Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala is located 2,000 meters above sea level on the Water Volcano. It is an indigenous community that lives in extreme poverty.

Families in Santa Maria have anywhere from 5 to 12 children. Many children do not have the opportunity to study and typically

from a very young age, are put to work in

order to make money for their families.

The majority of the population from Santa Maria de Jesus live in houses made of aluminum and/or sugar cane. The poverty is so extreme that in many homes there are no beds to sleep on and the family has to sleep on the dirt floor.

They prepare and eat their meals over a fire that is made on the dirt floor because there are no stoves and tables to make their food on.

Only time can heal their wounds because families do not have money to go to the doctor and to buy medication.

Because of this extreme poverty and the living conditions of the children of Santa Maria de Jesus,

we have created Jardin de Amor

The dream of Jardin de Amor is to break the chains of poverty and ignorance in the

community by giving children an education.

MISSIONWe are a nonprofit organization without religious or political affiliation. We work with the poor and forgotten families of Santa Maria de Jesus, giving them education with values, bettering their health and living situation while promoting and motivating personal development.

VISIONOur vision is to break the chains of poverty and ignorance through education, decreasing illiterarcy in order to obtain a better quality of life.

Jardin de Amor has been working for the past six years on giving education to 100 kids, 6 years and older.

We also integrate the older kids into our classes as well because although the kids may be significantly older, they are at a very low level of education.

After finishing elementary school, we help find scholarships so that the children can continue to study at a higher level.

Our kids come to school to learn, but the majority haven't had anything to eat before coming to school. Many students eat only one or two meals per day. Lack of proper nutrition negatively affects the ability to learn. Therefore, we have a feeding program at Jardin de Amor that provides children with food during their school day.

Help us make our dream for the children of Jardin de Amora a reality.

Everything the children receive at Jardin de Amor is free. They do not pay anything for their education or food.

Jardin de Amor lives off of donations.

For our children to make their dreams a reality, it is important that you help us to help them.

If you would like to help or make a donation, write us at: jardin.de.amor@hotmail.com.We will provide more infomration.