Greetings from Guatemala and all of us at The Integral Heart Foundation. As you can see, 2011 was a great
year with over a 100% increase in the number of new investors and supporters. So, first of all – THANK YOU!

A picture paints a thousand words

A favorite quote of mine from the renowned sage Ramesh Balskar is: The outside world is not really concerned at all in man's dilemma of suffering. It is all within the fictitious 'me' of personal identity. Realization of this fact is the ultimate Understanding.  I think of this often as we go about our work here in Guatemala. Life is difficult, sometimes for us, oftentimes for those we serve. But, the curious fact is that the tangible thread of luminous potential I feel within myself, my wife, our team and our programs, is that very same thread we seek to empower in our kids!  And, here is a cute story from just this week: Just as we finished our Integral Philosophy class and all the teenagers had left the room, these four little girls came in very determined. They surrounded Debora and I and began complaining about how dare we not have them in our philosophy class. They said they were old enough to be there and not in the kindergarten any more with the babies in the next room, which we also help to support . Now that's potential!

The First Graduates
In October the school year ended and we had 13 students graduate their first year of Integral Education.
This was a bitter-sweet moment for all of us; we had done so much diving into philosophy, meditation, 
Big Mind, and the evolution of human awareness, and we formed such a tight group over the year, it was
sad to see them all go out into the world. See a photo of the group and read more here about the progress.


All I want for Christmas is a...

... a toy and a chicken, a chicken and a toy? Choices, choices, choices. Well, not so here in this truly amazing land of the Maya. What we often take for granted are the simplest things... like a new or slightly used toy (which we can buy in abundance in the local market here) or even your everyday chicken...  So, if you'd like to help with our Christmas Drive for Chickens and Toys click and you'll make someone's holiday a little brighter!

Starting, Standing, Growing
Starting and running a non-profit foundation reminds me much of when I used to start for-profit businesses in
NYC. The first few months are flat out, wearing of many hats, in a not-really-sure-what-you-are-doing way. But,
then the pressure eases a little, and in a swell of support, the mission and vision are seen and held by others.
Because of that, we have just hired our second employee Marisol, in the role of Family Liaison. Thank you! 


The Newest Integral Kids

We teach the Integral Education Program in two locations. The photo to the left is an after-school project called Seed of Hope and Love in San Mateo, Guatemala (we also sponsor their kindergarten).  We have 31 kids in this class every week. We begin the class with the basics, such as: the things I know, the things I know I don't know, and the things I don't know that I don't know; we also teach them to meditate, and then we begin to explore everyone's favorite question of Who Am I. To read more about the effectiveness of our work please click here and see the individual kids who are available for sponsorship.

Toonies for Tots in 2012
Liz Flinn our Sponsor Liaison, as many of you know, is from north of the border. She and I have come up with
a cool way to get your Canadian kids involved with helping their Guatemalan cousins. A Toonie is a 2 dollar
coin in Canada. So, the idea is, print out the page linked at the end of this paragraph, stick it on a jar and
when it's got some Toonies in there, send Liz an email and we'll let you know how change can help change.


Deep Gassho (Bow) to our Sponsors
By Debora Prieto: The Japanese term gassho refers to a ritual gesture formed by placing the hands,
palms together, in the prayer-position, in front of the mouth, the fingertips at a level just below the nose.
The bow / gassho implies recognition of the oneness of all beings.

"When the Integral Foundation was born, Mick and I thought that we just had created a non-profit. 
But, the more I look back the more I realize how naïve we were." Read the rest of Deep Gassho.