December 2001
Christmas Greetings from Guatemala,
May the love, joy and peace of this special time of year be with you.

Since our last newsletter the world has changed...Guatemala has changed..and The God's Child Project has changed. The tragedy of September 11th has made an indelible mark on history, never to be erased.

This country faces more suffering than ever as businesses close, the tourist industry drastically drops and charitable organizations are being forced to shut their doors.
The God's Child project was on the brink of disaster as donations initially dropped by 80 percent. Patrick had to make several trips to the United States for emergency mission appeals. It now looks like we may survive, but donations are still down 50 percent.
We have had to cut many of our programs and lay off half of our employees. Many staff members have had to be reassigned to cover the workload.

Richard's duties have increased dramatically. In addition to being in charge of the Plant and the Service teams, he has had to help out with much of the administration, usually done by Patrick, and sit on the educational committee which is involved in a total reorganization of the school.

Last year, when the school opened, it was Patrick's dream to have a "school of excellence." He formed a partnership with a local religious teaching order, which had a good reputation and he offered to supply the building, the supplies and the salaries for the teachers. In return the order was to provide the teachers and the curriculum. Unfortunately, the school was not what Patrick had hoped for. As so often happens here in Guatemala teaching methods consisted largely of rote learning, memorization and copying. Not wanting to continue to promote these antiquated teaching methods, he was seriously considering closing the school. The night before he made his decision on the school I decided to submit a proposal. I suggested that we start again, establishing a firm educational foundation for the children by providing a quality three year early childhood education program, including pre kinder, kinder and preporatoria with the intention of adding one more grade a year. The proposal was accepted.

Needless to say my duties have also increased dramatically. I am now in the process of setting up two more classrooms and training the teachers for these new child-centered, activity-based classrooms. My student teachers have never even heard of this type of teaching, let alone seen it in operation. I have 3 weeks to prepare them for the classroom. The challenge is to take a two year course in early childhood education and reduce it to its basic components. In addition, Patrick has decided to add two split grade classrooms for grades 1-4 and has asked me to also train them in some more creative methods of teaching. NOW WE ARE ASKING FOR MIRACLES! My background is Early Childhood Education. This is going to be harder than "THE LOAVES AND THE FISHES" We need prayers.

In October I made a short trip to Canada to purchase equipment and supplies for the school. Canada is making a major contribution .We have equipped two rooms in entirety, purchased much-needed textbooks for the whole school and can now begin to assist the other teachers in the school (whose classrooms look pretty bleak right now). This has all been made possible by your support. From the children of the Dreamer Centre, a heartfelt thank you. You cannot imagine the difference you are making in the lives of these children. These are the " poorest of the poor" and education is their only way out of their miserable circumstances..

We remain safe in Antigua, as the violence continues around us. Our mission coordinator from the States came down to visit us, and as she was returning to Guatemala city to catch a plane to return home, the bus broke down. As passengers stood around outside the bus, men armed with machetes pulled up and robbed them. Fifteen minutes later a second truck pulled up and tried to rob them but they had nothing left to give.

A couple of weeks ago we had to go to El Salvador for a retreat .Two days before we left
we invited a young couple for dinner. They described how they were robbed at gunpoint on a first class bus, returning to Guatemala from El Salvador, at one o'clock in the afternoon (the same bus we were about to take). We returned safely without incident, but two days later the same bus line was robbed returning from El Salvador and one person was murdered.

What are we doing here? We are bringing hope..to people who have no hope. We are letting the Guatemalans know that there are Canadians, back home, who care about them
And want to help them. Your donations of clothing, supplies and money say "We care."

Our Christmas gift to you is to let you know there is a small group of people in this world whose lives will be changed forever because of your generosity. There can be no greater feeling of satisfaction.......the PEACE of knowing that in some small way you have tried to make a difference...the JOY of bringing happiness to the Guatemalan people....and the LOVE that unites us in a common purpose.

We ask that you keep this mission in your prayers. Thank you for giving us this incredible opportunity to serve. It is all on your behalf.

In Christ's Love,

Susan and Richard