With the sever economic situation across the globe it is causing sever hardship on countries that were already facing financial problems like Guatemala.
A new Survey on Remittances 2009: Children and Adolescents, the eighth in this IOM-Guatemala series and jointly produced with UNICEF, confirms the negative impact of the financial crisis on children and adolescents in Guatemala.
The decline in remittances from family members abroad has forced tens of thousands of children to leave school and find work to supplement the family income.
Amongst the 3,000 households interviewed by IOM and UNICEF, 8.7 per cent of the children between 7 and 17 years-old can no longer attend school and 7.4 per cent or 92,905 children of the same age have been forced to find jobs to supplement the family income.
“Forty-two per cent of these children were in school in 2008. This confirms the direct impact of the financial crisis on the choices families are making,” explains Delbert Field, IOM Chief of Mission in Guatemala.”
This is sever and only getting worse. With no economic relief insight young men and women that have come to America to work and send money back home are now starting to head back across the borders to their home countries. Conditions for them here are not much better than what they came from.
Back in 2006 I took a team of people down to Guatemala to do some work in Xatzán Guatemala. We had a great time and got to meet some wonderful people while doing the work on three church buildings. We stayed a week in Patzun while working on the buildings in Xatzán. This area of Guatemala is so beautiful and the people are wonderful. I could easily live in this part of the country. I don’t think my family could easily adapt to this life, since it is like falling back to the 1800’s lifestyle.
These young women were so fascinated in watching us work, it is probably easy to say that they had never seen people from other countries before. This area of Guatemala is pretty much untouched by many people from the United States of other visiting people.
Once a year the country of Guatemala celebrate a day set aside for children. Activities abound especially in Antigua. The one day of the year that is devoted to the happiness of children throughout the country. Wealthier city people donate presents and toys to be given to the kids out into the country.
Parque Central on October 2 is filled with children and parents, clowns and music, any thing and every thing that children love. It is a special time of year.
This is the family kitchen in a typical Mayan Indigious home in the highlands of Guatemala.
In the back of the kitchen the little room made of wood is the family bathroom.
This is a typical kitchen for the Mayan family, several homes I visit are not even this nice or roomy.
In the picture is a pot of chicken soup cooking on the open wood fire in the middle of the room. We sat with the family and enjoyed dinner later that evening, and to report the soup was wonderful.
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I was going through some of my pictures from past visits with Escuela Integrada.
Kidergarten Graduation Day at Esceula Integrada
This picture was when we were visiting during a Kindergarten Graduation celebration. These children may have a hope in this war torn country with getting a good education from this awesome school.
Girls playing basket ball at Chuchuca Escuela Integrada
While visiting the Escuela Integrada school in Chuchuca Guatemala I was able to get this photo taken of these girls playing basket ball. The girls are so camera shy, some may have never seen a camera before. If you notice the girls all wear indigenous dress everywhere they go.
Reported in the Cuban News Agency was an article that was reported that Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom demanded “cessation of Washington’s economic, financial and commercial blockade of Cuba, a measure that, he expressed, is part of the past”.
He also mentioned later on in his address that ”The Cuban people have suffered a lot due to the blockade and, therefore, it should disappear, added the head of state in a conversation with Prensa Latina news agency during a break of the UN General Assembly meeting”.
This is a picture of my wife Toni and a Mayan mother showing off her needle work. She is working on a new Hupil like the one she is wearing. All the art work and needle work is done by hand. This picture was taken while we were working on Escuela Integrada school in Chuchuca Guatemala. This family lives across the dirt lane from the school. Her children attend Escuela Integrada. If it was not for this school more than likely her children would not get an education.
I could not pass up taking this picture. We were in a church in Chuchuca Guatemala, Chuchuca is in the mountain highlands outside of Patzun Guatemala. These lovely faces on these children are something you never forget after being their. Children like this one is what Andrew and Becky Loveall gave up what they had in the United States to start Escuela Integrada school and give these children a chance for a education.
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Pictured here is the Central Parkfountain in Antigua Guatemala. I just love hanging out here day and night. It is so peaceful even though there is a lot of activity around and in the park.
Shoe shine children in Central Park, Antigua Guatemala
In Central park this is a common site, shoe shine children. These children start work as young as four or five years old. Andrew and Becky of Escuela Integrada try there hardest to befriend these children and hopefully get them into school to get a good education. The problem is that a lot of these families depend on the income from these small children to put food on the table for the families.
I really value your feedback on my post. Please leave a comment, I would appreciate it very much.
Escuela Integrada
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of the children in Guatemala. Every dollar you give go's to Escuela Integrada.
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