Dear Friends:
We wish you a happy holiday. May you, your families, friends, and your businesses continue to be blessed.
Here in El Triunfo, Guatemala, we know that we are privileged to have had your support in all our attempts to serve the community.
This year marks the end of our 20th year of service to the people of El Triunfo.
To report the death of one child is devastating, and is even more tragic when the cause of death is due to undernourishment. Sadly, in the first five years of our services, five children died from undernourishment.
Due to our determination to bring nourishment to children and pregnant mothers, first through vitamins and then through our One Egg A Day program, we are grateful to report that in the past 15 years not one child has died from undernourishment.
While this is great news, we continue to fight for the wellbeing of the children and people of El Triunfo.
Unfortunately we still see too many illnesses among children and women. Too many small children suffer from asthma, chronic coughing, and headaches. Too many women suffer from difficulty in breathing, muscular pain, and headaches.
We believe that the probable cause for these illnesses are due to the handmade wooden stoves that 99% of the people of El Triunfo use to cook. The stoves produce a tremendous amount of smoke, ash, and heat.
Because families live in small quarters, the smoke and ashes fill their houses, causing children to have asthma and other chronic lung issues.
The other issue is the large amount of wood that must be used daily with the homemade stoves. The women spend 3+ hours a day walking through unsafe terrain, looking for wood, chopping it, and bringing it home to cook with.
Every single day these women do this. It is very hard on their bodies, causing chronic pain and other issues. The use of pain pills of all sorts is rampant.
This is why we have made it a priority to address this issue in 2020.
Thanks to a very generous donation from several donors and friends, we will be purchasing 117 Eco Stoves (www.estufaschispa.com). These stoves will be given to 117 families in El Triunfo.
The stoves will help families cook in a clean environment, free of smoke and ashes. We believe that this will help increase overall health and wellbeing, and decrease the lung related health issues rampant in our village. With the efficient use of wood, the stoves will also help preserve this precious natural resource.
We are 15 stoves, $3,075, short of our goal to provide one stove per family in El Triunfo.
We are asking you, our donors and friends, to please consider making a donation of the cost of one stove. Just $205.00.
This is an urgent request because the rest of the stoves must be paid for by mid January for us to get our special non profit pricing.
Please, consider donating by sending a check or donating electronically by visiting our website at www.guatemalanproject.org/donate.
Thank you. It is because of you that we are able to impact so many families and children in need.
Again, HAVE A BLESSED HOLIDAY.
