Semana Santa Activities, April 14th and 15th

Students from the Family Support Center kept busy with an extra project at Pop Wuj during Semana Santa (Holy Week). One day the students over twelve years old traveled to Xela to enjoy their day off by cooking pizza, preparing salad, and relaxing with a movie and popcorn. Another day the other students helped volunteers with a side project in Llanos de Pinal. In one day of work we replaced the roof and the damaged siding on a home, all while enjoying good food and company. 

Brandon (green sweatshirt), a student from the Family Support Center, helps volunteers replace rotten beams.

Students from the Family Support Center and volunteers in front of the home.
A stage two stove is also under construction inside the house, part of our Safe Stove Project.

Family Support Center teachers Lidia and Carmelina help students prepare a fruit salad for the family and workers.

Students, volunteers, and family members take a moment to rest and enjoy.

Gustavo, a teacher at the Family Support Center, with the baby of the house.

Three of the older girls from the Family Support Center with Pop Wuj General Projects Coordinator Rain.

Saying Goodbye: La Despedida de Dawn, Shanti, y Bronny

by Amy Scheuren

In mid-April Pop Wuj and the staff and children at the Family Support Center in Llanos del Pinal said goodbye to three fantastic interns:  Shanti, Dawn, and Bronny.

Relaxing before a Thursday night dinner

Dawn and Bronny were coordinators at the Family Support Center and Shanti worked in all of the Pop Wuj projects as the General Projects Coordinator.  These three lovely ladies accomplished so much during their three months in Xela and made my life so much easier!

Dawn and her signature moves

Shanti

To celebrate the end of a wonderful three months, we held a music and dance party at the Family Support Center.  Rain, Pop Wuj's new General Projects Coordinator played the violin/fiddle and Jhonny DJ'd as the kids, staff, and volunteers danced and played games like limbo and musical chairs.

Our kiddos and limbo

More limbo fun

Dawn and Rain

A huge thank you to Dawn, Bronny, and Shanti.  We miss you already and can't wait for your return!

Pop Wuj receives interns via our partnership with Entremundos, a local NGO.  For more information and to apply to be an intern/long-term volunteer, please visit Entremundos.

Control Médico at the Family Support Centre

On Tuesday April 1st, The Family Support Centre received the services of a visiting Timmy Global Health group, including doctors and medical students in training.  They weighed and measured the heights of each child at the Centre and then performed a check up on each of them as well.  Whilst the children were eating lunch, Timmy gave an informative talk about the importance of cleaning teeth and engaged the children with questions and examples of experiments performed with different products and their effects on teeth.

The Timmy group interacted with the younger children in the morning and gave them some worksheets to colour in

Jessica, Samuel (who isn't enrolled at the Centre but came along for a consult), Amy, and Ingrid all colouring in Elmo worksheets that Timmy brought along

Dawn role playing a scene at the doctors with Kat the puppet and Shanti helping out - the children were completely absorbed in the role play 

Dawn explaining what the doctors will be doing in their consult, via Kat the puppet while the children looked on

Amy taking the heartbeat of Kat with a stethoscope

The children eating watermelon at break time before heading in to be weighed and measured. 

The Timmy group ready with medical supplies for the children after their consult

The older children arriving in the afternoon for their turn at weighing, measuring, and their consult

It was a long but very important and beneficial day for all!