A letter and update from our Founder and US Director, Diane NesselhufDear Friends, Life is hard. Yes, life is hard. I think we are all feeling that at different levels. It reminds me of a story I just heard from a man who had recently arrived in Guatemala. The man said he had been in Guatemala for a few months when he was invited to a Guatemalan’s home. The local man introduced him to his family, which included sisters, brothers and his mother. The newly arrived man saw a faded brown photo of an older man on the wall. When the local saw him staring at the photo he said, “That is my father. He is dead.” The man said, “I am so sorry,” and the local man replied, “Life is hard.” How many of us would say that after someone sees a photo of one of our loved ones? I don’t think I would nor would most people. So, what does that mean to me? It means that most of us are very fortunate in this country. (Not all of us, I understand that). We are now facing a time in our lives where we might be reevaluating our priorities. We might be saying, what really counts in life? What am I living for? How do I make a difference? These are all good thoughts. They make us more humane, they make us better people. The organization Sharing the Dream, like families, also needs to reevaluate our mission. Our mission statement is, “Friends of Sharing the Dream in Guatemala is a volunteer based fair trade organization that reduces poverty in Guatemala through collaborative partnerships with Guatemalans.” I don’t think our mission has changed right now. How do we collaborate and work with our elders and artisans? Many times when hard times hit, our first response is to give out food. We must do this with our elders as they have no other means of support. What about our artisans? I was visiting with our Guatemalan director, Lauren, the other day, and we were talking about how we work WITH our artisans. How do we work so they feel equal? We decided that giving out food wasn’t the answer. If we truly want to be in partnership, we must give them work. Many of our artisans have been asking us for work. We need to prioritize the needs of each group and also see what crafts we need here in the U.S. This is where you come in, our American partners. I want to thank all of you who have given a donation and/or bought items from our online store. We have seen great results. I was looking at the results from our online store from March 1 to April 25 last year and compared it to this year. We have sold 10 times more than last year online. Hurray!!!! This is vitally important since our two stores are closed and we don’t have any outside sales. What about our donations using the same comparisons? We have taken in 3 times more than last year. What does this mean? It means we can give our artisans work. Our jewelry makers were out of work, but we are giving them a big order. We can order fall fabric so that our weaving groups have work. A basket group in the jungle needs work desperately, so we are going to order baskets. We always give the artisans 50% upfront so they will have money to start the order and money for their families. Your orders and donations are having immediate results. We are not giving handouts; we are giving work. Thank you, and thank you from the artisans in Guatemala. Our volunteers here in the states are working, too, from home. They have been helping us write some postcards that we were able to purchase thanks to a Thrivent grant. Please continue to think about our Guatemalan friends. Please refer your friends and family to our online store and tell them about our mission. Your donations and purchases are making a huge difference. Diane Founder/Director Sharing the Dream in Guatemala Opportunities:
 Your support makes a difference in the lives of our Guatemalan partners
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A letter and update from our Founder and US Director, Diane NesselhufDear Friends, I hope you are all staying safe and practicing social distancing. We are all on an unfamiliar road and not sure what the future holds. I know that Sharing the Dream will survive. We have hundreds of people in Guatemala counting on us, and we will do what we can to keep our programs and our staff. We will look for OPPORTUNTIES. Here are a few changes that we are experiencing. We were doing really well with our two brick and mortar stores but have now temporarily closed them. We have transitioned to strictly online sales for the foreseeable future. We rely on our outside sales for the spring and summer, but all of them have been canceled. This is a challenge, but we need to see it as an OPPORTUNITY to really ramp up our online store. Please shop and pass the word on about our online presence at: www.sharingthedream.org. Because Coronavirus is a pandemic, we are seeing the affects in Guatemala, too. There is a shutdown of all transportation and the airport is closed. Guatemala relies on the tourist industry, and that has been decimated. There is a 4PM curfew and everyone must be in their homes at that time. This makes it challenging for people to live and work. We are thinking outside of the box in regards to how we are doing our programs in Guatemala and how we can maintain our staff. Our 60 elders have been told to stay at home, and the staff has educated them on hand washing and given them soap and bleach. The staff has taken food to them twice now. The food will last them several weeks. Without this help our elders would go hungry. We need to look at this as an OPPORTUNITY to work more on sanitation with the elders. In order to sustain their families, our artisans need to have work. The jewelry artisans have finished up an order for us, and we are hoping to give them another order soon. They are working from their homes. The weavers are working on samples for our fall order. We are looking at this as an OPPORTUNITY for the artisans to come up with new designs and think about new markets. Although our scholarship students are not in school, we do not want them to fall behind. Our tutors are using phones and other ways of communicating with the students to keep them educationally active. This is an OPPORTUNITY for our students to learn that education is more than a classroom. In Guatemala, it is sometimes difficult to think outside the box. Most available jobs are pretty black and white, and the school system does not promote creativity. We are working with the staff and reminding them that this is an OPPORTUNITY to be creative. This is a steep learning curve but will help the organization in the long-run. Thank you for being a part of the Sharing the Dream family. We have some OPPORTUNITIES for you. We know that your family comes first, so please know that we are not putting any pressure on you. Again, we just want to give you some options to help.
Again, thank you for your help, and please stay safe. Diane Nesselhuf Founder/Director Sharing the Dream in Guatemala  Take the opportunity to make a difference in the life of an artisan, elder, or scholarship student in Guatemala An update on the COVID-19 Crisis in Guatemala from Guatemala Director, Lauren VaskeDear friends, I hope that this email finds you safe and healthy. I know these past few weeks have been challenging for everyone. Know that we are in this together, and that despite all of the bad news, positive things are still happening. We are so grateful for your support for the people of Guatemala during these challenging times, and we want to keep you abreast of what’s been going on. As of Tuesday night, Guatemala is up to 168 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and it is now community spread. The restrictions scheduled to expire this past Sunday have been extended until the end of the month. This means that the 4pm curfew is still in place, all public transportation has been suspended, and many towns have decided to close their borders to non-residents. Despite all of the restrictions, some positive things are happening. One of the positive things that has come out of this situation is that people are thinking outside of the box. Our staff in Guatemala is no exception. Creativity is not stressed in the Guatemalan school system, so asking the staff to be creative in their work has been challenging for some of them, but everyone is doing a great job. I want to share one such story with you, Antonio. Antonio is one of our tutors. Since he is no longer able to do in-person tutoring, he has been doing virtual tutoring sessions. He is also now offering story hours for families in his community and providing tutoring to struggling students from the local elementary school, all the while following proper social distancing guidelines. It’s thanks to your support that Antonio is able to continue working and receiving a salary so that he can support his family. Here are some more positive things that have been happening thanks to your support.
Best wishes, Lauren Vaske Director in Guatemala  An Elder Center staff member packs food to be delivered to the elders |
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