Improving health of 500 Guatemalan school children

Reflections on 2020 for Mayanza

What a year it has been!  As we make plans for our projects that will come in 2021, its important to evaluate and reflect upon what we have accompished despite and because of the pandemic in 2020.

We started off 2020 busy with preparations for our trip to Santiago.  Some highlights from our February trip include:

• Providing dental screening, fluoride varnish, anemia screening and personal hygiene supplies for almost 550 children
• Launching our first Family Health Fair at the 4 schools we serve and reaching over 360 people with health education and supplies
• Bringing our largest, interprofessional team of health care providers, students and volunteers
• Graduating our first class of women from our Diabetes Prevention Program and enrolling our next class

Shortly after this trip, word of  COVID was spreading across the globe.  In an effort to control the virus, there were extensive lockdown measure in Santiago and we began to its effects on the families and school children of Santiago.  We shifted our efforts and responded in the following ways:

• Partnership with the Mother Artisans group of Puerta Abierta to manufacture and distribute 1500 cloth masks in April.  These were distributed by our health educator to community members most in need with handwashing education and 600 bars of soap.
• Collaboration with Olla Comunitaria, a volunteer led organization of women from Santiago who provided hot meals and bags of healthy food to families.  Over 500 families benefited from this initiative.
• After a social worker identified the families most at need, we provided bi-weekly bags of healthy food including protein and fruits and vegetable to 30 families for 4 months.
• In a joint effort with the Sparks Foundation, 186 families were gifted with a large bag of nutritious food
• Partnership with Respira, a Guatemalan organization that created high flow nasal cannulas to donate the machines to two local health centers, Hospitalito Atitlan and Centro de Salud.

After the initial crisis, it became clear that this pandemic would not soon resolve.  Again, we shifted our response to provide a more sustainable solution to the current problems.  Some of the highlights include:

• Partnership with Imap to provide education and supplies to create sustainable family gardens.
• Programs in Chacaya and Tzanchaj that provided women with education, skills, and supplies to grow family gardens and raise chickens which will provide much needed protein and vegetables to their families.  We plan to continue these projects that will benefit the individual families and community long after the pandemic has passed.
• We piloted our first online Auction of handmade Guatemalan good in December with an overwhelming response.  We plan to continue this in 2021.

And will all of this, we are not done yet.  We are not yet certain when we will return to Santiago, however upcoming projects for 2021 include:

• Continuing our Diabetes Prevention program focusing on healthy food choices, exercise sessions, goal setting and stress management.
• Based on the data from our anemia program, we will be launching a targeted program to the families of the children who are most at need with education, health supplies and food.
• Continuing our home garden and chickens programs.

To maintain our ability to provide help where it is needed most, we need your help.  There are a  number of ways that you can support Mayanza during this time. 

1. DONATION: As always, 100% of our donations go directly toward our programs in Guatemala. We have zero adminstrative fees for the work that we do.  Did you know that the CARES Act provides additional tax relief for donors. If you take the standard deduction on your 2020 tax return, you may still claim an “above the line” deduction of up to $300 for cash donations to charitable organizations, like Mayanza, on gifts made by December 31.

2. MAYANZA MERCH: We have launched a website with merchandise that supports our programs and helps to create awareness of our organization.

3. JOIN US: We will be hosting a series of webinars over the next few months showcasing and highlighting the artisans from around Lake Atitlan.  Join us for tortilla making, chocolate tasting and to appreciate how textiles are handmade just to mention a few.  Our first session is on Saturday, January 23rd at 6:30pm ET where we will learn to make handmade tortillas and pico de gallo with the teachers from la Puerta Abierta, one of the schools we partner with.  It is sure to be a lot of fun! You can purchase tickets here.

4. Finally, you can also support us with every purchase that you make from Amazon Smile.

Thank you for your support during this year that has challenged each of us in so many ways.  With your support, we hope plan to move into 2021 prepared to make a difference in the lives of the children and families of Santiago!

Links:

• Order your own merchandise with our new logo.
• Your Amazon Smile purchases can help support our programs.
• Please join us at our upcoming webinar series.

Hello from Mayanza!

In the US, we celebrate Thanksgiving this week.  It is a time to show our gratitude and celebrate our families with good food to nourish our bodies and our souls.  We wanted to let you know how much we appreciate YOU and your support of Mayanza.  Your support allows us to provide programming that directly affects the people of Santiago Atitlan.  Through monthly and individual donations we have been able to continue programs and plan for new initiatives.  Here a a few highlights of the past few months:

• COVID Food Insecurity: Mayanza continue to partner with a grassroots community organization, Olla Comunitaria, who provided hot meals and bags of healthy food to people in need.  Foods like eggs, corn, beans, oil, oatmeal, and fresh vegetables were given to families with children who have not had work since the pandemic began.

• Community Gardens and Chickens Program: Mayanza supports two initiatives in the neighborhoods of Chacaya and Tzanchaj to enable women to learn new skills to become more self-sufficient, increase access to healthy food and provide a source of income.  Our team met with the women to determine if a home garden or a community plot would best serve their needs.  Then, they were given education around maintaining a garden and chickens.  Already radishes are ready to harvest and this is just the beginning. The excess food created can be traded or sold. We know that empowering women benefits the whole community!

• Coming Soon- Partnering with Artisans to raise awareness and funds: We are hosting a Guatemalan Handmade Goods Auction at the beginning of December, just in time for holiday gift shopping and in the new year, a webinar series focused on aspects of life in Guatemala.  Please look for more information about these initiatives that will be coming soon!

We are grateful for you - our supporters and hope that you will continue our support as we move into 2021!  Please consider a donation to Mayanza this Giving Tuesday, December 1st to help us to continue working in Santiago.

Thank you! 

The Mayanza Team