Fundamaya -Panajachel (near Lake Atitlan)
Fundacion Familia Mayas is a nonprofit organization run by residents of the Lake Atitlan region to help one child and one family at a time. This picturesqe indigenous community is in the mountains and you can vist day care centers, schools, elderly feeding programs and more.
If you like you can sponsor a child, or provide food, a stove or water filter for a local family. For over 25 years, their mission has focused on strengthening their communities by promoting education, well-being, and empowerment. “To invest in the education of children, the results will be felt now, and for generations to come”.
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Transitions – Disabilty project in Antigua
Airline Ambassadors has been visiting Transitions for 20 years! This inspirational project is just on the edge of the quaint city of Antigua, so you could fit in a visit while taking Spanish classes. Transitions is changing the lives of people with disabilities, through mobility and employment. The organization makes robust all-terrain wheelchairs, personalised for each user’s capability and living environment. The factory crew are wheelchair users themselves, due to spinal cord injuries, polio or other disabling conditions – so they understand the importance of having the right wheelchair for each individual.
Most people who need a wheelchair in Guatemala are too poor to buy one. That’s where Transitions comes in, with support from donors. A personalised all-terrain wheelchair costs $500 US dollars. Having an appropriate wheelchair means being able to go to school or work, but also go out to a party, to church, on a family outing – instead of being stuck at home all day.
When you visit Transitions, you can see the wheelchair production process, the prosthetics and orthotics clinic, and the brand-new international-standard wheelchair basketball court. With luck you might witness a basketball game, or the thrilling moment when a person with disability experiences the freedom of mobility for the very first time!
Photos left – Gonzalo assembling; Right Karina before and after receiving her wheelchair!
Csll Rebecca Peters WhatsApp number is +502 4518 3047
The Transitions number is +502 7831-0779
