Guatemala Needs Your Help!

As you may know, I spent a couple of weeks down in Antigua, Guatemala last May where I took intensive (make that super intensive) Spanish language classes. Along with waking up very early for 4 hours of instruction, I participated in various cultural activities in the afternoons (including a very animated futbol match), stayed with a local family, and travelled to two other fascinating and popular parts of Guatemala: Tikal and Lago Atitlan.

Thus it saddens me that the recent Hurricane Stan has destroyed villages in the Lago Atitlan area, and millions of people have lost their homes and belongings. So I am posting this letter from Petra, the asst. manager at Casa de Lenguas (a fantastic school set in a converted colonial house in Antigua where I took my classes). She is coordinating a fund-raising effort for the victims of the said hurricane.

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Dear student,

As you may know, Guatemala and its people suffered a terrible tragedy in the last month from hurricane Stan that hit Guatemala on October 4th 2005. Guatemala was hit worst of all Central American countries, and the exact impact of the disaster is still not fully known. Stan hit mainly in the south of the country, the Pacific coastline and the highlands of Guatemala, representing the 30% of the country that are also the poorest areas.The latest news tells us that over 1000 people died, hundreds are missing, entire villages are wiped out, and over 3 million Guatemalans are affected.

Casa de Lenguas would like to ask for your help in collecting funds. We will channel 100% of the donations to a few selected non-profit organizations that are experts in construction, who will rebuild houses, schools and hospitals in Guatemala that are affected by Stan.

You can help us by donating money to our foundation and by bringing out the message to your friends and family members, and encourage them to help Guatemala too! Invest in the future with us and do not allow this to become a setback too overwhelming for the social and economic development of our beloved Guatemala.

You can donate via our on-line Registration Form here or wire money to our bank account. For more details about this or if you like to read more about Stan and the situation in Guatemala, have a look at our website: Casa de Lenguas.

All contributions are appreciated, no matter the size!

Warm regards,

The Casa de Lenguas team
Petra Cubretovic
Assistant Manager