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| Dolores, age 8 |
Dolores Raquel lives in Guatemala. I sponsor her as a student, but her family is also in the Mayan Families "Family Aid" program due to extreme poverty, though I don't believe they have a consistent sponsor, people do donate to help her family. Here is the summary about her and her family when I began sponsoring her:
"Dolores Raquel is 8 years old in 2011. She is in 2nd grade this year.
Her family is in the Family Aid program too. Their number is FA108
She lives in C*****, a community built by the government to house those who lost their homes during hurricane Stan.
Dolores has 2 sisters and 2 brothers.Maria is 13 years old in 2011. She began middle school in 2011.Ana Maribel is 10 years old in 2011. She is in 3rd grade in 2011.Pedro Israel is 6 in 2011. He is in kindergarten. Diego is 2 years old in 2011.The R. family is poor even by Guatemalan standards. We see a lot of people struggling day by day just to make ends meet, just to be able to eat a few tortillas a day. Pedro and Josefa work hard just to get by and support their 5 children. Pedro works as a day labourer, which means he takes whatever work he can whenever he is fortunate enough to find something. He makes approx. $19 USD per week. He had an accident several years ago during work and since has suffered constantly with head aches and a lot of back pain.
Josefa works hard weaving clothes by hand but she earns very little even when she manages to sell one of the items she makes. Josefa finds it very hard to work also because she had lumps removed from her lymph nodes in January 2010 and since then she is in a lot of pain doing the weaving.
The children do not have shoes, they have very little clothes, and what they have are in an old torn condition. The do not have a table or chairs and they were given a bed for the whole family to share, by someone in the community, but it does not have a mattress.
Josefa and Pedro really want the best for their children and they want them to go to school, but without shoes or backpacks or school supplies it is really tough.
For now, the children don't have school supplies, backpacks, or shoes."Since this time, all of the school aged children have been sponsored, which also provides them with school supplies and shoes. I was able to provide them with one month of food, a mattress, and some other much needed items (see photos below). Additionally, her brother's sponsor donated a water filter, and her sister Ana Maribel received 2 chickens for the family. More recently, someone donated another month of food for the family. I also was able to send a package for Dolores and her family through the community group. They ship together through a company and get a special rate, allowing for many donations to be sent down. I am waiting for the delivery and pictures from this as well.
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| A mysterious generous person donated a month of food for the family. June 2011 |
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| Mayan Families has special food basket donations for different holidays, this basket was for Semana Santa (Easter), but the family picked it up late, in June 2011 |
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| Dolores' receives much needs blankets for the family, June, 2011 |
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| A hygiene kit for the family, June 2011 |
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| Dolores shows her great grades! June 2011 |
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| Dolores and report card June 2011 |
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| She was given donated vitamins, as were her sisters, june 2011 |
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| I also asked for them to get a soccer ball. June 2011 |
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| Pedro's sponsor donated a water filter for the family in March 2011 |
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| Older sister Maria was sponsored later, in May 2011, and receives her school supplies. She is in Junior High. |
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| Little brother Pedro was sponsored and receives his school shoes in March 2011 |
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| Sister Ana was sponsored and receives her school supplies in March 2011 |
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| Dolores received these shoes, black shoe shoes, a backpack and other supplies for school in March 2011 |
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| The family's kitchen has an older onil stove, but they have little furniture to speak of. |
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| Dolores and her mother in the kitchen |
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| Ana Maribel receives chickens for the family (someone else's donation) |
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| Dolores' family had a wooden bed frame but no mattress. Now they have a more comfortable place to sleep! |
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| I was able to donate for the family to have a month's worth of food in February, 2011. |
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| Dolores, with her family (minus dad, probably working) in early 2011 |
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| Dolores Raquel R. in early 2011 |
