If You're Feeling Generous

Well, this is embarrassing.

Through this lovely blogosphere, I'm sending all you loyal readers a request for a little bit of help.

For several years, the NPH Guatemala International Volunteer Team has attended a Volunteer Workshop every October. For three days, all the volunteers come together to discuss the NPH Guatemala volunteer experience.

We talk about what we like, what we don't like, what works, what doesn't, and what we -- as outsiders bringing a different perspective -- think the house could do better. Some of the most fundamental programs in the house today have sprung from conversations during these yearly workshops. The idea for an NPHG student leadership group started this way, and so did the twice-monthly family projects we all complete. It's not time for us to whine about the food or the crappy internet; it's an opportunity to really sit down and discuss how we can keep NPH Guatemala moving forward as the world outside of our walls does too.

So, the request. Gracias to the continuing economic situation, we're poor, and the U.S. offices affiliated with NPH can no longer pay for American volunteers to attend this once-a-year workshop. Since American volunteers currently account for 15 of the 23 of us here in Guatemala, that means we're short some money.

So, if you're reading this and feeling generous, family, friends, and supporters of NPH volunteers can call a U.S. Friends of the Orphans office to donate money and guarantee the workshop happens again this year. Remember, Guatemala is cheap, so even $15 or $25 will make a big difference. You'll need to tell them you want to donate to NPH Guatemala's Project P-GUA-10048, Yearly Workshop for Volunteers.

My regional office is:
Friends of the Orphans
Southeast Region
Miami, FL
(305) 663-6211

Or the national office can be reached at:
Friends of the Orphans
National Office
Chicago, IL
(312) 386-7499

Muchísimas gracias to all who help out -- I'll buy ya a drink when I get back Stateside. :)