lørdag, november 12, 2005

Thank you so much for all of your help!

Dear friends of la Hermandad Educativa,

On behalf of all of our people at el Proyecto Lingüístico and la Escuela de la Montaña I want to thank each and everyone of you who have sent donations to the Hermandad Educativa Relief Fund for communities that were hit by the intense rains after hurricane Stan last month.

I have been overwhelmed by your response to the letters that the schools and I sent out less than a month ago. I called the school to tell them about the collection in Europe so far, and I was extremely pleased to be able to say that so far we have received donations from former students in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, England, and New Zealand, and the present total adds up to... more than 2200 euros or US $2,600. I know that our friends in North America also have been very generous.

These are the words of Carlos Sánchez from el Proyecto Lingüístico Quetzalteco:
In the face of the darkness of the tragedy and the pain inflicted by Hurrican Stan on thousands of Guatemalans, we see a glimmer of hope and of human solidarity through your donations. You may rest completely assured that your help is being delivered to the Guatemalans in need. In the name of all the affected: thank you, thank you very much!

The school is working in coordination with el Comité de Emergencia in San Martin Sacatepequez and it is through this local council that emergency foods have been brought out: maize, rice, beans, sugar, and cooking oil. The council has representatives from all of the damaged communities of the area as well as NGO's, churches, and the municipality, who have determined what are the most urgent needs and how the help delivered is to be distributed among the communities.

This is the best way to make sure that your donations are converted swiftly into goods that are really needed in the communities, and at the same time a just distribution of the goods delivered is ensured.

When the emergency has cleared up a bit the council and our schools will look at how to provide housing for people who lost their houses during the flooding. Some houses will be repaired, and new houses will be built. Your donations will be converted into construction materials: tin roofs, blocks of concrete, cement etc.

You can still help
Students and teachers from our schools have volunteered to help rebuild houses in the affected communitites. They and the people of San Martín are grateful to know that they are not alone in their efforts to rebuild these communities. If you would like to help, you can still make a donation towards their work. Please see the letter to friends of Hermandad Educativa for information on what you can do.

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