to go to Antigua and then to Tikal by bus. The city is supposed to look awful with lots of black "snow". My friend Nancy, who lives in Antigua, said when the volcano blew her house shook like it has never shaken with an earthquake. Evelyn's group was told they can not fly home until Weds.
The first hurricane of the season is causing lots of trouble in Panajachel. If you google Bugle Basin , you might get to see a picture of the river between Pana and Jucanya. It is massive. The main bridge is closed to traffic and pedestrians. One foot bridge is destroyed.The bridge between Pana and San Andres ic closed to everything but pedestrian traffic.The combination of the 3 days so far days of massive rain and the volcanic ashe is making a cement like mud that is difficult to clean up and deadly to agricultural crops. The massive rains are flooding even more crops. Crops that are desperately needed for this food poor country as many of the people live on a subsistance basis.

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FIRST REPORT FROM THE PEDIATRICIAN

As posted on http://casadesion.blogspot.com/

We are trying to organize our pictures and can definitely send you something within the next couple of days. We saw 487 people on the days that we counted. This is likely an underestimate as many asked for medical treatment and advice for family members that were at home. On the day that we didn't count because we didn't have any extra help we saw at least 60 additional people so the total would be 547. If we counted the people we sent food supplements home to-they said they came just for vitamins and food supplements, in addition to who was seen the number would be close to 600. We gave out all of the vitamins except those that we left with Dominqa and the iodine we left with her to purify the water and to help with iodine deficiency. We left 6387chewable children's multivitamins. We gave out over 10,000 prenatal vitamins and over 3,000 children's multivitamins. We also gave out thousands of iron supplements-we bought all the pharmacy had. I think most everyone is anemic. Nearly all the kids had scarred up eardrums and many with active infections, lots of pneumonia and skin infections. I think the ear infections may well be all the smoke they are exposed to and that of course contributes to the wheezing. We left some antibiotics but we gave out a lot with all the people that we saw. We did leave nearly 500 doses of the albuterol to use in the pulmoaide and did leave a nebulizer for you to use. We brought 120 lice combs that we gave out. I don't know if you are interested in keeping records of this but Colette did some fundraising with her nonprofit and spent at least $1500.00 in buying supplies-vitamins, meds etc. We gave out several hundred hand knit hats as well as hundreds of baby outfits. The combs, formula and some medications were donated. I can look into trying to find some prenatal cards for following blood pressure weights etc. We saw at least 20 women that had goiters-they all also had marked signs of hypothyroidism-very low heart rates, in the 40's with skin rashes, hair loss and they all described they could hardly get out of bed. It is amazing they got there. Likely this is due to iodine deficiency, we treated that. They really do need vitamins and they know they need vitamins. Obviously they need to increase protein/calorie intake but the vitamin deficiencies may be even more easily treated. You should think about giving the kids fluoride supplements-it decreases the cavities by 68% and the kids could definitely use that. Lots of people with obvious rickets-bowed legs etc so getting more calcium is huge. We gave out lots of tums, I think that is a good fit since so many have stomach issues to start with. I know I am rambling but I would really lean towards treating pain with tylenol not ibuprofen. I tried to look up if anyone has looked into the incidence of Vitamin K deficiency which would cause bleeding problems but I couldn't find anything. It is generally uncommon in the newborn period but with their very restricted diets it is a possibility. You aren't supposed to take it when you are pregnant because it affects the platelets so that right there cuts out lots of people. There were lots of common questions about puberty and child development. I know access to food is a huge issue but you aren't supposed to wait too long to at least introduce some solid foods or you get a tongue thrust and trouble with eating-we saw several kids with this. Several adults with ganglion cysts around their wrists-likely from the repetitive motion of weaving. This isn't dangerous but as you can imagine feeling a lump makes people nervous. We had one girl with tetany-treated her with magnesium and calcium and the missionaries were going to follow up with her. We had more than one person ask if their child was going to die. I guess unfortunately that is part of their experience but pneumonia should respond quickly to antibiotics as should skin infections. I realize that people do die from those problems when not treated but it was sad for them to think that maybe things wouldn't get better-hopefully they will.
I'll get you a more complete report soon. Thanks. Jerrilyn

Project Plan

We have finally confirmed the dates of our next work trip to Guatemala. It will be April 7-14. Our plan for this trip will be to provide material and labor to build a new home for a family in the highlands of Guatemala. They are being evicted from their current home. This humble family is living in a small 1 room shack with dirt floors and an outhouse. Our plan is to help construct a larger new home with a concrete floor including a bathroom. This project is only partly funded with an additional $500 needed to complete. If anyone is able to help, no matter how much can be given, please visit our donation page and give whatever you can. Click here to donate now or click on the donate button at the top of the page. 100% of every donation is used in Guatemala to help children and their families.

Other activities will include a visit from "Penny Man" (reading super hero from Sunset Elementary school in St George Utah who promotes reading) to a small school to pass out books that have been donated. If time permits, we will also hold a gardening clinic in one of the villages to teach basic gardening skills to local families.

We need your help to make this project possible. Please donate today! Click here.

Medical team day 3

Finally some pictures. The team worked yesterday in a community that never gets any medical teams. They saw 120 people. The mayor of San Andres was most helpful with spreading the word to the people. His assistant thinks they will have even more people today. They helped save more lives yesterday. A small baby who was very ill was treated and given an antibiotic. He will come back today to be checked again. Two women who had dangerously high blood pressure were treated and set up to receive more treatment at the clinic in Panajachel. The top picture is of the pharmacy they have set up where they can give out free meds. Another picture is of the team in the van on the way to the pueblo and another is of the people lining up to be seen.
My two favorite stories from yesterday are of Edit and Samuel. Edit is the little girl from Los Robles who has a shunt and who we thought was blind. We had $400.00 donated for her care and thought we would use it for a CAT scan and another test. She worked a lot with the physical therapist who says that she does not think she is totally blind. That she focused her eyes on the PT and reached out for toys that she put in front of her. She said that her spine is starting to curve from being carried all the time in the sling on her mom's back. That she needs to sit more. The PT put her on her stomach and said she thinks she has never been put on her stomach before. She wants us to work with her like that until she has the strength to prop on her elbows. Pedro is taking them her wheelchair with the broken wheel today so they can fix it. The PT thinks with some work she will be able to sit. Also she thinks the money we have had donated for her would be better spent on Pediasure to overcome the malnutrition.
Now Samuel. He is the 5 year old whose life with saved with the financial help of three people on this group. He has worked with the PT all 3 days so far. yesterday Pedro brought him and his mom to our new location and he did PT all day. The PT told me that she would do 30 to 45 minutes with him until he was sweating and then let him take a half hour break and then work again. When she first started with him, he could not put any weight on his legs at all. Yesterday he took his first two steps. It makes me cry writing it and made me cry when she told me. He went from a "normal" little boy back in Oct. to having spinal meningitis [ we think], to almost dying, to not being able to walk, to starting to walk again. The PT says he needs a walker.ANYBODY GOT ONE FOR A FIVE YEAR OLD? OR WANT TO DONATE THE BUCKS?
We are so grateful for this team and all they have done. One more precious life saving for these people. THANK YOU GARY AND SYLVIA and team.
Vicki Dalia
20.vicki@gmail.com

More on the medical team

The report from the medical team yesterday was awesome. Not as many people. They saw 45 more in Los Robles. Pedro was afraid to spread the word too far as he did not want to have to turn people away. The team said they had a great day. It was slow enough that they got to do some educating as well as treating. They did have some great things happen and probably saved a couple of people's lives. One was an older woman. Her blood sugar was over the roof as was her blood pressure. Gary , the team leader, felt she needed more continuing help so he paid for her to go to Panajachel with one of the members of the team and be seen by a doctor who has a regular clinic there. Another life they might have saved was a child who had a seriously high fever and pneumonia. They did nebulizer treatments and gave him an antibiotic presription. None of these things could his family have afforded. They also did physical therapy on many people and other nebulizer treatments.
Today they are in a community about 25 minutes from Los Robles. One that never gets in medical care. The private school that my children went to when we lived in Panajachel provided us with 6 kids today and 3 tomorrow to act as translators. The kids are donating their services.
I am excited to hear how today went.
Yesterday I made contact with a very interesting person. She heads an organic gardening program in Chichi, Guate. They have a full blown garden and will work with Pedro and Jose for two whole days teaching them composting and raised beds and bug control without high powered chemicals and lots more. I have been talking to Pedro about what I want and he does not understand so this will be a wonderful aid. Plus if i can train Jose as our master gardener, I can raise his salary [ with more donations] and have someone to head the teams that want to work in this area.Pedro I know I have not told you about this yet as you have been too busy with the teams, but I will go over it in detail next week.
Vicki Dlaia
Safe Homes for Children

Fundraising!!!

FUNDRAISING in on my mind right now. My husband informed me last night that when the orphanage reopens, [And it will happen some day], we will need a significant amount more money coming in or we will have to drop some of our programs. My response was NO WAY. What am I going to drop?. Feeding 70 elementary kids the only decent meal they get? Or the 275 kids who get the incaparina twice a month that makes a major difference in their nutritional level? Or the infant feeding program that saves these babies' lives? Or the emergency medical programs we do? Or the 3 hours of tutorials we do each day for the community kids? And what about the ones I want to start. The pregnant women's program I want to start where we educate them on nutrition,parenting skills, etc. And provide them with a birthing room where they can deliver in a clean and safe environment. I want to increase our community programs not eliminate them. And I sure do not want to not open the orphanage. So it means more fund raising. And more than a 60 year old woman with 18 kids and 17 grandkids can do by herself. SO I NEED YOUR HELP. Here is one example of what one couple is doing. They came and visited us in Nov. and then went home and put this together. I need everyone to pass the word to all they know. I need lots of people to do small or large fundraisers in their hometowns. i know we can do this together because I know dropping any of our existing programs is not an option.
thanks
Vicki
Safe Homes for Children

Medical team saw 141 people today!!

This a post from Vicki at Safe Homes for Children.

The medical team, organized through Safe Homes for Children, saw 141 people today at Los Robles. They set up at the elementary school. There was no school this week anyway so it did not inconvenience the teachers. Pedro said when they opened there were 45 people waiting. I called the team tonight and asked for the best story. They gave me two. One group is mostly from Kentucky and the first person they saw was an elderly man. When they asked him to take his shirt off so they could examine him, he revealed an under t-shirt with the words KENTUCKY on it. It made the team feel like they were where they were supposed to be. The second story involved the physical therapist. She was worried there would not be anything for her to do. But the reality of it was that she, with Pedro as her translator, worked on 16 patients and taught them things they could do at home. They saw many moms and babies as well as older people. They brought a nebulizer and used it on several patients. The team was composed of 15 people from the US and 6 Guatemalan translators. Pedro told me everyone was so happy about how the day had gone.

INFANT FEEDING PROGRAM

 Blog post by Vicki Dalia

Our trip to Guatemala was very interesting. The Sat. after we arrived we had a milk distribution where we invited families from two pueblos. To receive milk or formula they had to have an income of less than $2.50 a day. Food costs more in Guatemala than in the states even if they only make $2.50 a day.We made a list of the children we distributed to. The total from Sat. and the ones who staggered in thru the next week was 275 children for incaparina and 30 infants for formula. Sat. we had over 300 women and children. One of our major donors for the formula/incaparina program was visiting the country and we wanted them to see where their money was going. They bought oranges and rolls to give out to the people who came and all the people there ate them like they were not getting much to eat at home.

Incaparina is a mix of soy and corn and a little sweeter. The kids drink it and it is very nutritious. We are giving a bag of incaparina twice a month to each child in the family. This gives them 1.5 cups a day for the whole month. The infants get a large can of formula. The program costs $550.00 for the incaparina monthly and $600.00 for the formula monthly. We don't have that much in our budget so we need donors to keep the program going. It is the only thing of nutrition the kids get. Usually they have a couple of tortillas and if lucky some beans.
We have had to cut off the numbers we can help as we are having Mayans from other pueblos coming to us for formula or incaparina. Until we get enough donors to satisfy the first 275 kids, we can't add more.

DO YOU WANT TO HELP WITH THIS PROGRAM/ FOR $25.00 a month you can give an infant a large can of formula. For $25.00 a month you can give 10 children incaparina for a month. HELP US TO KEEP THIS PROGRAM GOING AND TO BE ABLE TO ADD MORE CHILDREN.  Click here to donate today!