11:39AM EST November 8. 2012 -

“Guatemalans fearing aftershocks huddled in the dark and frigid streets of this mountain town wrapped in blankets early Thursday, while others crowded inside its hospital, the only building left with electricity after a powerful earthquake killed at least 48 people and left dozens more missing. 

In the town of San Cristobal Cochu, firefighters picked at a collapsed house trying to dig out 10 members of one family, including a 4-year-old child, who were buried…” - USA Today -

At the time the earthquake struck, twenty-three students from the University of Mary were volunteering with The GOD’S CHILD Project and assembling wheelchairs in Guatemala. “The walls began to shake,” said one volunteer. “The ground rolled and roof tiles began to fall.  Some people screamed. Everyone ran outside.”

The quake struck at 10:57am and damaged or destroyed 2.3 million    homes.  It displaced thousands; the number of casualties is expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.

“It is likely The GOD’S CHILD Project will reassign us for the rest of our time here,” said another U of M volunteer. “I wish we were staying longer.  They really need us right now.”

We need your help. The people of Guatemala need your help. The GOD’S CHILD Project has mobilized to help displaced earthquake victims by providing them with food, clothing, and a safe place to stay.  In the long run, we also need to support these communities in their struggle to rebuild.  Patrick Atkinson, Founder of The GOD’S CHILD Project, says:

“In The GOD’S CHILD Project, our job is to care for and educate orphaned and abandoned children.  We also assist widowed and abandoned mothers and their dependents, but the work ends up being much more than that.  

“When we least expect it, God and the poor come to us and say ‘help’.  We need to do the best we can.”

We need your help with this specific emergency effort.

Please give a dedicated gift online right now at www.godschild.org/donate.  You can also find updates and photos posted on www.godschild.org.

Or make an immediate automatic $10 donation from your cellphone by texting “BeAHero” to 80888.

For further information about the condition of the children in The GOD’S CHILD Project Guatemala, or to donate by phone, call (701) 255-7956 or toll free 888-BeA-Hero (888-232-4376).

Finally, contributions to support this urgent appeal may be sent to The GOD’S CHILD Project, P.O. Box 1573, Bismarck, ND, 58502.  Please designate: Guatemala Earthquake.

However you chose to help, THANK YOU for being there in this time of unanticipated but critical emergency need.

Nathan Powell
ITEMP Operations Director
The GOD’S CHILD Project

Moises Castillo / AP. Firefighters transport a wounded resident.

A 7.4 earthquake struck Guatemala on Thursday, November 7th and at least 48 have already been reported dead.  Scores more are injured as aftershocks continue to hit the country.

We desperately need your help.  Thursday’s earthquake was the strongest earthquake to hit Guatemala since a 1976 temblor that killed 23,000.

CONTRIBUTE NOW!

Two volunteers from The University of Mary (Bismarck, ND) arrive to assist a family who’s home was severely damaged by the earthquake.

Mirza Paola

Every child brought into this world is a blessing and one of a kind; Mirza reminds us of that every day. Mirza is a unique young woman for myriad reasons, only one of which is the fact that she was born with an extremely rare congenital disorder known as Hallermann-Streiff Syndrome and is one of fewer than 200 people living with this condition worldwide.

She was born premature and arrived with a long list of complications. Doctors operated almost immediately on her severe cataracts and sent her to exam after exam because they weren´t able to determine her condition. Over the next few years her health problems persisted and it became increasingly apparent that physically she was not developing like other children. She experienced severe headaches and chest pains, her vision loss persisted, her hair was not growing and neither was she. The doctors believed she had another rare condition called Progeria, in which the symptoms resemble an accelerated aging process. It wasn´t until two years ago when Mirza joined us at Centro Scheel and underwent further examination that she was finally diagnosed with Hallermann-Streiff.

Mirza shares a room and a bed with her father in their tiny house constructed with sheet metal

When she was a baby, the doctors told Mirza´s parents they didn´t think she would live to celebrate her 12^th birthday. Mirza is now 21 years old, 4 feet 2 inches tall, and full of energy, talent, and ambition. Growing up has not been easy; she was born into a very poor family in a dangerous neighborhood, her mother abandoned her when she was 12, and due to the complications of her condition and her appearance, leading a so-called normal life has been a challenge. Children at her previous schools didn´t understand why she was different and often ridiculed her; people in the community and on the street still say hurtful things and make fun of her appearance. Her vision is continually deteriorating and for this reason her case was brought to the administrators at Centro Scheel two years ago. She was enrolled in the school and is now in the 8^thgrade.

Mirza is learning how to use the computer

In Centro Scheel, Mirza says she finally feels comfortable and safe. It took time to get past her defenses, but she eventually felt comfortable enough to answer the questions from her curious classmates and share with them the details of her condition. She´s not very interested in mathematics and she finds English class really hard, but she loves her art and drawing courses. She makes beautifully hand-crafted figurines and sells them in her spare time in order to help the family out financially as much as she can.

Mirza placed top 10 in a city-wide competition for young artists

Mirza has goals and says she will never stop dreaming. One day, she would like to meet her all-time favorite artist, Justin Bieber. She also wants to carry on with her studies to one day be a psychologist. Mirza´s biggest dream is to start her own project to educate people about Hallermann-Streiff Syndrome and other conditions like it. She wants to start in Centro Scheel, take her message into the community and throughout Guatemala, and maybe even someday around the world. Mirza believes that with more education and a greater understanding that one day we will respect one another and all of the qualities that make each and every one of us unique.

Centro Scheel is able to continue its work because of the donations we receive from around the world. With your help, Mirza and more than 150 other students at Centro Scheel are in school and pursuing their dreams. Every donation you make opens the door to a brighter future for all of these children and for Guatemala.

Mirza´s confidence is growing every day

“We were lucky in that we had supplies on the ground,” said GOD’S CHILD Project founder and executive director Patrick Atkinson. “In July we sent 22,000 lbs. of donated clothing, medicines, and infant nutrition supplement from Bismarck to Guatemala, and most of that had yet to be distributed.” Volunteers and staff worked overnight to prepare those supplies for the estimated 33,000 people affected by Thursday’s volcanic explosion.

The 3,760m-tall (12,336ft) Fuego is one of Central America’s most active volcanoes. Officials said lava was covering a 4 mile area on the south and south-western side of the Fuego. The base of the volcano is located 3 miles from Antigua Guatemala while the crater is 6 miles from this heavily populated colonial tourist destination. The nation’s capital, Guatemala City, population 2,200,000 is located 21 miles from the volcan’s base.

District Governor Teresa de Jesus Chocoyo personally contacted The GOD’S CHILD Project immediately after Thursday’s volcanic eruption asking for emergency assistance. Having heard, felt and seen the volcano’s impact blast, Project staff are already at work organizing volunteers to check on families and children living in the affected area.

Javier Castro of The GOD’S CHILD Project said, “My first call was to Direct Relief International to obtain permission to access the hurricane preparedness module that they store on the Project’s property. These are complete kits that contain ready-to-eat meals, water purification tablets, antibiotics, and first-aid kits. They are able to provide immediate care for up to 5,000 people.”

Sergio Cabanas, Head of Emergency Evacuations for CONRED, the Guatemalan Disaster Coordinating Committee, originally said evacuation orders for more than 33,000 people in 17 towns and villages had been issued. District Governor Chocoyo asked that The GOD’S CHILD Project provide and coordinate assistance efforts and make Project properties available for the anticipated 11,000 refugees.

Murray Sagsveen, Chief Operating Officer for The GOD’S CHILD Project said, “The GOD’S CHILD Project has been working in Guatemala for twenty years now. We lived through Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Tropical Storm Stan in 2005, and different earthquakes, so we have both experience and disaster response plans in place.”

Hurricane Mitch killed an estimated 10,000 people across Central America, and left another 2.7 million homeless.

“Thankfully supporters and benefactors helped us to help the victims,” said Atkinson, who first arrived in Guatemala in 1983 to assist war victims in Guatemala, El Salvador and other Central American nations. In 2005 Atkinson received the Guatemalan Congressional Medal for his role in saving an estimated 30,000 Mayan Indian lives.

At the request of Governor Chocoyo and the National Disaster Coordinating Committee, GOD’S CHILD Project staff and volunteers are working in the affected disaster area. Specific efforts currently engaged in by The GOD’S CHILD Project during Fuego’s volcanic explosion are:

• The immediate distribution of clothing and blankets to evacuated villagers
• The purification of water for drinking and cooking
• The distribution of food and especially infant nutritional supplements
• The establishing and supervision of emergency housing for affected families.

In the Antigua area, which has not yet been immediately impacted, GOD’S CHILD Project staff and volunteers are converting the Project’s Santa Madre Homeless Shelter over to refugee housing, and preparing its lawns and green areas for the creation of tent cities, if such should be necessary. In addition, recently received donations to clothing, blankets and medicines are being distributed and stockpiled for immediate access if Fuego should continue or expand its volcanic activity.

Castro said a major concern in any major volcanic explosion is related earthquake activity, “But we don’t know and can’t speculate,” he said. “We can only be ready.”

The GOD’S CHILD Project is urgently asking for donations and public support to assist the victim’s of yesterday’s volcanic explosion. “Without your help,” Atkinson said, “we can’t do a thing. Together we are going to save lives.”

To donate, please contact The GOD’S CHILD Project at 701-255-7956 or online at www.godschild.org/donate.

Jose Emanuel at 6 months, upon arriving at Casa Jackson

“Just a skeleton,” Sylvia thought, when she saw her baby boy for the first time on July 26, 2011. Jose Emanuel was born premature and with Down’s Syndrome and spent the first 18 days of his life in the hospital. He was released and sent home, but it was then that the complications really began. Sylvia and her husband didn’t understand anything about Down’s Syndrome, how to care for a baby with the condition, or how it was going to affect their lives and that of their newborn. Jose Emanuel wouldn’t eat, he never stopped crying, and his mother didn’t know what to do. His health quickly deteriorated and the family returned to the hospital and admitted Jose Emanuel into intensive care. The doctor took one look at her baby and told Sylvia that Jose Emanuel wouldn’t recover. His fever was so high that at one point he actually stopped breathing and the entire room thought he had passed away. They placed the baby in an ice bath and miraculously, Jose Emanuel began to breathe again. Another eight days in the hospital and the doctors sent the family home once again – no more prepared or educated than the first time to care for their fragile baby boy.

Jose Emanuel arrived with severe malnutrition

Sylvia still didn’t know how to feed her baby; and after so many hospital visits and medical exams she and her husband weren’t even able to afford the baby formula he so desperately needed. Jose Emanuel lost more weight and grew sicker everyday, until finally the hospital referred his case to Casa Jackson. Sylvia knew that Jose Emanuel would only survive if she left him in their care, but her heart broke when she had to walk away from him for the first time. What came next was even harder for Sylvia to understand – the idea that social workers and medical staff questioned the love she had for her child, the belief that she may have been negligent in his care, and the reality that he might be taken away from her.

Sylvia, Jose Emanuel, and older brother Angel Gabriel

Over the next four months, Jose Emanuel was nursed back to health by the dedicated staff and loving volunteers at Casa Jackson. Sylvia never missed an opportunity to spend time with her baby, and although money was scarce she made the trip to see him every week. She spent time with the doctors, nurses, and spoke with the social workers, who finally concluded that she was in fact a fit and loving mother – she simply needed to learn how to properly care for Jose Emanuel. Every week, Sylvia watched how the nurses fed him his bottle, how they bathed him, and how they administered his physical therapy. Jose Emanuel struggled every day with a build-up of phlegm in his lungs. The apparatus to help clear his lungs and allow him to breathe was expensive, and although he couldn’t live without it, the family couldn´t have dreamed of affording it. Volunteers at Casa Jackson raised the money among themselves to buy Jose Emanuel the machine. Each visit, Sylvia asked more questions and the nurses told her everything they knew about Down’s Syndrome. “It was shameful for me,” recalls Sylvia, “What mother doesn’t know how to care for her own child?” But every week it became easier and Sylvia felt more comfortable and more capable. She says that when he was first born she cried a lot and that she feared for Jose Emanuel because he would always be different. At Casa Jackson, Sylvia began to reflect and realized that their family has been blessed. “For us, Jose Emanuel is normal. He is what we have been given and we will fight for him. If we fight for him, he is going to be an even better little boy than all the rest.”

Jose Emanuel is now home with his family, happy and healthy

While Jose Emanuel was recovering in Casa Jackson, a service team from Nuestros Ahijados raised enough money to build the family a new house. When he was finally released, the family had a safe, dry, and clean home to take him to. Sylvia and her husband never dreamed of having their own home, “I am grateful from the bottom of my heart and always will be. This house… Casa Jackson…the nurses… they are like gifts that fell from heaven.”

Casa Jackson is home to some of the sickest and most malnourished babies in Guatemala. With your donations, we continue to provide refuge for babies like Jose Emanuel. Every contribution makes a difference in the lives of the little patients that call Casa Jackson home.

Saul when admitted to Casa Jackson in May 2012

Meet Saul. This little boy is one of our most dramatic cases at Casa Jackson, a hospital for malnourished infants located in San Felipe de Jesus, near Antigua, Guatemala. Saul is an example of a child that has directly benefitted from the donations received from our donors worldwide.

Saul was admitted at 6 years old weighing only 17 lbs. He suffered from horrible burn like wounds, which covered his body from head to toe. He was chronically malnourished for most of the first 6 years of his life, surviving mainly on protein powder and corn flour mixed with unfiltered water, and the occasional bowl of rice and beans.

Extreme Chronic Malnutrition

Saul was referred to Casa Jackson from the local hospital in Escuintla. He suffered from consistent diarrhea and vomiting and while at the hospital he received antibiotics and a blood transfusion. Unfortunately, his body was not able to tolerate either the transfusion or the medications, resulting in an allergic reaction that produced his burn like wounds.

Playtime with Armando, another little boy at Casa Jackson

While the effects of malnutrition are long lasting, Saul grows stronger and healthier every day. Mere months later, his contagious laughter brightens the halls of Casa Jackson and brings smiles to the faces of all of the staff and volunteers who have shared in his recovery process.

August 2012

Thanks to both our one time and recurring donations, we have saved Saul’s life and the lives of many other children like him.

This past July, Teenagers, Inc participated in its fourth annual service trip to Guatemala. A program for adolescents from Northwest Philadelphia, Teenagers, Inc started a relationship with The GOD’S CHILD Project after director Marianne Dwyer’s daughter participated in a service trip with GCP through Villanova University. One of Teenagers, Inc’s goals is to foster volunteerism at home and farther away, and Dwyer values the interaction GOD’S CHILD provides between the volunteers and those whom they serve. “[We] love the formatting of [the] service experience and living with families.”

The Philadelphia group members held about seven fundraisers to help pay for their trip, as well as asking the local community for donations to bring down with them to Guatemala. “Presenting [the mothers] with a basket of food, detergent and items that will help feed their family was absolutely so beautiful,” Dwyer said.

While in Guatemala, Teenagers, Inc worked with children at the Dreamer Center, the Casa Maria-Home for the Elderly and made social visits. Dwyer’s favorite activity, however, was house-building. “As soon as I swept out the new home for presentation to the family, the tears flowed! It is something I do every day at home, and to do it for our new family in Guatemala was so moving – a home that will protect the family from the weather – to look at the Mom and the excited kids was so connecting on a real level!”

Teenagers, Inc “definitely” plans on continuing to return to Guatemala, as Dwyer wants to enable more teens to experience the act of giving service and aiding families in need. She believes the trips are life-changing and she herself will “treasure those moments forever.”

From Joanne:

Nuestros Ahijados has a small but wonderful project in Guazapa, El Salvador. We are there helping 43 families with food, clothing and educational costs.  We are also helping to educate two young women as nurses in this area which is without the most basic medical care.

I was honored to visit Guazapa for 3 days in July with Wicho Fuentes and Hector Barrundia from the Project. Our presence seemed to mean the world to these people. Wicho brought shoes for some of the girls,  and their delighted squeals and giggles stayed with me all day. Since the people walk everywhere and the roads are entirely mud and rocks, both feet and shoes are in very poor condition.

Recently one of the boys from our group was walking home from work and thieves took his nice black work pants and shoes. I think it takes some gall to steal from people who are already so poor.

There are many additional children and families who could be helped at this site witch is already set up. I could see the pain on Wicho’s face every time he was approached by someone we simply could not help. By the end of our visit, they were asking me too.

If you would like to donate to our families in El Salvador or sponsor a particular child’s education and basic needs, log on to godschild.org, click donate and specify “El Salvador.” Thanks.

"One of the best feelings I have ever experienced in my life is knowing I can actually do something and contribute.” - Kayla

“I’ve been pretty busy the last couple of weeks,” Kayla said. After sending out between 250-300 e-mails and letters, followed up by phone calls, Houchin was able to secure around 100 donated items for the auctions. Her persistence paid off. “[The money raised] will change lives and make the world just a little better and brighter,” Kayla said.

The highest bids at the auction went toward three signed footballs by all members of the NDSU football team, who were 2011 National Champions. One football sold for $1000, another got $900, and the third one was raffled off, the total amount of raffle tickets sold totaling $390.

Also up for auction were signed items from Percy Harvin of the Minnesota Vikings, country star Martina McBride and chef Bobby Flay, as well as signed cookbooks from Paula Dean and Food Network personality Guy Fieri.

Golf course passes and three hotel rooms in Fargo rounded out donated items. Kayla’s mom and her friend put together around 20 gift baskets, and Houchin made cheesecake and cupcakes to sell. “I also bought some wall hangings to auction off,” Kayla said. “I got one for about $40 and it sold for $350!”

Houchin had traveled to Guatemala in May 2009 with her sociology class from NDSU. The group was there for two weeks, during which they built a house and volunteered at Casa Jackson. “Our days were very full – we ate breakfast at 7 a.m.,” Kayla said. “But we relaxed most nights!”

Every year since being in Guatemala, Houchin has raised money for The GOD’S CHILD Project. In 2010 she ran a marathon, and money raised from sponsors totaled over $2000. In 2011, Kayla cut off a foot of hair (“my hair’s really short now!) and donated the $4000 she raised from her undertaking to Guatemala. “I wanted to do this because I knew it would be personally challenging and a learning experience.  Most importantly, I wanted to further try and give back a little to an organization that completely changed my life over three years ago and still impacts my life today,” Houchin said.

Even though the attendance at the auction, held in the festival hall in Fessenden, was a bit low, “people gave very generously,” Kayla said. Some who couldn’t make it to the event sent in monetary donations. Houchin is truly appreciative of all who showed their support. “No matter what I have ever decided to try and do for GCP, I have always received unreal, overwhelming support from my community. One of the best feelings I have ever experienced in my life is knowing I can actually do something and contribute.”

For Houchin, volunteering comes naturally. “In Guatemala I realized every little thing can make a difference… one drop does make a difference for someone somewhere. I firmly believe that the greatest cause in the world today is humanity. I don’t care if you are my neighbor or live 100,000 miles away – you deserve food, shelter, clean water, an education and love. The best feeling is actually turning your idea into a reality. I have had the opportunity to do this a few times only because of the people behind me. I am truly blessed.”

Houchin hopes to return to Guatemala in the future, maybe even next summer. Her message is powerful: “The only limits you have in life are the ones you place upon yourself – the world is literally yours for the taking.  Do something that matters and leave it a better place – why else do you think God put you and me here?”

The GOD’S CHILD Project is infinitely grateful to Kayla for her continuing efforts, both in Guatemala and here at home.