Winter 2011
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Hands on in Art Class
The Duncan Family at Earth Lodge
Enjoying the view from our new English classroom
Making Pinatas with Tom
Let the ‘Balloon toss’ begin
Constructing houses with construction paper.
Big thanks to:
Ali and Jena,
our wonderful volunteers who donated their time and were a big help to
not only the kindergarten and 2nd grade class but also to Stacey's
Thursday Art Class!
Mark & Miriam
for choosing Las Manos in El Hato as their destination for their
students on a service learning trip from St. Olaf college in Minnesota.
Kirri Bolton for spending her last semester of college in El Hato providing the ‘Prepas’ with English classes, love and wisdom.
Thanks for your smiling faces, your kindness and extra set of hands!
 Mothers day in El Hato
Nicole’s Book Drive Begins
Students in Korea make it happen!
Books finally make it to El Hato!
Las
Manos de Christine is an NGO dedicated to providing top-shelf English
instruction, quality educational programs and support to less fortunate
children in Guatemala.
Volunteers from Colegio Americano flexing their muscles after a hard days work!
Join us on Facebook
Please Contact us at: lasmanosdc@gmail.com lasmanosdc.org
For Earth Lodge Info: earthlodge@gmail.com earthlodgeguatemala.com
To send donations the old fashioned way, please make checks payable to Las Manos de Christine and mail to
Las Manos de Christine 824 Canterbury Arc Las Cruces, NM 8800
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| Hands On with Las Manos
Hello,
everyone, and welcome back to the world of Las Manos de Christine, El
Hato, and Guatemala at large. While the newsletter has been absent over
the past few months (technical difficulties happen to even the
best—wink, wink—of us), the action has most definitely continued. So,
in this update edition of Hands On With Las Manos,
we have compiled the personal accounts of some of this year’s major
contributors to the organization and let them tell you the story of
2011, post Emmathon and into the future. I hope you find their words as
inspiring as I do.
Jonathon
We Say Goodbye, We Say Hello
By Bryant
Let
me begin by thanking all of you for the kind support and for believing
in our mission. We have received many requests and inquiries about the
next addition of the newsletter, and it is encouraging to know that
people care enough to read about our progress. We want to let you know
that we have had a time of many changes and are excited to share with
you all of the amazing new things we have been up to. So, just to
reassure all of you that we are alive, kicking, and continuing the good
work that you’ve been supporting all these years, here is the new
addition...
Last
time we sent word out, we were in the middle of the second semester of
school, and a lot has happened since then: Pearce and Kirri have moved
on to the (not so) greener pastures of the wild frontiers in Australia,
and Stacey, our champion of vacation courses, is coming into the final
stretch of her service to the community. We will miss them all, and they
have meant more to the community of El Hato than they will ever know.
We would like to wish these great members of our team and family the
best of luck in all they do.
The
really big news, what we are so excited about, is that we have the
privilege of introducing a new Managing Director, Salina Duncan. Salina
is from Baltimore, Maryland and has been living here in Guatemala with
her husband, Jeff Duncan, and their two beautiful children Lucy and
Jimmy since November, 2009. Salina and I had an opportunity to work
together while she was creating an English Program for another NGO,
Nuestros Ahijados. She is a talented and motivated leader who will bring
experience and professionalism into the new position. Salina and I look
forward to developing the Las Manos English program into a standard for
all educational non-profits and public schools in Guatemala, a program
that can be duplicated all over the country. We are happy to welcome
Salina and her family to Las Manos de Christine.
Room with a View
By Salina
The
new English classroom was completed just in time for summer camp. We
are waiting on a few finishing touches, but it is otherwise meeting all
of our summer camp needs. It’s a bright, thoughtfully designed room with
a spectacular view. Drew installed a sink with running water in the
classroom today. We are super grateful for this luxury. We hope to have
our library added by the start of the 2012 school year, thanks to Claire
and company who will be visiting in January, bearing gifts of books.
It’s
been an exciting week of games, English, art, and getting to know the
children of El Hato. As the new Managing Director of Las Manos, I
couldn’t have chosen a better time to start than summer camp. I arrive
each morning to a group of children waiting for class to begin. It’s
their entertainment and stimulation in a season of work and monotony.
The
children of El Hato possess all the qualities a teacher hopes for. They
are respectful, honest, responsible, helpful, and have a burning desire
to learn. Older siblings so caringly assist their younger brothers and
sisters. Joy fills their faces as they are introduced to a new book, a
new medium for artistic expression, or a new game. We are all here
learning from each other and enjoying the morning together, without the
stress of report card grades, school fees, or judgment of teachers. We
can just have fun!
News from the North
by Hanna
I
figured it was about time to leave the monkeys and toucans behind for a
day or two and go in search of electricity and internet in order to
write my first newsletter update for the Las Manos project in Tierra
Linda.
My
name is Hanna Anderson and I am working on developing a preschool
program for children 3-6 years of age in a small village in the northern
part of Guatemala. Our goal is not only to teach English but to
provide consistent, positive and high-quality learning experiences to
the youngest children of Tierra Linda.
Every
day is filled with surprises as the children never cease to amaze me
with the amount of knowledge they are soaking up. One of my favorite
moments was when a little boy, whose first language is Q’eqchi, noticed a
small spider in the classroom, went over to it and started to sing
“Itsy Bitsy Spider” in English.
I’d
like to send out a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who has played a part in
making this project a reality, including: the Salem Lutheran Church
Foundation in Saint Cloud, MN, for providing funding for all of the
school’s furniture; Librería Progreso for all of the donated art and
school supplies; Green Millennium for their administrative support; and
to the Green Millennium Foundation for supplying many learning
materials.
If
you would like to help us continue to provide these early childhood
education classes to the children of Tierra Linda, please visit the
website or write to us at lasmanosfundraiser@gmail.com.
The Small Things
By Kirri
Every
morning as I walk back to Earth Lodge from the school I marvel over my
amazing experiences with the children. This past month, two of the most
rewarding experiences I have had happened in the classroom while I was
acting as the teacher's assistant. The first was when Melvin, one of
the prepa students(5 & 6 years old), had forgotten his taza (bowl)
for breakfast. He was going to sit and not eat while the rest of the
class enjoyed ‘tomalitos’. He told me that he was hungry so I found a
plastic plate and washed it as best I could. Las Manos bought these
plates for the prepa students so they can play with play dough without
ruining the tables. His smile of thanks as he ran off to join the line,
wielding a red plate twice as big as his head, made me melt. On a
different day the class was coloring and cutting out the number 1 and
one big giraffe to stick in their journals. Another prepa student, Juan,
was sitting silently and not making any attempts to start his project. I
tried to give him some instruction and attention, and a few smiles of
encouragement. Though the giraffe might have been strangely colored and
he had more glue on his fingers than the page, he was one of the first
to finish and he was proud of his work. I'm not saying that I was some
sort of amazing teacher in these two particular situations, rather that
it is the little things that mean the most in these memorable moments.
None of this would have been possible without your help, so thank you.
 
Fundraising from the Frozen Tundra
by Claire Miller
As
another holiday season, what I affectionately call “fundraising
season”, creeps closer, I can’t help but think about all that we’ve
accomplished in the last year. We’ve been lucky… really lucky. I feel
proud of everyone who supports and loves Las Manos but especially the
folks in Minnesota who have shown up during blizzards, rain, and heat
waves. They’ve come in droves to my house, dropped packages and checks
at my office, and donated online. They’ve networked so that others, not
just in Minnesota, could be a part of it all and shown that we can and
do make a difference.
Our
first fundraiser held in December of 2010 resulted in over 400 pounds
of art supplies and a similarly hefty check to boot. It was my
privilege to personally deliver these art supplies to the kids in El
Hato in January of 2011. Our second fundraiser took place over the 4th
of July. Thirteen runners participated in the Red, White and Boom Twin
Cities Half Marathon, and we raised over $3,000 for Las Manos in online
donations. While it was a grueling and hot race, we were elated at the
support from our friends and family for the kids in El Hato. We hope to
make the race an annual tradition and are always looking for donations
and runners.
This
year’s Holiday fundraiser is extra special for me. As a child, I loved
nothing more than to escape into my favorite books and to get lost in
characters like Babar, Curious George, Laura Ingalls Wilder and so many
more. This year we are ready to start a bilingual library in El Hato, so
I’m collecting new and gently used children’s books for the library.
The best part is that our book drive isn’t just local. We’ve created a
wish list on www.betterworldbooks.com,
which you can see by logging in with the email
livingwhatyoudream@gmail.com and the password “lasmanos”. You will then
be able to purchase books with free international shipping. This
holiday season I hope that you’ll take a moment to think about one of
your favorite childhood books and purchase it for the children of Las
Manos. Packages can be sent to:
Oxford Language Center 20 calle 23-59 zona 10 Guatemala City, Guatemala
There’s
been so much excitement and interest in Las Manos that for our fourth
fundraiser I’ve organized a trip to Guatemala and six of us will spend
some special time in El Hato. A portion of every person’s fee is being
donated to Las Manos. We are excited to travel in early 2012 and hope to
bring many, many suitcases filled with books for the kiddos. Are you
feeling inspired yet? If you’d like to start fundraising in your city
please contact me at livewhatyoudream@gmail.com
Driving Across the Sea
by Nicole Bailey
The
students of Sahmyook Elementary School in Daejeon, South Korea, joined
together to help the students of El Hato. The sixth grade classes at
Sahmyook first learned about the culture and geography of Guatemala then
created book donation boxes for every classroom in the school. Thanks
to the generous contributions of Sahmyook Elementary School’s parents
and students, we collected 506 English books during the drive. In order
to pay to send all of these books, the grade six students made posters
to advertise around the school, then baked cookies, brownies, and
cupcakes to sell as a fundraising event. The bake sale was a huge
success, and students and teachers from all grades came out to support
the cause.
This
cross-cultural project provided a great opportunity for our Korean boys
and girls to learn about and make a connection with children in another
country. The students showed a huge amount of initiative and worked
very hard throughout the process. After collecting the books and
raising the money, each participant wrote a letter to send along with
the books. This was a great experience for the entire school, and the
students and teachers at Sahmyook Elementary are really looking forward
to the books arriving in Guatemala!
Searching for a Way to Shop
by Jonathon Engels
As
a last thought before you drift back into the yuletide songs,
gingerbread houses, and Christmas trees, while we’ve got your attention
and you are here live and online, there is a great way that you can
support Las Manos, without sending a penny from your pocket or a pencil
from your pouch, and not just over the holidays but year-round:
GoodSearch and GoodShop. By downloading the GoodToolbar, which allows
you instant access to the Yahoo! search engine and loads of discount
online shopping, you can earn Las Manos a penny for every internet
search and a percentage of internet purchase you make. With only two or
three participants, we raised $100 this year, but with everyone
pitching in, it could be thousands. So, before you forget, before that
leftover turkey sandwich, before you do any of your holiday shopping
online, get the GoodToolbar now:
1. Go to www.goodsearch.com
2. Click on GoodToolbar in the left hand column
3. Download the toolbar (easy to follow instructions)
4. Choose Las Manos de Christine as your charity
5. Use your GoodToolbar to search and shop online
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you would like to be taken off our mailing list please reply with
“unsubscribe” in the subject. Thank you for your patience.
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