One out of every two children in Guatemala are malnourished. * 75% of the population in Guatemala lives below the poverty line, and in rural communities that rate is as high as 90%. The infant mortality rate is 55 per 1000 babies and 1 in 4 babies is born with a low birth weight-- most of Guatemalas children are below average for weight and height.
The average family earns only $2-$5 U.S. dollars per day. In many rural communities some families live off $1 per day or less! The average meal for a Guatemalan child in rural San Pedro Soloma, Huehuetenango consists of the following;
BREAKFAST
A cup of coffee (sometimes with sugar)
1-2 tortillas
1/2 cup of black beans
LUNCH
Atole (a thin hot drink made from masa, oatmeal or rice)
1-2 tortillas
1 potato
Dinner
Atole
1-2 tortillas
1 cup of rice
Living in Guatemala for 6 months with my own 5 children, I have seen first hand what these children eat. I have eaten with many families and I know what a child's diet in Guatemala really looks like. We lived off of 4 times more than the average Guatemalan family does and we still did not get enough to eat. I know now what true starvation feels like. I lost 30 pounds in three months because of it. I watched as Rays 5 nieces and nephews ate nothing more than tortillas for several meals at a time. I watched as a neighbor child died from starvation/malnourishment and I can tell you, his mother grieved the same way you or I would have grieved at the loss of a child. The Guatemalan children stole my heart and I have promised them to come back and help them.
My husband was born and raised in Guatemala and many times his diet was only corn tortillas and apples from his tree. As an adult my husband has lived in Guatemala and served on the city council for two years, he also served as sheriff for one year. He knows better than anyone exactly what this town needs. He knows what non-profit organizations exist and what they do to serve the poorest in Guatemala. My husband knows that currently there does not exist, a program to help feed the most desperate of children in his town and city.
My husband and I are donating about an acre of his inherited land to this project. His land lies right next to the main road through Soloma, next to a popular park and only minutes from downtown and also next to a school--making it a prime location for this program.
We plan to build a free lunch program on our property.
We need to come up with a way to create an income for the free lunch program so that we don't have to rely on continuous donations. To do this we will build a small casita /motel/cabin-style room(s) to rent out per night. There are no real motels for tourists to stay in San Pedro Soloma and I can advertise it and rent it out over the internet to Americans. Rays property is prime location because it is by the only park and lake for hours and also has a stream running through the property. It is also right off the main highway where tourists travel. 100% of the money they pay to stay in the casita will be used to buy food to cook and give out to children for free.
We will also be able to use this casita as a homeless shelter for families when it is not being rented out and we will offer the locals to rent it out for a rate fair to Guatemalans.
Another big problem in Guatemala is that almost no one understands nutrition. Every woman and mother I talked to did not understand that a child must not be just full, they must also be nourished. A woman told me "As long as that child gets full, that is all that matters so we feed them mostly tortillas because they are so cheap." When I explained to her that children need the right balance of vitamins and minerals and nutrition, she simply could not comprehend what I was saying. Most Guatemalans, because they are so poorly educated, do not understand how to nourish their children. This program will only cook nourishing meals and everything will be purchased from locals which will improve their local economy.
THERE ARE SEVERAL CHARITY ORGANIZATIONS SET UP IN GUATEMALA MANY OF THEM ARE NOT EFFECTIVE DUE TO THE CORRUPTION.
My Guatemalan husband Ray (who has lived in the U.S. for 23 years)has been serving on his city council for 2 years 7 months now and he sees all of the corruption that is keeping donations from reaching the neediest of people.
--The Americans donated backpacks and pencils to be given away for free to the children in his town. The mayor intercepted the donation and sold the backpacks and pencils for a profit!
--The Guatemalan Government gave San Pedro Soloma nutrition supplement powder to be given away to malnourished children......the mayor sold that too!
--The European Union (TEU) hired local men to place water lines throughout the city so that the people could finally have running tap water. The water is suppose to be given away for free to the community. After (TEU) left the men who were paid to place the water lines began charging community members for the water to be turned-on to their homes! Most of the families are too poor to pay the $10 per month water bill and are still left without water. My husband Ray has been fighting for two years to get the community their water back for free. Guess what they did to him? They turned his water off to his house and now he has to get his water from neighbors and carry it in jugs on his back several times per day!
My husband Ray sees the corruption and he is fighting it, but until you simply get good, trusting, honest people in office, the corruption will never end. This is why Ray and I are going to help feed, nourish and educate San Pedro Soloma, Guatemala. We can't just sit around and watch them continue to starve! We must start somewhere!
We can not help all of Guatemala but we can help the town of San Pedro Soloma. Just think, if each Guatemalan City could get just one food donation program run by honest people, we could seriously make an impact on child malnutrition and starvation in Guatemala. We have to start somewhere.
WHAT YOUR DONATIONS WILL DO;
1.My husband and I are donating our 2 acres of property to this project. Approximately 1 acre will be used to build a homeless family casita/and shelter/free child lunch program. The other acre currently has 7 full apple trees, hundred of corn stalks, brown beans, chillote, collard greens, and chickens. This food will be used for the feeding program and will also grow many more vegetables and animals to also be used for the program.
2. Your donations will be used to build a homeless family shelter which will be rented out also as a motel to the Americans traveling through and that money will be used to purchase food.
3. Your donations will be used to buy food to feed the children. (When we are not in Guatemala, Rays sister-in-law who feeds her 5 children on $1 a day will be paid in food to feed her children to cook the meals.)
4. We will also be looking for volunteers to help build the shelter. This would be an awesome opportunity for you to visit Guatemala and have a personal tour guide (my Guatemalan, English/Spanish speaking husband)
Rays niece stands on the property we are donating for this cause
This is a project that my husband and I plan to dedicate a lot of our money and time to. Ray and I know that 75% of this project will come from our own money and time but if you would like to help-out or travel to Guatemala to help us build it, we would love it!
Ray and I plan on saving/raising $10,000 to get this project built. (building in Guatemala is very cheap and with Rays professional building experience, he plans on building most of it himself)
God Bless!
For more questions please email me at feedguatemalaskids@gmail.com
READ MORE http://www.ticotimes.net/More-news/Top-Story/News/The-children-of-Guatemala-are-starving_Friday-December-09-2011
No comments:
Post a Comment