Safe Stoves Meeting Kicks Off a New Stove Cycle!

 

What a great day we had on Wednesday, January 23th! Nine new participant families of the Safe Stove Project came to the Pop Wuj Spanish School and were greeted by Carmen, Roney and all the coordinators and facilitators.  We had a short talk about maintenance and care of their new stoves as well as a presentation by two students about the health and environmental risks of open fires.

Christina, a medical student and volunteer at Pop Wuj’s clinic, discussed the main diseases caused by the smoke of an open fire, like lung cancer, other respiratory illnesses, cataracts, etc.  Genny, a fuel engineer and an immersion student at Pop Wuj, spoke about the efficiency of the stoves with a focus on the environmental problems caused by the open fires. 

Some of the women who are participating in the Safe Stove Project talked about their own experiences with open fires and the immediate effects, like coughing and breathing problems, as well as the other more long-term effects that they have experienced.  A safe stove is needed in all of the families’ cases, however there was a particular case that struck us the most.  An elderly woman, already suffering from years of exposure to smoke, has developed cataracts in her left eye.  As sad as it is, we are glad to know that we will be there with her, building a stove, so that soon she will be cooking in a smoke-free kitchen. 

Las Olimpiadas!

Yesterday was the Family Support Center Olympics aka Field Day. There was lots of sun, lots of dust and lots of happy energetic kids! Everyone was split into four groups of nine and wore their team color on a sash tied around their heads. Let the competitions begin!

We started off the day with an old classic: Tug of War. Unfortunately, after a couple of rounds our rope had had enough and snapped in the middle! No serious injuries, but we had to end the Tug of War competition before we could declare a winner.

Next we set up a relay using jump ropes. The competing team ran through an obstacle of ropes, having to duck or jump over them depending on their height. The team with the shortest time won. Verdict: Red team!

Each kid brought their own "costal" or big plastic sack to participate in another classic relay: the potato sack hop. Man those kids can hop!

Following the sack race the teams competed in a running relay, balancing a raw egg on a spoon, and last but not least: Water balloon toss! This was definitely the biggest hit. Each team chose two representatives to hold a costal and the rest of the team tossed water balloons into the bags. Whichever team had the most water balloons (fully intact!) at the end, won. They were surprisingly good at this! Water balloons aren't fun unless they break so we had another competition between pairs to see how far they could get while throwing one back and forth--this did the trick: lots of "splats" and wet children!

Everyone received a medal for participating in the 2012 Olympics, and the winning Green team got small plastic trophies. Until next year!

Halloween

October 31st is one of the best times to be a kid in the United States. Although Halloween is not traditionally a Guatemalan holiday, it does fall before Dia de los Muertos, or "Day of the Dead." Day of the Dead is a time when families and friends come together to remember loved ones that have passed. It is a celebration, and that is exactly what we had at the Family Support Center! We had a sort of hybrid Halloween-Dia de los Muertos party.

Before the festivities, 8 of the older kids came into the city for a field trip. Together, we baked three pumpkin pies and one large pumpkin bread. It really smelled like autumn in the kitchen! All four cakes turned out perfectly.

We decorated the walls and ceilings of the Family Support Center with paper jack-o-lanterns, bats and spiders. Many of the boys dressed up as Draculas, complete with teeth and dark eyebrows. Evelyn transformed into a pumpkin, Norma and Ilcy into princesses and there was even a headless horseman!

Four pumpkins were carved into jack-o-lanterns and were a big hit with everyone. The bright orange pumpkins that are so common in the states, were a spectacle! At one point we all gathered in the decorated Halloween room, turned off the lights and told spooky ghost stories. After passing around the cake and pie, it was safe to call the party a success!

Aníbal's Story

Anibal, ready for school

One of the children who attends the Family Support Center (formerly la Guardería) is Aníbal. Aníbal, 12 years old, was born with microcephaly and is significantly developmentally delayed. 

He first came to the Family Support Center (FSC) in January 2010.  His mother stated that he did not speak and he appeared very shy and sensitive.   Aníbal had never attended school or other project and on his first day at the FSC, he cried and did not want to be around the other children.  Throughout the year, Anibal attended the FSC daily, playing with toys, putting together wooden puzzles and listening to stories.  Aníbal became more accustomed to being with the children and began to verbalize his thoughts. 

After one year at the Family Support Center, Aníbal had made significant strides both socially and verbally.  The project’s social worker and Aníbal’s mother agreed to enroll him in Escuela Xelaju, a school for children with special needs.  With a scholarship from the Pop Wuj Scholarship Program, Aníbal began school in January 2011.  Foundation Todos Juntos also supports the Pop Wuj Scholarship program which funds 135 partial scholarships for students in primary school, secondary school, and university.  Aníbal’s scholarship covers daily transportation expenses and the $1.50 USD per month school tuition.  

Playing at the Family Support Center

Aníbal is now finishing his second year at Escuela Xelaju and he loves going to school in his uniform and being with other children.  He still attends the Family Support Center in the afternoon.  Aníbal is outgoing and talks to his friends, the employees, and the volunteers at the project.  He loves Curious George books and swinging on the swings on the playground.  Thanks to the generous donors and the projects supported by Foundation Todos Juntos, Aníbal is able to continue making progress both at the Family Support Center and at Escuela Xelaju.  

Troublemakers, L-R Julio, Guayo, Arturo, Anibal

El Dia del Niño

Monday, October 1st was Guatemala's celebration of "El dia del Niño," or "Children's Day." It is a day where we celebrate all of the kids and they get to eat lots of sweets, play games and maybe get a present or two. We celebrated the holiday at the Family Support Center on Thursday, so that any of the Pop Wuj students could join if they wanted.

It was a fun filled afternoon! We set up an impromptu movie theater for everyone and had a viewing of one of the greatest kids movies of all time: Toy Story. Everyone was given their own personal bag of freshly made popcorn, or "poporopos." The movie was a complete success, and is just as funny and inspiring in Spanish as it is in English. Chocolate covered frozen bananas were passed around after the movie, and each kid received a beanie baby as a small gift.

It was another cheerful and celebratory atmosphere at the Family Support Center. In the middle of a very rainy week here in Xela, the celebration of El Dia del Niño proved to be the perfect mood lifter.

Independence Day

September 15th is Guatemala’s Independence Day and the whole week leading up to the big day, the streets of Xela are filled with parades, music, food and an overwhelming number of people. One of the main attractions of Xela during this week is the Independence Fair, or “La Feria.” It is just like your average State Fair in the United States, complete with delicious smells wafting from the various stands selling fatty foods, screaming children, and the classic carnival games where you can win overly large stuffed animals.

Because the fair in Xela is such a big event, and because the kids of the Family Support Center (formerly the Guarderia) live so far away, we decided to recreate la Feria in Llanos de Pinal. We spent the week planning and preparing. A scavenger hunt through the city proved fruitful when we discovered a beanbag toss game buried under the odds and ends of a thrift-like tienda. Carmen splurged and bought a mini-foosball table that, although frustrating to put together, was a huge hit. We wanted to make the Feria feel like the real thing so our two Guatemalan secretarial interns crafted some tickets for food and games.

Thursday afternoon the whole Family Support Center staff helped set up la Feria. Balloons, a colorful umbrella displaying cotton candy, bright signs and all of the different game stations transformed the playground into a carnival. Some of the mothers cooked up some delicious treats to add to the festivities.

While we were setting up, the kids were inside learning more about the story behind Guatemala’s Independence from Carmen. The national anthem was played, and the older kids proudly displayed the flag of their country. Finally, the kids were allowed to rush outside to see all the games and treats we had prepared! Carmen led a hilarious game of Bingo, Amy manned a very popular game where each person was given two tennis balls to try and knock down a tower of old milk cartons. Foosball, of course was immediately taken over, and Ashley was bombarded with kids wanting to play coin toss. It was chaos! Screaming, laughing, smiling and joking sums up the atmosphere of the Center’s version of the Fair.

If you played a game you were pretty much guaranteed to win, and winning meant prizes! We had an assortment of yoyos (yoyitos), bouncy balls and candy. The moms even got into the activities and Doña Delfina wowed the crowd after knocking down the tower of milk cartons on her first try.

The fair was a complete success and it was so warming to see everyone getting along and having fun. Any worries or stresses evaporated and it was all fun and games (literally!). Days like these make it obvious why the Family Support Center is such a necessary and effective project. Any time we can find ways to bring a community and families together in a fun and active environment is an accomplishment.

Changes and Expansion!

From July 13, 2012

Next to the Family Support Center we are putting the finishing touches on our new garden. Once a greenhouse, the site was transformed to better accommodate the Family Support Center´s needs.  Jenn, a student enrolled in the Spanish Social Work program, lead renovation efforts which entailed installing raised beds, fertilizing and turning the top soil, planting new seeds and seedlings, and installing a fence. The children of the Family Support Center got in on the fun and were active participants in the transformation. They are enjoying the fruits of their labor by participating in educational lectures/activities on gardening. This week we will commemorate the opening of the garden by installing a sign indicating the name of the garden. The name will be put up to a vote for the children to decide. A new era of healthy yields await the garden!

The rainy season has produced fertile conditions for our Reforestation Project. Together with the families involved in our community development programs, Pop Wuj has shared experiences of planting trees and giving back to the earth. Our most recent work saw 100 trees of different varieties planted in Cantel. In addition, we recently planted trees on the skirt of Volcano Santa Maria with the children of the Family Support Center. On both occasions, the success of the project and the lessons involved in reforestation were of equal value.  In two weeks time, we will return to the sites to check up and to see what progress has been made with our “arbolitos.”

The increase of students has brought more life, festivities, and most of all, recyclables, to the school. To adjust, Pop Wuj has increased the number of visits to the recycling centers to one time per month, and maybe we have hosted an extra party or two. During our next visit, we will invite students to tag along and tour the centers that we visit to gain a better understanding of the recycling system in Guatemala.

In the upcoming weeks, we will continue to do what we do best: build stoves, garden, plant trees, and recycle, but that’s not all we have in store.  We have plans to decorate the inside of Pop Wuj with herbs, plants, and an array of flowers that are indigenous to Guatemala.

Stay green!