Sep 23, 2012

The New Hogar Abierto

Eveyone here at EDELAC and QT are massively excited to announce our successful grant application to The Hovde Foundation for the Hogar Abierto Expansion Project.

Hovde has generously provided the capital costs to finance the outright purchase of a house here in Xela. A slight deviation from the original plans, see the original posts of this blog, but an outcome that will allow us to continue the core mission of EDELAC - providing a home for street children and providing a home for children at risk of becoming street children. By owning the Hogar instead of renting, EDELAC will be able add two more children just from the savings alone, and, having had to move the Hogar six times, owning our own building will add a greater degree of stability to the program - a true home for these children to grow up in.

The house is designed for up 28 children, and will be a major improvement over the current Hogar Abierto - more bathrooms, more communal space, more open space and more light. EDELAC will be working with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala in constructing a 2nd floor on the property as well as remodelling the ground floor. The purchase of the property was completed last Thursday (27th September) and work is scheduled to start as soon as possible, with a completion date early in the new year. The official title of the house will be "Casa Perry Hovde", in recognition of the generous donation from The Hovde Foundation which has made it all possible!

The grant from Hovde will cover the purchase of the house and about half of the remodelling/construction cost. The other half of these costs will be covered by EDELAC from various sources and, hopefully, from donations.

Any donation is gratefully received and rest assured that the money is going directly to the construction. It will not sit in a bank for a year... EDELAC's (and thus the children that it helps) need is urgent. Things such as ceramic floors and tiles (the "luxuries") will be the first to be cut from the construction if EDELAC falls short in fund raising. EDELAC has partnered up with the Omprakash Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization which facilitates secure, easy and tax exemptible donations.

Please click here to go to the QT Omprakash profile page and make a donation today. Every dollar/euro/pound/quetzal helps, so please give generously.

Plans for the upper floor
Plans for the bottom floor
(blank spaces are rooms not requiring work )


















Any questions or for more information, please contact Quetzaltrekkers.


Sep 22, 2012

Life behind the scenes...

So you've done the treks (all of them? Woww - good for you!), bought the tshirt, the patch and come to our awesome parties (see posts below)... Want to know more about trek prep? Will watch his video below, made by ex-guide Frank (the Tank), to get an idea about life behind the scenes and what goes on to make these treks amazing treks happen! And don't you worry- there'll be more of these videos to come.





Like what you see? Whetted your appetite? Looking to get more involved? Check out our volunteer page to get some more info about volunteering with us!