Buenos dias everyone!

We’re confident that with the weather turning cooler and kids (and parents) doing more reading that our sales will increase going into the fall. In fact, we’ve already sold four books this month on Amazon (three Kindle, one paperback), so we’re already over 50% of last month’s sales.

Work continues on Joey the Bunny Gives Back and on Spanish and Dutch versions of Joey the Bunny Gets Lost. Publication of Joey the Bunny Gives Back has been moving slowly––due to vacations and the rigors of family life––but we’re sure it will go on sale in time for the holiday season.

Yesterday our local National Public Radio affiliate, KIOS, did a wonderful segment on Joey the Bunny Gets Lost and on Jardin de Amor. Joey and the kids are stars! Listen to the segment here; KIOS also wrote a nice a piece on their website here. We’d like to thank Katie Knapp-Schubert, KIOS news director, for her time and effort in giving our project some much-needed attention! ¡Muchas gracias! Katie!

Here’s a pilot sketch of Joey selling carrots to help build a school for bunnies for our next book, Joey the Bunny Gives Back. Scheduled to be released on May 30 in paperback, the book tells the story of what happens when little Joey the Bunny finds out that there are other bunnies who’d like to go to school, but can’t because they have no school to go to.

Bookmark this page and watch for other previews! ¡Muchas gracias!

In all, I sold five books that night earning Project Harmony $8 and our charity in Guatemala $40. Most importantly, I had the chance to talk to some wonderful people about the need to help educate that Guatemala’s children and how Julio’s Jardin de Amor is accomplishing miracles in the tiny village of Santa Maria de Jesus. It was a delightful evening. Muchas gracias, everyone!

It was the quintessential eye-opening experience to see this firsthand during my trip to Guatemala last week, where I had the extraordinary opportunity to visit the small pueblo of Santa Maria de Jesus, perched on a hilltop about 10 kilometers outside of Antigua. The village is much like its neighbors, but with one compelling drawback: It has only one school which, despite being hugely successful, is bursting at the seams.

Jardin de Amor in Santa Maria de Jesus welcomes passersby with artwork done by its children.

Jardin de Amor (Garden of Love) is an education project that enrolls more than 100 children ranging in age from six to sixteen. Two classes are held each day, taught by local mothers or by other volunteers, some from as far away as England and Norway. In addition to being taught math, writing, and science, the children are fed and given the chance to engage in the kind of play that is virtually impossible given the work they must do when not in school (such as working around the house, working in the fields, or watching younger siblings while their parents work).

A parent teacher and a volunteer from England give a math lesson to a younger class.

The project was started only four years ago by a young Guatemalan man, Julio Cesar Garcia Reyes, who saw the need for a free school for the children of Santa Maria de Jesus. While their education is free, parents must provide basic school supplies and commit to volunteering at the school. While Julio has done an extraordinary job of educating these precious children and managing the project, his Garden of Love can’t accommodate any other students. “I have to turn away families because I have no more room here,” he said through our translator during our visit. “My ultimate goal is to raise enough money to buy some new land and to build a bigger school,” he said.

Julio, the young founder of the school, explains how the project operates to our group.

I can’t tell you how impressed I was with what Julio has managed to accomplish in only four years with very limited space and equally limited resources, with the dedication of the volunteers, and with the facilities themselves. That’s why I’m thrilled to report that Big Bunny Workshop will now donate 100 percent of its profits to help Julio operate Jardin de Amor, to help him fund a new school, and to help him improve the lives of the children of Santa Maria de Jesus.

Another younger class enjoys a play period.

Next week at this time I’ll be in Guatemala spending time with the organization I donate my profits to, Constru Casa. I’ll be working on building a home or two and learning more about how Big Bunny Workshop can help with educating children there. Most of my time will be spent in rural areas outside Guatemala City. Kids down there are at a distinct disadvantage: Because many are cared for by older siblings while their parents work, and because their parents themselves may be illiterate, about 30 percent of children drop out after the first grade. So something clearly needs to be done to help stop the self-perpetuating cycle of inadequate education. I’m going down there to find out how exactly Big Bunny Workshop can help! I’ll give you a full report when I return!

––Jeffrey Maciejewski