Madison South Rotary has been working on many different projects in Guatemala for the past 5 years. Some of the team members have worked in Guatemala for 9 years.
Madison South Rotary did a district grant to provide classroom furniture for a new addition to Association Brazo Amorosos (Loving Arms), a school for disadvantaged indigenous children in San Andres Itzapa, Guatemala. Loving Arms provides education as well as a variety of programs including health, water filters, stoves and income generating cooperatives to promote sustainability and self sufficiency. The school serves kindergarten through 3rd (now 4th) grade. Their goal is to add an additional grade each year so they eventually serve the total educational needs of the children through high school. Parents are actively involved with the school.
Our club, in cooperation with the Oregon,WI Interact Club, the Florida Oceanside RC, the Indilantic RC of Fl; District 7750 in SC; and the Waterville RC of Maine, also did a Global Grant this year to provide Water and Sanitation to two villages in the highlands of Guatemala: Pavit and Xenimaquin. Another Global Grant was written by the Maine district to cover Maternal and Child Health for the same two villages. ABPD , an organization that has worked for 40 years with Mayans in the highlands and does detailed needs assessments with villagers, was our primary partner to oversee the project. The villages served by these grants must have a “buy in” as well as provide labor for anything that has to be built like the water system, latrines and stoves. Training is a key part of these projects over a 3 year period for each village. There is instruction on nutrition and gardening; hygiene; maternal health issues; maintenance of water systems; training a team of “women promoters” to oversee issues like domestic violence and the follow through of programs. There is also training for the men to prevent issues that often arise. A village is then self sustaining after the 3 year period. This model has been very successful in over 100 villages in the highlands.
The team of 7 Rotarians that visited these projects in January participated in working with several families and a mason in building their stove. The villagers speak Kaqchikel so we used a lot of body language and bits of Spanish to communicate. There were many hugs and even a ritual to bless the stoves.
Children greeting us at Loving Arms school
Team member teaching English to first graders
New classroom furniture purchased by Madison South Rotary with a district grant
Presentation of a plaque from the Madison South Rotary to display on the classroom wall. Left to right: Mayor of San Andres Itzapa in Guatemala, Alice Mendez, Lyn Kenney from Madison South Rotary, Linda Coghlin, CEO of Loving Arms, and the 4th grade teacher, Marlon Abimael Puz.
The pictures below show team members sifting sand, cutting rebar; a family member filling in parts of a stove; family members standing with 2 nearly complete stoves and one completed for the blessing.
