One Tiny Family, One Big Difference
Guatemala consistently falls short on international parameters for the well-being of its people. Rank this Central American country’s numbers for crime, poverty, literacy and violence against women, and Guatemala’s statistics fall in the red zone.
The current humanitarian crisis in the world is unprecedented. BBC radio recently reported that the United Nations needs 16 BILLION dollars to assist 57 MILLION of the world’s most vulnerable citizens. The lack of basic food, electricity, safety and shelter is so acutely urgent in parts of the world that Guatemala shines in comparison.
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| Helping with household chores 2012 |
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| Isabela’s former house |
FFF board members can’t help families in Yemen or Syria, but we can look southward, and see a ray of hope for some of the women we have assisted.
In the spirit of looking for the positive in a badly bruised world, we would like to introduce you to recent photos of Isabela.
Here was the report we received on Isabela, who is raising her four orphaned grandchildren, in the spring of 2012 when we first brought them into our program:
1.The roof leaks everywhere (the roofing is at least 20 years old)
2.The leaking roof has caused the house siding to become rotten
3.The floor is earth and of course with all the water, it is constantly muddy
4. Many of the planks are missing, allowing animals to enter
5.The “kitchen” is a small room of six feet square, the roof is made of old tin roofing and plastic. There is no door and all the wood is rotten
The bottom line is that the grandmother fears the buildings are at a point of caving in at any time. At this point, they have crowded the family in with a neighbor. Delivery of two sacks of corn and a bag of black beans were donated.
In June of 2012 we were able to add this family to our program, in collaboration with Adopt-A-Village Guatemala. What a difference two years of humanitarian assistance makes! The family has gained weight, Isabela’s stress level has lowered and the children are sponsored in school. Thanks to a new waterproof house and monthly food donations, Isabela and her grandchildren are five fewer people out of the 57 million that are critically in need of humanitarian efforts worldwide.
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| Isabela’s new house, 2013, donated by FFF supporters |
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| Sebastian and Ana in 2012; malnourished and shoeless |
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| Look at them now! |
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FFF donated house, beds and blankets
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