Guatemala Team Reports

So much has happened since Marine View’s Guatemala team left the villages of Puente Alto and San Agustin in late April. Our goal was to install 125 stoves and Ecofilters in village homes, which we did while there, but through your support and the hard work of the Hands for Peacemaking Foundation’s staff in Guatemala we continued to make a huge impact on those villages.

Leading it all was Marco Tulio Maldonado, the foundation’s national director in Guatemala, with the unwavering assistance of his spouse, Miriam “Mimi” Fuentes. Before providing you with an update on their additional village work, I thought I’d let you know that you have a chance to mingle with Marco, Mimi and their son Alan later this month and next month when they visit the Puget Sound area.

First, the Harvest of Hope event(s). These are no-cost social gatherings to meet and greet others with a passion for what we do in Guatemala. (Yes, there will be “low-pressure” fun activities to give to the Hands for Peacemaking Foundation). 

The “south” event is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at the Elliott Bay Brewery in Burien.

The “north” event is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 5-Rights Brewery in Marysville.

Free to attend, but please let us know you’re coming. You may sign up for either event on the Hands for Peacemaking website at https://www.handsforpeacemaking.org/ or send an email to Jeffrey Hager, the organization’s executive director.

Marine View Men’s Breakfast (sorry ladies) starts around 7:50 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1 at the East Campus building (formerly a school) on Marine View grounds, 8469 East Side Dr NE, Tacoma. Marco as the featured speaker will share his journey of faith. The $5 cost includes a full breakfast. Marco and family will also attend both Marine View Church services on Nov. 2 at 9 and 10:30 a.m. 

Marco will spend the balance of his time giving service club (mainly Rotary) presentations, meeting with churches, meeting with donors and conducting other business. Many of you know their son Alan – the family recently learned that he has been accepted to Edmonds Community College and intends to start classes there next year (pending visa approval). He will stay with a host family.

Now I’d like to briefly update you on some of the other amazing work projects that happened in the weeks and months after we left the villages, a bit of which I’ve covered before in the category of “future work” but now completed. We do appreciate the efforts by Hands for Peacemaking staff and the villagers themselves for making this happen.

Puente Alto

Improved drainage: We noticed while there that the main school building, perched on a hill, had a pretty inadequate drainage system, with the roof runoff from heavy rains draining directly into the playfield below. Our crew was able to purchase, deliver and bury (with help of villagers) enough plastic pipe (Schedule 40) to cross under the playfield and the road below so the runoff pours harmlessly down the hill.

Water tank: While there was as spot for a water tank for the school, nothing was there. So our Hands for Peacemaking team poured a concrete platform and installed a large water tank to serve the school’s bathroom and kitchen.

In addition to those projects, the village received some government funds to make improvements to the roof of the lower school building, as well as install new floor tiling in the upper school. Our staff was able to either provide or pay for much of the labor for this work, along with installing two large Aller stoves manufactured by our team in Barillas.

Feminine pads: One of our former team members who is a retired nurse, Diane Malone, for some time has been promoting the idea of introducing washable menstration pads for girls and women in the villages as a way of improving feminine health and hygiene. Last year she acted on that, with another team, by conducting a seminar in their village and providing supplies. This year, with the assistance of Diane’s friends at the Panorama City retirement center in Lacey, our team packed fabric and other materials they supplied to make these pads but we were not able to get to the project due to our other work and local communication issues. No worries, Mimi went back a few weeks later and conducted a seminar in the village to teach villagers how to make and use them. The seminar was well attended, even by a few men! Our thanks to both Diane and Mimi for taking this on – it’s important work. We are not affiliated with Days for Girls, a non-profit that specializes in this field, but you can learn more about the worldwide need on the organization’s website.

San Agustin

New generator: Neither of the villages we served have electricity. It was sort of a toss-up between buying solar panels or a generator for the school in San Agustin, but ultimately they decided the school’s electrical needs would be better served by a generator, which was purchased with our mission funds.

New stoves for school: San Agustin also received the gift of two large stoves for its school.

Both Villages

School desks in the local villages get a lot of wear and tear over the years, and ultimately need to be repaired or replaced. Hands for Peacemaking, which also manufactures school desks, sent a team to the schools and repaired multiple school desks, just like new. San Agustin is also slated to receive new white boards, teacher desks and a file cabinet.

The gratefulness of these villagers for our assistance can be overwhelming, not only when we are there but afterward too. In early September, the school principal organized a dedication ceremony for all of the work that had been done at the school, which was attended by Marco and Alex, a senior staffer (and champion stove assembler). Speeches were made and gifts were given, including custom Marine View mugs.

A New Truck

As part of our effort, we were able to raise awareness for the need for a new utility truck for Hands for Peacemaking. The roads around Barillas where we work are often rough and littered with potholes. While members of the staff have also become pretty good mechanics to keep our vehicles operational, occasionally we do need to replace them. Generous donations by longtime Marine View members Corry and Donna McFarland, and Ken and Kim Schiewetz, along with a Rotary club grant and other donor funds, made the purchase of the new vehicle possible this year. It will be delivered in early November and bear the Marine View logo on its side.

I’d like to once again thank you, our donors and supporters of our team – none of this could have been done without you.

One More Thing

We are starting to ramp up to help another village in 2026, and can use your help! If you might like to travel to Guatemala with our team in mid to late April, please get in touch! We also very much appreciate your donations, either through Marine View (choose Guatemala Mission) or through Hands for Peacemaking (choose 2026 Marine View Stove Project button). As you can see, we put them to good use.

Hope to see you at one of our upcoming events, and thank you.

Brian