04/30/2021
Many of you have been asking how our students are doing in Guatemala. Attached is a letter from the principal of the school. Thank you again for all your donations.
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/my-melody-building-materials-fund/?fbclid=IwAR1z8dKbt_T03_Fbqnerygq7whcWsEJ9ptHWwY6ifnx38RBeXxgLX4wGNt4
Guatemala April 23rd, 2021
Dear friends:
I hope you are doing very well and staying safe and healthy during these difficult times.
I am writing to give you an update on the situation of our children and their families here in Guatemala. Right now, we have a total of 218,145 cases registered of covid 19 in the country, however these are just the people that have been tested. Many are not tested so the total number of cases is much higher. Sadly 7,345 people have lost their lives so far due to the pandemic. I also have to report that so far, the country has received only 5000 vaccines donated by Israel and 80,000 vaccines donated by India. The government has said that they bought enough vaccines for half of the population of Guatemala but none of them have arrived yet. The donated vaccines were given to the doctors and nurses in the country. Unfortunately, some of the vaccines disappeared from where they were being stored, and in the news we found out that all the students at the most expensive private university in the country were also vaccinated. Also, in the news we found out that the government had bought a shipment of covid testing kits that was found to be fake and that is was worth millions of dollars. So those are some of the problems that we are seeing here in Guatemala.
Also, I have to report that I have confirmation from the families in our school, that six families have contracted the covid 19. When they went to the local hospital, they were all turned away as the hospital is completely full. So, they all had to return home and cure themselves using home remedies. Many of the people in these families got really sick, especially the older ones, but I am very happy to report that all the people in these families were able to survive. I think there are more families in our school that contracted the virus but do not want to tell, as people look down on families that have the disease. We have heard of cases of families that were forced to leave their homes because the neighbours have got together and threatened these families as they blame them for bringing the covid 19 to their community. What some doctors have recommended to us is for the families to do gargles with salt water so that when the virus is still in the throat, it can be killed by the salt water. This is what many families in our school are doing to try to avoid getting sick.
Also, I would like to inform you that most families have adapted to the current situation we live in. The ones that lost their jobs have found new ones or have created their small businesses; they still are not doing as well as before the pandemic started but at least they are able to survive. We had some of our students that left the school, this is due to the families moving to a different town where the parents work. Before the pandemic the parents used to travel to their work places but now the bus fare is so expensive now that they were investing most of their pay cheque in transportation. As a result, they opted for moving to the town where they work and the children are now going to a school in that town.
As for the students, they continue to receive assignments they can do at home. We do this since the ministry of health and the ministry of education do not give us permission to open the schools yet. Now the students receive a package of assignments every two weeks, the teachers grade them and do a follow up if they see the students did not understand something or did not do their homework. The result is that the students have completed most of their assignments and are doing well. Many of the parents have told me that their children miss the school, their teachers and friends. Many times, the children ask their parents to at least take them to school the day they receive their assignments, this so they can at least see the school one time. On Wednesday I handed out the biweekly assignments and the girl you see below stayed behind and wanted to tell me something but would not dare to. Finally, her mother told me that she and her sisters had made a letter to their teachers saying that they missed them very much and they hoped that they could return soon to school. The last time the students saw their teachers and their friends was on March 13th 2020, to them is a huge part of their lives.
I also visit students at home, especially if they are falling behind in their homework. Last week I visited one of the older boys who is now 16 years old and among other things he told me that he really wants to finish his education and graduate. He told me that due to the pandemic his father does not have as much work as before. Since he is the older child in the family, he has looked for work to help his family. His father took him to the construction job where he was working at the time and was told that the only job they could offer our student was to carry materials to the construction site. The construction site was on the 16th floor of a building in the capital city of Guatemala. The materials were delivered to the basement of the building and since the owner of the building did not want the workers to dirty the elevator, they had to carry ALL the construction materials to the top. The job of our student was to carry 100 lb sacks of cement on his back from the basement to the sixteenth floor all day long, earning about 100 CDN a month. Our student told me that he did not want to do that kind of job for the rest of his life and that he really wants to become an architect. I think he can do it.
Similar to this student we have other students selling food with their mother using a wheel barrel and going house to house. Some of them take care of farm animals, some clean houses, some make tortillas with their mother, some gather wood for cooking, some help in a mechanic shop, etc.
I also want to inform you that thanks to your generosity we were able to provide food money to the families in our school for a total of 8 months. We have given the money to the families in the school and we are very thankful to all of you as this money helped the families in the crucial months last year during the beginning of the pandemic.
At this point I would like to thank you once again for your kindness and remind you that thanks to you many children will be able to get out of poverty through education.
Igor Xoyon
Melody School
Guatemala
[email protected]
www.melodyschool.org
