Dear Benefactors to the Alix Donation Fund, Ghislain, and Friends,
Thank you for being so wonderful!
Your leadership and participation in the Christmas 2004 Alix Donation Fund and GOD'S CHILD Project Action Efforts brought Christmas joy and happiness to hundreds of extremely poor children in Guatemala, Central America, and affected the lives of thousands of abandoned mothers and their children.
These six separate and distinct Christmas actions for the Alix Donation Fund were accepted, encouraged and led by ANA volunteer Ghislain d'Humieres, to whom we are extremely grateful.
1st Activity: December 15th - Roosevelt Hospital Pediatric Ward, Guatemala City
# of poor children assisted: 225
Cost: $ 2,587
After obtaining special permission from national authorities from the Guatemalan Ministry of Public Health, on Wednesday, December 15th, GOD'S CHILD Project and Nuestros Ahijados volunteers went to the Pediatrics Ward of Guatemala City's Roosevelt public hospital and held a Christmas party for 225 poor and possibly orphaned children interned there. Gifts were given to each child, and the bedridden children in the Intensive Care and Children's HIV-Positive sections were visited, talked with, and made to laugh by project volunteers. Gifts were given to, or left with, each hospitalized child.
One of the girls who was a patient at the Roosevelt hospital the day our volunteers were there was the survivor from a recent drug-related massacre where her entire family died. She had spent four days sitting next to her dead mother's body before she was discovered by police. As you can imagine, this small girl's happiness in meeting our volunteers, singing Christmas songs with them, and receiving a gift and a warm Merry Christmas hug, was overwhelming.
As we were limited to the size of gift each child could receive, we also used a portion of your donations to purchase additional blankets and sheets for the beds these children sleep in.
The volunteers left the Roosevelt public hospital with precious memories of the profound happiness they saw on the faces of the hospitalized children they had brought Christmas to that day. Some of these children hadn't had visitors in weeks, if at all. Even though they might have been ill or in pain, the childrens' smiles and spirit-filled words, as they ate their sweets and held your gift in their hands, were perfect reasons for the Alix Donation Fund to have made this day happen.
Get ready. When you click on this link (or copy and paste it into your browser), you are going to see some of the photographs that were taken this day as we shared your Christmas love, gifts and goodwill with the children in Guatemala City's Roosevelt Hospital.
2nd Activity: December 16th - FIDESMA, San Andrés Itzapa
# of poor children assisted: 200
Cost: $ 2,600
The 2nd activity that you, as benefactors to the Alix Donation Fund, did for the poor children of Guatemala, Central America, this Christmas through The GOD'S CHILD Project was that on Thursday December, 16th, you provided an exciting Christmas party with candy and toys for 200 extremely poor children in the Mayan Indian villages that surround San Andrés Itzapa, Chimaltenango. These children live in desperate situations where their families marginally live through the harvesting of small annual crops of corn and beans from tiny pieces of land. With your Christmas party, food and gifts, you gave these children happiness and the pleasure of receiving their own Christmas gift; something most of them had never before experienced.
Most of the children, and many of their mothers, who were at this Alix Donation Fund Christmas Party also said this had been the only Christmas party these boys and girls had ever received. We are sure they will never forget this party, their gift, and the day's songs, hugs and "Merry Christmas" words.
By clicking on the following link (or copying and pasting this link into your browser), you can see some of the many happy faces you and the Alix Donation Fund brought this year to these 200 very poor children in FIDESMA and San Andres Itzapa, Chimaltenango.
3rd Activity: December 17th - San Bartolomé Milpas Altas and El Hato
# of poor families assisted: 222
Cost: $ 2,670
The 3rd Christmas activity you through the Alix Donation Fund made possible for the impoverished children and families of Guatemala this Holiday Season was the Friday, December 17th, delivery of 222 Christmas baskets to abandoned and abused mothers in the Mayan Indian villages of San Bartolomé Milpas Altas and El Hato. These rural villages are outside of Antigua Guatemala and, due to the disappearances and the violence that occurred during Guatemala's recent 37-year civil war, and the more contemporary problems of unemployment and alcoholism, both villages have high proportions of single, abandoned and abused mothers.
Prior to December 17th, GOD'S CHILD Project volunteers purchased necessary basic-utility foods, household supplies, and specially-chosen "Christmas Sweets" and prepared them into 222 food baskets. Early in the morning on December 17th, project volunteers and staff members loaded these food baskets into our own and rented vehicles and drove them to San Bartolomé Milpas Altas and El Hato, where over two hundred single and abandoned mothers were excitedly waiting for us... many with children in hand. In these villages we held a wonderful Christmas party, holiday songs were sung, and all of your Christmas baskets distributed to these poor mothers and their children.
The women repeatedly expressed their appreciation to us... to YOU... and countless times gave you their blessings and deeply sincere words. Some of them mentioned that they had never before received a Christmas gift, much less one as practical and beautiful as the Christmas basket we gave them in your name through the Alix Donation Fund. This day's activity ended with sincere hugs for everyone and the heart-felt words, "Merry Christmas".
Thank you for contributing the funds to the Alix Donation Fund to make this special activity possible. By clicking on this link (or copying and pasting this link into your browser) you'll be taken to a slide show of photographs that were taken this day.
From the women, their children, and all of us, ¡GRACIAS!
4th Activity: January 6th - San Miguel Dueñas and Ciudad Vieja
# of poor family households assisted: 100
Cost: $ 2,815
The 4th Christmas activity you did for the poor families of Guatemala this year through the Alix Donation Fund was the distribution of 100 no-maintenance water filters to 100 families (527 individuals) in two impoverished communities located 10 and 20 minutes outside of Antigua Guatemala. 80% of the population in these communities depend on small-field crops as their sole source of income for their families, and they are very poor people. Since they lack the basic resources to buy even the necessary amounts of food, they particularly don't have the resources to buy purified or treated water. As a result, they drink the untreated water that comes from field pipelines or directly from contaminated streams and wells dug for plant irrigation.
These water filters were delivered to these 100 poor families on January 6th, The Feast of Three Kings. The 100 mothers who received these water filters from you expressed their absolute appreciation for this gift, since the treated water that comes from these life-saving Eco Water Filters will immediately reduce, if not eliminate, parasitic stomach infections in themselves and their children. By clicking on the following link (or copying and pasting this link into your browser), you can see some of the happy women and children you have helped with your gift of these water filters; people you will continue to help for months and years to come.
5th Activity: Special Education Students in Antigua & Surrounding Communities
# of handicapped students assisted: 65
Cost: $ 6,375
The 5th Christmas Activity you did through the Alix Donation Fund is to enable 65 physically, mentally, intellectually and emotionally handicapped children to study in school for the entire 2005 school year (January - October). This education is made possible through your financial sponsorship of new school year start-up funds and the salaries of two professional teachers for the Hermano Pedro Special Education School (EEHP); an elementary school for handicapped and special needs I co-founded in 1991 to provide part of a "safety net" to help the project's very poor children who just aren't "little geniuses who live in cardboard houses".
When the Hermano Pedro Special Educational School (EEHP) began in 1991, it was an informal educational effort staffed entirely by constantly-changing volunteers. You'll be glad to know it is now recognized by the Guatemalan Ministry of Education as an accredited special education school, and seeks to employ certified, special education educators. The children who attend this school have problems of Down Syndrome, Shaken Baby Syndrome, Alcohol and Drug-Related Fetal Syndrome, physical disabilities, mental ability challenges and severe learning disorders.
When you click on this link (or copy and paste it into your browser), you are going to see some of these 65 special needs children as they excitedly start out their new school year.... thanks to you!
6th Activity: New School Year for The GOD'S CHILD Project's Guatemalan children
# of poor children assisted: 1,450
Cost: $ 16,933
Last December we told the project's 2,586 boys and girls to NOT expect any new school year start-up financial help (enrollment fees, uniforms) from the project in January 2005, simply because we didn't believe there would be any funds to help them with.
As you can imagine, we were ALL worried about how we... and particularly the children... were going to start the new school year this January without any funds.
The 6th Christmas Action done for the poor children of Guatemala through the Alix Donation Fund benefactors was to collect the necessary funds needed to enable The GOD'S CHILD Project-sponsored Guatemalan charities to pay the school enrollments for 1,450 very poor boys and girls, and/or to purchase for these children the basic school uniforms each individual school requires. Those of you who have been to Guatemala and who have visited the project have personally met many of these boys and girls, and now, when they really needed you... you responded with your love and your financial help!!
By clicking on this link (or copying and pasting this link into your browser), you, as Alix Donation Fund benefactors worldwide, will see the smiles and excitement of some of the hundreds of children who were in the project's office last week, picking up school enrollment checks needed to study at any of the 87 schools nationwide that the project's children are enrolled in.
In addition, your support as Alix Donation Fund benefactors, paid for new school year expenses at our Colegio San Bernardino for Mayan Indian Children in Chimaltenango, and at the Open Heart School in Chiquimulia for orphaned, abandoned, and neglected sons and daughters of Guatemala's coastal migrant workers.
You can only imagine how grateful all of these children and families are to you, our Alix Donation Fund benefactors, for making all of these wonderful, educational, and life-saving activities possible this year.
Thank you!
Patrick Atkinson
Founder, Executive Director
The GOD'S CHILD Project
Asociación Nuestros Ahijados de Guatemala, ONG
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