gearing up for the 2012 scholarsip program in AUDA.  We are

believing to be able to continue sending these ladies coops

children to school off the sales of their backstrap weaved

 scarves, shawls, and floor loom weaved fabrics,and beaded

 jewelry.  We have been blessed every year to continue

to help..

If you’d like to make a monetary donation, please go to www.audaguatemala.org/donate.htm

• Children’s scholarships

• Home construction projects (stoves, roofs, etc)

• Shoeshine boys in Panajachel

• Materials for the cooperatives, etc

If interested in becoming a product purchaser or client, contact Freida Whiddon Cox
Phone: 1-832-785-1031  2025 Calle de Ninos Las Cruces, NM 88005

If you’d like buy the product check out Education &  More website.  www.educationandmore.com we have photos on our site but don’t sell them. www.audaguatemala.org

A special thanks to: Karen Pickett of Education & More, Lloyd and Melanie of Solomon’s Porch for their continued belief and support of AUDA.                                        

ICO is an all-volunteer charitable foundation that enables the elimination of poverty and advancement of education through teamwork and innovative thinking. The Canadian group located in British Columbia donated the rent for 8 families for another three months until they can be relocated.

For more information, keep following this blog. Click here if you are considering to make a donation.

Can you spare a donation for a Guatemalan child’s education?

The women of San Juan la Laguna, Choa Cruz, and El Tablon are very grateful for your warm hearts and contributions.

With your generous donations we were able to send 130 children to school this year. We were able to buy school supplies,shoes,backpacks for all 130 children.

The women’s groups were very content on what they received this year.

Please Donate Now.

Artisans United for the Development of Atitlan (AUDA) is dedicated to the economic and social empowerment of cooperatives of indigenous women and children around Lake Atitlan, in the Guatemalan highlands.

Update for September 2009

In July 2009, we learned of an especially difficult situation of a woman named Ana in San Juan la Laguna, who was beaten by her husband, after which she and her four children were abandoned.  To make matters worse, the husband decided to sell the house, leaving them with nowhere to go.  Ana proves to be a loving woman both to her children, and to the Mayan Tzutujil women’s weaving cooperative called Ajbatz’Bal’ in San Juan, so we found it necessary to fundraise for a home and help her in these circumstances.

Fortunately, with the help of numerous donors around the world, we were able to raise $1,400 for the purchase of construction materials.  Bobby and Freida Cox made a generous contribution to realize the $2,000 budget for the house.  In early September, a house was constructed in only four days for Ana and her four kids.  A group of wonderful young adults from South Africa, on their mission trip with Global Challenge Expeditions, worked hard with sweat and love to complete the simple building on the 10’ x 30’ piece of land.  Ana’s new home has a new tin roof, one large room in the back, a toilet with underground septic tank, a simple shower, space for a washbasin and stove, and a room in the front which may be used for the products from Ajbatz’Bal’.

AUDA is connected with three women’s cooperative groups around the lake, and recognizes various issues that arise with their living conditions or the need for scholarship money to send the children to school.

After visiting the women of the cooperative Artesanas Tzaput in Choa Cruz, we learned there is a need for replacement roofs and stoves in several of the homes.

In El Tablon, the women have expressed their hopes for latrines and a larger room in which the women can create the crafts together.

Ways you can help:

To support the women and children of the villages in San Juan la Laguna, El Tablon, and Choa Cruz, please go to www.audaguatemala.org/donate.htm