GVH Blog
June 27, 2020
GVH is thrilled to announce our upcoming debut event, Race to Guatemala, which starts next Saturday on July 4th and will last until our Guatemalan Independence Day celebration!
In teams of 15, we will be covering the 3700 miles between Seattle and El Estor in 71 days with your help! Registration and more details to come! #RacetoGuateGVH
June 19, 2020
Thank you so much for those who joined us on Friday and Saturday nights. We had a wonderful time making Tres Leches, Mojitos and Chimichurri.
With your support we raised $1,030 (after expenses). We are now 67% to our total goal!
Our Guatemalan colleagues Alejandra, Vladimir, Aura, Anibal and Samuel participated by Zoom and gave great presentations. Here is an excerpt from Dr. Alejandra's presentation:
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Currently Guatemala has 10706 cases, 2096 recovered and 418 deaths. Which let us a total of 8190 active cases.But this is only starting, lately we've had more less 300 cases per day and we keep getting bigger and bigger amounts each day, so we might be heading to the peak but it looks like we're staying at the peak.
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In the villages where we work this is only starting. The area of Izabal has 81 cases and this week we confirmed 3 cases in 3 villages near ours. We are in constant communication with the nurse in charge of the area and the things there are way harder than in the city. They have to send the tests to the city and find support to cover the costs of delivering them (the government isn't paying for it) and they have to wait more than 12 days for the results.
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When this began, GVH donated disposable face masks, N95, meds and supplies to this government health clinic (CAIMI El Estor) but they're already running out of it. Right now, we keep in constant communication with them to find out their biggest needs and to find ways to support them through this emergency, but our resources and budget are limited and we´re trying to keep our programs of <2yo supplies, chronic patients and family planning working so, thank you for joining us tonight and for supporting our work.
June 4, 2020
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to limit our opportunities for sharing meals together in person, we are working to support community with another virtual event
Having already raised $49,400, GVH is past the halfway mark of its goal of $75,000. Please help us get all the way there.
We are putting the FUN into FUNDRAISING this month. GVH board members are pulling out all the stops for a delicious and spirited time with you. We offer something for everyone in the family: kids and adults alike will enjoy making the tres leches cake (first steps and baking on Friday June 12th 7:30pm: class via Zoom
with Mickey) so that the final steps are done Saturday night and cake can be eaten during the event!
May 27, 2020
We hope you are hanging in there as we are getting close to summer (June 21st) and the longest days of sun- yeah!!
This week we are highlighting our program for supplemental nutrition for babies in the critical first 1000 days of life - Bebes Sanos/Healthy Babies. As you may know Guatemala has the highest rate of chronic malnutrition in all of the Americas, and one of the highest in the world! Almost 50% of children overall and more than 65% of Mayan children in villages like ours will not grow to their potential in height (suffer from stunting) and ability to learn due to lack of sufficient food and vitamins.
Guatemala Village Health/Aldeas Sanas Guatemala has been working on immediate and long-term solutions. For the longer term we are developing permaculture food cultivation to prevent malnutrition, but TODAY we need to provide nutritional supplements for all of our babies from 6 months to 2 years of age. Each month we deliver a supply of natural high-nutrient whole grain cereal with powdered milk and oil to their moms so they can make a high calorie/high vitamin porridge-like daily food. This program has grown from 100 to 210 babies!! See the photos and video below that detail our process of tracking progress and distribution.
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO KEEP IT GOING - These children are at risk for lifelong consequences, now more than ever as the pandemic continues. They need to be healthy to survive and thrive!
DONATE TODAY - It costs $4 per month per child.
Can you give $20 to keep 5 children healthy?
Consider making it MONTHLY!
It's an investment in their future - which is inextricably connected to ours!!
May 21, 2020
As we continue to navigate these unprecedented times, we are searching for ways to continue improving health and adjusting our focuses as we encounter new challenges in Guatemala due to COVID-19. On our home page is a slideshow with information about how the coronavirus is affecting Guatemala and our villages specifically. We have also included several videos created by our team in Guatemala, highlighting the work we have done and will continue to do - improving lives one village at a time!
May 12, 2020
Today we want to share a short video made by our Guatemalan staff.
YOU make this vital community health education and our programs possible.
Thank you.
May 5, 2020
We are thrilled to announce that with the generous donation of wine and of Pepián dinner from Antigua Guatemala Restaurant (https://antiguaguatemalarestaurant.com/) we raised $7,260 !!
We know that some of you wanted to buy dinners but we had sold out - so we will consider another event of this type in the future. Stay tuned!
You can watch the May 2nd event here.
Our new total of donations is $38,500 - so we are just over halfway to $75,000 now!
Thanks for all your support.
And please do consider becoming a monthly donor!
What your donation can provide:
Village Health Promoter - training and support: $365/ year ($1/day)
Composting toilets: $150
Smokeless stove: $90
Nutritional supplements for babies per year: $85 ($7/month)
Ecofilter: $50
April 21, 2020
Our week 4 update is pretty exciting! We are honored to have Antigua Guatemala Restaurant preparing Chicken or Vegetarian Pepián (a traditional Guatemalan dish) for take-out on May 2nd. They are donating their time to prepare the food to help us fundraise for GVH.
We also have generous donors who have provided wine, and can offer several dinner combinations, which our board members and other volunteers will deliver to your home! Meals will be delivered using all necessary precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus. For those who prefer to pick up their own meals at the restaurant, Antigua Guatemala will be donating a percentage of every Pepián dinner they sell on May 2nd.
Finally, we will present a short 15 min. program about "Casas Mejoradas" (improved housing for health!) by Zoom, followed by salsa lessons and salsa dancing! You can come to the virtual event for as long or short as you wish. We will send the link by email to anyone who signs up.
April 14, 2020
We have received $15,200 (20% of our $75,000 goal) and we now have 10 monthly donors - please become one!
We have several announcements this week summarized in a video message by GVH Executive Director Carolyn Bain, and detailed here:
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Stimulus checks should be arriving any day - if you receive one and are in a position to share it - please consider donating a portion to GVH.
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A new income tax deduction: If you take the standard deduction on your 2020 tax return, you will be able to claim as a deduction from gross income up to $300 in cash contributions made to nonprofit charities.
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Three by Three, a women-owned Seattle business, has partnered with GVH to help us raise funds!!! Three by Three designs and sells products for organizing your home & office (now home-office!). Here is the deal: 10% discount for you, and 20% will be donated to GVH.
All you need to do is visit their website: https://threebythree.com/ and when you get to check-out apply GVH30 in the "gift card or discount code" box. Offer valid until April 30th.
Below are a few recent photos of the GVH Microenterprise project with women in villages making reusable, washable menstrual pads.
We are continuing to explore creative options to connect with GVH donors and continue to fundraise - stay tuned! Please know that we gratefully accept checks (and they save us the processing fee!) Mail to: GVH 1265 S. Main St., #303-C, Seattle, WA, 98114.
April 7, 2020
We are thrilled to report in our first week of online fundraising we have received $11,360 (over 15% of our $75,000 goal!) So far we have 8 monthly donors signed up. GVH is so grateful to have this support from our donors. And we ask that you please join this effort!
This week we have a video from Dr. Jennifer Hoock, Co-Founder of GVH, describing our nutritional supplements program that supports 209 children and recent updates about keeping villagers safe. And below are a few photos sent by our in-country director, Samuel Alvarez, when he delivered the nutrition supplies last week to Esperanza Tunico where our head health promoter Julio Choc Xo lives. Julio (who appears in the photos with his son) will be delivering the nutritional supplements to the villages in the hills above Lake Izabal.
And the final note for this week, we encourage all of our donors to please sign up with Guatemala Village Health for AmazonSmile - as many folks are purchasing more and more on Amazon these days! By selecting Guatemala Village Health as your charity, Amazon will contribute a small percentage of every purchase you make to GVH, at no additional cost to you. Please follow the link here for easy to follow instructions. And when you shop start by logging in at smile.amazon.com
May 31, 2020
As we face this pandemic, we hope you are all staying healthy at home. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions placed on public gatherings and our concern for the safety and well-being of our supporters, we are forced to cancel our annual fundraiser event planned for May 2nd. We will dearly miss seeing all of you, and look forward to when we can all get together to celebrate in person.
Guatemala Village Health depends primarily on private donations for its work in Guatemala and the yearly auction is our main fundraising event. Currently we have funds to sustain our programming and staff for the next 2 months, but we need your help to keep going. Our Seattle staff is forgoing salary, however we cannot stop paying our staff in Guatemala. Our programs in Guatemala are supporting the most vulnerable of the village population, with basic nutritional supplements, clean water, sanitation, medical care and medicines. Our ability to continue to provide these crucial services depends on your generosity.
Now more than ever your donation is essential. Our goal is to raise $75,000 for GVH 2020 programs by the end of May.
Please click the link below to donate whatever you can...every dollar helps!
** We are specifically requesting our donors to become sustaining members with a monthly donation **
We will continue to update you on our programs and progress in the coming weeks, and with new opportunities for you to collaborate with GVH.
