Thanks for taking the time to read.

Mexico City, Mexico: I haven´t shared with everyone the details of my year long trip. Mostly because there aren´t many details to disclose; but also because the details that do exist, I´d rather keep to myself.

But I did receive an email today that really impacted me, and I think maybe some more insight into my trip may be in order, so that you may understand the context of my urgency.

One of the reasons for this trip was to not only visit orphanages, but to also begin networking and partnering with the various orphanages to develop a long term relationship and to hopefully create and maintain a sustainable and constant cash flow for the preservation of each children´s home.

To that end, I was going to visit Casa Guatemala, which was to serve as a model that I could learn from and carry with me to other orphanages across Latin America.

Casa Guatemala has a youth hostel, call Backpackers Hostel, that is run by the orphanage, and whose profits help maintain the orphanage. They also grow most of their own food, and maintain a farm. From my research, this was an ideal and great model to follow.

But as you´ll read, Casa Guatemala has been hit hard financially in the last few months. So this model is now on the brink of collapsing. I´ll let you read the rest:


May 2009
Dear Sponsors, volunteers and Friends
I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits with your loved ones.
First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of our projects.
You have been so good to us and I know you are probably also being affected by this international economic crisis just like us. So please forgive me for sharing our problems with you, it is not our intention to burden you needlessly.
Our beloved Casa Guatemala is in dire straights and about to collapse! We have already closed the baby’s home in Guatemala City as we were unable to continue to support it.
As you know Casa Guatemala has two main sources to survive, donations from friends from all over the world, mainly from Canada and Spain , and the funds generated by the Hotel and production of the farm. However the donations have dropped a dramatic 60% and the Hotel has not been able to cover all its running cost so the bills have accumulated. At this point we find ourselves in a very difficult situation, which will surely takes us to a permanent close down!
I am searching for strategies, advice, and guidance from you our friends to help us through this terrible time. We need professional fund raisers to help us keep the Rio Dulce installations alive, I trust you can offer some input to help us.
Our present situation has forced us to close down our Florida Bank account since the minimum balance required by the bank is $25,000, and we are unable to maintain it. We have been unable to pay the employees from the baby’s home in city their severance pay, so we have to keep them on the payroll until such time we can release them; we are unable to pay for all our pending bills to continue working, we our drowning in bills and I don’t know what to do. Every week there is less money coming in, and less money generated by the hotel. I am burdened by this load of bills that continue to pile up.
The Backpackers hotel could be a good source of income, and here everybody can help. You can help us promoting the Backpackers Hotel in your university, church, club, set an stand in a shopping center to distribute brochures, put us in Internet calling young people to come and do humanitarian tourism, they can channel their funds and energy toward helping us to get through this crisis. www.hotelbackpackers.com
Ask them to come to Rio Dulce, a paradise in the jungle. Stay at the Backpackers Hotel where they will find a variety of programs for short or long stays which will help fund our many programs in helping so many children in need. Help while you vacation www.viajescasaguatemala.org
Could you please send any help you can, to get us out of this ditch we are in? I am open to any ideas, suggestions, funds, anything that can help up us continue our much needed work.
Please contact me for any ideas you might have, they are welcome. Thank you again and I look forward to your reply.
We are asking our friends to send their contributions to our Bank at the G & T Continental branch in Guatemala City , as we do not have the Florida account anymore.
www.casa-guatemala.org enter and find how to send your contribution, using Pay Pal, Google, Face Book or you also can send your check to Sara in the U.S. or John Nesbitt in Canada, Rachel and Pete in U.K
Send whatever, but send something and help us to keep THE CHILDREN VILLAGE open. No one wants to see those children back on the streets.
Angie

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I´ll be staying at the Backpackers Hostel during my time in Rio Dulce, Guatemala, but I think more needs to be done. I know this isn´t everyone´s calling, and many of you support your own charity organizations, but i´m hoping that perhaps 50 of my family and friends could help me with an Andrew Jackson (20 bucks).

I know you´re not supposed to tell your left hand what your right hand is doing, but i'm going to take a grand from my travel funds and donate to Casa Guatemala, and I was hoping I could get you guys to help me with another grand, so we could donate two thousand dollars to keep their doors open.

It´s a drop in the bucket, I know, and if you´re like me, you´re thinking how is this really going to help feed all those kids, and for how long? Well, two fish and five loaves, that´s how. We don´t have to worry about that part, we just have to act. Me of little faith.

I can commit a grand, and if you´ll pledge, i´ll front the other monies. We´ll figure out the details later. Right now I just want to tell Angie that there are some folks back home that are willing to help. Of course, don´t feel obligated, but if you´d like to help, please let me know.

You can contact me through this blog site, or facebook; find me through my email address on facebook: rivera2006@lawnet.ucla.edu, but don´t email me, I rarely check it.

Thanks.

Love you guys,
Michael

http://scripturetext.com/matthew/14-16.htm