We want to buy a site and build a complete house. Please read the blog in full before making any assumptions on this. It is not to satisfy my craving for tinkering with buildings and is the most genuine reason I can think of.
If you have read previous blogs you will be aware we used 700 euro out of funds raised in Ireland before I left to sponsor a child called Sylvia for a further years education. If you havent read the blog then here is a brief run down.
Sylvias mother Eulalia was born here in Chiantla, at the age of two her mother died. Her father re married and at the age of 5 she went to live in the city with relatives where she learned Spanish. Jump forward 20 odd years she is married living in the city has 5 lovely kids and is reasonably well off. Her husband dies. She first moves to Huehuetenango to live near relatives but things are very tough, she cant manage, the kids rarely go to school because she has to choose between food or fees for school. Her half brother who lives in the States offers a lend of a site in Chiantla for her to build a house .
Normally this is a good thing and im pretty sure it was with the best intentions. There is however one very big problem with this. As it is a family plot there is another uncle who lives next door that is simply an evil bxstxrd. He has tried to sexually abuse the two girls, when confronted by Eulalia he simply laughed off the treat of the authorities saying, you cant afford it, which is true. Unfortunatley around this time Eulalia got sick. She needs medication and has no money. She thought about going to Mexico to try and earn enough money to pay for the medicine. She couldn't leave the kids at home becuase of the Uncle. Who even goes as far as throwing stones at the galvinised house to scare the kids when Eulalia has to work late washing clothes. At this stage she sent her eldest son 16 to huehutenango to work in construction for 30 euro a month, which is actually pretty average for the La Cumbre area, and Sylvia to work as a live in Nanny taking care of an elderly women also in Huehue for 20 euro a month without any time off. The two younger kids were sent to live with an aunt but when Eulalia discovered they were being beaten for no reason she brought them back home. Back to square one, she couldnt leave now but to add to that he cycle had started all over again, Sylvia was never going to get an education and she was going to earn 20 euro a month for the rest of her life.
I learnt about this story when I asked Brenda about possibly sponsoring a child for school this year, inspired by Florentina the girl who was working during summer teaching traditional weaving. (Keep up will you there is a pop quiz later). Right so we are sponsoring Sylvia for next year and have 7 people agreed to sponsor her 10 euros until she is finished education. Hopefully the cycle off ignorance and poverty will be broken by a lot of hard work from her and a hard earned money from the good people back home.
By the way I met sylvia last Monday in Brendas where she was getting her uniform and a few bits and pieces. She was in right form. I know I promised a blog from her but going to give her a bit of space for a week or two. A lot for her, she can barely spell her own name so dont want to put too much pressure on. Hopefully bringing herself and the other ninos into Chiantla to the fiesta-carnival tonight so if I have any up dates ill let you know.
Right here is a break from the dilemna for a bit few pics from last night at the festival in Chiantla....
Giddy up.................
Sorry for crap pic quality but this is Maria getting a go on a shetland. Honestly.....
Right so getting back Sylvia problem kind of solved. She doesnt have to work and has a chance of becoming a teacher which she really wants to be.
This doesnt solve the problem of the perverted uncle next door and a family living in fear. I have thought a lot about this over the christmas and when I met Brenda last night she had a lot of ideas too so I know its bothering her a lot too. Habitat will build a house for 5,000 euros but they cant use that site and havnt enough money to pay for site or installments. There is a very slim chance that a council site might become available but its very rare and there is still no money for constrcution. Major problem. We need about 8,000 for a site another 2 for basic services and PP and about 6 for construction costs and basic furniture. About 16k all in all. This is ahell of a lot of money to be trying to fundraise in a relatively short amount of time.
My idea of a solution. Well I thought about the hundreds of people who travel to places like South Africa spending 5,000 euro each to build houses. Now I am not here to knock other charities so i am going to put this in a positive light. Seeds of Help have no administration costs. If we can get people to give 2,000 euro each and travel here to build a house for a Month this July or August, I can personally guarantee that every penny will go to the buying of a site, the constrcution and the family. The house will not be transferred into the families name until a nominal fee is paid. Possibly a couple of hundred euros will go to building a basic bread oven for extra income for the family for this. The house therefore cannot be sold until the family works hard to earn it. I cannot think of a more genuine reason for charity here there really is no other option other than turning our backs and closing our eyes.
Without trying to sound like a know it all, honesltly 2,000 euros is not that hard to raise back home. I did it in about 3 weeks before i left. I am nothing special and that was basically hitting up the 50 closest people to me for a lot of the money but in hindsight it could have been done a lot easier by standing say outside Tescos with a bucket for two days. I can give a bit of help with ideas from talking to other volunteers here I have heard a few good ones. More importantly the target figure is not the biggest priority. We need to get enough people prepared to come and work here first. We are going to get a meeting with the Mayor in next few weeks about getting a free site so the target figure could possibly be halved. What I am trying to stress is that people should not worry about not being able to raise 2000 euros. They should want to come and be prepared to fundraise before they come and work hard when they arrive. If I have to do some value engineering or we have to change location for a cheaper site thats all fine. We need people now. Everything else can be worked out.
Now to anybody who is thinking at this stage sure Ireland is nearly 3rd world now. No its nothing like it, come to the 3rd world and see for yourself. Think of it this way how unthinkable is it that the uncle wouldnt be locked up or prosecuted in some way back in Ireland. Thats the difference.
To anyone who thinks a yea but charity starts at home. Show me a widdowed mother with five kids under 16 living in a shack on the side of a hill and ill fly back in the morning to build her a house. I am not trying to be a know all here I have just seen the difference and recognise the persective.
The flights cost about 1,000 euro also, depending on your situation and how you feel the fundraising might or might not include the fee for the flight in your fundraising total. For example I would expect students to fundraise for the flights. Accomodation will be provided near the site for free if you dont mind roughing it a bit or there a number of hotels in Chiantla also. I now think myself with fundraising it is a hell of a lot easier to get 1000 people to give a euro than ten to give a hundred. I will help in anyway I can with anybody who decides they are seriously interested. The people have to be available for a months hard work in August. This time line is to give me enough time to get 8 people and the 8 people enough time to get the money together. ideally we would start in the morning to get them away from the situation but its just not possible without funds.
What to expect in Guatemala. First off a break from the great depression back home and a bit of perspective when you do return. The people here are ther friendliest I have ever met by a country mile. They are genuinely decent skins. You will stand out like a sore thumb here and people may stare but its genuinely out of interest. When you doubt the Guatemaltecos you end up feeling like a fool more often than not, when you give them the benifit of the doubt they dont disapoint. Maybe I am being a bit patriotic but I think they are amazingly similar to us Irish, or view ourselves 50 years ago maybe. Thats honestly the best part but besides that take a look at the pics from the other blogs if you want to see a bit of what the country is like.
The focus will never leave why we are here and the end goal of a new family home, however it would be unfair and a shame if you didnt get to see some of this beutiful country. A possible plan could be the following:
Arrive Gutemala airport, mini bus to Antigua (45 mins) day or two here (www.antiguaguatemala.info) to ease the culture shock as well as introduction and planning. From here a luxury coach to Huehuetenango (6 hours) and chicken bus to Chiantla (30 mins) The plan while here would be work for five days with two off for the 4 weeks. Although this will have to depend on progress the options for trips under 5 hours include Xela, Lago Atitlan, Semuc Champey, San Christobal in Mexico. (Google them or check out older blogs to see what there about). There is also a number of great treks and many interesting sites locally.
They are possibilities, this is a democracy (social democracy of course...) of everybody who is envolved so at this stage there are no boundaries. If anybody is interested in learning Spanish. There is a Spanish school in Todo Santos half an hour away, personal tutoring in your own home costs 3 euro an hour, there are any number of school teachers in bad need of nixers locally. Also if anybody is interested in staying long term that isnt a problem. I have room in my house here for free, as long as you dont mind the loudest snoring ever produced. If you are interested in long term volunteering with Seeds of Help its free, the cost of homestay with a family is about 30 euros a month including food. I have done a bit of travelling and will have done a bit more by then so can give a bit of advise if that is what your into. As regards spending money. The best I can suggest is between 50 and 250 euro per week. It can be done really cheap here but like anywhere if you want to spend money people arent shy of taking it off your hands. I lived on 2 euro a day for the month of Febuary but the first month I arrived I would take a wild guess and say I spent about a 1,000 euros. There is a massive difference to living near Antigua (Gringo land) and living in Chiantla however.
If you are intetrested dont hesitate to contact me by email roryoconnor25@gmail.com on facebook or leave a message here. I am going to be hounding people over next while so if you know anybody who might be interested please give them the details and send them the way of the blog. Also if your interested in more info on Seeds of help or would like to donate check out www.seedsofhelp.org If you wish to donate to a particular project please state it in your e mail which one, or if not Seeds of Help always have worthwhile projects in need of support.
No comments:
Post a Comment