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Magdelena is a beautiful mountain town overlooking Guatemala City and under the shadow of three volcanos; Pakaya, Agua, and the active Volcan Fuego! We work with the disabled, very poor, widowed, and single mothers of the town. Welcome to our website! Take a look around; enjoy the pictures of our work, the videos, and the stories!
October 1 is the day that Guatemala celebrates children. It is a special day for children all over Guatemala with parades, fairs, games, special treats, clowns and many other things aimed at celebrating kids. In Milpas Altas, the Merlo foundation will be celebrating the Day of the Child on October 25th as we hand out monthly food supplies, invite clowns, lead songs, paint faces... We have not forgotten our special kids in Magdelena, Milpas Altas, Guatemala!
"Having a disability places you in the world's largest minority group. As the population ages this figure is expected to increase. Eighty per cent of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, according to the UN Development Program (UNDP). The World Bank estimates that 20 per cent of the world's poorest people have some kind of disability, and tend to be regarded in their own communities as the most disadvantaged . Statistics show a steady increase in these numbers*."
*http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/statistics/
Milpas Altas, GUA
San Diego, CA
The team consists of 5 volunteer National leaders in Guatemala who purchase food and supplies, participate in home visits, recieve new needs and organize our case load.
Carlos Merlo (pictured here on the left) is the founder of the Organization in the USA, and he is the primary visionary behind the project. He is the key point person in the USA for raising financial, prayer, and volunteer support.
We currently have two volunteer missionaries (Nathan and Joanna, pictured right) who are working with the leadership in Guatemala, and are setting a foundation for the expected and needed growth in the organization in the near years to come.
On the ground in Guatemala we have a team of volunteers who three years ago started "just doing something" with all of the disabled and hurting in their city. There are five consistent volunteers who help visit and serve 70 people in the city of Magdelena.
Pictured here, from left to right are:
Magdelena, Cintia, Elsa, Brenda, Victor (the faithful five), and Joanna.
We are having a planning meeting!
Every Friday we meet together and discuss the week's accomplishments, as well as overall organizational goals. We discuss particular cases that need special attention and we talk about how we are going to improve the followng week. We also prepare for home visits which we do directly after this planning meeting.
In addition, we talk about our personal lives; our families, our faith, our fears. These are dynamic and growing people, eager to learn from us, and we are eager to learn from them!
