Wednesday, February 28, 2007

NPR Runs Panabaj Story

Day to Day, January 30, 2007 · A little more than a year after Hurricane Stan devastated the Mayan village of Panabaj, a group is working to exhume and identify the remains of victims buried in a mudslide caused by the storm.

Before the mudslide, there were more than 50 homes in the village. Now, the houses and hundreds of the people who lived in them are 10 feet underground. Along the edges of the site, makeshift memorials stand as monuments to the dead.


Read the whole story and see the photos here.


Big thanks to Jimmy Byun for the link!

Monday, February 19, 2007

It's The Festival Atitlán!
The annual music festival to benefit the Hospitalito is on it's way.
Click on the poster above for a larger version.
Be sure to check out www.festivalatitlan.com too!

Members of the Construction Commission of the Asociación K’aslimaal have had a long and a productive learning experience in the bidding process for the new Ancillary Services Building (bodega). Architectural plans created by volunteer David Schele were made available to two local builders and anarchitect from San Lucas Tolimán.

In early February a decision was made to hire Juan Ratzan Mendoza and his firm SERCOMPI. Juan is a master builder, who has completed construction projects in many parts ofGuatemala. On February 19th electrician Henry Mendoza, contractor JuanRatzan and K’aslimaal construction commissioner Juan Tziná made a decision on the exact location of the new building.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Dr. Fernando Leiva (right) and fellow members of Guatemala City’s Club Rotario Oeste relax at the Hotel Bambu after a busy day at Hospitalito Atitlán on Feb. 17th.

Dr. Leiva performed several surgeries and Oscar Garcia, a dentist in the club saw patients for extractions. Linda Rosita, Dr. Juan Manuel Chuc and Club president Mario Rosito made plans for more surgeries the end of March. Thanks to all of you from Hospitalito Atitlán and from the patients that could be treated in their community.

Friday, February 09, 2007


Feb.8, 2007 Water specialists from the US, Mexico and Guatemala are in Atitlán with Dr. Mark Campbell of California, planning for a Rotary Club 3H grant to purify the water. In this foto, are water specialists Kurt Kuhlman, Florence Cassassuce and Dan Matthews, with Dr. Juan Manuel Chuc and Gary Sibley, a Rotarian from Sarasota, Florida. Kurt and Dan, representatives of the firm AQUASTAR, have just presented Dr. Chuc with a generator of liquid mixed oxidants, called the MIOX for purifying water and sanitizing. Florence has a project in La Paz, Mexico, where she has invented a UV bucket for purification of home drinking water.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

PaP OPENS ATITLÁN OFFICE!

The Board of Directors of Pueblo a Pueblo is pleased to announce that it has voted to open a field office in Santiago Atitlán in February 2007. Our D.C. office will be staffed by the volunteer Board of Directors with many business functions moved to the field office. This decision has been made for three reasons:
  • It is the board’s desire to keep Pueblo a Pueblo’s administrative expenses as low as possible. The cost of operations will be significantly reduced by moving a majority of our fundraising and administrative functions to Guatemala.
  • As activity increases with the Hospitalito and other projects, we can better fulfill our stewardship responsibilities with on-site staff that can closely monitor expenditures to ensure appropriate and efficient uses of all donated funds.
  • The field office will provide local employment opportunities in Santiago Atitlán.

    Additional benefits include an ability to broaden the community of concerned citizens for the Hospitalito by solicitation of visitors to Santiago Atitlán, as well as cultivating European donors who wish to contribute directly to Guatemala. A local presence in Santiago Atitlán will also allow the Board to strengthen its capacity to develop new funding strategies with physicians and the governing board of the Hospitalito for specific health care initiatives.

    We remain committed to working closely with our current donors and to expanding the community of concerned citizens in the U.S. Let me take this opportunity to thank each of you. Your continuing support of our mission, your volunteer labor and your financial support makes this work a true labor of joy.

    We have secured office space donated by the Municipalidad de Santiago. If you are visiting Santiago and/or would like to volunteer at the Pueblo a Pueblo Field Office please email us at:
    pap@puebloapueblo.org

    Kristen VanZandt
    President


    U.S. Office:
    Pueblo a Pueblo Inc.
    P.O. Box 11486
    Washington, DC 20008
    Tel: 202-302-0622

Guatemala Field Office:
Pueblo a Pueblo Inc.
APDO 13
Santiago Atitlán, Sololá
Guatemala
Tel: (to be announced)