AuthorGlennys Sabuco Archives
June 2025
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Teachers' Day7/6/2017 Feliz Dia del Maestros a los maestros increibles de los ninos con discapacidades en las escuelas San Manuelito y PRITE San Ramon en San Ramon, Peru y Senor de los Milagros y PRITE Huancayo en Huancayo, Peru. Happy Teacher's Day to the incredible teachers of children with disabilities in the schools San Manuelito and PRITE San Ramon in San Ramon, Peru; and Senor de los Milagros and PRITE Huancayo in Huancayo, Peru.
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Condolences7/6/2017 Amigos de San Manuelito envía nuestra más profunda condolencia a Catherine Paola Krammer Dávila por la muerte de su amado padre. Catherine es directora de la escuela San Manuelito para niños con discapacidades en San Ramón, Perú y es nuestra buena amiga.
Amigos de San Manuelito sends our deepest sympathy to Catherine Paola Krammer Davila on the death of her beloved father. Catherine is director of the San Manuelito School in San Ramon, Peru, and is our good friend.
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Board Member Spotlight6/27/2017 ![]() WELCOME, CLAUDIA! From serving in a food pantry on Saturday mornings to helping in a health clinic in the Dominican Republic, Claudia Bauleth’s compassion for others is evident wherever she goes. She’s the newest member of the Amigos de San Manuelito team and is financial secretary of our organization. Claudia was born in Lisbon, Portugal. She lived in Angola and Brazil prior to moving to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1982. She graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and has worked for a water utility for over 26 years. Claudia enjoys scuba diving, water skiing, camping, and hiking. She loves animals. Claudia volunteers regularly at the Granger Community Christian Church food pantry in West Valley City, Utah. In January 2017, she traveled to the Dominican Republic with Building Bridges of Hope, an organization serving communities in the Dominican Republic. She interacted with children in an orphanage, helped with a health clinic in a mountain area, visited a home for the elderly, and helped at an elementary school. Claudia is grateful to be an Amigo. She says that she truly enjoys helping others and feels honored to be part of the board of Amigos de San Manuelito. BIENVENIDA, CLAUDIA!
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They're walking5/21/2017 ![]()
Nearly a year ago, two little three-year-old girls in Peru received leg braces. Today they are walking.
They’re students at the San Manuelito School for children with severe disabilities in San Ramon, Peru, the first school we assisted and the namesake of our organization, Amigos de San Manuelito. Their braces were donated by students and parents of Kauri Sue Hamilton School for children with severe disabilities in Riverton, Utah. The students at Kauri Sue have outgrown them and their parents generously gave them to us to take to Peru. So thanks to the efforts of parents, teachers, and therapists on two continents, both girls are walking. Congratulations, little girls. Felicitaciones, ninas. This is why we go. Por eso vamos.
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Happy Mother's Day5/15/2017 ![]() I’m writing today in honor of mothers of children with special needs. I’ve had the blessing of getting to know many of you as your child’s teacher. I can never say I’ve walked in your shoes. But I can say how grateful I am that you’ve allowed me to walk with you a short distance along the path. I can thank you for sharing your child with me. Happy Mother’s Day to you. Your path is steeper, more rocky, than most. Progress may be measured in baby steps. It’s not the path you generally chose in the beginning, but it is the path you follow. You and your child have taught me so much. You’ve taught me patience, joy in expression of single words, in walking a single step; peace when one day, or one hour, is quiet and calm. You’ve taught me that every child has strengths, that every child is capable of learning and growing. You’ve taught me that a child who may not be able to speak, or read and write, or sit calmly in a chair, may be capable of love to a depth that those of us on a more traditional path can only imagine. I have a beautiful granddaughter with Down Syndrome. She speaks very little but her smile is as bright as a rainbow and her laughter is a birdsong in a summer breeze. I'm honored to walk a little ways alongside her mother. Many of the mothers we meet in Peru are single parents, often struggling with severe poverty. They may wash clothes by hand for a living or sit on the street all day selling bread that they baked before the rest of us even awakened. They carry small children on their backs, wrapped in fabric as bright as the Andes sunrise. Their path is rocky and steep. Happy Mother’s Day to you, mis amigas. Feliz Dia de las Madres. Quiero decir Feliz Dia de las Madres a toda las madres de ninos con discapacidades en las escuelas San Manuelito, Senor de los Milagros, PRITE San Ramon, y PRITE Huancayo. Feliz dia y que Dios las bendiga.
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Record Flooding3/29/2017 It’s Still Raining in Peru
Fortunately, our family is safe, as are the schools where we volunteer. But much of Peru has recently experienced record flooding and mudslides. More than ninety people have been killed and tens of thousands have been injured or left homeless. Hundreds of miles of roads have been destroyed and numerous buildings have collapsed. And it’s still raining. Heavy rain is projected to continue into April. The devastating rains have been caused by El Nino, with unusual warming of surface waters of the Pacific Ocean. Areas of greatest concern are shelter, water, sanitation, food security, healthcare, mosquito control, and water-borne disease. People have asked us how they can help. We're suggesting donations to the Peruvian Red Cross at www.ifrc.org. Muchas gracias, Amigos.
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Shoes3/1/2017 ![]() One of our most joyful experiences in Peru is going to the shoe store. We buy new shoes for children who have just received leg braces, donated by students at the Kauri Sue Hamilton School for children with severe disabilities in Riverton, Utah. These students have outgrown their braces and they and their parents generously give them to us. This time we took three children, two three-year-old girls and a seven-year-old boy. All of their mothers went with us, as well as Catherine Paola Krammer Davila, director of San Manuelito School in San Ramon. It’s a walk of several blocks. Last year, we carried some of the children because the baby strollers we gave the school several years ago had worn out. So, with the girls in brand new strollers and the boy in a wheelchair, we were on our way. One little girl made the whole shoe store smile. As I held her arms, she moved her legs and tried to walk. Her whole body danced in excitement and I think perhaps she had a glimpse of the freedom awaiting her when she learns to walk. I’m betting that the next time we go, she’ll be walking.
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It Takes a Village2/20/2017 ![]() It Takes a Village to Help a School When we go to Peru, we are constantly surrounded by members of Francisco’s family; his siblings, his cousins, his nephews and nieces, their children. We could do nothing for the schools in Peru without them. They meet us at the airport with flowers and balloons; drive us and our eight pieces of luggage to sister Maria’s homes in Lima and San Ramon, sister Julia’s home in Huancayo; take us shopping in crowded Lima, where pedestrians do not have the right-of-way, to purchase supplies for the schools; help us organize materials for each school; drive us on winding roads across the Andes mountains to Huancayo and San Ramon, or sometimes ride with us on a bus; walk to the street market each morning to purchase fresh bread, pan del dia, and anything else we might need for the day; cook amazing Peruvian cuisine (papa a la huancaina is my favorite); wash our clothes by hand in a back porch sink and hang them on a clothesline; go with us to the schools, share with us, laugh with us, advise us. Francisco’s family has truly become my family as well, my siblings, my cousins, my nephews and nieces, my children, my grandchildren. I am grateful beyond words for their presence in my life and today, and every day, I want to thank them. No podemos hacer nada en Peru sin la familia de Francisco. Ustedes son en verdad mi familia tambien. Los queremos mucho. Muchas gracias, familia Sabuco, y bendiciones a todo.
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The Art of Helping2/14/2017 ![]() We’re excited and humbled by the generosity of our good friend, Raynola Dominguez. Raynola is a gifted artist who has recently established an artist collective called El Alcanze, which means “The Reach.” The purpose of the group is to “give, reaching out to those in need, through their creative work.” Their first project is an art auction on Facebook which will benefit our nonprofit organization, Amigos de San Manuelito. We serve children with disabilities in Peru, through their schools, families, and communities. We currently work with two schools for children with severe disabilities, one in San Ramon, at the entrance to the central jungle, and the other in Huancayo, high in the Andes mountains, as well as infant-toddler early intervention programs at each location. We’ve made annual trips to Peru since 2010 and have provided educational materials, teacher training, wheelchairs, communication materials for children who can’t talk, leg braces for children who can’t walk, shoes, toothbrushes, computers, books, and many other items. We’ve even had the joy of helping to furnish a playground for the children at one of the schools and of seeing their smiles and laughter as they play in it. We’ve become close friends with amazing educators and have received much more from them than we could ever give. You can see Raynola’s artwork at https://www.facebook.com/Raynola-Dominguez-Artist-76292133…/. I’ve chosen to show you her sunflower picture because I like the thought of the sunflower reaching for the sun. I believe that as we, like the sunflower, like the El Alcanze artists, reach beyond ourselves, beyond our small corners of the universe, we encounter truth and beauty and joy that we would otherwise not know. Muchas gracias, Amigos.
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A Wall That Welcomes1/29/2017 ![]() The PRITE (Programa de Intervencion Temprana) early intervention program in San Ramon, Peru is a welcoming place for babies and toddlers and their parents. It’s a place of smiles and laughter, of encouragement and support, as teachers provide therapy to their youngest students. These children have disabilities such as Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, vision and hearing impairment, and generalized developmental delay. Prior to leaving on each trip, we talk with the directors of the programs about their priorities, their dreams. We listen and, to the extent that we’re able, we help with their wishes. When we spoke with Edith Gladys Calderon, director of PRITE San Ramon, she told us they needed a wall. The program, which just opened its doors in 2015, was growing and a second teacher had been hired. Two teachers were sharing a small classroom. With babies, toddlers, parents, teachers, and therapists all in one room, the children were easily distracted. Edith wanted to know if we could build a wall to divide the classroom, giving each teacher her own space. We hired a contractor when we were there in July and, after we left, the wall was built. Here are some pictures of the process and of the amazing ladies serving in this program. They have become our friends, some for several years now, and have welcomed us just as they welcome the children and parents. Thank you, our dear friends, muchas gracias, queridas amigas. |