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.




Friday, July 19, 2013

Vacations

The last week of June was vacation week, thanks to el Día del Maestro. That meant 39 free and unoccupied niños. But thankfully we managed to fill (in fact overfill) the week and the bored minds of the kids.

Monday: We spend the day making pulceras (bracelets) out of wool. The tricky designs and craft-work were quickly conquered by the kids and by the end of the day all had arms full with bracelets. The activity was so popular it continued into most of Tuesday and some even spent the next week turning up with new ones they had made at home.

Tuesday: We had our periodic medical control out at the family support centre. With a brigade of doctors and med students here at the school we headed out to do our health check ups. Height, weights and general checkups were all taken. And apart from the odd cold all came through with flying colors.

Wednesday: After a couple of weeks of detailed planing and writing and with the great help of a couple social work students, we presented workshops (talleres) on healthy relationship and sexuality, drugs and alcohol, and education. We broke the kids into 3 groups, the young kids together (minus the pulgitas) and separated the older boys and girls. The sexuality taller focused, firstly on respect for yourselves and the importance of respect, friendship, and support for your partner. We also touched on the delicate subject of sex and contraception with the older ones. Drugs and alcohol spoke of the reality of why people drink and even like to drink, but that it also has grave consequences. It finished up with alternative solutions to dealing with problem drinking. Finally we wrapped up the morning with the importance of education in all forms, not just in school. They all went down much better than expected, although it just about exhausted the concentration of the smaller conejos (8-10 years).

Thursday: Reforestation, with the help of the last group of families that had received stoves and 15 Pop Wuj students. We all ventured up into the surrounding hills of Llanos del Pinal and some even half way up Volcan Santa Maria. We successfully planted over 400 arbolitos. A great time was had by all, especially by the families that generously donated their precious land for the project.





Friday: After a very busy week it was time to recover, so making dream-catchers was just the perfect way to recuperate, and recover all that spent energy of the week past.