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Daniel Bradford spent two weeks here in our school, time in which he did so much work, he served his mission here in Guatemala back in 74-76 and he really loves this people that he has come several times. In this case he helped us make better the cafeteria and build a shop for the kids to practice arts. He also helped us to repair a lot of things in the building. Thanks Daniel. We'll hope tou see you again around here! We need more people like you in the world.
Sally Johnson has really enjoyed being a volunteer in Patzicia. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and loves having the opportunity to utilize her English skills in a foreign environment. She especially loves teaching songs in English to the younger kids because they have such a strong desire to learn. In her free time, Sally likes to immerse herself in the wonderful Guatemalan culture by visiting different places in the country. The cities are beautiful and unique and the lifestyles of the people are extremely busy all the time. Sally´s favorite things about Guatemala are the food and the new friends she has made.
Dan Scribner came to Guatemala for the first time when he was fourteen to visit his brother who was one of the first volunteers to teach in Patzicia. He has always made it a goal to return and be a volunteer himself. His outgoing and accepting personality has made him a great asset to the students here as they learn grammar and speaking skills. Not only does he help the students, but because he speaks Spanish, he is able to help the teachers improve their language skills as well so they can be more helpful to their students in the future. Dan especially likes eating banana bread muffins that are sold in the town on Mondays and Thursdays
Four years ago Ashlee Cutler was a volunteer English teacher here for six months. She returned last year to help us with some humanitarian work. And again this year she returned as Ashlee Cutler-Morris bringing with her, her mom Cindy Felt. How extremely fortunate we have been as they have donated their time, money and efforts to help those in need. They brought clothes, school supplies, shoes, sheets, curtains, and much more. While here they painted our wall, and painted around the school. But that wasn’t all; they visited the poor -- buying more needed items, and even bought beds for them! We are so very blessed to have such wonderful friends as these. A profound thank you from the families you met here -- and from us too.
Michelle Holmgren, Micaela Jensen, Julie Manning and Wendi Rock, all from the Logan, Utah area, have come to help us with our Pedro Choy Family and Raul Samol Family building projects , and at the same time they are donating money and time building some tables and chairs. Michelle who currently works as an architectural drafter, served an LDS mission in Argentina and so speaks Spanish. She loves to play racquetball, spend time with her family, and backpack. Mikaela works for an insurance agency while attending Utah State University, She likes to play piano, read, travel, play sports, and spend time with her family. Julie enjoys blowing bubbles, singing in the shower, eating, playing soccer, and spending time with her two brothers, sister, and family. In her spare time she teaches swimming and works. Wendi enjoys spending time with her two brothers and family. She is currently attending Utah State University studying exercise science and Spanish. She enjoys photography, piano, eating, and eating some more. All the girls came to practice their Spanish, learn new skills, and serve others. Certainly they are doing this as they work on these building projects and spend time with the children in the College. Thanks so much girls for your kindness, service, and your loving support! Wendi has been here twice; maybe she will come back again. We certainly hope so.
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Thanks so much to our friends from Help International (In photo: NICOLE, NICOLE, RACHEL, JENNA (Colegio Patzicia), CRAYTON, DANA (Colegio Patzicia), GENEVIEVE (the fearless leader of HELP) and DENISE (Directora Colegio Patzicia) and others who are not in the photo but have also come to help us from time to time (HILARY, KAT, ANNA, and DAN). Some have come to help us teach English and some have come to help our maintenance man PEDRO CHOY and his family (see photo) build some desperately needed rooms onto their existing house. The school, and the Choy Family, is extremely grateful to Help International and to our own Volunteers who are working hard in the classroom AND with the Choy Family. This truly is a work of love.
Thanks to the Christensen Family who brought wooden cars from THE HAPPY FACTORY located in Utah, we were able to make tons of little boys deliriously happy this last Sunday. Thank you for sharing Happy Factory! We appreciate so much your kindness and generosity. Please let us know when you want to come visit us.
Thanks also to the Brad, Laurie and Melissa Kitchen for donating the cutest ceramic dolls. The little girls (okay, all the girls -- including the Mom´s) loved them.
The Crooked Beats (Ty Mortensen, Andy Jordan, Marc Nielsen, Steve Neilsen, Michelle Thome, Chris Larsen, Dustin Olson, and Skyler Smith) played so they could donate enough money to put two children through school for a full year. Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness Crooked Beats – what a marvellous thing to do! Maybe one day you can come here and play for us, we would love that!
Thanks to all of you who have donated underwear, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, socks, etc., we were able to make packages to donate to the needy children and families in our area. Denise Francis, Dana Dickson, Anne Sidwell and Jenna Porter put together the items and then along with Kiley and Taren Christensen they presented the items to the youth and children. Again, thank you Friends for your kindness, generosity, and love.
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DANA DICKSON came to us from Cal State University where she is studying elementary education. Dana’s genuine character, creativity and outgoing nature has been a positive influence on the children and has quickly become one of their favourite teachers. Dana is very talented and is an inspiration to us all. Thank you Dana for coming to spend this time with us!
Some of Kiley´s family came to visit and while they were here…they worked. They painted some of our security wall, pulled weeds, moved rocks, fixed a couple of cars, and made tons of friends. Thanks so much for your help love and support Kiley, Taryn, Ryan, Kali, Gaylen and Sherry, and Shirley and Bill Christensen all from Utah. We hope to see you all again soon.
Thanks to Bill, Laura, Melissa Kitchen and family, our children are walking tall. Melissa’s family came to visit their volunteer daughter and brought with them a suitcase full of shoes! Thank you so much Kitchen family - you have helped numerous families with your love and generosity! (And, thank you for sending Melissa to us.)
