One of Seeds of Help’s recent projects is using recycled tires found as garbage all over Guatemala to make small movable gardens. This is a great way to get younger kids to participate in the garden projects.  It introduces the Guatemalan children to new produce and teaches them to utilize a waste material in an attractive and easy to maintain way. It also helps them to develop a fundamental understanding of how nutrients, water and crops work.

All members of the Marshmallow of the Month Club are receiving Coffee Chocolate Chip, Banana Cinnamon, Roasted Pineapple with Mango in their shipment this month. Limited amounts of Roasted Pineapple with Mango and Banana Cinnamon will be available at their Indy Winter Famers’ Market booth. For each bag of Coffee Chocolate Chip marshmallows purchased during January, they will donate $0.50 to Seeds of Help.

Check out their website at www.240sweet.com to learn where you can pick some up.

Below are some images taken by food photographer Stacy Able of 240sweet’s Gourmet Marshmallows

If you would like any more information or to purchase photos you may do so by contacting us at info@seedsofhelp.org and all proceeds go directly towards children’s scholarships.

Girls from a school where Seeds of Help works.

Seeds of Help has a new volunteer in Guatemala. Her name is Valerie and she will be our guest blogger for these next couple of weeks. Her voice will be the day to day activities of what one volunteer with Seeds of Help experiences. Below is her first weeks thoughts and observations as well a photo of Val with Brenda and two Seeds sponsored girls.  Both girls speak an indigenous language, Mam, and wove their own clothes.  Mirabel (between Brenda and Valerie) will be helping some of our women’s groups by teaching them to weave.

Please contact us by email at info@seedsofhelp.org if you are interested in volunteering with Seeds of Help.

Here are some photos from past trips…

Interesting day.  Today Guatemala celebrated Dia del Nino (Kids day) and I got to spend it with the community of Los Cuchumatanes.  This is the second year we have had our preschool class in this school.  We took bags full of candy (as if they needed more sugar in their lives) and three piñatas.  One for the girls, one for the boys and one for just the preschool class.  I don’t know what they make their piñatas out of but they are extremely resilient and can take a beating. Usually after everyone has had a turn the teachers intervene and break the think apart by hand.  The kids were extremely excited and had a special place they wanted to break the piñatas.  Turns out it was about a 10 minute walk from the school and there wasn’t a house in site.  The thing that made the area special was that there were two large trees from which they suspended the target of their joy.  These trees were over 200 feet apart (I don’t know where they found rope long enough.)  Two kids scrambled up the tree like they were monkeys and had the rope strung in no time.

After everyone had their bags of candy we went back to the school to hand out surprises. We gave each kid a plastic piggy bank (a few were rabbits though) to encourage them to think about their futures and about saving money.  Several kids had their little piggies named  and were introducing them to their friends.

The highlight of the day was in the evening when we met with Celso and Florintina, two of our scholarship students from Fey y Alegria.  Florintina is just precious.  She brought her cousin along and she reminded me of how Florintina was when I first met her.  The cousin said nothing and sat quietly.  If asked a question she would respond politely and quietly and then try to sink further into the shadow.  By contrast Florintina starts out quiet but curious.  She is extremely gracious and quiet at first.  Once you get her talking though she becomes animated and full of life.  We had a long conversation about differences in her version of Mam and the version of Mam spoken in TotoSantos.  In theory the same indigenous language but with numerous differences.  Tomorrow we will show her where we hope she will be living as she has completed her studies at Fey y Alegria and will be attending the next level of education next year.

The biggest surprise was Celso (known to some as Ancelmo).  When we first met him we recognized right away that he was a bright young man.  As he was the first person in his village to graduate from the 6^th grade we felt he had lots of potential.  He was very quiet and respectful.  His first year at boarding school took some adjustment.  He went from sharing one teacher with 6 other grades to living with students from all over Guatemala and having a variety of new teachers and topics.  This is the end of his second year and I could barely recognize him as the same person.  He is still respectful and very polite but he is now a young man.  He is enthusiastic and well spoken.  He is quite animated and thoroughly looks forward to exploring any new topic that may present itself.  He is extremely appreciative of the opportunity we helped to give him.  He no longer wears the cowboy boots and hat of his youth and he recognizes that he has to be an example to his family and other youths of his village.

We raised enough money to cover Florentina’s first year of technical school. Guatemalan children generally get school provided for them for the first 6 years by the government. If the child wants to continue, the family must pay for a middle school (like our junior/high school). Then past those three years, if the child wants to get a degree in a trade like shoe making, mechanical work, construction, nursing, teaching, they go for another 3 years (like our college/trade schools here) which again the family must pay for.

Most families in the rural area of Huehuetenango, Guatemala have 6+ children so they can hardly afford to feed their families much less pay to send their children to school. When we first met Florentina we saw her enthusiasm to continue her education and wanted to help her achieve her dream. Women in Guatemala have an exceptionally hard time continuing their education as they are perceived as the care takers and often marry young and have to care for their families. So, Florentina who wants to continue to study nursing and teaching is a beacon of light and with our help she’ll be able to go to school as well as be a great example to other young woman in her area.

Photos were taken by Jarvis Cooper of Faith Ministries in Columbus, Indiana.

When: Saturday, September 19, 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Where: Faith Ministries, 5103 State Road 46 West (Past CVS on the left)
Suggested free will donation: $10 per person | Raffle: $5.

Kids will be grouped by age for their own special classes while adults enjoy their
own yoga time in another room. Teachers include Kathy Therber, Sarah Hess
and Tracy Lehfeldt. After yoga, a raffle for Guatemalan goods, light snacks, and
information on Florentina and Seeds of Help’s work in Guatemala will be presented.

Contact (Yoga): Kathy Therber ktherber@hotmail.com or 342-7627
Contact (Seeds of Help): Walter Able wable04@gmail.com or 552-1007

Sponsored by Yoga Now and Seeds of Help

See photo and description of Florentina on the blog prior

Seeds of Help has several various water tanks which are essential for helping families and schools get through the dry season (november to march). The tanks catch rain water off the roofs of houses and schools during the rainy season. They take several weeks to make as the holes need to be dug, cement poured and dried, among several other steps. Seeds of Help has made hundreds if not thousands of tanks to assist the people of Huehuetenango, Guatemala.

Here are some photos Neto graciously shared with us for our Seeds of Help Blog:

Cashew Fruit – A rare site!

flying out of Indianapolis, but if you are in another area and would like to see the real guatemala please contact seedsofhelp@yahoo.com.

Our tentative itinerary is:

March 14th- Fly into Guatemala City Airport (GUA) early afternoon, drive to Panajhel, dinner at the beautiful sunset restaurant over looking the majestic Lake Atitlan

March 15th- In the morning travel to Chichicastenango to explore the largest market in Guatemala.In the afternoon we will drive to the department of Huehuetenango and stay in”the city of “huehue”.

March 16th- Journey up the mountain to visit the areas that Seeds of Help operates. Meet woman’s groups, school children, and participate in a cooking class where Seeds teaches the woman’s groups prepare fresh, local, and economical vegetables, and fruits to create more nutritious meals.

A girl from Seeds Groups

March 17th, 18th, 19th- work in a middle school (Fe y Alegría) in Chiantla with students.Various groups and sessions to teach the students skills they can pass onwards to their family will take place.

March 20th- Drive to Guatemala city (a journey that can take 4-8 hours depending on road blocks) stay in hotel downtown to catch flight home early the next day

March 21st- Fly home