In August we took a team of 16 people to Santa Avelina in the mountainous region of Quiche. Santa Avelina is located in an area known as the Ixil triangle. This particular region of Guatemala experienced, and suffered from, some of the greatest humanitarian atrocities committed during the 36-year civil war which ended in 1996. Families in the region live in conditions of extreme poverty, defined as having a family household income barely enough to provide for one meal a day. Most of these families rely upon an open fire on the dirt floor of their homes for cooking and heat. The smoke from the fire causes serious respiratory disease, cataracts and strokes, among other illnesses.

Our volunteers were able to fund and install 80 stoves in the homes of 40 families. Each family received both an indoor and outdoor stove. With an average family size of 7 members, over 280 lives were positively impacted through the program.

On our last day in the region we had time to work in a primary school. The school has 290 pupils and 2 rooms. They were in dire need of clean drinking water, a means to cook for the children and books to help them learn. We were able to install a water filtration systems as well as an industrial stove. We also organized and supplied the school with basic books to get them started.

While there were 280 children attending the school, there were probably another 300 that were hanging around near the school but not attending. The elders of the community spoke to the community and told them that although many members of their families had been killed during the war, the children were now their future. They reminded everyone that there is hope and that if their children are able to go school they will have the opportunity for a better life.

The most rewarding part of the trip was exactly that – the hope and the smiles that you could see on people’s faces. Lives are so hard there that everyone, including the children, seem to carry a heavy weight. Seeing them laugh and be in awe of people from so far away was a real treat.

Thanks for your support. I know that sometimes donating to a far away cause can seem very distant and you question if the money was of real value. I can assure you that in this case your kindness touched many lives.