Happy New Year!
Here are some highlights from 2024.
What a great year for our participation and support at the elder care home in Esquipulas, Guatemala! From starting off the year ensuring they had new cookware and a new sewing machine, to providing food and sundry support during our visit in August. Our shopping list included proper garbage cans, proper compost bins, yard and gardening tools, two floor fans, tons of food and sundries, mops, brooms, and more.
From left to right: Dona Miranda, whose three children are still involved in her care; Dona Maria del Carmen, who was unable to care for herself and was abandoned in her home by her daughters; Dona Anna Maria, who really does resemble an aging movie star, as her name implies, and who was also abandoned by her children in her home; and Dona Christina, who has no family to help her. Don’t let Dona Christina’s sour face fool you in this photo — she is warm, friendly, and has a death grip if you hug her — and her hugs are worth having your neck nearly broken!
Above, left: Madre Vilma tries to convince our escape artist, Dona Maria Elena, to relinquish the big stick she found while we were out on a walk one day. Dona Maria Elena is likely to use it as a weapon against the nuns if she would be allowed to keep it. Yes, Madre Vilma convinced Dona Maria Elena to give her the stick for safe keeping. Above, right: One of our shopping trips being loaded in the back of the truck with Frank’s (our former Guatemala Program Manager) help.
The highlight of the year, of course, was getting the organic garden off the ground. Two and a half years in the works, we were at finally able to partner with a local organization to train the nuns on how to keep a garden, and get the seedlings started.
We have big things planned for next year, including an expansion to the program and to the garden itself.
Next year, we will train two young women from the two-year Foundation Program (these are young women in study as the prepare to take their vows as nuns) on organic gardening so they can support the garden for their duration in the program. When they graduate, they’ll take this knowledge with them into their assignment, benefiting multiple families and elders. We’ll then train two more young women, and the cycle will continue.
In addition, we will move the garden closer to the elder care home, where the soil is better, and construct a roof over raised planting boxes to protect the plants from the torrential rains which last for months each year. In addition, we’ll add a rainwater collection system to support the garden.
Look for big things to come in 2025!
