A Request for Scholarship Donations  

 for the AMIDI Women and their Children

 

Our relationship with AMIDI (Association of Indigenous Women for Holistic Development) began in early 2002 when we nominated their chicken project for an International Slow Food Award - which they won. In 2003 we started a scholarship program for the children of AMIDI members when we learned that their per capita income is about $200 and public education is not free in Guatemala.

Now in its eighth year, support of the scholarship initiative is more significant and critical than ever. The 2010 Guatemalan rainy season has been and continues to be devastating. In the village of Pachay las Lomas, where the majority of AMIDI members live, mudslides have uprooted coffee trees and plantings of corn and beans, buried livestock, and flooded homes. As a result, the economic outlook is grim while prices for staples such as corn have increased 50%.  Despite these hardships, the graduation rate of AMIDI scholarship recipients is exceptional for a Mayan community. 

We will continue offering scholarships to the 36 students in the program (12 in primary school, 11 in middle school, 12 in high school, and 1 in the university). In addition, we hope to support adult education for AMIDI members (some illiterate) to study the cultivation and use of traditional Mayan medicinal plants and coffee cultivation.

Below are the scholarship amounts determined by the AMIDI Scholarship Committee. These figures do not cover all of the educational expenses. Despite having poverty-level per capita income, each family proudly contributes a portion of the cost.

• $120 annually for each elementary school student 
• $275 annually for each middle school student
• $425 annually for each high school student
• $  75 per student for the medicinal plant and coffee cultivation courses 

Please consider making a tax deductible donation for the 2011 school year which begins in January. The women are thankful for contributions of any amount--------$10, $20, $50, $100, or more.  

Your contribution brings so much hope. THANK YOU. For further information, contact Marilee Wingert, Slow Food Sonoma County North member at  marileewingert@earthlink.net.   

And if you'd like to keep up to date on AMIDI, join us on Facebook at AMIDI:  Mayan Women Who Farm and Weave.