AMOR Villages is a holistic, sustainable approach to development that succeeds by forming collaborative partnerships with individuals and communities, providing revolutionary education and empowerment initiatives delivered in Schools which also serve as Community Transformation Hubs. Each of our four pillars - Education, Empowerment, Aid and International Collaboration -  enhances the others, ensuring greater impact and achieving long-term sustainability for all community members.

Success Stories
Widowed families are often those who suffer the most abject poverty. Since 2012, Maria and her mother-in-law Rosa have had food security and a safe and dry home in which to bring up her two children, Nicolas and Isabela.

​Maria is a Kakchiqel Mayan women who was widowed in her mid-twenties, left with her mother in-law to bring up her two small children in extreme poverty.  When AMOR staff, led by Arnulfo, arrived at their home for the first time with food parcels one evening just before Christmas 2011, the women fell to their knees and wept. They said they had been praying night and day for help. They thought they were angels. They shared how they only ate every three days, and when they did it was corn tortillas and salt. Maria's children's stomachs were distended and their hair falling out from malnutrition.

​Maria joined our Weaving And Embroidery programme and learned how to operate a traditional backstrap loom and make clothes for her family and also beautiful pieces to sell as part of a cooperative. Her children benefitted from regular food and supplements and her eldest was soon well enough to go to school through an AMOR scholarship.

​However, Maria's living conditions were causing significant harm to her already poor health and that of her children. Their home was a patchwork quilt of plastic bags, mud and sugar cane that let the rain and wind in and was constantly filled with smoke. We decided to do something about it.

​In partnership with a friend of AMOR, Maria's home was built by local builders in May 2012 and new beds provided. Maria was delighted to finally have a secure home for her family with a  smoke-free stoke. She said in her native Kakchiqel Mayan, "Sibalaj maltiox chela le ki tat xuta le kichabal. Thank you for being the answer to our prayers." 

In total, AMOR has built 44 homes and helped feed 8,400 vulnerable families.

More Impact
AMOR helps empower communities to build their own futures. Between 2012 and 2014, more than 150 workshops were delivered to women's groups in Guatemala totalling around 2,100 women, helping women-led families and orphan providers develop literacy and leadership skills to gain confidence, and weaving, embroidery and sustainable agricultural skills to earn an alternative income.

​The increase in income means greater opportunities for education, better access to nutritious foods, and more involvement in decision-making at the household level. This programming also addresses gender equality in our communities, leading to healthier and more educated households, greater economic opportunities, and an improved outlook for future generations.
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AMOR works with the most vulnerable, and none are more vulnerable than disabled children who do not get the dignity and treatment they need and deserve. Meet Maria Luisa, a young K'iche Mayan girl and spina bifida sufferer who has made a huge impact on our work and lives.

We first met Maria Luisa when she was 11. She was dragging her poor limp body across the dusty ground and burst into tears as she reached us. She was in a wretched state: paralysed, dirty, twisted feet, huge spinal tumour that meant she couldn't lay on her back. We promised her we would help her, and thank to friends of AMOR she soon had a brand new child-size wheelchair. When we took her to the doctors, he informed us that she had spina bifida, probably due to her mother's lack of folic acid at birth. He warned that if the cyst on her spine wasn't removed she could die. We set about getting her hospital treatment at the fantastic San Juan de Dios hospital. We funded her grandfather to accompany her, paying him so that the family would not suffer from loss of income. We spent much time at the hospital and liaised with the doctors on every aspect of her treatment. After three months, she was released to a great village welcome and thanksgiving. Although her dream to finally walk unaided may never be fully realised due to the extent of paralysis caused by the cyst, physiotherapy meant that she was given the best chance possible.

​AMOR has provided treatments for around 2,800 sick and malnourished children and their mothers in Guatemala​.
      
​Education is at the heart of what we do here at AMOR. From building and remodelling schools to improving access roads and supporting education for girls, orphans and other vulnerable children, we strive to ensure that every child has access to a high quality education that allows them to realise their full potential.

​In 2008, Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) Primary School in Sololá, Guatemala had a great problem: the 156 steps that led up to the school and neighbouring village were virtually destroyed. During the rainy season it became a mudslide, leading to many children, teachers and villagers to have accidents. ​AMOR mobilised parents and school staff to come together to rebuild the path, providing the materials.
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​To date, AMOR has, in partnership with communities, built or remodelled over 14 schools, repaired many more access routes including roads, bridges and steps neglected by local authorities, and provided education to more than 1,500 students in the most marginalised areas of Guatemala.

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