Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Meet Irma Cecilia



This beautiful little princess is Irma Cecilia. She is the little girl I have sponsored to go to school in San Jorge. She is 10 years old and going into the fourth grade. Irma lives with her mother, father, and younger brother and sisiter. They own the house that they live in which, is made of mud brick, it has tin sheeting for the roof and a cement floor. It has two rooms and a small outside kitchen. They cook over an open fire over rocks. They have two beds, one in each room. They have a pila which, is a sink of sorts that they fill with water to use for washing dishes and/or clothes. They have one small closet, the rest of their clothes they keep in cardboard boxes.
They have water connected and pay $ 4.00 US. per year. They have electricity connected and pay $8.00 per month.
Paulina keeps two chickens . She likes to have them for eggs, or to be able to eat. She would like to have more but does not have the money to be able to do so.

I am honored to be able to help this amazing family in honor of my daughter, Kenza Mary. We have sent money so that Irma and her family will receive a Tamale basket for their Christmas celebration, I am very excited about this! I only wish I could be there to see them enjoy it!! I plan to help Paulina purchse more chickens and it is also my hope to purchse an Onil stove for the family. Cooking over an open fire is dangerous in so many ways and for $125, they can have the safety of an Onil stove.

I am so excited to have the opporitunity to meet Irma and her family on our trip. They have found a way into my heart and I am honored to be able to share in their lives, even if it's only in some small way. God has blessed me with an amazing family, one built in part, thru the miracle of adoption from Guatemala. We have a nice life and though we are not rich, we don't want for anything essential in life. It is my hope that I can continue to give to Irma and her family and that what we do will help to make a difference in their lives.

I want to thank the wonderful GAFI family for all they have done to support our efforts in fundraising for Mayan Families. I'd also like to thank my friends, neighbors, and family for all they have done to help me get ready for this trip. From donations of school supplies, clothes, shoes, medicine, and suitcases, to purchasing cookbooks; all you have done is so very much appreciated. I'd like to thank my mom, Marie, who will be coming on this trip with us, for all she has done to help me bring Irma and her family some "goodies" on our visit. For a woman who said she'd never leave US soil, this will be her THIRD trip to Guatemala...funny...I think she might love it just as much as me!! Anyway, as you can tell, I am very much looking forward to our trip to Panajachel and will post as we go thru this amazing journey to "The land of the eternal spring"!!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Thoughts on the Trip and Fundraising Efforts

I am so honored to be among such a wonderful group of people who are giving so much and working so hard to make other's lives a little easier.

It brings tears to my eyes when I think that some families have trouble putting food on the table for their kids. Last night, my kids couldn't decide what they wanted for dessert since they had been so good, so they had both popcorn and bananas. We are all so truly blessed to have so much, and it humbles me to think of all the people of GAFI and the people of MFC who are working so hard to help these families who are less fortunate.

Our GAFI Fundraising group - Amor Sin Limites -Love Without Boundaries - has decided to focus our attentions to the school in San Jorge. Our GAFI group has already raised more than $1500 and some of our donations can be seen on Sarah's post below.

Although schools are free for the students, there are a lot of fees involved. Several members of GAFI sponsor children for school through Mayan Families and we are also committed to helping these families make a better life for themselves. We are bringing down lots of supplies for these families and will purchase food while are there. Can you believe that a month worth of food for the family only costs $40!! I spend more than that for one week's groceries! It takes so little to make such a big impact!

Members of GAFI have been very generous and supportive of our efforts, and we have also received a lot of support from our family and friends, the MFC group and the Guatemalan adoptive community. We truly appreciate your generosity. A special thank you to those members of GAFI who are going on this trip and paying all their own expenses! And, thank you to my kid's dentist Dr. Pareja in Columbia, MD who has volunteered to be a collection center for donations. We have collected a lot of great clothes and shoes to take down with us. I would also like to thank my coworkers who banded together and bought 350 boxes of crayon for the school which I will be taking with me on this trip. A special thank you also goes out to my cousins Stuart and Bret, and to Cantor Marge for very generously supporting my efforts. Finally, I want to thank my parents, not only for their support for our sponsored families in San Jorge, but also for making this trip possible for me by taking care of my kids. I am so grateful to everyone involved in this effort!!

More information about our fundraising efforts can be found at the following webpages:

http://www.geocities.com/gafifund/cookbooks.html
http://www.geocities.com/gafifund/donations.html
http://www.cafepress.com/gafi

Direct donations for this trip can also be sent via paypal to: GAFIFund@yahoo.com

Thank you all so very much.

Rena

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Preparing For Trip

We are all preparing for our trip on November 10.
Today we received news from Guatemala as to what items are most needed, ie shoes and food for the families.

We are all so excited to meet our sponsored children.

It is such a privilege to return to this country and give back just a small token of what this country has given to our family, Princess Mia of Las Flores!
We hope someday to make a real difference to this beautiful country and its people.

GAFI donations at work at San Jorge School

As most of you know, GAFI sold Amor Sin Limites t-shirts through cafepress this summer. GAFI raised $1,500 from the sales of these t-shirts. With that money, we were able to pay for and have installed book shelves at the San Jorge School. Here is what was posted by Dwight and Sharon on the October 14, 2007 post on the Mayan Families Blog:

This week we were able to install bookshelves in 15 of the 17 classrooms in the San Jorge school. The other two classrooms are temporary classrooms and the shelving will be installed in January when school re-opens.






This was a donation from G.A.F.I. - a wonderful group of parents who have adopted their children from Guatemala and want to give something back to the country and to help the children here.

These classrooms had no shelving previously. The books and equipment had to be stacked on the floor. These shelves are going to be of great use to the teachers and pupils of the San Jorge School.

Thank you so much G.A.F.I.!