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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