Report from Project Victoria - March 2010

1. Five PV students graduate in 2009, bringing our total number of graduates to 19!

2. A letter from PV Graduate Gloria Lopez

3. Volunteer Misha Seay reports back on her time in Guatemala

4. Audited Year-End Financial Report for 2008

5. A Letter from PV President Brenda Carolina de León

6. Vice President Juana Sohom describes her goals for PV's ongoing reproductive health workshops

7. 20 students receive scholarships for the 2010 school year

8. Project Victoria holds a meeting with families to celebrate students' achievements

One of our graduates, Catarina López Guarchaj, is pictured at right with her diploma.

*******************************************************************

1. Five PV students graduate in 2009, bringing our total number of graduates to 19!

These five students have achieved the victory they set out for themselves when they first applied for help from Project Victoria to be able to study. Our 2009 graduates are:

1. Virginia Sulugüi, from Sololá
2. Faustina Tumas, from Sololá
3. Marta Verónica García Colop, from Cantel
4. Catarina López Guarchaj, from Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán
5. William Moises Pérez, from San Mateo

All five of our 2009 graduates studied Primary Education and are now qualified to teach in Guatemala's school system, where they will make use of their Mayan language skills to teach in bilingual classrooms. Congratulations to the class of 2009!

Catarina López Guarchaj presented the board members of Asociación Victoria with a gift she embroidered herself (pictured at right. Click for a larger version). It reads: “Thank you to the Asociación Victoria, which helped me greatly with my studies. May God bless you.”

 

 

 

 

We want to especially recognize Marta Verónica García Colop for persevering and completing her studies despite going through a difficult time. Several weeks before her graduation, Marta Verónica was injured by a falling metal soccer cage which hit her head just above her eyes. She spent three days in the hospital and required an operation. Thank you to Misha Seay and others who sent money to help cover the medical expenses. We are extremely proud of Marta Verónica for overcoming this setback. She graduated on time and is now licensed as a biligual teacher. Congratulations, Marta Verónica!

 

 

 

 

*******************************************************************

2. A letter from PV Graduate Gloria Lopez

Hello Chris. How are you? I hope everything's well. I'm very well, currently working in the hospital in Ixcan and studying nursing on the weekends.

Thank you, Chris, for writing me. I'm very happy that you've reached the halfway point of your law school studies. Keep it up... I'm truly grateful that with God's help everything is going well for me in the University, and if everything goes according to plan, I will start a new term in January. I like my program very much and I'm learning about many things that I had never imagined before. I'm gaining knowledge about many things in the field of medicine and I feel very happy.

May happiness and peace surround you this Christmas and New Year's.

- Gloria Lopez

The photo of Gloria above is from her graduation. Her original letter in Spanish follows:

HOLA CRIS. COMO ESTAS? ESPERO QUE TODO BIEN. YO ME ENCUENTRO BIEN ACTUALMENTE TRABAJANDO EN EL HOSPITAL DE IXCAN Y ESTUDIO LOS FINES DE SEMANA ENFERMERIA.

GRACIAS CRIS POR ESCRIBIRME. ME ALEGRA MUCHO A HAYAS LLEGADO A LA MITAD DE TU CARRERA EN LA UNIVERSIDAD. SIGA ADELANTE......... LA VERDAD GRACIAS A DIOS TODO ME VA BIEN EN LA U PRIMERO DIOS EN ENERO COMIENZO NUEVAMENTE A ESTUDIAR ES MUY BONITA LA CARRERA ESTOY APRENDIENDO MUCHAS COSAS QUE NUNCA ME IMAGINABA. ESTOY CONOCIENDO MUCHAS COSAS EN EL AREA DE LA MEDICINA ME SIENTO MUY FELIZ.

QUE LA FELICIDAD Y LA PAZ TE ENBRIEGUE EN ESTA NAVIDAD Y AÑO NUEVO.

-GLORIA LOPEZ

*******************************************************************

3. Volunteer Misha Seay reports back on her time in Guatemala

I volunteered with Project Victoria in August 2009 during a trip to Guatemala. I heard about Project Victoria from my friend and classmate Chris Curran, who helped establish the organization, and I thought it would be a great place to volunteer some of my time while visiting the country. I received a warm welcome from Brenda and Marielos, who were eager to introduce me to the students and show me what Project Victoria was about. During my brief stay there, I was able to help teach English to some of the students living in Casa Victoria and visit another student at her rural home outside Quetzaltenango. The several young women I met were incredibly generous people who made me feel very welcome in their homes. It was clear that they were extremely grateful for the opportunity that Project Victoria had given them to pursue their education. I was humbled by their stories and happy to see that Project Victoria was committed to helping them pursue their goals. It was a pleasure working with everyone involved in the project and I wish them many more successes in the future.

- Misha Seay

Misha Seay is a second-year law student at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, CA.

*******************************************************************

4. Audited Year-End Financial Report for 2008

Click on the miniature to the right for a larger version of the original audited report. The 2009 figures will be included in our next report.

Summary of expenditures:

Expenses	$USD
Casa Victoria rent and food	$3,496.57
Scholarships, Workshops, and Administrative expenses	$3,121.85
Administrative salary	$894.04
Total of 2008 Expenditures	$7,512.46

 

 

 

 

 

 

*******************************************************************

5. A Letter from PV President Brenda Carolina de León (pictured below, standing, next to PV Vice President Juana Sohom, seated)

We have been very pleased with the students' progress this year. To recognize Catarina Lopez Guarchaj's achievements as an exemplary student and the hard work that earned her excellent grades, the Board of Asociacion Victoria presented her with a typewriter as a graduation gift.

Casa Victoria is the house rented by Asociacion Victoria to provide room and board to students whose families live in remote areas far from Quetzaltenango. This year, Asociacion Victoria purchased the following items for the house: a simple wooden table and chairs, a camping stove to replace the previous stove which had stopped working, plates, cups, some pots and pans, and silverware so that the students living in Casa Victoria. These purchases will make it easier for the students to cook their meals.

Our new graduates are very interested in continuing their studies at the university level and they are very happy to be able to start working to help support their families. Many thanks and greetings to everyone abroad who is helping to make this scholarship program possible.

- Brenda Carolina de León
President, Asociacion Victoria

*******************************************************************

6. Vice President Juana Sohom describes her goals for PV's ongoing reproductive health workshops

March 5, 2010

I have felt very good about the progress of our reproductive health education workshops, because it has been my dream and my vision for some time to eliminate the taboo that our elders have placed on us to not have the right to speak about sexuality, especially in our Mayan cultures. But I know that someday the vulnerability of our families to sexually transmitted infections will decrease, and we will be free to speak about everything without any fear. Unfortunately the financing for these workshops is always a constraint, but I am happy to be doing this work and moving ahead with our goals.

A stong embrace from Guatemala,

Juana Sohom

*******************************************************************

7. The following students are receiving scholarships from Asociacion Victoria for the 2010 school year:

1. ANGELICA SACALXOT SALANIC
2. JANIA CRISTINA SIC
3. BAUDILIA SOLEDAD PUAC SEXTO MAGISTERIO
4. MARIA CELESTINA TAMBRIZ TZEP, SEGUNDO BASICO
5. JUANA FABIOLA GARCIA HERNANDEZ BASICO
6. DAVID ISRAEL COZ INGRESA A CURSAR CARRERA
7. ANGEL ACABAL MAGISTERIO
8. GONZALO LOPEZ, PRIMERO BASICO
9. ANA LUCIA MENDOZA, SEXTO PERITO EN ADMINISTRACION
10 WILSON ENRIQUE PANJOJ SEXTO PRIMARIA
11. BRENDA POZ VENTURA SEGUNDO BASICO
12. RIGOBERTO COCOM RAMOS QUINTO PRIMARIA
13. EUGENIA TAMBRIZ TAMBRIZ SEGUNDO BASICO
14. ISABELA JOSEFINA IXTOS GARCIA SEGUNDO BASICO
15. PASCUALA CRISTINA IXTOS SOHOM TERCERO BASICO
16. MIGUEL ANGEL TAHAY GUACHIAC SEGUNDO BASICO
17. LORENZO ROBERTO GARCIA TAHAY QUINTO PRIMARIA
18. CESAR DAVID CALEL VICENTE - CUARTO PRIMARIA. Before receiving his scholarship, Cesar David was shining shoes in order to earn money for his mother. His father is deceased and his mother is struggling to make ends meet in Momostenango.
19. DANILO CRISTOBAL CALEL VICENTE CUARTO PRIMARIA,
20. MARIA JESUSA CAC MUZ - QUINTO GRADO DE MAGISTERIO RURAL. She is living in Casa Victoria.

*******************************************************************

8. Project Victoria holds a meeting with families to celebrate students' achievements

From Brenda Carolina de León:

A meeting was held on October 31, 2009 for the students to present the board of Asociación Victoria with their grade certificates. We were very satisfied with their performance and we emphasized at the meeting that, in order to maintain their scholarships, the students will be expected to continue their commitment to studying hard, as measured by their grades.

At this meeting we shared a meal amongst the students and their families and enjoyed several dynamic group activities to help everyone get to know each other better. A group of parents came from the very poor community of Tzampoj and were very glad to meet the other parents and students. All the parents were extremely proud of the progress their children have made, and they expressed a deep gratitude to all the donors of Project Victoria who have made it possible for their children to study.

PV Student Eugenia Tambriz Tambriz is pictured below.

PV student Isabela Josefina Ixtos Garcia is pictured below, at left with her mother.

 

PV student Rigoberto Cocom Ramos is pictured below.

PV students Isabela Josefina Ixtos Garcia and Pascuala Cristina Ixtos Sohom are pictured below.

PV Board member and parent Bernardina Coy is pictured below.

 

 

*******************************************************************

Thank you to PV board member Roland Elf for taking all photos on the Project Victoria site! Thank you also to all donors whose contributions who have made possible our success so far, and who continue to support Project Victoria.

 Tax-deductible contributions to Project Victoria may be made to:

Project Victoria Fund
Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
324 3rd Street SE
Cedar Rapids IA 52401
319-366-2862

You can also give ONLINE with a credit card at the following link: http://www.causes.com/causes/416919?m=0d43bb06

This link takes you to the Facebook Causes application, but you do not need to be a member of Facebook in order to donate.