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Latest News from Guatemala: Where have all the teachers gone?
 Recently it seems, they have been "taking it to the streets." With the announcement in December that the government would be cutting 32,000 jobs in health, education and police due to the failure of the Guatemalan congress to approve a fiscal reform initiative, teachers blocked the major roadways into Guatemala City for several days in protest.
The Guatemala Teacher's Guild has been meeting over the last several weeks with Bienvenido Argueta, the newly appointed Guatemalan Minister of Education, to determine what supplies will be available for the start of school, including such items as basic teaching materials and snacks for students. Even though these meetings have been held behind closed doors, it was leaked that the Guild will likely call for a general teacher' strike if their demands for adequate funding are not met. Argueta urged the teacher's not to hinder the beginning of the school year, but also acknowledged their right to demonstrate.
Most recently, the leadership of the Teacher's Guild called for teachers to stop the registration process for some 400,000 students not yet registered for school. The Guild called for this action because it feels there has been no positive sign by the government to accede to the teacher's demands for necessary teaching supplies, reinstating contracts for the laid-off teachers, and a cost-of-living wage adjustment. So whether schools in Guatemala will actually begin on the 29th of January as scheduled remains unresolved.
 Avivara 2009 Annual Report Now Available
2009 was clearly a
difficult year for many non-profit organizations. Recent reports indicate that,
on average, revenues for non-profits decreased by 9-11% from revenues in 2008.
Fortunately, Avivara countered that trend with an overall increase in revenues
of nearly 60% over 2008, and an increase in its number of contributors from 58
in 2008, to 143 in 2009. Therefore, we wish
to sincerely thank those people who supported the programs of Avivara this year
with their generous contributions of time, talent and treasure.
Let's celebrate the good times. Come on...
There is nothing quite like New Year's Eve in Guatemala. While firecrackers and skyrockets are common in Guatemala, very little can compare to the barrage of explosions, flashing lights and smoke that engulfs the valley and villages around Antigua at midnight on December 31st. All one needs to complete the evening would be the 1812 Overture playing at full volume on the biggest sound system you could possibly fit on the back of a truck. But, it is hard to begrudge the Guatemalans celebrating the fact the they have survived another year, even if it is impossible to sleep or breathe for the next 12 hours.
We also celebrated the end of the year because of the great success of our Giving Hope to the Future fund-raising campaign. Our goal was to raise $16,000 during the last quarter of 2009. Much to our pleasure, we raised over $21,000. Yippeee! Set off another skyrocket!
We were very excited when we first passed our initial target of $16,000 and wanted to share with folks about the donor who made the contribution that pushed us "over the top."
 Jo Holder currently lives in Ocean Park, WA, in a home she and her husband built two blocks from the Pacific Ocean. She loves the outdoors and walks on the beach nearly every day. For over thirty years she was an elementary school teacher, primarily in second grade. Even though she is now retired from teaching, Jo is still very active in the Ocean Park community, donating time and money to her church, the local food bank, and a number of other worthwhile causes (including Avivara, of course.) When she is not working on behalf of others in her community, Jo's favorite activities are golf, bridge, and reading. Thank you Jo, and thanks to all the other contributors who made this year such a success.
 In March, our Executive Director, Gary Teale, will be traveling to the Pacific Northwest for his annual meeting with the U.S. Board of Directors and to share some of his Guatemala experiences with schools and community groups in the area. He is currently scheduled to speak at the Holy Names Academy Peace & Justice Day on March 10th, but would also like to have the opportunity to meet with other groups, possibly over lunch, dinner, or even just a cup of coffee or glass of wine. If you would be interested in hosting a gathering of friends in your home, or connecting Gary with your church or other community organization, please let us know. Last year we found that smaller gatherings like these were one of our most effective ways of sharing information about Avivara and its programs. These events would be for relationship building purposes only, with no requests for contributions (well, maybe just a little), just the opportunity to let people hear about what we are doing.
2009 Tax Contribution Statements to be (e)mailed soon
Before the end of January, all of our donors should be receiving from us a copy of their 2009 Contribution Statement. We will be sending those out as email attachments, so be watching your email in-boxes. Thanks again to all of you who made 2009 such a successful year for Avivara and the children of Guatemala.
Normally, at this point we would make a pitch for donations to Avivara, but in light of the recent disaster in Haiti, we encourage you to make a donation to one of the following organizations.
Stalking the Wild Black Diamond ���
If you are using Mozilla Firefox as your browser, you may sometimes encounter black diamonds with question marks on our website pages. We are trying to correct that problem, so it would be very helpful if you would contact us and let us know where you found them. We would also be able to send you a fairly easy "fix" for that problem.
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Bienvenidos Amigos,
Help, we need somebody. 