Dear Friends:
Mid-year, we always send you a letter and here it is electronically. Due to active COVID cases at our small printers, the physical mailing is a little bit delayed.
Despite the current political, health-related, and economic hardships, we are doing all we can, every day, to stay the course and keep helping the Maya students in Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize. Here is how our board vice president Edward Fischer put it recently:
“Here at MEF, we run a lean operation that has an outsized impact in Maya communities across Guatemala and southern Mexico and Belize. Focusing all of our time and resources into supporting Maya students pursuing a university education, our programs improve the lives of individual grantees and their families and communities—while also building a new generation of Maya professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders. By almost any measure—income, life expectancy, education levels—Maya communities are the most marginalized and impoverished. To help change these inequalities, MEF works with local partners to provide scholarships and support for promising Maya students, providing opportunities in a context of few opportunities and pointing the way toward a brighter and more just future.”
The midyear point is critical for our fundraising efforts, as this is when students in Mexico and Belize are preparing for the next academic cycle, starting in August and September, respectively. The scholarships that your donations to MEF are making possible are absolutely the most important factor in the students’ decision if they can attend school in that next cycle or not. University fees, room and board, food and transportation are all expenses the students need to cover. MEF scholarships help them to do that.
The students and their families and we at MEF are very grateful for this support. Thank you!
Please note: A previous MEF bulletin (12/21) misstated Dilsia’s graduation date. Here is the corrected text:
It’s a long and difficult road, but rewarding when the students succeed. Dilsia (see photos) is a student from our FEPMaya program who graduated cum laude in International Relations and Diplomacy. She is now running a business that helps her town with community development. Dilsia wants us all to know how grateful she is for the scholarship support she had, allowing her to reach her goals.
We are so proud of her and you can see a short video of her on our website www.mayaedufound.org
In other MEF News:
● The English Language Program (ELP) Coordinator Randhi Wilson reports that she has fifteen volunteers and 25 students signed up for the next ELP 2022 in December in Antigua, Guatemala. We’ll write to you more about this in July as we will need to raise about $4,200 to supplement the program, not only for the in-person ELP but also to keep the year-round, online English learning going that Randhi was able to make possible for 35 students, starting up again in September. Thank you, Randhi!
● Donations we have received in honor of the great Diane Nelson will make it possible to underwrite the environmental studies of two Maya women in Guatemala for a whole year. As more funds are donated, we can extend the length of these special Diane Nelson scholarships.
● Donations we have received in memory of Marilyn Moors’s beloved grandson Brian Moors will underwrite a special weekend-plan scholarship at FEPMaya. We’ll feature all these students in upcoming posts.
● Please spread the word about our work in your social circles. Share our posts to your social media channels and make waves for MEF. For twelve years now, the Shelton Davis family has done just that and has, with their friends and family, raised substantial funds for scholarships for Maya students. Each year, the Shelton H. Davis Memorial Fund at MEF has been able to support between five and eight Maya students from Todos Santos and Santa Eulalia, Guatemala. We thank Mary, Peter and Rebecca for starting this amazing effort in 2010. May their example inspire all of us, no matter if we can give a little or a lot.
We wish you a good and healthy summer.
Sincerely,
Elisabeth Nicholson
Executive Director
Donating to MEF is easy, by check or by phone. For safe, online donations, one-time or recurring, please go to www.mayaedufound.org and click on the orange Donate Now. Our partner Network for Good will process your donations to MEF securely and quickly and give you an instant e-receipt. Consider becoming a recurring donor. Your regular, tax-deductible contributions to MEF, even modest amounts, will add up and make a difference in the lives of Maya students. And, remember that you can also donate stocks or IRA/401-K required distributions to MEF. Thank you.
