Sisters woman to help kids in Guatemala

Each year for the past five years, Amy Abramson of Blue Burro Imports has traveled to Guatemala and returned with colorful clothing, accessories, and jewelry that she sells in her Sisters boutique. This year, she's taking things with her that she'll leave in Guatemala: Donated school supplies for the children of the village of Panajachel.

"This is where I stay every year, so I've become very fond of the community," Abramson explained. "I've wanted to volunteer and donate every year, and it's never worked out. For some reason the doors opened for me this year to be able to do that."

Through February 4, Abramson is collecting new and used school supplies - backpacks, markers, paper, crayons, pencils, sharpeners - to take with her when she travels to Guatemala next month. Donations may be brought to Blue Burro Imports at 161 N. Elm St., Unit B (in the big yellow building next to Sisters Market). Cash donations are also welcome.

Abramson is working through MayanFamilies.org. The charity identifies numerous needs among the rural indigenous population, and school supplies stood out to Abramson as a doable thing.

"I thought that would be an easy thing for me to take down there," she said.

Abramson says she's become "kind of obsessed" with education issues in rural Guatemala. Illiteracy rates are very high - 31 percent across the population in general and 60 percent among indigenous peoples. Barriers to education are high. Primary education up to grade six is government-funded, but beyond that it is not free. Rural people cannot afford further education, nor can they readily travel to the urban centers where middle schools are located.

Many children drop out or never progress past the sixth grade level, moving into the fields to work in agriculture.

Providing school supplies is a small but important way to ease the financial burden of education and to provide sometimes-scarce materials.

Abramson is also volunteering at a dental clinic for five days on this trip.

As often happens in Sisters, the project has caught on with others. Nancy Russell at Stitchin' Post has a group knitting caps for infants at a Guatemalan orphanage.

"It's unfolding into this really cool thing," Abramson said.

For more information, call Abramson at 541-610-8028, email [email protected]

imports.com or stop by the store during business hours.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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