January 2022 Very warm greetings to you. We are sending our annual update with the genuine hope that you, your family and friends, are in good health. Despite the challenges that all of us lived through during 2021, we’re proud to share with you the incredible vision, work, and flexibility that sustained our partners in Guatemala. We hope that you were also able to find important milestones to celebrate, among them your continued support for Bienestar. Regarding Covid, Guatemala was initially slow in receiving a supply of vaccines, but as soon as they became available, the Cooperative of Nuevo Horizonte was alert and sought them out. Presently, almost everyone age 18 and over has now had a double dose of Moderna. In spite of a serious surge in cases of Covid in the fall, comprehensive care from the Bienestar team of diabetes health promoters, strict adherence to self-imposed isolation and quarantine, and good fortune resulted in no Covid-19 related deaths. This is quite a remarkable achievement in a rural part of the country with such limited heath care. Due to your generous support, we were able to direct $18,200 to projects that supported health care and education. People living with diabetes club: education, peer support, footcare review & checks, & cooking classes
Student Scholarships /Achieving Dreams …. $5,000
2021 Scholarship recipients & their families
Scholarship recipients: leadership workshop on healthy habits
Scholarships are key to families being able to keep their children in school, especially during these tough economic times. Our financial support subsidizes the families so that they are able to both manage the daily costs of life and buy necessary school items such as uniforms, textbooks and school supplies. For studies beyond the community, education is largely private; therefore, our financial support also assists families with the costs of registration, transportation and tuition. Throughout 2021, the scholarship recipients once again had to work virtually, a real challenge due to limited space in their homes, little access to computers, and the added cost of internet access. In the spirit of the entire community, however, the students remained focused and determined to be successful in their studies. Though two students withdrew due to personal reasons, we were able to provide scholarships for nine students who successfully completed their year!
My family and I feel very blessed to have this great opportunity for scholarships, and I feel proud of what we have accomplished and overcome together so far, despite the situation that our country is facing with Covid-19 pandemic. With words of encouragement, and with this financial support, every day my dreams are getting closer and closer to being achieved. (Jennifer Gomez Figueroa)
Jennifer Gomez Figueroa & family garden project
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As part of their scholarship program, the students also commit to leadership development and community involvement. These commitments were brought to life in numerous ways including participation in health promotion workshops and volunteering with the Let’s Walk Together/ Diabetes exercise program. The latter is an innovative approach to developing the healthy habit of physical activity during adolescence. This is particularly important for teenage girls globally who aren’t meeting exercise recommendations and these teens in particular whose parents are often living with diabetes.
Let’s Walk Together Exercise program
Diabetes Health and Wellness Program /Let’s Walk Together …. $13,200 Diabetes prevention and support of those with diabetes continues to be a major focus for the community and therefore Bienestar. Board member Mary Ann Morris and volunteer diabetes educator Jean Charman worked closely with the diabetes health promotors as they continue to incorporate public health measures and adapt programming to be as safe as possible during the Pandemic. 2021 began with the full range of health promotion activities that have been proving so fruitful. They included the exercise programs, regular home visits & footcare review, glucose & BP checks, & medical consultations with Dr. Colindres, a diabetes specialist who has worked with us since the inception of the program. As well, we continued to offer the popular wellness clubs that feature peer support, recreational activities, health education, & cooking classes for the children, women, and people living with diabetes (PLWD). Evaluation highlights were gaining knowledge, support for healthy lifestyle behaviour change, and as importantly, being with others who understood the difficulties of living with diabetes, and working together as a community to alleviate some of the social issues such as poverty and food insecurity that drive the growing diabetes epidemic.
Women's club Collective Soup Kitchen & Cooking Classes
Medical consultation with Dr. Colindres
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Unfortunately, all of the activities were put on hold with the exception of home visits throughout the fall when Nuevo Horizonte experienced a surge with 40 Covid cases diagnosed, many of them people living with a diabetes. It was a crisis that demanded an immediate response.
Emergency food supplies for 40 families … & Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the Diabetes Health Promoters
The diabetes health promoters proactively assumed responsibility for patient assessment and initial oxygen treatments with support and training from Dr. Colindres. Bienestar funds were redirected to purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), oxygen monitors, oxygen, and emergency food supplies. With limited medications and treatment options at the regional hospital, they focused on what they could do to support each other and stay safe. In the words of Monserrat, the daughter of Dona Bea, one of the program participants who is living with diabetes and was seriously ill with Covid for 36 days:
Fear can take over the mind when dealing with Covid … a psychological factor which influences the course of this virus. If you have a friend with Covid, send messages full of hope to the person who is ill so they can feel that they are in an environment that is healing. Believe me it is comforting for those who are doing the caregiving and of course for those who are ill. Emotional care is critical as it builds confidence in recovery from day 1.
THE BEST NEWS! -- Although people with diabetes are at much greater risk of developing serious illness from Covid-19, there were no Covid-19 related deaths.
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Entrepreneurial Spirit in Action As we mentioned earlier, times were tough this year with increased unemployment, limited contact with others, and less to go around of everything from money to medications. Given the jump in basic food costs and fewer purchasing dollars, Nuevo Horizonte doubled down their efforts to address the social factors critical to health and wellbeing, and diabetes in particular. For example, the Bienestar women’s health club created a collective soup kitchen to prepare low cost, healthy meals, and made artisanal soap and baskets for sale at the regional markets when possible.
Responding to the needs of the People At their request, Bienestar partnered with one of the local women’s groups to subsidize pap tests for 45 women to screen for cervical cancer, one of the major causes of mortality among women in Guatemala. Though the women are usually able to cover the costs independently, Dr. Colindres noted on patient review that many had foregone this important preventative healthcare measure, the reason once again being the lack of resources. Funds from some of the suspended diabetes programming were reallocated to cover the costs.
Dreams for the Future Reforestation and Greenhouses In the spring Nuevo Horizonte undertook an exciting new project that greatly impacts the economic and environmental well-being of the community, and by extension, the health of the people. Following their hugely successful reforestation project of 345 hectares of Caribbean pine planted throughout the late 90’s which they are now selectively logging, community members planted an additional 100 hectares.
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Yuliana & mom, scholarship recipient
Mauricio, Bienestar participant living with diabetes
We celebrate this achievement with them, for while it is not a Bienestar project, many of the men, women, and youth involved are beneficiaries of Bienestar projects, and thus the ripple effect of our work together is made evident. As they commented to us, “we continue to dream and to hope, and that makes all the difference in these difficult times.” Children working alongside their parents – the whole community together, planting trees that are a symbol of hope for the future, a commitment to restore Mother Earth, a shared experience of young and old working together and learning from each other. It was a significant milestone for the founding members of Cooperative who lived in the forests during the armed conflict for more than a decade. Trees were everything to them: food, protection from the elements and the army, medicines, water… in essence life.
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Irrigation with a smile
As well, they also built a new greenhouse and are now producing a greater variety of vegetables beyond the traditional ‘three sisters’ of beans, corn, and squash. Both of these projects are major steps forward, boosts for their morale, health, and material evidence of their remarkable hope and determination. Their importance extends well beyond financial or material rewards. In their words, “We are cultivating strength, working together like this.”
Greenhouse start-up April 2021
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Lastly, we pay tribute to Dona Desideria and Lucero, two valiant members of Nuevo Horizonte who died this year from brain cancer and leukemia respectively. Dona Desideria, mother of 14 children including twins born in the mountains, tireless laborer who walked the highways and byways selling 2nd hand clothing from dawn until dusk for little recompense, and active member of the diabetes support group, Presente! Lucero, teenage guerilla fighter in the defence of human rights, founding member of the Cooperative of Nuevo Horizonte, and talented farmer, Presente!
Dona Desideria
Lucero
In closing, we’d like to give a shout-out to Board members and good friends who worked hard in the creation of the very successful Ecards, allowing donors to support Bienestar while making a gift to loved ones during the winter holiday season. Thank you! Stay tuned for more optionsJ In fact, thank you to everyone who has contributed to Bienestar this year. Remember that all contributions receive tax receipts, and that 100% of your donations go to the projects. And as always, we offer heartfelt thanks to the teachers, diabetes health promotors and community members young and old, whose dedication, inexhaustible enthusiasm and belief in the value of working together and supporting each other, make all of this possible. Remember … this is what your donations can do!
$60 $75 $100 $300 $500 $1,620
•Weekly attendance for one child or person living with diabetes (PLWD) at the health and wellness clubs •Basic oral diabetes medications for one person for one year •Annual medical check-up and lab exams for one person living with diabetes •Basic Insulin treatment for one person for one year •Student scholarship for uniforms, school supplies, extracurricular activities, and hot meals •Annual Part-time salary for one diabetes health promoter • (12 hr/wk. @ $2.80/hr)
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If you wish to become involved, contact us or learn more about the projects, check out our website @ bienestarcanada.ca Your generous financial support makes all of this possible. To make a one-time or monthly donation, go to www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/m/38293/donation Thank you for joining us in these worthy endeavours. We welcome your response and impressions. In gratitude, The Bienestar Board Joe Woodward Cheralynne Kennedy
Teeka Ferguson Alyssa Franklin
Mike Chapman Mary Ann Morris
Cooperative of Nuevo Horizonte @ sunset: Cattle project
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