Today we return to El Barranco to build three stoves and visit sponsored students. But first we stopped by the women's co-op in Solola where they use only bamboo to weave with.
Their dyes are not natural dye as they are in San Juan but the colors are beautiful. They use two weights of spun bamboo, the rustic is spun by hand and the fine is machine spun and imported but the softness in incredible. After the demonstration we were able to purchase their beautiful wears. Then off to build stoves. I have participated in building several stoves and they are often long treks through fields or up rocky inclines carrying all the concrete parts. These three stoves were were all by the road..YIPPEE…. and the parts had already been delivered. This made the heavy toting much easier.
We split up into two teams since it doesn't take 10 people to build a stove this made it all happen a lot faster too. An added bonus to the stove building was that one of the homes had San Simon the Mayan god in their home. I am not sure what the process is to have the honor of having him in your home for the year but each year he is moved to another home. So it was a treat to see this while we were there.
Then after lunch we first visited Ann's sponsored little girl. It had been two years since Ann's last visit when she first sponsored Blanca and she was really looking forward to her visit.
Blanca was so happy to see Ann, I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes the children to meet their sponsors. Ann had brought each family member gifts, sweater,jackets,dolls,shampoo and toys, which they so appreciated. Ann has been helping the family with food donations for the past two years. You often can tell a difference in growth and skin tone when families are given that boost in fresh fruits, vegetable and protein. While we were still at the preschool to have our lunch the two boys Steve has sponsored were at the school and he got to meet them for the first time. He had a smile as broad as Kansas. Steve sponsored Jose Domingo before he had come to Guate and after being here decided he wanted to sponsor a second and since I had 6 boys who lost their sponsors I of course was pushing them!!! So he decided to sponsor Walter too the night before we went for the visits. I have known both of these boys since 2010 and think very highly of them. So after Ann's visit we went first to Walters home where they could get to know each other.
They presented Steve with a beautiful hand made scarf. Then Steve asked Walter what he would most like to have and his answer was if Steve could help with food for his family. Between the scarf and the humble request there wasn't a dry eye. Next we went to Jose Domingo's home and Jose was so excited to meet his new sponsor. They really like to put a face to the person who helps them get an education.
His family had taken out a loan from a relative to build their home. They were previously living with the grandparents. The father now works in Guatemala City for this relative to pay off the debt so they are not seeing him much. They are in need of help to pay off the debt so by buying food for the family this will help them pay the debt off sooner. Food is always the number one priority with helping these families. Again the day was made possible by the help of the MF staff, drivers, stove building experts, photographers and most of all Elizabeth and Sergio who interpret for us. We so appreciate them all. The night was finish off with dinner at El Bistro along with friends we have met in Pana.
Their dyes are not natural dye as they are in San Juan but the colors are beautiful. They use two weights of spun bamboo, the rustic is spun by hand and the fine is machine spun and imported but the softness in incredible. After the demonstration we were able to purchase their beautiful wears. Then off to build stoves. I have participated in building several stoves and they are often long treks through fields or up rocky inclines carrying all the concrete parts. These three stoves were were all by the road..YIPPEE…. and the parts had already been delivered. This made the heavy toting much easier. 
We split up into two teams since it doesn't take 10 people to build a stove this made it all happen a lot faster too. An added bonus to the stove building was that one of the homes had San Simon the Mayan god in their home. I am not sure what the process is to have the honor of having him in your home for the year but each year he is moved to another home. So it was a treat to see this while we were there.
Then after lunch we first visited Ann's sponsored little girl. It had been two years since Ann's last visit when she first sponsored Blanca and she was really looking forward to her visit.
Blanca was so happy to see Ann, I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes the children to meet their sponsors. Ann had brought each family member gifts, sweater,jackets,dolls,shampoo and toys, which they so appreciated. Ann has been helping the family with food donations for the past two years. You often can tell a difference in growth and skin tone when families are given that boost in fresh fruits, vegetable and protein. While we were still at the preschool to have our lunch the two boys Steve has sponsored were at the school and he got to meet them for the first time. He had a smile as broad as Kansas. Steve sponsored Jose Domingo before he had come to Guate and after being here decided he wanted to sponsor a second and since I had 6 boys who lost their sponsors I of course was pushing them!!! So he decided to sponsor Walter too the night before we went for the visits. I have known both of these boys since 2010 and think very highly of them. So after Ann's visit we went first to Walters home where they could get to know each other. 
They presented Steve with a beautiful hand made scarf. Then Steve asked Walter what he would most like to have and his answer was if Steve could help with food for his family. Between the scarf and the humble request there wasn't a dry eye. Next we went to Jose Domingo's home and Jose was so excited to meet his new sponsor. They really like to put a face to the person who helps them get an education.
His family had taken out a loan from a relative to build their home. They were previously living with the grandparents. The father now works in Guatemala City for this relative to pay off the debt so they are not seeing him much. They are in need of help to pay off the debt so by buying food for the family this will help them pay the debt off sooner. Food is always the number one priority with helping these families. Again the day was made possible by the help of the MF staff, drivers, stove building experts, photographers and most of all Elizabeth and Sergio who interpret for us. We so appreciate them all. The night was finish off with dinner at El Bistro along with friends we have met in Pana.
i'm getting excited!!
ReplyDelete