We are praying for everyone at this time. Even as we start as a state to open up, we must be prayerful. Prayerful to prevent another COVID 19 outbreak and prayerful for the communities still in the grip of this virus.
Unfortunately, Guadalupe is one such place. COVID 19 is still a real and regular issue here. The town has gone so far as to ask people not from the town to not come into the town. Many of our friends in Guadalupe have been stricken with the virus and some have actually succumbed to it. The town and tribe are still closed. And all community-based activities in the town have been halted. This is especially heartbreaking for our friends in Guadalupe where community means so much.
It was so bad in April that the Yaqui church, for the first time in know history, did not have crowds for Easter Lenten festivals. There were no Holy Week celebrations. Not only did this impact the town culturally and spiritually, it deprived many people of the economic benefit of so many visitors coming to Guadalupe for the Holy Week fiesta.
Our pre-school did continue via lessons delivered at the homes of each child by our teachers. We were still opening the Learning Lab by appointment for use by a family. However, within the last couple weeks, we have had to stop all activities due to the intensity of the COVID 19 outbreak in Guadalupe. So many of our families are hit by COVID - testing positive, being ill or in the hospital and even dying from it. Please pray for Gods mercy.
Going forward, we are not sure what the summer and fall will bring. We canceled plans for a June summer program and I suspect we will not do anything in July. Our focus know is on processes and procedures (following CDC / ADHS guidelines) to open the lab and preschool in August.
We did deliver about 1000 lb of food basics (rice, beans, pasta, flour, toilet paper, wipes, etc) to our friends in Guadalupe to help tide people over the worse of this outbreak. Food availability has improved in Guadalupe - Praise God, Our teachers took the lead in doing this - distributing food to those families in most need. They also implemented a "give a little, get a little" system. People who got something were asked to give something they had extra of to another family. We are all in this together. Thank you to all of you who help - prayers, money, time - in doing this. It was a big deal for our families in Guadalupe. You can check out some pictures below (some of the food delivery and one from happier times this last Christmas).
Please keep us all in prayers. First for the town of Guadalupe. Like many tribal areas around the southwest, Guadalupe is hit very hard by the virus. Please pray for protection, healing, and a fast end to this outbreak. Please pray for us as we plan for the fall. Please pray for our families as they deal with the economic as well as the health impact of COVID-19. Thank you again for all you do to make this possible!
