Saturday, June 19, 2010
Here we go again...
It is so wonderful to be back in Guatemala. Settling back in and becoming reacquainted with the culture has been a bit hectic, but I am so thankful for this opportunity to return and continue serving Salud y Paz. As many of you already know, Guatemala was recently affected by Tropical Storm Agatha. The storm caused significant damages to many homes, roads, and businesses, however the people are resilient and life is quickly returning to its'equilibrium. Panajachel, the town in which I am living, lost all but one of its bridges and many houses along the banks to the river, which simply swept them away into the lake. Included in this post are some pictures of the recovery efforts sponsered by the city and national governments. Camanchaj lost its water supply due to damages caused by the storm for nearly 3 weeks. During that time period, the town's inhabitants were forced to walk to the nearest river (25 minutes away) to draw water for washing, cooking, and bathing. Fortunately, Tuesday of this past week the water system was fixed and people celebrated by setting of firecrackers all day!
In my opinion, our students at the Susana Wesley Preschool are growing and learning by leaps and bounds. Next week we will give the second round (out of 3) of a developmental assessment, and hopefully then have the hard facts to prove just how much they are learning! This week we weighed our students to chart their physical growth, and thankfully all have either maintained their weight from the beginning of the year or gained weight. In fact, a student named Nery gained 9 pounds! I think that the 2 meals, snack, and multi-vitamin that the children receive each day at school are making postive impacts on their overall health.
The Preschool Parent Handbook is ready to be distributed, but we decided to wait and give it to the parents when our new director, Janet, arrives in July.
We are continueing to work on the health and educational survey. It will be given to 200 mothers of school-aged children living in Camanchaj. Currently, the research proposal is being reviewed by the IRB at the University of Texas, which is the university at which Carey's co-investigator teaches and works.
Thank you so much for your continuing love and support!
In Salud y Paz (Health and Peace),
Madisen
In my opinion, our students at the Susana Wesley Preschool are growing and learning by leaps and bounds. Next week we will give the second round (out of 3) of a developmental assessment, and hopefully then have the hard facts to prove just how much they are learning! This week we weighed our students to chart their physical growth, and thankfully all have either maintained their weight from the beginning of the year or gained weight. In fact, a student named Nery gained 9 pounds! I think that the 2 meals, snack, and multi-vitamin that the children receive each day at school are making postive impacts on their overall health.
The Preschool Parent Handbook is ready to be distributed, but we decided to wait and give it to the parents when our new director, Janet, arrives in July.
We are continueing to work on the health and educational survey. It will be given to 200 mothers of school-aged children living in Camanchaj. Currently, the research proposal is being reviewed by the IRB at the University of Texas, which is the university at which Carey's co-investigator teaches and works.
Thank you so much for your continuing love and support!
In Salud y Paz (Health and Peace),
Madisen
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