Project Somos’ 2017 was characterized by growth on the ground:
- The Culture Dome was completed, just in time to turn into a school
- Family House #3 was completed and now serves as staff housing
- The Clinica de Mateo building was completed and inaugurated. It hosts visiting health and medical teams and will also serve as a neighbourhood house and an internet café for the surrounding community.
- At the end of the year, Family House #4 was essentially completed
- A new washroom facility for the school and preschool was started
. . . This brings the total to 11 buildings on-site, plus miscellaneous storage units, a hen house and solar and water systems and food storage building.
Site utilities were improved:
- A donor family and friends made their 4th trip to Project Somos in 2017, they finished the installation and paid for a solar electric system that has cut electricity costs by 95%.
- The same donors upgraded the irrigation system that will help make the farm viable.
- Another donor family and friends made their 5th trip down. Having installed internet services for the Village, Community Hall and Staff House, then for two outside local schools, they came back twice in 2017 and added a second link, installed internet and computers donated by others in the Clinic and Neighbourhood House, and upgraded all the systems.
An experienced agronomist joined the staff in 2017 and is developing the farm as a social enterprise. Antolin Gonzalez and up to ten of his workers provided quality construction of the new buildings, maintenance and farm work. Twenty-five full or part time staff people, plus at different times, two interns, caterers/kitchen workers, a volunteer lawyer and a farm to table couple supported the Project last year.
Voluntourism groups from three schools, one travel company and a photography group, plus family groups from the board and other donors visited Project Somos. They helped with building and a multitude of tasks, and happily interacted with the mamas and children.
In January, Project Somos established an on-site school, satellite of a Guatemala City private school, to offer the six school-age children a better education than the local public school was able to provide. The children thrived and gained a love of learning. Their teacher, an afternoon programmer/teacher, a child care helper and a part time recreation leader joined the preschool teacher on staff. Somos’ developmental therapist, a mamas’ assistant, a part-time psychologist, handicraft coordinator Tita, and a later a live-in mothers’ coordinator worked with the mothers.
At years’ end, there were three families residing in the Village and staff was working hard to bring in more, as funding depends upon the successful implementation of the program with mothers and children.
The Compassion Fruit Society Board of Directors is grateful to the remarkable staff and all the donors for their enormous contributions to Project Somos in 2017.
Watch this 2017 drone footage of Project Somos: https://youtu.be/Q5L1lLI1JXk
Leave a Reply