Happy Holidays!!!
I love this time of the year in Guatemala. The rainy season is finally over and the flowers are bursting into bloom. The air is crisp, handmade kites of colorful tissue paper soar into the bright blue sky and carpets of pine needles fill the entranceways of the houses, wafting the sharp fragrance that signals the holidays are coming!
I guess most of us during this season, let our minds drift to times with loved ones and of holidays past. Traditionally in the December newsletter, I try to include some notes from my journals and every year, like Ebenezer Scrooge, I turn to entries from
…Christmas Past
The first Christmas season I remember in the dump was before I began Fotokids. The Sisters who introduced me to the community took me into a hut that was a plastic tented dwelling composed of salvaged boards, tin and plastic nestled amongst the piles of garbage. The family living there had made the traditional Christmas tamales to share.
Tamales take a lot of work. It is an all-day job: soaking the banana leaf wrappers, mixing the ground corn, cooking up the chicken for the center and steaming them. I was worried. They were so kind to offer us a tamale. They were precious, but I had seen the food gathered from the dump during those years; the eggs laid by chickens pecking at industrial castoff, blood products and nuclear hospital waste. Food scraps scavenged from the back of garbage trucks. I ate it anyway.
Those times were so hard. The families lived in shacks scraped together like we used to throw together as kids playing on housing construction sites. Weathered boards and black plastic garbage bags patched holes in the walls and roof where wind and rain entered, turning the dirt floors into a muddy mess. Sewage ran a black ribbon between the huts.
For the kids’ first Christmas party at my house, I had planned lunch, (an imported turkey), and decorating the tree together. Oh, and presents too, of course.
I arrived at the Hogar, the small, dark loft that was our class space over an auto shop on the fringes of the dump, to take the kids to my house. Benito peeked over the handrail as I walked up the stairs, “Seño, Seño, (my name, used for teachers and single women here) he called out, alerting the rest of them. Mirian grabbed me first as I reached the landing and Benito and Adelso knocked heads as they tried to hug me. They backed off dizzy and laughing. They both looked like they had poured water over their heads, to be well-bathed guys. Their hair felt stiff which led me to believe it was all an act, but at least an attempt. Adelso had on a too big, but clean tee shirt and a rosary around his neck. Rosario had on a new huipil with a quetzal embroidered on it and her hair French braided and new tennies. Both she and Marta had on new sweaters. Mirian smelled of soap as usual. Rember had on a black polyester shirt and his new shoes. The boys that day were the clingers – all fighting to take my arm, my hand. We ran for the bus to my house. They sat 4 in one seat and took photos.
When we arrived at my house, they were fascinated and asked if they could look around. Sure, I replied and watched as they opened doors and took out their little cameras to photograph my closets from top to bottom. They were like a small herd of home insurance adjusters, documenting everything. Adelso, a boy of ten, asked if I would mind if he photographed the fridge door… open. I thought of all the time I stood in front of it with the door open just staring in. Having a photo, I could just paste it on the front…what a boon!
Then it was time to organize the tree trimming. First, we strung on the multi-colored lights I had bought in the market. That took 3 minutes. Then they set up an assembly line to stick clusters of ornaments on the tree. Finished in …5 minutes …tops! We plugged the lights in and I hadn’t realized when I bought them that they each played a different Christmas tune. So Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer blared alongside Silent Night and Jingle Bells. A true cacophony of the soul. A deranged soul.
Note: I was smarter the next year when instead of cooking a turkey (I had put it in the oven, shut the door and the door fell off) I ordered tamales.
I often wondered if the reason the little girls didn’t play with dolls was because they were sadly mature beyond their years or maybe they had their little brothers and sisters as doll substitutes. Mirian though, who was 7 years old, loved Barbies and gathered their bodies and heads from the dump. She had a bucket for each body part, and patched together little Barbie Frankensteins.
One year I bought a largish baby doll for a raffle just to test the waters. I overheard a nine-year-old, who had asked to use the phone to call her mother, say, “Mama, I won a DOLL!” and in a happy voice of wonder.
A Christmas Chicken in Every Pot!
In 1996 we began a tradition, which at the time I had no idea would become one. We gave smoked chickens as gifts to the kid’s families for Christmas Eve dinner. It has grown now from 30 families to 150. That’s a lot of chickens! Popular because they are cured, the chickens can be kept for the occasion without refrigeration, and the smokey chicken, cooked together with rice and vegetables, permeates the dish, giving everything a richer flavor.
We used to give the chickens to the kids directly to take home until 11-year-old Jessica, seduced by the pungent aroma on her hour-long bus ride home, began by picking at it and eventually devoured the entire chicken. It was a couple of months before her mother even knew we had given out chickens.
News of the Season
One year I bought a largish baby doll for a raffle just to test the waters. I overheard a nine-year-old, who had asked to use the phone to call her mother, say, “Mama, I won a DOLL!” and in a happy voice of wonder.
A Christmas Chicken in Every Pot!
In 1996 we began a tradition, which at the time I had no idea would become one. We gave smoked chickens as gifts to the kid’s families for Christmas Eve dinner. It has grown now from 30 families to 150. That’s a lot of chickens! Popular because they are cured, the chickens can be kept for the occasion without refrigeration, and the smokey chicken, cooked together with rice and vegetables, permeates the dish, giving everything a richer flavor.
We used to give the chickens to the kids directly to take home until 11-year-old Jessica, seduced by the pungent aroma on her hour-long bus ride home, began by picking at it and eventually devoured the entire chicken. It was a couple of months before her mother even knew we had given out chickens.
Many thanks to all of you who have helped out with funding for next year. I am slowly getting through writing the thank-you emails. If you haven’t had a chance to donate and you want to, you can here Still Time to Donate
We will give a copy of our award-winning book Out of the Dump to anyone donating a thousand dollars or more. The books are now out of print and we have just a limited number left. And if this year you have already donated that amount, let me know if you want us to send you a book!
Excerpt of one story written by Rosario will give you an idea of the book’s contents.
Like a princess
by Rosario López
Sometimes I find treasures
in the trash.
I like the toys,
the dolls and the balls,
but toys are for six-year-olds. And now I’m eleven.
Now I’d like to find
a purple silk skirt,
flat, black shoes,
the kind that shine like a mirror,
a pink silk blouse
with long sleeves, with lace.
I’d like to find a gold necklace,
and a golden bracelet too,
and a ring with a diamond
that gives light like a star,
and dressed this way
I would walk around
as happy as a princess.
I plan to share the fundraiser total in the Spring newsletter because we are still receiving donations, but I will say now that I’m grateful and happy.
As we return to in-person classes post pandemic, we are welcoming 70+ new students, (who will need scholarships) and hopefully we will be replacing defunct laptops and cameras – all of which means that your support is more than appreciated. And support you do! I say this every year but it’s so true, we have the most loyal supporters I have ever heard of. We have people who have helped us out for 30 years and many, many more of you for at least 10 years. Fotokids couldn’t exist without you and so hats off to you! It is hard to count the many lives you’ve changed as members of Fotokids’ family. You should be proud of the opportunities you have created for these kids, a chance to go to school, to learn a relevant vocation, to open channels of creativity, critical and creative thinking and writing skills. This prepares the kids to get jobs which in turn means they don’t have to migrate.
We have a new Board and they are great! Matt Strain, Treasurer, put together a truly wonderful piece on his visit in November to Guatemala. I think it says it ALL. HERE
The 30 Year Retrospective Exhibition is a big success in terms of attendance- As the beautiful space where it is shown has an agreement not to make money, (It is part of the Spanish Government’s international aid) we weren’t able to sell our prints through them. If you would like to buy a print or just look at the gallery you can do so at LINK smugmug.fotokids.com Smugmug will print them out and send them directly to you.
Sponsors may have noticed that again, the kids are creating their own beautiful holiday cards. New sponsors will receive their student’s card with a small bio and a personal message from them mid-year as well. We also need and will appreciate donations for operating expenses, and laptops if you prefer.
To those sponsors in Europe, the holiday cards are on their way, but more than likely will arrive in the new year. Since Guatemala has virtually no mail service everything has to be mailed from the U.S., so it becomes complicated. The cards have cardboard frames and therefore are sent as packages.
How you can Help!
This coming year we are still a bit desperate for scholarship funding and for refurbished MacBooks and Nikon DSLR’s any model.
As you know, we have just two fundraisers a year but it looks like in order to support the growing scholarship costs for additional qualifying students we are going to have to introduce in 2023 a Third online Fundraiser just for laptops and cameras.
Remember-We can accept STOCK as well and contributions from RMD’s.
Fotokids middle school Educational and Vocational Scholarships $1200 a year (or partial for $600)
University $3,000
FOTOKIDS info@fotokidsoriginal.org (lotsa protien)
You may donate online Here with PayPal Giving Fund
or make checks out to: FOTOKIDS
Monthly Recurring gifts can be made on regular PayPal for info@Fotokidsorginal.org
Send any donations to: Fotokids/Walt Trask,
2240 S Palm Canyon Drive, #16,
Palm Springs CA 92264
Join our Fotokids Supporters page on FB see more photos and vote for your favorites during our competitions.
Wishing you all the best, peace and health in 2023 and much love from Fotokids
Every year in addition to their chickens, during the Christmas party each child receives multiple cans of La Sirena Sardines (good protein) donated every year by Otis McAllister inc! ©Berlin Juarez 2022
