A MESSAGE FROM OMAR MEJÍA

COVID deaths have surpassed 10,000 this month in Guatemala. COVID cases are the highest they have ever been throughout the pandemic and the Delta variant is confirmed to be present in the country. Hospitals are full again with patients.

In the midst of this, there has been a mishandling of the vaccine roll out in the country. Of our population of 17 million, only 1.7 million have been vaccinated. And while the government already spent $80 million on 16 million dollars of the Russian Sputnik vaccine, only 55,000 have been delivered which has left the Guatemalan population asking where did the money go and how could the government have mismanaged the pandemic so badly?

National protests and road blocks have paralyzed the country for the last couple of weeks as the population is fed up with the government corruption and mishandling of the pandemic. Protests are demanding the resignation of the president.

Aside from the 55,000 vaccines provided by the government, the rest of the vaccines being administered in the country are from donations from the US, Russia, Spain, and Mexico.

Here at Acorn Childcare Center, our staff have been fortunate to qualify for the few vaccines that are being administered to teachers, essential workers, and older adults. Our staff received the first dose last week and are waiting to receive word if and when the second dose will come in. We hope that the vaccines will keep our teachers safe as we look towards reopening the center for in-person learning in the new year.

The plan is to reopen schools and daycare centers here in Guatemala at the beginning of the new school year in January once all the teachers in the country are vaccinated. We are excited to be able to work with our students in person again and hope that the COVID situation gets better here in Guatemala. In the meantime, we continue to provide online classes with our students to help them continue developing throughout this pandemic.

Thank you for supporting our work as we continue to be a lifeline for so many families here in Quetzaltenango.

EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS

Every donation helps ensure that we can continue transforming the lives of families facing extreme poverty.

Maya Childcare Inc is run entirely by volunteers, thus 100% of your donation goes directly to the Acorn Childcare Center.

The fact that the Acorn Childcare Centre is able to offer such crucial, life-changing support to children and families living in extreme poverty, is thanks to the work and the generosity of many people, doing and giving what they can to help. Every contribution matters, and together all these efforts make a huge difference.