 |
| Christmas for Guatemalan Children 2018 |
Introduction
Project
Humanitarian Efforts Lifting the Lives of Others (US) in coordination with
Generacion Magnificat (Guatemala) have been celebrating Christmas with underprivileged
children from many rural communities in the Guatemalan mountains for four years
now. This year, more than 500 children received a gift bag with a dental hygiene
kit, food item, socks, towels, coloring books, and a toy ball. School aged children
received a backpack for school.
Thanks to your
donations and support, children and their families enjoyed a day full of fun
activities for the children such as puppet shows, song and dance, classes on
dental hygiene, nutrition and sanitation, and finally, a delicious typical Guatemalan
Christmas meal for everyone. Enjoy the photographs and personal testimonies
from our team volunteers. Once again, Project HELLO and Generacion Magnificat thank
you for your donations and support.
For the
past four years, my family and I have been making tamales to raise funds for
Christmas for Guatemalan Children. We do
it with lots of love since we all agree that every child deserves to feel joy
this time of year. Every year, the team brings back amazing stories and photos
of happy children opening up their presents, singing songs and playing games.
This year, I was able to see it for myself. I was able to be fully involved
from the packing of the gifts, transporting them up the mountain and handing
them out to bright-eyed kids waiting so patiently. I also had the opportunity
to take pictures of the children to then share with all of you.
Most of the
children were very shy but excited to have their picture taken. Moms would
encourage them to step forward for their turn at a picture knowing that we
would not be able to leave them with a physical copy of one. I asked a couple
of moms what it meant to their kids to receive presents for Christmas and they
were really happy and had been looking forward to this day for the past few
months. Plenty of moms shared their gratitude towards “la gente de Estados
Unidos” (the people of the United States) for making this happen, saying that
these are the only actual gifts their kids will be able to have this Christmas
because it’s not possible for them to buy things like this for them. It touched
my heart to see every child hold on to his or her bag or backpack almost as if
wanting to hold on to whatever they were feeling or thinking, forever.
Being a part of
Project HELLO has allowed me share all the good things that I have been blessed
with. My family and I are honored to be able to contribute to the joy I have
seen on children’s faces in a place in western Guatemala where the resources
are not readily available for most people. Christmas is about sharing the love
in your heart with everyone. It’s about planting seeds of hope and encouraging
others to see beyond their limitations.
Making thousands
of tamales every year can be a daunting task but after seeing the faces and
hearing the voices of all the children and families on the receiving end this
year, makes it all worth it. Thank you
for all the support towards our yearly fundraiser that you graciously
contribute to time and time again.
Merry Christmas to
you and yours!
After the work
we do every year with the families, after the fatigue that takes this whole
process, in the end we have something more to do that fills us with great joy
and satisfaction, see so many happy faces at the same time let us know that in
the end everything is worth it. This year has not been the exception; we
attended more than 500 children from 5 villages of Sibinal.
For more than a month
we were in communication with the leaders of the community, coordinating the
details of the gift giving, from the beginning we could see how each leader of
the 5 communities got involved to carry out this event, for example collecting
data on the number of children in their community, while our team in Sibinal
met week after week, hours and hours to define each detail, for example the
contents of the gift kit, to pack and organize the gifts, the agenda of the
day, activities playful, spare for children and everything related to
logistics. Finally the date arrived! From 5 o'clock in the morning we started
loading the gifts in the truck and at 6:30 am we started the trip of more than
1 hour to Vega del Volcán, the place where the activity took place.
One of the most
beautiful and interesting things this year was to see the great involvement of
the authorities of the communities in this activity, they were supporting us in
every detail, for example, the leader teacher of the local school supported us
with the sound equipment, the leaders of each village supported us in
organizing the children to deliver the gifts, this liked a lot because we saw
the commitment that they made with their communities.
We all agreed that
there was a little tension and great concern about the amount of gifts we had
planned and the number of children that would arrive this time, because in previous
years the trend was that fewer children arrived than planned, but this time we
knew that the new communities were actively participating, and that is
precisely the way it was; already at 10 o'clock in the morning more than 500
children were gathered in the place, all happy and excited to receive their
gift, how much joy also on our part and at the same time worried about if we
would achieve the goal! As planned, the program started and little by little
everything was flowing in a great way, the children responded and participated
happily in each part of the program, and finally we felt very calm when the
last group of children was attended and just the gifts reached.
It was a very
tired day but we were happy to be part of the happiness of many children!
During the return trip we were happy laughing a lot and singing to reach the
goal and for once again contribute a small happiness quota for the children in
Guatemala.
Today was
a big day! THE day - Christmas for Guatemalan Children! In all honesty, I was
dreading this day for a variety of reasons. I'm always worried that our counts
will be wrong and we won't have enough gifts or food for the children. I worry that the kids and parents won't like
the gifts or find them useful. I worry that I won't be able to contribute
meaningfully to the team and the show they put on for the kids. I worry that
I'll look like a fool. There's a trend
here - I worry a lot about this event.
My last Christmas
for Guatemalan I was distantly engaged at best. Between the hot sun and my own
insecurities, I felt extremely uncomfortable. This year I promised myself that
I would do my best to put my insecurities aside and dive in with gusto! I put
on my elf suit and my little elf hat and danced and sang in front of hundreds
of small, happy faces. It was a relief to let go, let loose, and enjoy the
moment. I may have enjoyed the songs and dances more than some of the kids!!
Generacion Magnificat had a plan in
place for how all the gifts would be divided among the different groups of
children. So, while the gifts were being distributed, Diana and I began taking
photos of the children with their gifts, and posing for fun pictures too! I had
to take a picture with the little princess! For many of these families, Christmas
for Guatemalan Children is a very special occasion - one to dress up for. Many
girls were seen in nice skirts and dresses, and for one little girl, her finest
was a beautiful, pink princess dress! Many boys were in nice button downs or
their school uniforms.
When I see how
much effort the families put into this day, dressing up nice and walking long
distances, I'm reminded just how special Christmas for Guatemalan Children is.
Coming from a background where every Christmas was celebrated with gifts and
mountains of food, it is easy for me to write off Christmas for Guatemalan
Children as one of the least impactful projects our team does. I find myself
thinking, "So, the kids get one gift on one Christmas - big deal. It
doesn't really change anything." This year, I finally got it. It is a big
deal. As the cliché saying goes, it's not the gift, it’s the thought that
counts. The idea that a group of people, from both near and far, took time out
of their lives to put on show and to provide gifts and food specifically for
the happiness and benefit of us - the children - is a memory that may very well
last a lifetime. I hope that it does. It
will for me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I love everything about this ! Great job you guys. I can relate to what Olivia was feeling though. I would hate to come up short, or give someone something they didn’t need/want. However, I think they know you all did it with heart. I love the costumes.
ReplyDelete💜💜💜 so proud. Olivia you look adorable. I am stunned by the group photo of all the kids. Your efforts will be paid forward x 500+ in years, decades ahead. I imagine you are all exhausted and emotionally spent. Sending good energy to each of you. Franco, when you began this four years ago, could you ever have imagined it becoming what it has? Your heart must be full.
ReplyDelete