Federal Way couple receives non-profit’s highest Award

A Federal Way couple who was among the first to go on a Guatemala mission trip through the Hands for Peacemaking Foundation and have continued their support for the non-profit for 32 years are being honored as this year’s recipient of the organization’s Aller Humanitarian Award.

The award is bestowed each year to recognize individuals who have shown exemplary service to the villagers of Guatemala as well as to their own community at large.

Richard (Dick) and Elinor Shenk made their first trip to Santa Cruz Barillas, a remote city in the western highland’s region of Guatemala, in 1989 to work on two projects: building a pumphouse at the Guatemala Evangelical Ministries’ children’s camp and to repair and paint a medical clinic operated by Hands for Peacemaking.

The Shenks returned in 1992 to do more work on the clinic and help build a school in Barillas. Dick went again in 2005, 2006 and, at age 79, in 2018. Each of those trips were to install wood burning stoves in the Mayan villages that dot the region. The stoves, manufactured locally by Hands for Peacemaking staff, replace open pit fires in the homes, reducing wood consumption and smoke inhalation by the villagers. The Shenks’ mission trips were all coordinated through the church they attend, Marine View Presbyterian in Northeast Tacoma.

Besides his involvement with Hands for Peacemaking, Dick has been an avid volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and the Bikes for Kids program at Marine View. He is also active in the local Harmony Kings performance choral group.

Both Shenks are retired from the Weyerhaeuser Corporation, where Dick worked for 22 years as a mechanical engineer in the company’s energy division before his retirement in 2001 and Elinor for nine years as a computer programmer in the technology group. Elinor, who began her career as a music teacher, also volunteers for the American Association of University Women. The couple, both 82 (they share their birth date) attended the same high school in Harrisburg, Pa. but did not court until later. They moved from Connecticut to Federal Way in 1979 and remain in the same house where they raised their two sons and a daughter. They have five grandchildren.

In making its decision to honor the Shenks with the Aller Award, the Hands for Peacemaking board of directors noted the couple’s longstanding interest and support for the organization.

“The Shenks personify the hundreds who have first joined us in Guatemala on a mission trip over the years and have had their hearts captured by the villagers and the cause to help them,” said Board President Brian Dirks. “We are delighted to bestow this award as a gesture of our thanks for their outstanding service.”

The Aller Humanitarian Award is named for the late Dr. Leeon Aller, a longtime physician in Snohomish, and his wife Virginia. Dr. Aller founded Hands for Peacemaking in response to the extreme medical and social needs he encountered in Guatemala during his 1984 trip to Central America. He and Virginia opened a 10-bed hospital and a K-12 school in Barillas. In addition to his medical practice Dr. Aller was involved in the VFW, the Boy Scouts of America, the Snohomish Rotary Club, and numerous other endeavors. He and Virginia raised two children and numerous foster children.

Over the years the Everett-based Hands for Peacemaking Foundation has sent dozens of teams to the region to build schools and install clean-air cook stoves in the homes of Mayan villagers. The Foundation operates a manufacturing facility in Barillas and a 16-bed mission house there.

Felix. This is a Love Story

The Story of Felix

by Nancy Clay, Dexter United Methodist Church, 2019

It started with Guatemalan boy named Felix, born with a birth defect in January 2016. It’s blossomed into a great big, bubbly, joyous love story that involves hundreds of people in the community of Dexter.

Recent events were so amazing, it’s likely there will be a team of Dexter volunteers going back to Guatemala to assist some of Felix’s people living in difficult conditions.

Here’s how that happened. Felix was born with encephalocele, which occurs when a fetus’ skull
fails to close completely during gestation. This allows brain fluid to leak from the brain, forming a fluid-filled cyst. In Felix’s case, the cyst grew between his eyes, completely covering one eye.

His mother, living in a primitive village outside Santa Cruz Barillas, heard on the radio about a medical clinic that might help him. Yes, he could be helped but not in Guatemala, so a charitable U.S. organization, Healing the Children, made arrangements for him to be treated pro bono at the C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. They also arrange for host families to care for the children during their visits.

“Leigh Hook got a call in the winter of 2017, asking if we would be a host family for Felix,” said Dr. Matt
Hook, senior pastor at Dexter United Methodist Church. He and his wife had hosted several children through Healing the Children in prior years.

“She said ‘yes’ and Felix arrived about midnight on July 24, 2107. His first doctor’s visit was Aug. 2 and his surgery to remove the cyst and repair his skull was Sept. 1 at Mott Hospital,” Hook said.

“After we got Felix home, Leigh had a feeling something wasn’t right, and Felix did have to return to Mott for a second surgery in mid-September. He was very sick, spent time in ICU and was released from Mott on Oct. 2,” Hook added. “Leigh did most of it when Felix was with us. The doctors did the miracles. It wasn’t me. His mom may have taken the most suffering step in letting him go on a plane to a place she could never imagine,” Hook said.

Before and after surgery, the Hooks took Felix to church and the church took to Felix. He toddled all over the place, in church and in Dexter. His family descends from the Mayan people are naturally very short. Though shy at first, Felix warmed up quickly.

One of the funniest stories happened when Leigh discovered 2 months after Felix arrived that he didn’t speak Spanish! Rereading his forms, she saw that his family’s language was Q’anjob’al, which is a dialect of Mayan. All those baby books in Spanish and all of Matt’s preschool Spanish words went out the window. Q’anjob’al is a language with many clicking sounds and “X’s,” so they gave up and taught him English.

Matt Hook is active on Facebook and shared Felix’s Dexter life through photos, in the hospital, recovering, getting stronger, getting new glasses to help his weak eye, dressing up for Halloween, enjoying apple orchard visits, hugging the family dog, loving colder weather and being outside, dressed as a lamb in the church’s Christmas program, enjoying noisy baths, and smiling and laughing all the while.

The Hooks four grown children were all very involved in Felix’s life, as were many members of the Hook extended family. Church friends and volunteers helped with babysitting, meals, hugs and prayers. As he continued to heal and get stronger, it was time for him to go home. Felix flew back to Guatemala on Jan. 16, 2018. He had been in Michigan six months.

The Hooks sent a letter home with Felix, written in English and Spanish, that they’d like to help. They received an email from a Guatemalan doctor who told them that Felix lived in extreme poverty. Then, nothing.

Because of the primitive location of Felix’s village, there was no way to communicate. But after several months, Hook began seeking connections to people who might know about Felix. One social worker in Barillas knew his family and a connection was made. When Matt decided to go find Felix, he enlisted the help of Tom Snyder, who heads up DUMC’s mission’s programs, and has contacts around the globe. Tom found a local pastor named Lester Lutin through their long term missions work in Belize, a neighboring country.

Together, they did find people who knew of Felix and decided it was time to go find him and meet his family. On Jan. 14 Hook and Snyder flew to flew from Detroit to Guatemala City, met up with Lester Lutin, a pastor at Iglesia Neuva Vision (New Vision Church), who was their host and travel guide.

He arranged and accompanied them on a flight to Huehuetenango on a 12-passenger plane, then expertly drove them seven hours over primitive dirt roads to the town of Barillas, which was located near Felix’s family home in La Libertad Village.

Barillas is home to a small hospital, which employed a social worker who knew Felix. Hands for Peacemaking, a non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of villagers in that region, also is there and offered housing to the two Dexter men in its facility that can accommodate up to 16 visitors, often groups from the U.S. who go there to volunteer to help Hands for Peacemaking.

On their third day in Guatemala, Hook and Snyder, visited Felix’s home! They were accompanied by a translator and Juanita Pascual, Felix’s social worker and miracle worker who, through Facebook, was a primary source of information before the trip.

This is from Hook’s Facebook post that day: “It was amazing to drive 35 minutes out of Barillas to a mountainside rainforest Mayan village, to a hut-home of several families in a jungle-like setting. To think God can find a way to reach this little boy and his family in the remotest place I have ever been is fascination and awe-inspiring.

“The hike in, the immensely primitive setting and way of life, the immense gratitude of the whole extended family, their fascination with pasty white visitors, the humble love, the state of their home they opened to us and the social workers, the anticipation of hope and unspoken language all made their indelible marks on me.”

The reunion was joyous and emotional, especially for Felix’s mother, Faustina, who hugged on Hook, in sincere and heartfelt, gratitude a very long time at that first meeting. Felix didn’t recognize Hook or Snyder during that visit. “He was only 2 years old when he left us,” Hook said.

At Felix’s village, the strong sense of community and looking after each other really touched Hook’s heart. “They are so very poor and so very vulnerable, but they are so very, very rich in love, joy and personal connections. When I prayed, everyone prayed out loud with me, even the children. This trip and all the people we me have changed me forever,” he said.

“Hands-for-Peacemaking was a wonderful place for us to stay and is doing great things for the people there,” Hook said. This organization provides critical help for the villagers by building efficient and safe wood stoves, designed with the help of a U.S. cook stove company. They also provide water filters, latrines and build desks and whiteboards for village schools.

Hands for Peacemaking has a strong connection with northwest U.S. Rotary Clubs, which regularly send work teams to Barillas or raises money to help with the charity continue its mission.

During this visit, the men installed one of the stoves in Felix’s home, offering an alternative to open fire stoves which are dangerous for children, consume a lot of wood and create an unsafe indoor smoke environment that can lead to health problems. Dexter United Methodist Church will investigate the possibility of buying more stoves (which cost $225 U.S. to build and install) for La Libertad Village.

During the visit, Hook accompanied Felix, his mother and grandmother to the hospital in Barillas for a checkup (he’s doing well!), took a big birthday cake (something they’ve never had before) and celebrated Felix third birthday with his family, spent time getting to know Felix’s large extended family, and began looking for ways to help them.

They also bought some food supplies and provided foam mattresses since people were sleeping on wood boards.

“I’ve been thinking how one birth defect and one 17-pound little boy could lead to learning so much more of God’s grace than we otherwise would have known. Jesus calls us to bless others…but given what Jesus has done for me, what else would I WANT to do with my life? Offer it to something else? Something less? This is opening up a door in my life that hadn’t been opened all the way yet,” Hook said.

“Felix is the smallest in his family, but he opened the big blessings. The littlest one in his village opened up wide the window for God to bless them and bless us and connect our worlds in such a great way. I would love to go back, and plan to” he said.

Marine View Mission "Mission Complete"

We are finished! The final stove installation – the 128th overall – was completed about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Most of the team celebrated by taking a dip in the nearby river, or at least getting their toes wet. Okay, some of us plunged in the chilly waters and swam, which felt so good after working through the extra hot afternoon. Putting the last stove in feels a little like crossing the finish line of a marathon (I’ve run three). Like training for a marathon, you spend far more time training and preparing than you actually do running the race.

The final stove marked our goal of completing a job that has been many months in the making. It was a process that involved many of you and again we are so thankful for your support. I just wish you could for yourselves see how grateful the villagers are – together we have made a lasting impact on their corner of the world. While we have been amongst them for less than four days, our visit will no doubt be remembered for many years.

Life is hard in the village. We have only helped with a few things but the list is long. Yesterday a village-wide announcement went out that we needed more water. In a heartbeat there was a line of ladies in our school compound, many with infants on their backs, bringing in water jugs of maybe two gallons each to replenish our supply. It was a little humbling, and made me glad I bathed in the river rather than using the shower here.

It is pre-dawn as I type this. Then moon is a sliver in the sky above and wisps of clouds are appearing in day’s first light. Lidiia and Elena are also up early as they must cook our breakfast and pack up.

Another big earthquake struck Guatemala this morning, this time a 6.6, with the epicenter off the coast of El Salvador. We didn’t feel it but it was felt elsewhere in the country.

This morning we will distribute hundreds of the reader glasses we brought, say our final goodbyes to our new friends of Rio Azul and make the long drive back to Barillas.

Marine View Mission "A big welcome in Rio Azul"

An enormous welcome by the villagers of Rio Azul tonight made our journey seem real, and worth all of the time and energy to plan and solicit support for our journey.

A highlight of final three hours of rough roads to get here from the mission house in Barillas was watching Tom throw soccer balls out the window to the gleeful delight of their young recipients.

When we arrived at the village around 5 p.m. we were first greeted by two girls holding a big welcome sign for us. As we stepped off the bus we were swarmed by hundreds of colorfully clad villagers of all ages, offering hands and hugs. It was enough to make at least one of our team become a little teary eyed. That was followed by a series of welcome speeches by the town mayor, the principal and others.

We all introduced ourselves at Willy’s prompting and a couple of us gave short speeches.

Earlier in the day we attended church in Barillas. A few of us rose early to take a walk around down. Barillas is not a sleepy town at all, by 7 a.m. on Sunday the city was full of life, most stores already opened, the marketplace crazy busy with people and streets filled with vehicles.
Tomorrow we will give out the school supplies and start our stove work.

Marine View Mission to Rio Azul

Today we arrived safely at the mission house in Barillas and after a big welcome lunch and received our stove training. It’s late so I won’t post too many words but here are some photos from our day. Tomorrow after church we are off to the village. I am not sure what the cell coverage will be like in Rio Azul but will post if I can.

Creating a Better Stove BDL & HFPF

Burn Design Lab (BDL), located in Vashon, Washington, with a mission to improve the lives and the environment through research, design, and development of outstanding cook stoves and fuels, developed a working partnership with Hands for Peacemaking Foundation (HFPF) in 2016.

BDL and HFPF partnered to redesign and improve the small plancha stove being manufactured at the Aller Skill Center in Barillas, Guatemala. This redesign resulted in improved efficiency, better heating and reduced fuel consumption. The findings from the redesign are going to be implemented in the manufacturing of the mid- and large-size stoves that HFPF builds.

This partnership will help HFPF continue to grow and expand their operations in Guatemala. Today there are over 2.1 million households, located mostly in the poorest and most vulnerable municipalities of the country that use firewood. HFPF, through partnerships with villages and the generosity of North American teams, provides clean, efficient wood cook stoves.

In 2018 four villages benefited from the partnership.

Centinela Chiquito and neighboring San Pedro Centinela are located 27 miles from Barillas. It takes two hours to get to the village of 100 families and around 600 inhabitants. The village of Centinela Chiquito had a request for 100 stoves. The village of San Pedro Centinela requested stoves for their community as well.

This year the Alger/Means Team installed 100 of the BDL-HFPF redesigned stoves in Centinela Chiquito and 15 in the village of San Pedro Centinela. 

Buena Vista is located nine miles from Barillas and it takes 45 minutes to get to the village in 4 X 4 vehicles. There are 50 families and around 325 inhabitants. The neighboring Ojo de Agua has 35 families with around 321 inhabitants.

The Marysville Free Methodist Team installed the BDL-HFPF stoves in both villages this past summer. Buena Vista received 35 stoves and Ojo de Agua received 30.

“It is much faster to start the fire, cook the food, Before there was a chuguro and costed me to cook meals. Before, I was tending the fire for almost the entire day, now the fire chamber is much more efficient. I have my own land, so I can make progress working now that I have time.”

“The stove cooks much faster. In the past there was smoke in the kitchen, but now there is not, It is much better than what I had in the past.”

“I spend a lot less on wood. In the past we spent two bars on wood, now we spend less than half of that. We are saving Q40 a week now.” (Equivalent to a whole days worth of work)

“The Aller stove is much safer for my kids. The protector bars on the side prevent the children from getting burned. It was a lot more dangerous in the past, because coals from the fire would fall on the floor where children ran around. They would also grab the burning wood from inside the fire.”

Kentucky Team Installed High-Efficiency Aler Stoves in Momonlac

Billingsley Family Team Installed High-Efficiency Aler Stoves in Three Villages

Billingsley Family Team Just Finished Installing High-Efficiency Aler Stoves in The Villages of: Nueva Maravilla, Santo Domingo, Nuevo Mayapan

Marine View Presbyterian Church Installed High Efficiency Aler Stoves in the Village of Santo Domingo

Everett-Port Gardner Rotary Installed Life Saving Water Storage Tanks in the Village of El Porvenir

The Everett Port Gardner Rotary teamed with the Barillas Rotary to write a grant for the purpose of replacing the homemade water storage with a permanent water system that will last for years to come. Both Rotary clubs worked with Rotary International to fund the project. Everett Port Gardner Rotary wrote the grant, and Barillas Rotary agreed to manage the funds from Rotary International.

While back in Barillas, the team visited the local hospital where they provided quilts made by the women of Faith Lutheran Church of Everett, WA.

Mauden Family Worked with Children in the Village of Loma Linda to Create a Garden

Team from the Marysville & South Everett-Mukilteo Rotaries Built Two New Schools for the Villages of Nuevo Sija and Sinlac, and Installed Aler Stoves in Esperanza Frontera.

With the Financial Support of the Mt. Vernon Rotary, a team of seasoned veterans and some new comers from the Marysville and South Everett-Mukilteo Rotaries built a two room schoolhouse for the children in the village of Nuevo Sija, and then turned their attention to building another two room school in the village of Sinlac.

They then turned their attention to installing 40 high efficiency Aler stoves in the village of Esperanza Frontera. The stoves were funded by a grant from the Rotary District 5050.

It was quite a feat to accomplish so much in a short amount of time, but the team is made up of members who have been coming to Guatemala and building schools for villages for many years.