"Giving now.. towards the purchase and forever preservation & management of this native natural land, water, habitat, and cultural piece of the earth seems like the best legacy and mark I can leave on this earth with the assets I have been blessed to have acquired in my lifetime.
This is a permanent gift to the world with the indigenous people who have lived here for centuries with having forever access. They will be the ones to protect, manage and maintain it. Once it is sold and altered, it is gone, and can never be replaced. Can you join me?"
Indegenous Land Preservation / Management & Protection Projects
- Indigenous Forest Management and Protection Project
- Sustainable Agriculture and Silviculture Management Plans and Community Training Program
- Indigenous Mayan Ceremonial Site Protection and Community Education Program
- Watershed Management and Protection and Community Education Program
The Guatemala Aid Fund (GAF) is in full support of the Guatemalan planned multi-phased Solola projects. They know what is best for their communities and land and we are honored to help them in their efforts. Their plans are in direct alignment with GAF core goals that not only prioritize the education and care of children, young adults and adults, but also for training and hiring the local work force, preserving the natural environment, and providing life skills for the children as they grow while implementing and teaching sustainable operational practices.
Planned projects not only focus on preserving the indigenous language and culture, they include long term plans for promoting sustainable Guatemalan agricultural techniques/organic gardening and farming, water and soil protection as well as the long term preservation of Mayan Ceremonial Sites and Native Forest!
This land is rapidly vanishing and it is devastating. The completed Phase 1 Project included the purchase of 3 acres of land for the Community Center and facilities from a Guatemalan Family that was committed to not selling their 60-acre natural property to foreign developers for luxury homes or for clear-cutting for agriculture.
Fundraising is currently beginning to support a natural habitat and land preservation plan for the remaining 56 acres of the 60 acre parcel which includes 3 active Mayan Ceremonial sites that are currently in jeopardy, as well as rock formations of geologic significance and a forested mountain side.
The local people in San Jose Chacaya have suffered for centuries. It is an incredible gift to be able to be connected with these inspiring human beings working towards protecting mother earth, in such a natural way, which of course is at the core of their native culture. We are honored to know them and hope that you may visit this remarkable place and feel in your heart how incredible it is.
We hope you can join us in supporting this tremendously important project.
Thank you and be well, on behalf of the amazing warriors in Guatemala, their communities, families, and children, thank you,
Planned projects not only focus on preserving the indigenous language and culture, they include long term plans for promoting sustainable Guatemalan agricultural techniques/organic gardening and farming, water and soil protection as well as the long term preservation of Mayan Ceremonial Sites and Native Forest!
This land is rapidly vanishing and it is devastating. The completed Phase 1 Project included the purchase of 3 acres of land for the Community Center and facilities from a Guatemalan Family that was committed to not selling their 60-acre natural property to foreign developers for luxury homes or for clear-cutting for agriculture.
Fundraising is currently beginning to support a natural habitat and land preservation plan for the remaining 56 acres of the 60 acre parcel which includes 3 active Mayan Ceremonial sites that are currently in jeopardy, as well as rock formations of geologic significance and a forested mountain side.
The local people in San Jose Chacaya have suffered for centuries. It is an incredible gift to be able to be connected with these inspiring human beings working towards protecting mother earth, in such a natural way, which of course is at the core of their native culture. We are honored to know them and hope that you may visit this remarkable place and feel in your heart how incredible it is.
We hope you can join us in supporting this tremendously important project.
Thank you and be well, on behalf of the amazing warriors in Guatemala, their communities, families, and children, thank you,
Local Mayan Dowser (Native Water Finder and Energy Healer
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This is the land to be protected. You can see the encroachment of land clearing and commercial agriculture in this precious mountain habitat.
View of Lake Atitlan from the top of the land to hopefully be protected forever. The watershed is to the lake, and purchase of this property will also protect the water quality of the lake.
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Beautiful story of combined vision and love to preserve land and help children... in the Words of the Association to Eradicate Poverty
Early in 2018, after realizing the need to provide education and malnutrition support in rural communities in order for families and children to be successful in Guatemala, we began looking for a location for a location to build a multi-purpose center. We traveled to the capital of Sololá department and met with the municipal mayor and the indigenous mayor and explained our mission and vision which prioritizes supporting the local Mayan culture, land and practices. Both mayors were excited and offered support, but neither mayor had any land available for the project. They reached out to acquaintances in Sololá and asked for information on cities or towns within the department.
We learned of an available plot of land in a small city within Sololá department. We traveled along a beautiful winding road and were treated to views of green terraced farmland, a waterfall, and a spectacular view of Lake Atitlán. With a little help from the locals we found the plot of land and took a small tour. Everyone was very welcoming, the village was small, clean, and peaceful. We walked around the plaza and stopped at a bright green storefront and bought some delicious sweetbread before heading back to the capital. It felt like we had found the right place and we felt energized to begin the process of raising funds for the land.
On our way back to the city, excited about the possibilities and brainstorming fundraising ideas, we received a phone call. The voice on the other end of the phone said was an acquaintance of a friend of ours in Sololá. He had heard we were looking for land in Sololá to support local Guatemalans, and asked if we had liked the plot we saw in the morning. He then told us that he was the owner of the adjacent plot of land, a plot that covers more than 60 acres, and that he was interested in providing us a good price and also donating part of his land to our project if it would be protected. He said the land has been in his family for generations and he knew he wanted the land to be preserved and used for something good. His dream for his land matched our vision for the project in Sololá.
We are currently raising money to purchase the land from the Guatemalan landowner and implement the dream for indigenous forest and habitat protection forever. If successful, the local people will have access to this land forever, and it will be managed to protect wildlife, forest/vegetation and the irreplaceable Mayan Ceremonial sites.
We learned of an available plot of land in a small city within Sololá department. We traveled along a beautiful winding road and were treated to views of green terraced farmland, a waterfall, and a spectacular view of Lake Atitlán. With a little help from the locals we found the plot of land and took a small tour. Everyone was very welcoming, the village was small, clean, and peaceful. We walked around the plaza and stopped at a bright green storefront and bought some delicious sweetbread before heading back to the capital. It felt like we had found the right place and we felt energized to begin the process of raising funds for the land.
On our way back to the city, excited about the possibilities and brainstorming fundraising ideas, we received a phone call. The voice on the other end of the phone said was an acquaintance of a friend of ours in Sololá. He had heard we were looking for land in Sololá to support local Guatemalans, and asked if we had liked the plot we saw in the morning. He then told us that he was the owner of the adjacent plot of land, a plot that covers more than 60 acres, and that he was interested in providing us a good price and also donating part of his land to our project if it would be protected. He said the land has been in his family for generations and he knew he wanted the land to be preserved and used for something good. His dream for his land matched our vision for the project in Sololá.
We are currently raising money to purchase the land from the Guatemalan landowner and implement the dream for indigenous forest and habitat protection forever. If successful, the local people will have access to this land forever, and it will be managed to protect wildlife, forest/vegetation and the irreplaceable Mayan Ceremonial sites.
