Family Support Center (formerly La Guarderia/daycare)

The Family Support Center was created to serve single working mothers in Llanos del Pinal, a rural K'iche Maya community situated 20 minutes south of Quetzaltenango in the Guatemalan highlands. Meals, educational support, and extra-curricular activities are provided for the 36 children aged 2-18 who attend the Center at any given time. This institution allows for parents to continue working after school lets out. These extra hours of work enable families to earn enough money to continue sending their children to school.

The Center is staffed by seven full- and time-part employees, including one teacher. The staff cleans, cooks, and maintains the Center. The staff is thought of as family by the children because many children have difficult family lives.

The Family Support Center is supported by volunteers from the Pop Wuj Spanish School, and is regarded by the Foundation Todos Juntos as a priority because it is the only place where children can receive help on their homework, as their parents (or parent) tend to be illiterate and unable to academically assist the education of their children.

The epidemic of malnutrition which plagues Guatemalan children is combated here as well. The Center provides children with healthy meals and vitamins to aid in their natural development along with medicinal lotions to fight off skin diseases. All of the children receive regular check-ups from the staff and volunteers of the Pop Wuj Medical Clinic.

Along with services to the children, the Center provides counseling and social work services to the families who participate in the program. Familial disintegration, alcoholism, and depression are common problems in Llanos del Pinal and the Center offers hope to individuals suffering from such problems by offering them a broader community.

At the Family Support Center a Greenhouse Project was also started as part of our Environmental Program in 2007. Its goal is to provide safe food for the children at the Center and create a source of income for the Center by growing food products that can be sold in the market. The Greenhouse Project also allows the children to learn healthy agricultural and environmental skills and practices. We are planning to plant spinach, radishes, and cilantro in 2012.

The Family Support Center costs approximately $2,000 a month to run. The budget consists of salaries for the seven full- and part-time employees, food, dry goods, cooking fuel, cleaning supplies, utilities, and rent.




Monday, December 5, 2011

Birthday Party at the Guardería

This week proved to be busy for the children of the Guardería. On the 21st of November, the children made invitations for their families for the Christmas party held at Pop Wuj. While making Christmas cards is not an educational tool, it gives the children an opportunity to invite the rest of their family to spend time together in a relaxing environment, hopefully strengthening family ties.


On the 24th of November, we had our final birthday party of the year! To help with the celebration, several volunteers made decorations and baked cakes.

Although, the decorations would not have been complete without the help of the children pasting balloons to the ceilings and walls.

Two of our student volunteers donated two piñatas and small gifts for the birthday children! Although it took a great amount of effort of all the children, the two piñatas were finally broken and the children were able to stuff their bags full of candy and peanuts.

Breaking open the Piñata

After everyone was worn out of the excitement of the piñatas, the children retired into the Guardería for cake and gift opening. The birthday party was a success!