By Sheryl Fontaine

Unlike the past two summers, Debi Lyn Esquivel and I were unable to arrange our schedules to fit into the planned Xela Aid trip. So we made our own arrangements and still had the chance to work at Xela Aid's Clinic. Each morning for a week, Luis Enrique de León, Xela Aid's director in Guatemala, dutifully and cheerfully retrieved us from the lobby of Hotel Modelo so we could "carpool" with him an hour to San Martin.

Once at the clinic, Luis went off to work in his office while Debi and I, after greeting the clinic doctor and nurse/ receptionist, climbed the concrete stairs to the second floor. We plopped down our backpacks on the table in the newly- designed optometry area, and then, for four hours each day cleaned and sorted donated eye glasses that have been accumulating over the 14 years Xela-Aid has been in San Martin: Big frames, bigger frames, metal frames, plastic frames, oval, circle, rectangular, and granny frames-900 or so pairs of glasses are now sorted into plastic baskets, stored on new metal shelving, and ready for next summer's eye clinic.

And not to worry-if you think you missed out on some fun work, there are probably just as many glasses still in the boxes and boxes we didn't have time to open-in spite of working non-stop each day. Well, maybe not non-stop...

One morning Amalia Vasquez gave us a tour of the new "guardaria"-a preschool for local children that also provides child care while parents are working. The facility, housed in the Xela-Aid-built round house is decorated with children's drawings, storage cubbies, and colorful cut-outs of animals. The once-empty front yard is now home to two swing sets and a slide that, at last count, could hold five sliders at once! During our visit, we took lots of pictures, got lots of hugs, and were served lunch in the new kitchen adjacent to the playground.

While it's hard to pick favorite a moment in our week, I think we'd both agree that getting a chance to see the girls we are supporting through the PEX program was definitely among the best parts of our trip. I had a chance to visit with Jessica Iboy, my sponsored child, in the middle of her school day and was thrilled to be able to communicate with her a bit this year-those Spanish classes are priceless! Estrella Vasquez, sponsored by Debi, came by the clinic two days. The second time she brought friends along to help us sort glasses -and try on a few pair!

Catarina Guzman Bueda de Vasquez couldn't be happier. Finally, she has a full kitchen and a traditional stove again, and delicious cooking is not far behind. When Catarina and her 16-year-old son moved into the Clinic in August to become the new caretakers, the facility lacked a traditional kitchen and stove. Xela Aid provided a North-American-style electric stove for the short-term, but it lacked the "plancha" for making tortillas. And besides, when Catarina cooked in her quarters on the second floor, the smell traveled throughout the clinic.

Thanks to funds from supporter Nancy Reckinger, the Clinic's food preparation facility located on the third floor is now a reality and in the future will be used not only by Catarina, but also to cater trainings and events held at the Clinic- Community Center. Thank you Nancy for your donation, and Mel Dinkel for overseeing the sturdy construction of the new facility. Luis de León and Amalia Vasquez saw the project through to completion in November when the last item was put into place: the outside door.

Now you can give a truly meaningful gift for the holidays by supporting a doctor, nurse, or midwife for a month, or our pre-school for a week or more, among other selections, in the name of someone special! You will receive beautifully printed gift cards featuring the children of San Martín (pictured above, 1/8th size) with your gift selections noted on the back. Each gift card includes space for a personal note and your signature. The gift cards will be sent directly to you so that you may pass them along personally to family and friends as your gift.

Search the web frequently? Now you can support Xela Aid each time you do a web search just by searching from "GoodSearch" and selecting Xela Aid as your benefactor organization.

First, just to GoodSearch (http://www.goodsearch.com). Then, where it asks, "Who do you GoodSearch for?" select Xela Aid. Xela Aid should appear each time you search as your default benefactor organization. If you want to be sure you GoodSearch for Xela Aid each time, you can set your home page to GoodSearch in your browser's "Preferences."

Each time you search, Xela Aid will receive one cent for your search -- and every penny counts. Tell friends and family about GoodSearch and how they can support Xela Aid's important work, and who knows how much we could raise during 2007! Remember, just under $2,000 will keep the clinic open an entire month.