aNTIGUA dining New Blood
Fresh Bread & Rolls Daily Whole Wheat, Raisin, Rye, All-Grain, Potato & Onion —Banana Bread & Cookies Home-cooked Meals Great Breakfasts Sandwiches & Burgers Soups & Salads Stuffed Potatoes Delicious Pies & Cakes Daily 7:00am to 9:30pm 4a calle oriente No.12Tel:7832-2578 La Antigua Guatemala dlxpan@gmail.com 60
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She has seen basic hygiene become a habit, too. “Where I grew up, hand washing was inculcated early on. And we did not have to use leaves instead of toilet paper.” Blood has noted that in the time Mil Milagros has operated, children whom they knew as kindergartners are today junior “lobbyists.” These fifth- and sixth-graders ask their parents to keep toilet paper in their homes. And they petition their mayors for things needed by their schools. Blood estimates that $1 per child per school day is enough to cover meals, a textbook, some school materials and hygiene supplies. “But the real engine of success,” she insists, “is the children’s motivation when their basic needs are met.” Mil Milagros maintains a database for each of its partner schools to track children’s height and weight, school attendance and hygienic interventions. In 2011, 95 percent of the children supported by Mil Milagros were graduated from sixth grade. For 2012, this increased to 98 percent. Almost all of these laureates want to go on to básico (middle school). “Malnutrition has irreversible consequences by age 3,” Blood notes. To preclude this, Mil Milagros and a sister NGO (Wuqu’ Kawoq) organized mothers in all of the partner communities and put 200 babies and small tykes on vitamin regimens. Each month the mothers attend workshops on nutrition and women’s health. They weigh and measure the babies quarterly, and arrange medical follow up for those who need it. Mil Milagros now operates in six communities in Sololá Department. It serves over 1,000 children with the help of 400 family women and 42 teachers. Blood’s goal is to increase this a hundred-fold. Her in-country director, former Peace Corps volunteer Carolyn Daly, from upstate New York, thinks it will happen. “Right now, it’s about expansion,” Daly says. “Mil Milagros has a waiting list of over 20 schools in the province. Our dream is to see all children in Sololá—and eventually in all of Guatemala — graduate from sixth grade healthy and literate, and prepared to continue their education. With a leader like Margaret, and more resources, we will see it happen.”