Scholarship Program January 2008

After the success of the pilot program year in 2007, the enlistment in the program has doubled to 16 students.  Each scholarship is reviewed at the end of the school year as to attendance, marks and other criteria.  The families learn again the following January if their child will be in the current year’s program.   Again, Bishop Pinkham Jr. High students came through with backpacks for the new students.  All materials and school supplies are provided to the students by the program and are purchased locally.

Music Room 2008

A need was identified by the school for a separate classroom to hold music lessons and store the instruments safely.  Through a private donation, Ayudamos was able to make this dream a reality.  We are now fundraising to purchase instruments and hire a music teacher for the children.

Bathrooms at Escuela Bilingüe Integral Santiaguito April 2007

In April 2007, Escuela Bilingüe Integral Santiaguito (our partner school) completed their bathroom project. Having identified the need for more toilets for the students, the school had begun the project (digging the hole and building toilet stalls) but didn’t have the money to finish the project. Ayudamos stepped in with the funding necessary to install two showers and two new toilet areas, as well as a deeply dug pozo for black water. The school did an excellent job of completing the project!

Scholarship Program January 2007

On January 15th 2007, eight students in Santiago Atiltan began school thanks to Ayudamos’ 2007 Scholarship Program. Developed in partnership with the school, Escuela Bilingüe Integral Santiaguito, the scholarship provides educational opportunities to students who may not otherwise have been able to attend school. Of the eight students currently enrolled, several are over 13 years old and have never attended school.

Thanks go to the students of Bishop Pinkham Jr. High School of Calgary, and their dynamic Assistant Principal, Carol Hall, who, through their fundraising efforts, provided backpacks and school supplies to our scholarship students. The students were very excited to receive them.


Financing for this project was provided by The Ayudamos Foundation

Women’s Centre of El Remate

After over a year of planning, the Women's Centre of El Remate was officially opened on October 4th 2007. The centre was built to provide Grupo Femeninos Ix-Canaan El Remate (Grupo Femeninos), a hardworking local women’s cooperative, a place in which to work collectively.

Planning began in September 2006 with our partners, former Calgarian Anne Lossing who, along with her husband, Dr. Enrique Chapeton, and the Grupo Femeninos. Anne acted as Project Manager and the women of Grupo Feminino worked hand-in-hand with the builders – they literally broke ground with pick axes, planted trees and plants, cleared rocks, built fences and did whatever was required.

Financing for this project was provided by The Ayudamos Foundation, Friends of Ix-Canaan (a local Calgary group headed by Dr. Bob Dickson) and The Wild Rose Foundation of Alberta

Project Soñar (To Dream) September 2006

After the mudslide of October 5, 2005, The Ayudamos Foundation responded with emergency aid for several of the families affected. Two of the families who had lost everything qualified for our housing program and the fundraising began to help these families rebuild their lives. With our partner, Cojolya, who purchased the land with money donated for relief efforts, Ayudamos then raised the money to build two new homes which were completed on September 18, 2006. The families were overjoyed with their new homes and were making plans to move in the same week. Shown here are the families (in the foreground), the volunteers and the local builders.

Project Too'lk March 2006

Proyecto Too 'Ik was completed with eight new homes finished for families in Santiago Atitlan and Panabaj and 32 safe stoves installed. The stove program was a great success and the women have all reported how much they enjoy cooking with them and how much less wood they now need to buy. A health, economic, and environmental win! This project was made possible by private donations and the Wild Rose Foundation of Alberta.

Emergency Relief November 2005

As a result of Hurricane Stan the canton of Panabaj was destroyed by mudslides from Volcan Toliman. Four of Cojolya’s weaving families lost everything but their lives and the clothes on their backs. Generous Ayudamos supporters provided funding to pay for rental housing and the replacement of all tools, clothing, housewares and furniture for these four families.

Juanita Tacaxoy - October 2005
Our first scholarship student, Juanita Tacaxoy graduated from her two year tourism diploma program in Panajachel. Her plans are to work in the hotel industry in the Lake Atitlan area.

Proyecto Too’Ik Housing and Safe Stove Project September 2005

The housing project, Proyecto Too'Ik officially began with the arrival of a volunteer construction team from Canada. They worked steadily for two weeks without too much interruption from the seasonal rains. The project continued after their departure by local construction workers.

Medical Project November 2004

After 6 months of planning, our medical project finally took flight and arrived in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. Our team consisted of Dr. Paula Fayerman, Nadine Mitchell, Midwife, Dr. Hunt Kooiker, Briana Peddle, Doula, Corina Ostapin, R.N, Kathleen Dillon-Davis, R.N, and Randy Bradshaw, a member of the Ayudamos Board and the official photographer of our medical project. We were joined by many local Santiago volunteers, some who acted as interpreters from English - Spanish to Tz’utujil. Over 250 patients were treated during the 10 day clinic.

Art Party and Weaver’s Board Meeting August 2004

The Weavers Association held a general meeting where four weaving representatives were elected to the Cojolya Board of Directors. During this monumental meeting, volunteers, Don and Margo Elliott, were up to their elbows in paint and children. For 3 hours, approximately 50 children painted, glued, sparkled, feathered, and cut beautiful artworks. For the majority of the children, who have never attended school, they had to be shown how to hold the brushes. Once the meeting and the masterpieces were finished the children formed a line and proudly displayed their works. The mothers toured through the impromptu gallery and viewed the beautiful array of colors and smiling little faces. Lunch of tamales, snacks and licuados were served after a hand washing education session.

Shoe Project October 2003

We had the privilege of fitting 600 little feet into shoes donated by generous Calgarians. About 250 pairs were given to children in the village of Lucerna. We distributed from this village because the vans could not make it through the mud of the rainy season to the villages where the children lived. Some of these little people walked up to three hours each way to receive their shoes. Rather than wearing them, many carried their new shoes home in order not to soil them!

Another 350 pairs were distributed in the village of Los Pajoces east of Guatemala City. It is a terribly poor indigenous village with a never-ending line-up of children, patiently waiting for shoes. Unfortunately, we ran out of shoes before we ran out of children. The health promoters of Vamos Adelante and the local schoolteachers assisted us in this distribution.

Clothing & Necessities Distribution May/June 2003

Our second distribution project got underway with the delivery of desperately needed AIDS medications and medical supplies, which we picked up in Dallas, Texas and delivered to a clinic in Guatemala City.

The second part of this distribution project was undertaken in partnership with Vamos Adelante, a Guatemalan based NGO. Children's clothing, hygiene kits, school supplies, blankets and towels were delivered to homes and schools in Fincas Montijo and Oxigeno, and in villages Chuchu and Santa Marta.

A wheelchair was delivered in conjunction with Airline Ambassadors to a 12-year-old boy in Santiago, Atitlan, who is suffering from cerebral palsy,

Large cans of tempera paints, paintbrushes and construction paper were delivered to the CANDELA project, a clinic for handicapped children in San Juan, to be used for art therapy. The CANDELA project provides various therapies for handicapped children.

General Distribution Project February 2003

The first distribution project in Guatemala was successfully undertaken in the village of El Tizate. Clothing, shoes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, blankets, towels and newborn necessity items, in addition to hygiene kits and school supplies were distributed to approximately 250 people.

Ayudamos facilitated a medical connection for 14-year-old Gabriella, suffering from severe scoliosis. In July, she underwent successful spinal correcting surgery and the following January a surgery on her heart. She has completely recovered and is now completing her teaching diploma in Antigua.