Our Start in Doing “Community Projects”

 

In 2001 our immediate area, specifically the towns of Jocotan and Camotan were placed in a red alert for “shortage of food”.  This has always been known as a poor area and is known through Guatemala as being one of the most neediest areas.  We are known to be in drought 3 out of every 5 years!  The area has been completly deforested and experts say that without major reforestation programs that this area will revert back to be a desert.  During this crisis in 2001 many institutions brought in short term help, as children were dying.  God put in our hearts that although needed, the short term assistance was not the long term solution.  The people need firewood to cook their food and so it is not possible to tell them that they cannot cut down trees.  But we need to re-educate them as to the replanting, to think toward the future.  In the past the cycle has been to: (1) cut down the trees for the needs of today; (2) without the forestation it affects the rainfall and puts the area into drought; (3) with drought there is little or no harvest; (4) without an adequate harvest the families cannot feed their children; and (5) without sufficient food, the children are the first affected

We need to change that cycle!  Experts say that this area needs to have 10 million trees planted to bring its natural environment back to a proper balance.  To date, Servant Ministries has planted almost 1 million trees.  We post an update on our web page to show you the progress that we are making to turn this situation around.  We try to plant a lot of trees that not only affect the overall environment and rainfall, but also provide something for the people to use to provide for their families.  I would like to give you a short overview of two of the trees that we have planted.

 

Ramon Tree

The Ramon or Ujuxte tree is one that we have given a lot of emphasis to.  The Ramon tree is native to other parts of Guatemala but there are signs that it used to be in our area and at one point was the principal food of the Mayan people.  It is a fruit tree that grows to be the size of a maple or mango tree.  When fully grown, it can produce from 500-800 lbs. of a fruit that is about the size of a macadamia nut.  This fruit can be cooked, ground, and turned into the dough that the people use to make their tortillas; the same process that they would use with their corn.  Since it is a fruit, it provides more vitamins than the corn tortilla does.  It is also much easier to harvest, as the mature fruit just drops to the ground and can be gathered.  If every family had 2-3 of these trees, it wouldn’t matter if their corn crop was not sufficient one year, as they would have the Ramon fruit to use in its place.  To encourage the people to respect this tree and to allow it to grow to maturity, we have renamed it the “tortilla tree”. 

 

Moringa Tree

The Moringa Tree is native to parts of Africa.  It is also called the “Miracle Tree” or “Tree of a 1000 Uses” and we have also called it the “firewood tree” with the people.  The Moringa limbs can be cut off the tree and replanted into the ground.  Starting from a 3’ stake instead of a seed, allows the tree to grow very fast.  Every 6 months you can cut off the new limbs and cut them into 3’ pieces.  We can start a family with 3-4 limbs.  If they continue to plant the new limbs that the trees produce; to encircle their property, they will have sufficient supply for their firewood needs within less than 2 years.  They can cut the limbs from one tree for today, the next tree for tomorrow etc.  By the time they make the full circle of these trees, they can repeat the same process.  Many people now spend from 1-3 hours a day just looking for adequate firewood.  This “firewood tree” has the potential of not only helping to rebalance the environment but also meets the longer term need for the people’s needs to have adequate firewood.

 

The Moringa tree’s leaves can be used for restoring malnourished children to health.  The seeds can be used for water purification and the leaves have many medicinal purposes as well.  We are mostly concentrating on the need for firewood now as that is a huge piece of bringing this area back to a proper environment that will sustain its people.

 

The above two testimonies are just 2 examples of how Servant Ministries has tried to look at the bigger picture of helping this area of Guatemala.  We have also done water cisterns, vegetable projects using the drip systems, chicken raising projects etc which we will continue to feature in our general information that is posted each month on our web page.

      

 

We ask that you consider how you may be able to help us to work toward our goals of having this area be restored to a healthy and self sustainable area where the people can break the chain of poverty that has held them captive for so long.  You may communicate with me at nancy@servantminitries.net or with the US secretary at (810)385-4338 or tamie@servantministries.net.

 

 

 

 

 

Samaritan Project Update

 

We finished houses numbers #30, 31, and 32 about a week before Christmas.  These families were able to celebrate Christmas and bring in the New Year in their new homes.  Here is some information about the 3 families:

	Family #33: Bernadina is 64 years old and has been a widow for 20 years.  She has two daughters that she has raised alone.  Kendy is 20 years old and is still going to school.  Heidy is 24 years old and had a decent job in the municipal office doing cleaning, but since we just had newly elected officials that took office in January, they usually take out the old people and put in new ones, which will probably leave her unemployed.  Bernadina washes clothes and irons for a living and make about $60 per month.  She would have never been able to see the reality of having her own home of block.  They had been living in a hut made of palm branches, so this a dream come true for her.
	Family #34: Maria is 41 years old.  She is a single mom of 3 sons who are 15, 9 and 7 years old.  Maria makes her living by washing clothes and ironing and makes about $20 per month.  Her 7 year old, Darwin, is in our Embrace program and so they receive the benefits that come with that.  Jeanne and Bill are their sponsors, and paid her quota, or this family would never be receiving a house.  The family was living with Grandma in a mud house and they are so excited to know that they will now have their own house to live in.
	Family #35: Hermenejildo (sorry, I can’t pronounce it either) is 58 years old and lives just on the edge of Camotan.  He is married and they have 10 children that are all still at home, ranging from a 30 year old mute son down to much younger ones.  Hermenejildo works when there is work on nearby farms and is able to make about $40 per month, when he works.  One daughter does cleaning for someone and earns $65 per month and one son works in a metal shop and makes about $100.  $160-200 doesn’t go that far when you have 12 people in the family!  Their house had been made of mud and so they are thrilled to have a block house for their family.
We have selected the next 3 families and will begin construction as soon as we receive the funding, probably in early February.  What a blessing to be the channel that brings such blessing to so many families!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lions’ for Sight
My southern fundraising trip in May opened a new door for the ministry’s clinic.  It was always our desire to one day offer optical service.  Few people in town and next to no one in the mountain villages wear glasses……and it isn’t because they all have perfect vision!  It is just because they cannot afford to do anything about it.  We have sold “readers” at our clinic store for a few years at a minimal price but haven’t been able to move beyond that.

The Lion’s Club has been known for years as a group that collects old discarded glasses.  Sometimes someone would bring us down a box.  But it was a matter of sitting someone down to try every pair to see if anything worked.  We have come across something that will work much better than that.  There is a local Lion’s Club in Graham, TX that has offered to buy the equipment that we will need to do the actual eye exams.  There is a factory/warehouse in Midland, TX that receives all of these used glasses.  They refurbish them, changing the lenses or frames as needed and have them marked with the calibration of the lenses.  They will send us an initial start up package of 3800 pairs of glasses, shipped to us in Guatemala.  This way we will have all of the potential options that people may need for a prescription strength that will work for them and a choice as to what fits best.  When we have used 300 pairs or so, we are to let them know what we have used and they will be replaced to maintain a good inventory of glasses.  The Lion’s Club will pay to have 1-2 people trained to know how to use this equipment and also pay for them to come to Guatemala, transporting the equipment, so that they can train some of our clinic workers to be able to do the eye exams.  The people coming to Guatemala are planned for January 2012 but the training took place in July and the shipping of the glasses will need to take place prior to their trip to Guatemala. 

Here are some important statistics that they received at the training:

40% of children (up to age 20) need some form of corrective eye glasses.
60% of adults between 20 and 40 could benefit from glasses.
100% (or nearly 100%) of adults over 40 need glasses (and this includes simple reading glasses)
80% of all people in developing countries have no access to eye care.
1 in 200 people under the age of 50 have glaucoma
1 in 10 people over 80 have glaucoma
Untreated glaucoma results in blindness in 100% of cases, and the disease has no symptoms that the patient can discern until they wake up one day blind.

 

We are excited about this new service that we can offer through the ministry’s clinic and will evaluate whether it will require further construction to give a separate space for this optical service, but we will begin with the space that we have and go from there.  There are a number of ways that we can go with this, and are considering to not only offer the service through the clinic in town but to take this service to the mountain villages to be a blessing to the people and to give them this “gift of sight”.  We will keep you posted of the progress on this outreach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water Filter Project

 

One of our Embrace sponsors from Michigan spearheaded a project to raise funds for 54 filters.    We handed these filters out in June to 54 of our Embrace families.  Clean water is so important and the lack of it is the biggest reason for much of the sickness and parasite issues that are so common with the people in Guatemala.  These water filters are easy to transport home for the people, easy to maintain and can make a huge difference to the family’s overall health.  We gave an orientation to make sure that the families know how to use them properly.  A lot of Embrace sponsors bought a water filter for their child for Christmas and so with those plus this latest distribution, about 2/3 of our Embrace families have one of these filters.  A special “thank you” to Salem Methodist Church, Pigeon Rotary Club, Pigeon Lions Club and especially to Ted and Marge Leipprandt, who oversaw the project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution for the School Sponsorship Project 2011

 

We completed our distribution of the school packs to all 31 schools by early February!  It went very smooth this year, for which we are grateful.  The January team covered 3 schools while they were here, Jeanne and Bill did over half of them, plus we had a hired driver that covered the balance.  The schools are so appreciative of what they receive.  Some had little programs prepared when the school packs arrive, some made cards to say thank you, and the teachers were always very appreciative…..because it obviously makes their jobs easier when their students have the basic supplies that they need to do their lessons.  Teacher packs were given to each school as well with some basic supplies and materials that we know will be useful to them.

 

This outreach has reached so many children.  This year almost 4000 children were blessed with their basic school supply packs and given a chance to move forward in their education toward a better tomorrow.  Some schools have actual sponsors and some are covered by general donations given to the outreach.  Some people have done the collection of pencils, crayons etc. and helped us to get supplies shipped from the US when the cost factor warranted it.  Other supplies and especially the notebooks were purchased in Guatemala!  We want to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who made this another successful year to reach out to so many children, to encourage them toward bringing in a new generation that is literate, which will give their families so many more possibilities for the future.

 

We are already planning toward the 2012 distribution so please note that we are always interested to know who may be willing to do a collection or give a donation toward this outreach.  We have 4500 erasers en route right now, that have been shipped from the US; that will begin our inventory toward the 2012 outreach.  Please let us know if you can help us continue to move forward and allow these precious children the opportunity to have a better opportunity for their future!

 

 

---

 

 

School Sponsorship Slideshow

NOTE: To replay the slideshow click the reply icon in the middle of the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reforestation Update - Moringa Limbs

 

A Guatemalan “Institution for Development” sought us out from Chiquimula.  They had heard that “someone” in Camotan had done projects with Moringa trees.  They are working in a mountain village in our area and teaching the people how to make “tomales” using the leaves mixed with a cornmeal base.  The leaves are very high in vitamins and give a lot of nutritional value.  They took videos of our trees that are planted on the clinic property to be able to use in their training sessions with the families.  We also allowed them to take 64 cutting (3 feet long each), that will be distributed amongst 32 families.  If they are diligent to care for them and get them started, they will provide not only the leaves for making tomales but also provide their family with firewood.  The stakes take hold and then grow very fast and within 6 months they can be trimmed again, harvesting the leaves and replanting the stakes.  Since we haven’t been able to do too much in the area of reforestation lately, it was nice to be able to facilitate someone else to use our resources and knowledge.

 

 

 

Why Reforestation?

Servant Minstries has been involved in a reforestation project since 2001.  This immediate area was placed in a "red alert" for food shortage in this timeframe.  This area is known to be in drought 3 out of every 5 years.  The area has been extremely deforested due to people's need to have daily firewood with no thought of replenishing the trees.  The lack of forestation affects the rainfall.  The people live off the land and so lack of rainfall means little or no harvest.  Without a harvest there is no food to care for their families.  Without that food, the children are the first that are affected, becoming malnourished and dying.  This was the problem that occured in 2001.  Many relief organizations came to hand out emergency assistance.  Although necessary, it was a bandaid measure because it was short term and didn't make any lasting changes.

 

Servant Ministries has worked since 2001 to bring lasting changes.  Experts say that we need 10 million trees planted in this area to really bring it to a healthy environment.  We are at almost one million trees to date.  We work in a number of ways to run tree nurseries with the assistance of the local people.  We also look for trees that will provide something for the people to use, to add to their food supplies above just working toward changing the environmental status.  It is a long term plan but we continue to look for ways to improve this area.

 

 

---

 

 

 

REFORESTATION TABLE FOR APRIL 2011
A	B	C	D
TYPES OF TREES	PREVIOUS TOTAL	MONTH OF MARCH	TOTAL TO DATE
Aripín	27,383	0	27,383
Avocado	10,623	0	10,623
Bamboo	1,000	0	1,000
Black Olive	92	0	92
Black Peper	4,589	0	4,589
Cashew	12,020	0	12,020
Causaurina	150	0	150
Cedar	146,975	0	146,975
Cinnamon	2,250	0	2,250
Cocoa	39,067	0	39,067
Cortes	5,000	0	5,000
Cipres	17,947	0	17,947
Coffee	9,934	0	9,934
Eucalyptus	958	0	958
Indigo	94	0	94
Madre Cacao	40,358	0	40,358
Mahagony	109,543	0	109,543
Mamey	163	0	163
Matilisguate	53,845	0	53,845
Moringa Oleifera	83,601	72	83,673
Orange Valencia	13,834	0	13,834
Papaya	2,000	0	2,000
Paraiso	3,811	0	3,811
Paterna	863	0	863
Pepeto	4,130	0	4,130
Persian Lemon	3,274	0	3,274
Pine	62,280	0	62,280
Ramon (Ujuxte)	283,621	0	283,621
Zapoton	245	0	245
TOTALS	939,650	72	939,722