Although our main focus is to relieve poverty through education, at times our children and students are not able to succeed in school due to a lack of the basic necessities of life. They do not have enough food nor adequate shelter to keep warm and dry. For the past four years we have focused on assisting a few families from the Jocotenango area of Guatemala.
The Mixia Family
The first, the Mixia family, lost their father due to alcoholism. The mother was left with four children to support on her wages of $150 per month. Although Dona Elena is illiterate, she is a strong and caring mother. We have been helping her with a food supplement allowance as well as educational expenses for her children. One of her daughters, Helena has been diagnosed with Lupus disease. We have been assisting with medical costs for her as well.
Family of Five Orphans
We also help a family of five orphans. Their mother died five years ago of AIDs. The father was murdered the following year, leaving William (at the age of 14) to care for himself and his four younger siblings. We help the family with a food supplement each month as well as funds for schooling and uniforms (which are often compulsory in Guatemala). Along with CasaSito Organization and ContstruCasa we are working towards a solution for housing for this family. Currently they are living with their grandmother in a very poorly constructed four room structure in which twenty-two people live. We hope to resolve this dilemma in the winter of 2010.
The Vega Family
We also help a third family who were in a desperate situation. The father abandoned them leaving behind six children. The youngest died in the winter of 2009 likely due to unresolved infections and poor living conditions. The mother again is not educated and can only earn a living doing laundry by hand for others. We, through the assistance of CasaSito Organization, help her with food and clothing for her children, as well as educational expenses. We want to be absolutely sure the children remain in school. The eldest, a scholarship recipient of Give Kids will graduate college this December. It will then be his responsibility to find work and help support his family.
We just cannot hold our emotion when we saw the video of Jorge Vega – a young man who found his passion and uses it to fight for a better life. Now he is considered as one of the best gymnasts in Guatemala. Streaming Video will open in a new window by Clicking Here. (6 Minute Television Short produced by the Department of Physical Education to promote school sports and physical education in Guatemala. The video features Jorge Vega, an outstanding gymnast)
The importance of this achievement is not only he may be the one who will bring his family out of poverty cycle, but he will be the one who bring hopes and dreams to those who grow up like him. Many people like Give Kids a Chance and CasaSito have been helping his family with food, scholarship and clothing etc… but none of us achieve what he does. Give Kids a Chance and CasaSito is proud of him.
Winter Outing
Each winter the directors of Give Kids take all the children from these families for an outing, to a zoo or a park for instance. It gives them one day to just play and be free of their continual problems.
