Kenny's Food For The Poor Trip

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Sister Marta runs the San Jerónimo Chuaxán Feeding Center. About 125 children come here daily. They get fresh water, probably their only meal of the day, and some education.

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Here's a quick look around the San Jeronimo Chuaxan school and feeding center.

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Next to the feeding center is an educational center. Here's a look inside the classroom.

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The air personalities from different U.S. radio stations visit this classroom.

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Here are some of the children that you're helping with a gift to Food for the Poor.

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The children in the classroom learn a song. (Recognize the tune?) Food for the Poor's main effort here is to supply food for the one good meal that these children get to eat that day. 

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The children get excited when they get a visit from Food For the Poor! They understand that their situation is not forgotten by the rest of the world.

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Here members of our group help Sister Marta (smiling, in the kitchen behind us) feed the children who come to the center. For most of these kids it's the one decent meal they may have all day. Here I am burning my hand on a piping hot tortilla!

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After we helped feed them lunch, the children at the center treat us to a song about love and sharing!

PHOTO: A teacher at San Jerónimo Chuaxán Community Center takes her class outside for music and exercise.

Her name is Candelaria. She came to this center as a child and is now a teacher while also studying at a nearby university!

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"Ah-Doo-Doo-Ah, Doo-Doo-Ah, Doo-Doo-Ah-Ah-Ah!"

The teacher takes the children outside for some teaching and a song. If anyone understands what this song is about, please let me know!

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While visiting nearby homes we met Louisa, a basket maker. She can make 3-5 baskets per day! She'll take them to the city to sell, walking and taking the bus to get there. Her son attended the San Jerónimo Chuaxán Community Center as a boy, and now is employed as a security guard.

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This 3 year old girl helps her 26-year old mother Maria and 5 year old sister make firecrackers to sell. They'll be at it from 8am to 3pm. These are used for many local celebrations. They'll make 400 per week, earning $1.50 for the week. (Don't worry, the gunpowder is added elsewhere later!)

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Here I am sitting with Maria and her children.

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CLICK HERE for a shot from the Food for the Poor "Blooper Reel!"

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This young mother and her three children live in what is basically a straw hut, where they also make the paper tubes used for fireworks. They can sometime crank out 2000 tubes a week. She'll use the money to be 2 or 3 eggs and ingredients to make a tortilla or two. In spite of her situation, she thanks God for her children's health and prays for food for them.

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This is the outside entrance to her home.

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I shot this panoramic view to show the stark contrast between the beauty of the Guatemalan mountains and the poor living conditions of these people. Members of our radio team played Frisbee with the kids for awhile, being very careful not to fling it over the cliff that defines the edge of their "yard.".

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This mother and 20 year old daughter were a little guarded when we first arrived, but later warmed up to us. The Mom has 7 kids ages 20 to 2, and her oldest daughter (pictured) has a baby. They eat beans and corn, but not often enough.

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Here she takes us to her kitchen. As you can see, not much is being prepared for tonight's meal.

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Here is the outside of their home.
 

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We started the day by meeting Fr. Gerry Moore, Irish by birth but now running the Mezquital Parish School. Education and food is offered here to teens in a very dangerous section of town where gang violence is prevalent.

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Homes in Mezquital are stacked high on the hillsides. About 700-900 families live here. They scavenge the huge garbage dump nearby for rotting food to eat, and to collect recyclable bottles and cans for money. Yes -- those are vultures circling in the sky overhead!

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A child peaks though the window in her family's shack.

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A view of a section of the Mezquital Garbage Dump community.

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Hermalina and her 5 children live in a shack in the Mezquital dump community. Her 16 year old daughter is on the left, her growth stunted due to poor nutrition. The father of this family is in prison.

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We next headed back into the mountains outside of the capital city to an area known as Nacahuil. Here another family watches as the Food for the Poor team travels by.

PHOTO: We met Maria Hernandez. During the rainy season, water runs off the mountains and through her house! They eat one meal a day, some beans mixed with leaves for flavor. She prays for a better home.

PHOTO: Here is the outside of Maria's home.

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Another panoramic view of the contract between the beautiful mountains and the stark poverty and living conditions in area of Guatemala.

Food for the Poor helps distribute essential food items to these people. The "buddy system" you hear being referred to is a safety precaution as we were about to head down a steep dirt path to visit another home

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Women often make extra money collecting sticks for fuel and walking long distances to sell them.

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This is the block and mortar home of Diego & Maria, one of the few homes we found not made out of straw or pieces of sheet metal. He built this home 35 years ago.

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Diego shows us the kitchen area of his house. He's a subsistence farmer, growing enough to feed his family and working for others to make additional income.

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In spite of their poor conditions, they've set aside room in their home for this prayer area where they ask God for help. Theirs is one of the nicer homes, with actual block walls and some electricity.

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This is the Nacahuil Women's Water Project, built by Food for the Poor. Taking water from a spring, this water is treated and funneled into this area where women and children come to wash their own clothes, and then wash the clothes of others to make some income. This area is considered a "miracle" by the women who use it.

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Women at the Nacahuil Women's Water Project being interviewed by our radio team. This was a "happy" place. one where socializing and chores went hand-in-hand, much like our laundromats!

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The Nacahuil Women's Water Project is one of the great success stories of Food for the Poor. The ministry helped to build this facility which serves as a laundry area for these women. Many come to clean their own clothes, as you can see, but others also are cleaning the clothes of others to make some extra income. The water comes from a natural source and is treated before and after use.

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Just to make you appreciate the work PennDOT does here in Pittsburgh, this is a collection of a few short videos from our van as we traveled up and down the Guatemalan countryside. The views here were pretty typical of what we saw in most of the rural and mountain areas, and the roads could use a little work!

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Lucky is the director at the San Juan Center. She's short in stature but has the heart of a giant! She actually travels 2 hours to get to her job each day. 71 children are currently being cared for in the center.
Children come here with severe dehydration and malnutrition, often suffering from swollen faces and bellies, skin conditions, lice respiratory problems and lack of protein (causing their black hair to turn orange or to fall out).

In spite of a lack of milk, newborns are taken here, where they are fed a diluted mixture of powdered milk until their little bodies can handle it in higher concentrations. Children are brought here who need urgent care. Once stabilized they may go next to a hospital.  

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There are currently 22 babies in the center. Children come in with dehydration, swollen faces and bellies, skin conditions, lice and respiratory problems.

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The Center is a sort of triage area for babies who need immediate care. Newborns like these, being cared for by three employees, are taken in spite of a lack of milk. Powdered milk is often used to feed these underweight babies to try to get them healthy enough so that they don't come back.

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I was ready to take this one home with me! Baby Dona is on the road to recovery thanks to Food for the Poor.

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She was a little bit shy for the video camera, but baby Dona will melt your heart! Here's our video together at the San Juan center.

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Parents bring their children here rather than to a hospital because they know they'll be fed. After these kids are stabilized they may go to a hospital to receive more treatment. Here's a picture of my new best friend and me!

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We had a lot of fun playing with these kids, who loved all the attention! Here I am, getting down with my coolest new friends!

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These boys were just like any others -- they crave male attention! I wish I could have been a Dad to them all. Many wanted to play; others just wanted to sit on my lap or cuddle!

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Lunch Time at the Nutritional Center (Babies first, then older kids).

Food for the Poor helps supply food for daily meals. Classroom time is provided for older children to keep them up-to-date on their studies.

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Parents paid nothing for treatment here at the center. They often come from as far as four hours or more away by bus to bring their children.


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And, everyone wants to wear the Bucco hat!

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Sister Berta is in charge at the Sor Lucia Roge Nutritional Canter inside Hospital Sanatorio Hermano Pedro, our next stop. There are 50 children in this hospital. Many suffered from serious malnutrition when brought in. She helps parents learn to better care for their kids after they return home. Also pictured is FFTP's Angel Aloma (l) and Paul Jacobs (r).

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This center focuses on the nutritional needs of these children, strengthening them from infection and malnutrition. This is the Baby Room.

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These older kids are cared for in the room next door. Food for the Poor provides nutritional assistance to this facility. We also met some local teens who help at the center through various internship programs.

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Our traveling Food For The Poor troupe at Guatemala City's Kacoa Restaurant, radio personalities from all across the USA. We all made some great new friendships and shared experiences that we'll never forget.

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As we said "adios" to Guatemala, here's a shot of the beautiful mountain ranges we traveled through on our visit. I'll never forget the families and children we met there, and have often prayed that they would make it through another day.