Look What You Did in Guatemala this Summer!

AIR-Guatemala hosted 34 volunteers over five weeks this summer—weeks of hard work, spectacular scenery, volcanic eruptions, planting beneficial trees and building friendships.

The participants this year included eight folks from St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church in Dunwoody, GA.: Warren & Michael Foley from Orlando Presbyterian, FL; six members of Winter Park Presbyterian Church in Florida; two students, Steph and Cassidy, from Stetson University in Florida; John Gehrig’s daughters Melissa and Lisa from Michigan; Paul Jones from First Presbyterian DeLand, FL; two representatives, Peyun Kok (photo) and Tanya Battye, from the ERM corporation; Chris from Perimeter Presbyterian Church, GA; eight volunteers from Coronado Community United Methodist Church, FL; and of course, my favorite son-in-law Roger Montes from NYC, shown below, beginning construction of a stove.

We had the joy of planting 3,605 trees by hand alongside Mayan farmers and AIR’s amazing, faithful technicians. We broke previous records by building 14 brick stoves in one month! As you know, the stoves have a chimney to prevent smoke inhalation and lung disease, and they use half the amount of firewood as traditional fire-cooking.

Whether you enjoy getting your hands dirty, literally, in Guatemala, or support the work financially, or both, YOU are an important AIR’s team—a team that has improved the lives of at least 10,000 people over the years, while helping the Earth. These trips fill up quickly, so please contact me this winter to sign up for 2016!

On behalf of Ceci, Don Miguel, Luis, Pedro Miguel, Argentina, Carlos, Lidia, Juan Leja, and the thousands of farm families they have served, thank you!