Guatemala Food Project Silent Auction - Kick-Ass Bows Gift Certificate

Hello to all my fellow Bloggers and Guatemamas! If you've been staying up to date on current events then you know what I'm getting ready to write about. I've been writing about it for weeks now. At least on Facebook... (Bad Blogger!)Guatemala is in a severe state of calamity. Women and children are suffering. And we can't tolerate that. Guatemala is dealing with one of the worst droughts ever. Children are suffering from chronic malnutrition and literally starving to death. If you're like me and have a precious angel from Guatemala then you know what happens when you look into the faces in these pictures. You see YOUR child. Because you know good and well that had your son or daughter not come home that he or she might be in a similar condition. Sucks, doesn't it? Keeps me up at night. Keeps me very aware of my blessings.

According to UNICEF (I know, I know - not one of our favorite organizations), the United National children's fund, more than 60 percent of families in Guatemala cannot afford an adequate diet. UNICEF reports that Guatemala has the worst malnutrition problem in Latin America, even higher than the 35.2 percent average in Africa. Nearly half of all Guatemalan children suffer from malnutrition which has a direct and negative impact on their physical and mental growth, severely compromising their educational prospects. The problem of malnutrition is most acute among Guatemala's Mayan people (40% of the total population). Nearly 70 percent of Mayan children are malnourished.

The UNICEF representative in Guatemala, Manuel Manrique, has said that the effects of malnutrition on child development are like a "life sentence" because it "compromises their health, their ability to learn, and their growth." Ironically, the Latin American region produces three times the amount of food needed to feed its population.
Can you imagine being a mother carrying this burden? Can you imagine holding your child in your lap because they are too weak to hold themselves up? Can you imagine trying to calm them while they cry from hunger pains. Can you imagine how horrible that must be?? Keeps me up at night. Makes me want to scream obscenities from my roof. But I won't. All that will do is get my arrested or put away. Instead I'm going to help Marlene Koenig DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Marlene is going in December to do what she can for these women and children. And guess who else is helping? The One And Only Holly Grigoli! She has donated one $25 Kick-Ass Bows gift certificate. I am starting a silent auction. It will start now and begin at $25. It will end next Friday, October 9th at 12:00 noon. So leave a comment and let's raise some money for OUR kids!

If you would like to give but you are not interested in participating in the silent auction you can still give. See the button the left of the screen? Click there to donate to Marlene's mission trip. She's preparing to head to Guatemala in December. Love and bless her very huge heart! And pray for my jealous heart. I want to go, but alas, it just isn't in the stars. Damnit. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LINK THIS POST TO YOUR BLOG!