More About Jose

José is 13 years old. His birthday is December 18th. He was supposed to be in 3rd grade in 2009 but unfortunately he did not register in time and he will have to wait until next year.

Jose lives in a small town called Xeabaj Segundo de Chichicastenango. He lives with his mother Maria, 30 years old.

His father abandoned the family 6 months ago. They don't know where he is.

José has 3 brothers and 1 sister. They are:

Tomas is 9 years old. His birthday is December 5th. He was in first grade in 2008. He was supposed to start second grade in 2009 but did not register in time and he will have to wait until next year.

Juan Carlos is 6 years old. He is not in school yet.

Sebastian is 4 years old.

Ana María is 2 years old.

Jose and his mother sell typical clothing in the streets of Chichicastenango and Panajachel. Some days they make $8-10 USD and some others nothing.

They own the house they live in.
They have 1 room and one kitchen.
It is make of mud brick, tin roof and dirt floor.
They do not have a water filter.
They do not have an Onil stove. The mother cooks on an open fire on the floor.
They have 2 beds made of wooden planks.
They do not have enough blankets.
They have one table and 3 wooden chairs.
They have a pila.
They have electricity connected and pay $6 USD per month.
They have water connected and pay $2 USD per month.

The money that they make is not enough to cover their expenses. Their main diet is beans, herbs, pasta and eggs. When they do not have enough money for that they only eat tortillas with salt.


Jose and his family receiving their food. I'm sure they have never had this much food at once.

Meet Jose




Jose is very happy he will be going to school!

Meet Tomas




Tomas is Joses' little brother. Thank you, Lorie for sponsoring Jose!

Marcos





Here's Marcos with his new school supplies... check out his new hair cut! He looks great!

More Great News!

My friend, Lorie and her husband will be sponsoring Joses little brother to attend school!!!!!

Thank you Eric and Lorie!! :)

We Found Him!!


Patti Mort, with Mayan Families has found this little boy for us! This is fantastic news. Our family will be sponsoring him, we sent in money for his sponsorship, as well as money for emergency food for his family... here's a copy of the email that Patti wrote to me...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His family got in touch and he appeared at my door yesterday afternoon with his mother, the baby in the picture and two other street venders from his area who could write, thank goodness, as neither he nor his mother can and to take down names in Quiche is difficult for me.

What I found out so far is he is 13 years old and suppose to be in 2nd grade but not going to school because his family cannot afford to send him. His name is Jose Zut Tebelan and he is from a small area on the other side of Chichicastenango called Canton Sheabaj Primero.

The family is coming back to my house on Monday morning at 11 so I can take them up to Mayan Families to get their data and register him with a number. Is it alright with you if I give your email address and name and say you will be sponsoring him? That way they will contact you about it.

You should have seen his eyes light up when I asked if he would like to go to school. He also asked if his younger brother could go as well. I said we can start with him and see where it goes.
He must have made an impression on you for you to continue to look for him. Miracles happen all the time around here and you have just helped create another one.


While in Guatemala, one little boy touched my heart. I've often wondered what has happened to him.

While on facebook recently, Karen Pickett from Education & More had a photo that caught my eye on her online photo album.

To my surprise, it was the little boy that has been on my heart.

He was sitting on the side walk crying, because his family did not eat that day... or the day before.

He had to sell refridgerator magnets (that's what's in his basket)... he did not sell any that day, meaning they would go another day without eating.

We talked to him, and gave him money. He gave us a magnet, which has been hanging on our refrigerator ever since.

We are now looking for this little boy, so we can sponsor him to go to school.

Hopefully, he will be allowed to go to school. His family may not let him if he has to make a wage to help feed the family.

Please pray that our scouts will find this little boy.

I will keep you updated.

Oscars House

We still want to raise money to build a home for Oscar. Things have been very busy here, hopefully within the next couple of weeks I can buckle down to get those funds raised! :) I will keep you updated. :)

BTW, I think I've been in North Carolina too long.... I just re-read what I wrote above and think I added a little southern accent. LOL!

Tonight, I sent $50 for Marcos and his family for food... and also $50 for Oscar and his family for food.

Also - great news!

We have purchased a wooden table and chairs for Marcos and his family.

I will never forget, they had ONE plastic chair in their house.

Now, they will have a nice table and chairs to go on their new concrete floor!

So far, we have been able to provide the following for Marcos and his family:

  • 2 beds and mattresses
  • water filter
  • onil stove
  • cement floor
  • wooden table and 4 wooden chairs
  • food, holiday baskets, totes filled with goodies on several occassions
For Oscar and his family, we have been able to provide:
  • 1 bed and mattress
  • water filter
  • onil stove
  • food, holiday baskets, totes filled with goodies on several occassions

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