Guatemala

Guatemala
At the present time the Mustard Seed Peace Project is working in one of the poorest regions of Central America, Playa Grande, Ixcan, Guatemala. This region is located on the NW border and consists of 173 villages. This picturesque jungle and mountainous area of 1,575 km. registers a population of 80,000 of which 45% are children and youth less than 15 years of age. This region is known throughout Central America for witnessing horrific systematic massacres of entire villages during an internal conflict that began in 1960 and ended with the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996. During this time 200,000 civilians lost their lives and 440 Mayan villages were wiped from the map. This is a region struggling to heal and rebuild from the devastation brought about by 36 years of war. It is for this reason that the Mustard Seed Peace Project has chosen Playa Grande, Ixcan, Guatemala as the first location of its ministry. It is our belief that peace and security are essential to a vibrant life. And it is our hope to alleviate the sufferings of children and youth by paving the way for a future full of opportunities. This can be achieved by attending to the needs of the youth and by helping to create a culture of tolerance and mutual respect through education and peace intervention in the classroom.

The job of the Mustard Seed Peace Project is to raise awareness in the United States of the devastation and the need in this region of the world by organizing short-term mission trips. Along with raising cultural awareness, it is the job of the Mustard Seed Peace Project to raise funds needed to address the educational and personal needs of the youth in this region. This will be done through private donations, grants, fundraisers and child sponsorship programs.

Development of Land
In January of 2004 the Mustard Seed Peace Project purchased a little over 11 acres of land in the jungles of the Mayan community of Virginia. At the request of the people in this community clearing of the land began and plans were made to begin constructing a park. The park was to include a soccer field, an amphitheatre, a small house of prayer and a walkway through the jungle complete with benches and inspirational quotes positioned along the way. The amphitheatre would be used by the youth to put on skits, allowing them to use their imaginations and express their creativity through drama. All structures are to be constructed by the people of this community and utilizing as much of the natural resources extracted from the land as possible.


Teresa Cranmer standing in front of property with family January 2004.	Property as it looked in January 2004.

Pathway cleared through the propertyDecember 2004.

By December of 2004, a pathway had been cut through part of the land. The people had begun the hard task of clearing the land and keeping the regrowth from occurring.

In June of 2005 work was well underway. The soccer field was cleared, the walkway was complete and construction on the house of prayer had begun. The women and children of the community had also begun working on a flower garden, using plants and flowers gathered from their homes.


Children stand in the house of prayer Hard at work on the house of prayer.	Hard at work on the house of prayer.

Planting flowers in the park.

By February of 2006, the house of prayer was complete, the flower garden was in bloom and the children were using the soccer field.

Enriching Lives through Clean Water
One of the daily challenges for the indigenous communities in Northern Guatemala is finding a clean water source. Often, the women of the communities must walk miles to bring water home to their families. Because of the lack of purified water they are forced to gather their water from the same streams and rivers where they bathe, do their laundry and water their animals. Resorting to drinking this unclean water often leads to chronic diarrhea from water- borne diseases and a high infant mortality rate.

In June of 2005 the Mustard Seed Peace Project and our desire to address the need for clean water for the people of the Ixcan region of Guatemala was presented to the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women in Springfield, Illinois. This organization voted to help fund a clean water project for the people of this region. The first phase of this project will be to build a well on the property already owned by the Mustard Seed Peace Project. This well will provide water that has not been contaminated by daily use, to the people of the community of Virginia as well as neighboring communities. In April of 2006 construction of that well began.

It is the hope of the MSPP to secure information about solar powered water purification systems. It is not yet clear as to whether these systems can be adapted to the jungle regions that we are currently working in but it is a project that we are looking into. If there is anyone with information about these systems please contact Teresa Cranmer at the address on the website.

Water Filters
Mustard Seed Peace Project will partner with Helps International who will deliver the filters,train the people on the assembly andmaintenance of the systems as well as monitor
the success of the filters. Your donation of just $50.00 is tax deductible and can be the difference of life or death to a family in rural Guatemala.

SOLUTION: ONIL WATER PURIFIER SYSTEM
The Onil Water Purifier System, manufactured for Helps International is a practical solution for safe drinking water at a very affordable price. Using a simple two container system, this filtering system has thecapability of providing 10 gallons of safe drinking water every 24
hours. It is made of food grade polyethylene with a ceramic element that never needs to be sterilized or boiled. Because this element is impregnated with environmentally safe silver it does not allow bacteria to grow. You just simply clean the filter
with a clean damp cloth..

WHAT DOES THE ONIL WATER PURIFIER REMOVE?
Independent lab test verify that the filter removes 99.99% of particles between .5 and .8 microns and 100% of larger particles. This means the water filter removes parasitic bacteria and pathogens such as e. coli, klebsiella, cholera,
shigella, salmonella and giardia.

Medical/Dental Outreach
In February of 2006 the Mustard Seed Peace Project along with Dr. Frank Miller, D.D.S.M.D. of the Washington Overseas Mission group made our first dental/medical mission trip to Guatemala. We were able to treat the basic dental and medical needs of the people of the communities of Virginia and Bem Pec while also supplying them with dental and personal hygiene items. We treated over 100 people and pulled well over that many teeth.

While in Playa Grande we met a young man, 15 years of age who had lost his right hand in a fishing accident. It is common in this area to fish using homemade explosives. He was requesting help with a prosthetic hand. Upon our return to the states I was contacted by a local woman who builds prosthesis. She had heard of the work that the MSPP was doing in Guatemala. With her help we were able to schedule an appointment for this young man with an orthotist/prosthetist in Guatemala City. On March 21st, 2006 the orthotist/prosthetist began working on a prosthetic hand for the young man. Through funds granted to the MSPP by the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, (FIMRC) Sergio received his prosthetic hand in September of this year.


Sergio before his prosthesis Sergio in September.	Sergio in September.

School Lunch Program for the Youth of Ben Pec
In March of 2006 the village of Ben Pec presented the Mustard Seed Peace Project with a need for funds to supply 100 school children with lunch for a school year. At the small cost of $400.00 a year this project was picked by the confirmation youth at S.S. Peter and Paul Catholic School as their community outreach program.

Education Sponsorship Program
Unlike the youth in the United States, many of the youth in the villages of Guatemala never have the opportunity to learn to read or write. Statistics show that Guatemala is a country that ranks among those with the highest rate of illiteracy. The national census of 1998 reports that the illiteracy rate of the country is 78% and 71% in the municipality of Playa Grande, Ixcan. What MSPP has found is that many of the villages in the Ixcan don't even have schools. This means that the youth must travel to the city for their education adding a great economic expense to their families. Due to the poverty in this region even the $200.00 to $300.00 a year that it costs to educate a child seems insurmountable.This cost would cover their education, transportation, room and board, schools supplies and uniforms.

In an attempt to address this situation MSPP is working with the Oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate and the Catholic parish in Playa Grande, Cristo Redentor on an education sponsorship program.When we initailly began this program MSPP was able to fund the education of 12 youth. For the 2009 school year we have received requests from 49 youth wishing to attend school. This program will be set up to partner a youth with an individual in the United States who will provide the funds necessary to educate that youth for a specific length of time. In return the youth is required to maintain good grades and provide some pastoral service in their community. If you would like to sponsor the education of a child or just make a donation to this program you may do so through this website.

Organizational Development
In June of 2007, the president of MSPP met with the office of the First Lady at the National Palace in Guatemala. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the possibility and benefits of organizing as an NGO (non-governmental organization) in Guatemala. Encouraged by the National Palace to pursue NGO status we began organizing a Guatemalan board of directors and the process of applying for NGO status. By February of 2008 a strong board of directors was in place and MSPP's president was able to assist in the development of Mustard Seed Peace Project as an NGO in Guatemala.

Women's Economic Development in Guatemala
The Trees of Hope is a multifaceted project for the women living in the village of Virginia in the Ixcan region of Guatemala. The Ixcan region is said to be one of the poorest regions in Central America. The women of this village have expressed a concern about their participation in the economic development of their families and the nutrition of their children. MSPP met with the people of Virginia to discuss their idea of planting an orchard on the 11 acres owned by MSPP.

The concept of the project is that the fruits grown in the orchard could be used for their own consumption and any surplus sold at the market for a profit. They have already taken the initiative of purchasing 75 fruit tree saplings and planting them on the property. While the main focus of this project is the economic development of women, the issues of nutrition of the family and deforestation will also be addressed.

The women would also like to participate in a project created by The Equilibrium Fund called the Maya Nut Program. This program teaches the rural, indigenous women about the processing, propagation, nutrition and uses of the Maya Nut (Brosimun alicastrum). The Maya Nut is a delicious, nutritious, very versatile and easy to harvest rainforest tree. It is extremely high in fiber, calcium, potassium, folate, iron, zinc, protein and vitamins A, E, C and B.The Maya Nut tree was once abundant and frequently used as a nutrition source but is now highly threatened due to the cutting down of trees for firewood and planting corn.

Through a partnership with The Equilibrium Fund, MSPP will set up a 5-6 hour workshop with 25 women from the village. Women from another village who have been trained by the Equilibrium Fund will teach these women about the nutrition of the Maya Nut and how to grow it. They will show them how to process the seed, store it, grind it into flour and make it into bread and sell it at the market. MSPP believes that by combining the fruit tree project , which they have already begun, with the Maya Nut tree project we can provide these women with the resources and training to make a difference in their lives.

Several of the steps needed to make this project a reality have already happened, the relationship that has developed between MSPP and the people of the village of Virginia, the land purchase by MSPP, the desire of the women of the village to organize and work together as a group and the planting of the fruit trees

The Trees of Hope project encourages women to work together to find solutions to some of the needs of their families. By working with the Equilibrium Fund they will be become part of a larger network of women working to make changes in their lives, the lives of their families and even their communities. The fruit trees and Maya nut trees will create a more healthy diet, have an economic impact on the village as well as help to reforest the rainforest.

Future Plans
The Mustard Seed Peace Project has recently received approval from Bishop Rodolfo Valenzuela Nunez, the bishop of the Verapaz region, to begin the planning and construction of a Mission Center in the village of Bem Pec. Bem Pec is a village of approximately 100 families or 500 people overlooking the Rio Chixoy. But there are approximately 5000 people living within a mile radius of this area. A Mission Center in this area allows for the potential to address the medical, educational and spiritual needs of these people as well as the needs of villages up and down the river for several miles.The Mission Center will include a chapel, a school, a medical clinic and a dormitory type structure to house people who are interested in making a long or short term visit to the area.

The Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) has expressed an interest in partnering with the MSPP to help us respond to the medical needs of these communities. This organization will construct a clinic, as well as make a long term commitment to provide medical care and medical educational information to the people.

The MSPP is also working t o secure the funds to build and staff a school for these communities. It is our hope to form partnerships between educators in the United States and the staff at the school, possibly organizing educational mission trips that will allow for the sharing of educational resources.

While the committee is hard at work planning, raising funds, and raising cultural awareness in the United States, Fr. Peter Weiss is in the field in Guatemala, overseeing our work there and organizing a project that he will be launching regarding the evangelization of peace. He will be visiting families, schools and offering retreats delivering the message of peace with self, peace with others and peace with God. It is his plan to spend three months out of the year in the United States sharing his experiences and this message of peace.