How bad can things be....can they be that bad?

I would prefer to be sharing all sorts of the photos that show the fun side of Guatemala.  People laughing. Men fishing. Kids playing. Bright colors. Sounds of marimba up and down the street. People shopping in the tiendas and markets.

But that only tells half of the story, and the story that we need to tell people is not a story that is so easy to tell.  The story about poverty.  About abuse.  About alcoholism that comes out of a poverty of soul, spirit and dignity. About how the alcoholism can cause so much destruction.  About how when people live off of less than a dollar a day in some cases it is so hard to feed your family.  About how generation after generation has seen hopelessness and can't get out and keeps carrying it on.  The story about homes that have dirt floors...one room...one very, very, very tiny room that may have walls of plastic tarp, or bamboo or, if you are lucky adobe or maybe even cement block. About how inside this homes everyone sleeps in the same bed.....

and how that can be a breeding ground for the type of abuse that we want to try to put a stop to.

Maybe another post will have the happy photos....but for this one there are few photos of what some of the very real conditions are like.  The bunk beds won't solve every problem...we are not kidding ourselves there. But what they will do is to prevent some...and it's a place to start.  By giving bunk beds to the families, the children and parents will have a little bit more privacy....a bit more separation.  Even that will make a difference.

We are not just dumping off bunkbeds and coming back home.....but we are asking the leaders in the community (in a church we work with) to identify 10 families where abuse is an issue already or a very real concern...and these families will be invited to get the beds.  In order to get the beds, the families will attend a 4 part teaching series we are calling "Making Healthy Families" where we talk about being free and breaking chains, about alcoholism, about the seriousness of abuse and even nutrition concepts.

Do you know that there is one real amazing side benefit of kids get a good and safe night's sleep?  Education.  If they can sleep at night...they may be able to better learn and participate in school (if they go).

Your participation in this project may do more than give kid one good night's sleep...but you may change his or her future fore-ever!

Anyway. Here are some photos of the reality of some of these homes....another day we can show you some nicer photos.

girl next to typical style one-room home.

interior of typical home, built of reclaimed corrugated metal pieces

 Guatemala City neighborhood in the dump--"La Limonada"  I have not personally been to La Limonada, however this is a view so typical of many areas.

Did I mention that if the home has a bed so often there is not a mattress? It's a piece of plywood?

girl working in the dump, carrying her little baby brother with her.