Accomplishments

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There are four contributing factors key to the success of the Guatemalan Project and are as follows:

1. Individual and Community Participation: - The people of El Triunfo are willing to be educated, mentored, provide labor for, assume responsibility for, and be held accountable for the success of various programs that are part of the project.

2. Governmental and Agency Participation: - The local Guatemalan government and agencies are willing to allocate land and support for the building and for the establishment of programs.

3. International Donor Participation: - The project is fueled by more than 65 donors that provide project guidance, advice, knowledge, funds, materials, and finished goods.

4. International Volunteer Participation: - The project is staffed by more than 25 dedicated volunteers responsible for Project Fundraising, Project Administration, and Public Awareness.  Over 12,000 hours of voluteer time are given each year.

Within the first three years, the Guatemalan Project implemented programs designed to meet community needs for basic education, health care, skills training, and sustainable economic development. Programs completed successfully and that are currently operational include the following:

• Development of a Micro-Enterprise Program that has provided loans to 115 families.  These loans have allowed women to raise pigs, and chickens, to make brooms, to established small stores, to sell clothing materials, to prepare food for sale at the market, improve their houses, start small businesses i.e., bycicle repair, blacksmith, icecream sales, etc.   
• Completion of five extra classrooms .  In January, 2005 all 342 school age children of El Triunfo began to attend school.  A total of forty eight laminated tables allow children to write on them freely. Hopefully, the eight-room school will share its classrooms, in the afternoons, with another 119 children from the nearby Los Limones village which has no school. This plan is still being discussed.
• Scholarships for Children to Attend Middle School in Gualan. Last December, 2005, nine children graduated elementary school.  Unfortunately, in order to continue their education, they will have to travel to Gualan.  We have established a program where you, the donor, may sponsor - with any amount of money - any child to attend Middle School.  This December, 2006, we will be graduating another seven children.  
• Completion of a one-room Health Clinic. As a result of this, El Triunfo has the services of a Medical Intern from the University of San Carlos.  Because of the availability of a health clinic, not only the local health department but also UNICEF have already come to El Triunfo to provide services to the people.
• Completion of a one-room Dental Clinic. As a result of this, El Triunfo has the services of an Dentist Intern from the University of San Carlos
• Completion of a School-Kitchen. As a result of this, 88 school children are now having lunches prepared for them at the kitchen. Hopefully, the entire 450 children of El Triunfo will receive daily lunches in the future .
• Establishment of the Sponsor-A-Child Program. One hundred and fourteen children have been sponsored to receive lunches, vitamin, school supplies, or a gift.
• Establishment of the Sponsor-A-Mother-To-Be Program. Twenty-five pregnant women have been given prenatal vitamins containing folic acid in the hope of making sure that they will have healthy babies.
• Establishment of the Sponsor-A-Family-Milpa Program. Loans are given to  families to purchase seeds, weed killer, and fertilizers needed to cultivate corn that will feed the families for an entire year. Many of these families also borrowed money to purchase silos where they will safely keep the corn for up-to two years.  
  
• The Multipurpose House of the Interns was completed in August, 2004.  It provides room and board for two Interns from the University of San Carlos who are assigned to work in El Triunfo for the eight-months internship. the Interns stay in El Triunfo two days per week.  The house also provides a large room for the computer training center, and a large garage fpr the "store."
• Basic Computer Training:  130 children have registered to begin basic computer training in April, 2006.  The monthly cost to the students will be $2.00.  We ask you to send your donations to sponsor as many children as possible to receive classes. 
• The Sewing Workshop is held in one of the large school rooms.  A total of ten sewing machines were donated to the Guatemalan Project. Twenty seven women and one man are learning how to saw. At present, we are exploring the market where the people can begin to sell their finished products. 
• Asociación Proyecto Guatemala:  The Women's Committee of El Triunfo organized themselves and formed a legally recognized non-profit organization in Guatemala.  The Asociacion Proyecto Guatemala is a demonstration of the empowerement which is possible when people are given opportunities to learn, assess, plan, and implement their own program. 
• Connections with other agencies and social public entities take place often.  The Asociacion Proyecto Guatemala shares with schools, elementary and middle schools, clinics, and government entities goods that are necessary to those entities.  Your donations therefore, not only help the people of El Triunfo, but also, any other community in need.
• Construction of a 12 x 16 meters storage space:  A "bodega" was completed on March 1st, 2006. This storage space is needed in order to store the donations that arrive with each shipment.  A careful inventory of all donations is kept in order to meet the guidelinas of the legal Asociación Proyecto Guatemala in Guatemala.  Also, there is a need to store rice, beans, sugar, etc. that are purchased by the 100 lb bags, and for which there is no room in the kitchen.  The cost of building the bodega was $8,000.00.  
• The Guatemalan Project via its Latest News articles constantly shares with all its successes as well as its challenges.  Over fifty Update articles tell the history of the project.

Stewardship:

Ninety percent (90%) of all donations go directly to serve the people of El Triunfo.  Only ten percent (10%) of all donations are utilized for administrative expenses. Most important, the purpose of the Guatemalan Project is not to give charity, but, on the contrary, it is to give people opportunities to learn, to work, and to provide loans for economic development.  Our detained financial sheets for both, income and expenses, both, in the USA and in El Triunfo, are available for your perusal.  Please click here.

In Progress:

Additional initiatives in progress include the following:

• Construction of a Vocational Center: - To provide various training programs such as; Automobile Mechanics, Carpentry, Small Appliance Repair, Bricklaying, Computer Repair, Fish Farming, Pluming, and Agricultural Farming.
• Construction of a Community Center: - To provide entire families a gathering place to socialize and participate in civic activities.
• Construction of a Children’s Playground: - To provide the children with a safe place to exercise, play, and develop social relationships. 
• Construction of a regional hospital:  - To provide health maintenance and health care for the region.
• To make land accessible for the people of El Triunfo to cultivate basic food, not only for their families, but also to engage in micro-enterprising in the region.
• To complete the drainage system started by the Municipality of Gualan in 2004. 
• To build, at least, 50 houses for the most needed people of El Triunfo.  The approximate cost of each house is $900.00. 

Your Participation:

If you have read this far, please continue and consider partnering in our effort. You can be a donor and/or volunteer. Continue to explore this site; there are many opportunities for your involvement.  Your talents, we are sure, can be useful to the Guatemalan Project in a way that is most meaningful to you. If you wish to be part of this success, or just wish to explore the potential, join us in our Mission to help others help themselves. Together we can give a future and a hope to those in need.

Please Contact Us with your ideas and suggestions.