No, not that one. Mason is unquestionably still an infant, as proven by the fact that I’m sitting in the dark typing up a blog at 4:30 AM while the Squirmy Wormy sits beside me and the two of us try to leverage a bit of sleep for his mom. He had his six-week birthday yesterday. We sang to him, of course.
The one I’m talking about here, though, is a different baby. A bebé, actually. Deanna and I started dreaming about PEG Partners on our honeymoon in 2004, first wanting to help out one school in the mountains outside of Antigua, and later realizing we had the potential and opportunity to have an impact at many more schools and libraries across Guatemala.
At this point PEG has raised over $75,000 and worked with nine schools and three libraries in different places across the country. That’s not a ton of money in the US, at least not in the context of building buildings, paying teachers, etc. But in Guatemala it’s a lot. A whole lot.
And yesterday at our board meeting I stepped down from the board. I no longer have any official capacity in the organization. I can’t even vote on decisions about direction and whether or not to fund certain projects.
Wow. My little one grew up and is heading out on her own.
It’s exhilarating to see it fly and to be strong enough to not need me. The board is in great shape, and will add someone else strong to take my position. Caroline Proctor is the new chair (I was that until yesterday), Paul Scouten Vice Chair, Cecil Bothwell Secretary, Tom Patteson board member at large and Katherine Neville is our financial guru/bookkeeper. It’s a formidable team, and I can’t wait to see what they do.
The other significant team member, of course, is John Smith, who is the new musical spokesman for PEG. I took him to Guatemala in October and he was both moved and motivated. He’s been telling stories at his shows and has already sent in several hundred dollars in donations.
I’ve got some transitional things to deal with to pass on all of the details that Caroline will need, but then I’ll be turning my attention even more toward Australia and away from this hemisphere. And once again I find a strange mix of emotions swirling around in my heart.
I’m proud of what we’ve built, and I think even prouder that it is strong enough to go on without me. And though the board has invited me to keep attending meetings ‘ex-officio’ and offer input, it’s really strange to have no official title or responsibilities.
It’s good, perhaps, to have some time at 4:30 AM to stare at the night and soak it in. One more gift from the NEW baby, and the one I’m giving lots of energy to helping grow up these days. He’s got two chins now and is working hard on the third one, so I guess we’d better go bother his mom after all…
Hi David, The North Island College, our college here in beautiful British Columbia, Canada has an International Committee, which will be travelling to Chacaya, Guatemala in February ’09. I am a graphic design student of the college who they have asked to design a poster to put up at the Chacayan school. They want this poster to show the children how to eat as well as possible given their means. This, however, is feeling overwhelming to me, as I feel totally ignorant of what exactly their means are. I have a feeling this is a poor rural community, and as such, what is their food availability? Do you have any suggestions having been there yourself and seeing first hand what their nutrition status is? I want to help and would like to know what these children would respond to best. I believe there will also be a pamphlet as well. Thanks so much for any response. We do have a tight timeline, so if you can reply as soon as possible I would be very, very grateful. Thanks, and Happy New Year, Chris Patterson