In 2004, Deanna and I went to Guatemala for the first time. We earned lifetime nerd status by choosing to go to school on our honeymoon. We studied Spanish in Antigua for a couple of weeks and took two weekend trips, one to the Mayan ruins at Tikal, and one to stay at the beautiful Posada de Santiago, on Lago Atítlan.
We were not looking for a project, but realized while there that I am uniquely situated to help out with some issues there. Public schools are grossly underfunded there, and Guatemala is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere (after Haiti), so it’s hard to raise funds for schools from parents, many of whom are supporting families on less than $2 per day of income.
We set out to help out one school that I had visited, and gradually grew a small non-profit organization called PEG Partners. It is run by all volunteers, and all donations go directly to the projects unless the donor specifies that they would like to designate a portion to contribute to our small admin budget for transportation, printing, etc.
As of now, we’ve raised a bit over $100,000, primarily in very small donations. That’s not a lot of money in the US, but it goes a very long way in Guatemala. My musician buddy John Smith also raises money at concerts. The rest of the story, and pictures of some of the children affected by it, are below. If you would like more information on PEG, please check out the PEG web site.
David
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