Lemonade International

Micro-Enterprise Recognition Program

billcummings — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:11:40 +0000

With support received as a result of a fundraiser led by students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, we have been able to start a recognition program for our micro-enterprise clients. Our goal is to recognize and reward clients at the end of every loan cycle. To qualify, a client has to make all payments on time, attend all training sessions, run their business with diligence, apply principles they have learned from the training and exceed the minimum required savings amount for a particular loan cycle.

Last week, we recognized our first member, Perfecta Hernandez, for her punctuality in payments and commitment to being present at the educational sessions. If you would like to know more about our Micro-Enterprise program and how you can get involved, please feel free to contact me.

-Samuel Brizuela
Micro-Enterprise Program Director

Pictured above: Nestor Sicaja (Loan Officer) and Perfecta Hernandez

[PHOTOS]: 5th Anniversary Gala in Raleigh

billcummings — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:40:23 +0000

Thanks to Lemonade International co-founder, Leah Arrington for taking such amazing photos of our 5th Anniversary Gala in Raleigh on May 2.

You can check out Leah’s photography work by clicking on any of the photos or by visiting her Facebook page: leah*k photography

Celebrate 5 Years – Give the Gift of Education

billcummings — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:18:32 +0000

Earlier this month we celebrated our 5th Anniversary with gala events in Raleigh, NC and Cincinnati, OH. More than 250 people attended the events and they invested more than $48,000 to support our Scholars program.

For the month of May we have designed our Online Gala for those of you who weren’t able to be with us in person — to provide an opportunity for you to celebrate with us!

The best way for you to celebrate 5 years of serving the people of La Limonada is to help provide continuing education opportunities for our students.

Did you know that in Guatemala City, public school is only free through 6th grade?

For most families in La Limonada, this means their daughters and sons are unable to continue their education beyond that point. In many cases, parents view their children as potential income earners after they finish 6th grade. Very often they become caregivers for younger brothers and sisters instead of continuing their education into middle school and high school. In other situations they beg on the streets or get involved in gangs to help provide for their families. Young girls are much more likely to become pregnant when continuing their education is not an option.

We want to change this by providing our students with an invaluable opportunity to continue their education in 7th grade and beyond.

By giving to support our Online Gala, you will be joining with those who attended our events in Raleigh and Cincinnati by helping to provide 50 students with tuition, uniforms and books to continue their education through the end of 2014.

For Those Not Standing [Reposted from Katie Høiland's Blog]

billcummings — Sat, 11 May 2013 20:20:22 +0000

The following is reposted from Katie Høiland’s blog. Katie and her husband, Tim, were part of our 2013 Bloggers Trip last month.

Tomorrow we celebrate Mother’s Day. Many of us, filled with gratitude, honor the love, sacrifices and prayers of our moms. For many others this day brings grief, longing and inescapable reminder of what they do not have. I think about my friends who have lost their moms far too early, others who have faced miscarriages if they were able to get pregnant at all and those who have painful memories of a mom who was not there for them.

We rejoice with those who rejoice. And we mourn with those who mourn. (Romans 12:15)

For those whose hearts rip as their newsfeeds fill with pictures of Mother’s Day bouquets and gifts. For those who stay seated at church as everyone who is a mother is asked to stand and be honored. For those seeking to honor the mothers around them even while the salt grinds into their hopes deferred.

I mourn with you.

I also mourn with the mothers living in the largest slum in Guatemala. Mothers who watch their children being abused and are helpless to stop it. Who leave their children alone from early until late to earn enough for one meal a day. Mothers who pray earnestly for their child to beat the statistics of gang violence dominating the slum they have no way of escaping. Mothers who want a better life for their children without access to make that possible.

While visiting La Limonada, we met many mothers. Pictured here is Ana (I briefly told her story here), one whose intensity of both pain and love for her children was staggering. She was desperate to see her daughter go to high school but unable to afford it. Her dream was to see her finish the vocational track and have the chance at a good job as a bank teller. Through the scholars program, her mother’s heart has been given the gift of this possibility. Her daughter will attend school if generous sponsors continue to provide the funding.

I mourn the difficulty of life for Ana and her children. And I rejoice in the Mother’s Day gift she has this year in the education of her daughter. As I honor my own incredible mom (and second moms) this weekend, I honor the incredible mother Ana is.

*****

Tim and I were invited to join a Bloggers Team to visit the community of La Limonada with Lemonade International. We spent April 15-17th in the community. I blogged:

’24 Photos from Guatemala’

‘What does Lemonade Sponsorship do?

‘Bloggers Trip to Guatemala’

‘Guatemala Preparation’

‘Day 1: Violence & the Aroma of Christ’,

‘Day 2: Denied. Precious. Joyful’,

‘Day 3: Following Upward’.

Photo of the Week

Rebecca — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:13:05 +0000

Today is Mother’s Day in Guatemala. The students in Lucia’s class proudly display their Mother’s Day gifts they made in the Academy.

[PHOTOS]: Sneak Peak from the Raleigh Gala

billcummings — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:06:53 +0000

Thanks to Lemonade International co-founder, Leah (Craver) Arrington, for taking photos at the 5th Anniversary Gala! Here’s a sneak peak. Many more to follow in the coming days…

Photo of the Week

Rebecca — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:19:44 +0000

Lemonade 5 Year Gala in Raleigh, NC. Thank you to everyone who helped and came!

5th Anniversary Online Gala

billcummings — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:06:11 +0000

Our 5th Anniversary Gala is just around the corner! If you don’t live in or near Raleigh or Cincinnati, our Online Gala is designed just for you — to help you celebrate with us!

In 2008, Lemonade International began as a dream to raise awareness and support for our Guatemalan friends who serve in the largest urban slum in Central America (La Limonada in Guatemala City). Over the past five years, an amazing tribe of people have joined us in visiting La Limonada and sponsoring children and teachers. In that time, over $1.8 million has been given to support this work. These funds have helped empower local leaders in their work of transformation within the La Limonada community. Thank you!

What used to be one school with 80 students is now a holistic community development organization, including two academies with 250 students, a safe home, as well as a scholars program, a micro-enterprise program and a vocational training program. La Limonada is experiencing change because of you!

As we look ahead toward the next five years, we are resolute in our commitment to work in solidarity with the people of La Limonada to empower sustainable transformation in the community. Future plans include expanding our scholars program and serving other barrios (neighborhoods) within La Limonada! In addition, we are working toward establishing a vocational training center and a walk-in medical clinic.

Please consider celebrating 5 years of progress in La Limonada by providing our scholar students (in 7th grade and above) with an opportunity to continue on the path that will lead them out of a cycle of poverty by giving through our 5th Anniversary Online Gala.

[PHOTOS]: Bloggers Trip – Day 3

billcummings — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:16:05 +0000

Photo Credits: Scott Bennett

Bloggers Trip – Day 3

billcummings — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:55:04 +0000

The 2013 Bloggers Trip is coming to an end and we want to express our gratitude to this group of special people who have invested in the La Limonada community. Their time, hearts, words and photos have helped to convey the stories of La Limonada in a way that we have never experienced in such a short time.

Thank you Tim, Katie, Scott, Dana, Chris, Blake and Mackenzie! Our words cannot express the gratitude we have for you.

Katie Hoiland: Day 3: Following Upward

…we witnessed a historical milestone in the community of La Limonada. A significant meeting where presidents of the various neighborhoods making up La Limonada gathered at the invitation of Tita and a small group of university students in a one of the academies which served as a neutral location. Why would this be historical you may ask? The moment you step foot in this barrio, you sense the tension created between the ongoing neighborhood rivalries. These boundaries are distinctly marked by young guys protectively ‘hanging’ around. With dull looks in their eyes like they just sniffed some glue to mask both their hunger and pain, they watch everyone who passes very carefully while preventing many to come close. These were peace talks.

Dana Byers: La Limonada: History in the Making

I’ve experienced being called by God to a specific region before. There have been times in life where God’s clearly shown our family something to do or a place to go. It’s clear God’s not called our family to live and serve in Guatemala, but we love this country and its people. Because God has not led us to be on the front lines of the incredible work Lemonade International is doing, our family is committing to provide financial support to this organization. I really shouldn’t call it an organization, in fact, because it’s a sea of committed people whose hearts we love.

Paul Burkhart: “Strong like Lemonade….and sweet.” [Guatemala, Day 3]

Tonight is my last night in Guatemala. By the time this is posted and most of you read this, I will be on a plane (or, more likely, waiting in an airport), on my way back home.

The past couple of posts this week have been a little intense. The way I received and processed those first few days was definitely through the filter of brokenness and pain. And this was definitely appropriate. There were so many stories of poverty, violence, abuse, economic exploitation, injustice, paedophilia, and rape that I simply could not tell.

Tim Høiland: Crossing the line (Guatemala, Day 3)

For many years, La Limonada has been divided into eleven distinct colonias, or neighborhoods. Lemonade International’s two academies are in Lourdes I and Lourdes II, respectively. Other colonias have names like Lomas del Edén (Hills of Eden), El Esfuerzo (The Effort), Buena Vista (Good View), 15 de Agosto (August 15), and 5 de Octubre (October 5).

There are decades-old stories behind these names, and the lines of demarcation between colonias, while not visible on any map or to any outsider’s eye, are for that reason no less real.

Photo Credit: Scott Bennett