Apolonia and her girls are some of the first people that we helped in Villa Nueva.

Apolonia’s husband died from a heart attack, leaving her to fend for her three daughters Paola, Silvia, and Ana. When we first met this family, the three girls were very malnourished and we began helping them with vitamins and nutrition baskets to help them get healthy again. Apolonia is very animated about her girls doing well in school, as she herself is illiterate. She has told us “I want my girls to have the good education that I never got so that they are not stuck in the same situation I am when they grow up.” Apolonia’s dream job was to have her own bakery. For a while, she was buying bread from a local baker and reselling it by delivering it to people’s homes. The baker caught on and stopped selling bread to her. Since then she has been making money by reselling fruits and vegetables in her naighborhood like avocados and plantains that she buys in bulk from the market. She also makes and sells wai-pei. Wai-pei is a common product in Guatemala used for cleaning, starting fires, etc. It is de-threaded clothing that is balled up and used like a rag.
Paola, the Oldest
is quite shy but is studying to be a bilingual secretary
Silvia, the middle child
is quite outgoing and wants to be a reporter
Ana, the youngest
is always smiling and aspires to be a chef like her father
The three girls are a lively bunch and while they might be shy when you first meet them, they quickly warm up and love to help with projects or just throw a ball around. This family doesn’t even have running water in their house, yet the only time you will see these girls sad is when it is time to leave from our visits with them. They love going to school and showing off their current courses of study whenever we visit.
The vision for this family is to make sure the girls stay current in their schooling while we try to help Apolonia find a sustainable income source. As the girls grow they have begun to work during vacation periods from school and also help to sell things from their house.

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