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Katie PalsrokMujerave's Young AmbassadorKatie Palsrok is a fourth-grader at Glencairn Elementary School in East Lansing, Michigan. Her favorite subjects are history and math. She also likes to play soccer and read. Katie is excited to be a young ambassador for Mujerave because she wants to help other kids get involved in the organization. Katie is ten years old, the oldest of five children, and one day wants to be a mathematician. Recently, Katie was reading about Guatemala in an article about Rigoberta Menchú, who once said, "when you are convinced your cause is just, you fight for it." That is how Katie feels about Mujerave. You can read Katie's blog entries here.
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Entry 8: November 26, 2016
Proud father Kyle Guerrant helps the kids (from left to right, Katie, Maddox, and Zach) count change from the penny challenge fundraiser.
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We did a fundraiser at my elementary school. It was a penny challenge, which is a fundraiser using coins and dollars. We thought it was an easy way to get kids involved in the fundraiser. What kid doesn't have a few pennies to spare? In a penny challenge, penny's are good and are worth one positive point, and silver coins and dollars are bad and are worth their denomination in negative points, even though they help raise more money for the fundraiser. Students donate pennies to their own class's jar, but silver to other classes jjars to decrease the total points other classroooms have. The winning grade got to name a greenhouse and got a pizza party. The 5th grade won. They named the greenhouse la quinta flor (see photos below). In English it is the fifth flower. After the penny challenge, we took the coins to the coin machine at the bank. It was fun to put the coins in the machine. In total, we raised $890! And, our principal added a personal donation to make the total $1000! That's enough to build a greenhouse, and a stove, and help many families in Guatemala. I'm proud that everyone at my school got involved to help.
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Photographs of greenhouse "la quinta flor", built by the money raised by the penny challenge fundraiser!
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Entry 7: September 15, 2016
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My family belongs to a gym. We like to be healthy, and workout. Most people in Guatemala don't belong to gyms, because they can't afford it and their everyday life is already hard. We asked our gym, ODP Fitness, to host a crossfit competition to raise money for Mujerave. My mom and step dad volunteered at the competition, and the kids (me and my brother) sold Gatorade, water, and homemade protein balls. Altogether, our gym raised $800 for the women and children in Guatemala. We were so amazed, we doubled our expectations! It's been fun to involve our friends from the gym with Mujerave. Here is a picture of Coach Kory giving us a check at the end of the competition.
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Entry 6: July 1, 2016
Katie (at right) selling lemonade and mulligans at Mujerave's golf outing.
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Recently, there was the first annual Mujerave golf outing in Michigan. Instead of golfing, my siblings and I decided to have a lemonade and mulligan stand. We had fun making posters with pictures from our trip to Guatemala to show how Mujerave impacts lives. During the golf outing, it was fun to talk to people about Mujerave. While the golf outing was able to raise approximately $2,000, we were so thrilled that our lemonade stand raised $117.25! A simple thing like a lemonade stand is an easy way for to help the women and children in Guatemala!
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Entry 5: May 3, 2016
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In art class at school, I learned about Guatemalan weaving. I learned that women in Guatemala weave a lot to make their families clothes and to sell items at the market. Here is a picture of my project. I gave it to my uncle Kody as a present. On my trip to Guatemala last month, I learned how to use the backstrap loom. It was really hard and complicated. The women in Guatemala must be very talented to do this every day. On our trip we learned that rural Guatemalan women earn about $10 a month selling their weavings. With a greenhouse, they can make up to $300 a month. This is why Mujerave builds greenhouses for rural Guatemalan women and families. A greenhouse helps them grow more nutritional food to feed their own families and sell more food at the market.
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Entry 4: April 9, 2016; Post-Trip Interview
Produced and edited by Kody Gerkin.
Entry 3: March 30, 2016; Pre-Trip Interview
Produced and edited by Kody Gerkin.
Entry 2: February 3, 2016
I have a friend named JP. He lives in Atlanta and turned 10 years old last week. Instead of asking for presents, JP asked the people coming to his party to donate to Mujerave. What a great way to get kids involved in Mujerave! I hope other people will do the same. Altogether, JP's efforts raised $45.00. That will go towards the six families that will benefit from getting stove's in their homes. I think this is a great idea and will ask other friends to do the same.
Entry 1: December 31, 2015
Katie's "save, spend, and share" piggy bank.
I have a piggy bank. It is pink and is divided into three sections: "save," "spend" and "share." My mom says this piggy bank helps teach me how to organize my money. Each month I get an allowance for helping my family with chores around the house. I divide the allowance up into the three sections. Over the past couple of years, I have saved $23 in the "share" section. I plan to give this money to Mujerave. I found out that a bag of cement costs 45 or 50 quetzales (about $7.00), and each bag of cement makes one stove. My donation will help make three stoves! I hope that makes three Guatemalan families happy!
Here is a picture of my piggy bank, next to a wooden butterfly my mother bought me in Guatemala when I was a baby.
Here is a picture of my piggy bank, next to a wooden butterfly my mother bought me in Guatemala when I was a baby.