Guate Life: Seguro Canguro?

Hola a todos,

Gosh the last two weeks have been unbelievable. There is too much to share so I think I will just stick with the highlights. If you're not into reading, skip ahead to the pics.

Student , no more

Last week was my last week of class. I was sad to see it come to an end but I believe Luis, my teacher, and I will continue meeting up to have chats half in English/half in Spanish because he would like to get better with his bilingual abilities as well.

Guarderia

Now that I am no longer studying, I will transition into becoming a full time co-coordinator with Amy at the Guarderia (that´s what we call the daycare/afterschool care/family center). The Guarderia is made up of about 40 kids with ages ranging from 1 to 17. All of the kids receive scholarships to go to school through donations given to Pop Wuj. These kids come from very poor families in the surrounding rural area where the Guarderia is located. Most of the kids’ moms work all day to support their families and are still unable to afford the low cost of school for their kids. The dad´s have either passed away or abandoned their families for a better life in the states. In addition to helping with the day to day operations of the Guarderia, I will be working with the youth development program called Jovenes Juntos which focuses on equipping adolescents with the resources they need for positive social, emotional, and physical development. Amy has been organizing field trips, guest speakers, and special events for years, but is spread a little too thin as one person trying to do it all…and that’s where I come in. I just got approval to lead an enrichment workshop series for the older kids at the Guarderia. The curriculum of some of the workshops will be modified so that the younger kids can participate as well. Some of the topics include: personal hygiene/self care, nutrition, sexual education, self-esteem/self image, leadership, gender stereotypes, etc. I would love to lead an art lesson or two if there is time.

Also, after all of the positive feedback from Laura’s (a Spanish student who just left) yoga class with the older kids yesterday, I hope to continue what she has started. Kid yoga looks a bit different from what is normally considered yoga. It focuses on simple breathing exercises, stretching, and playing games like “Yogi says” (like simon says but with yoga positions).

Stoves

Yesterday I went with the social worker to the home of a future safe stove recipient. The woman that I interviewed was a widow with 6 kids, but 6 more have passed away due to illness. After a long chat and tour of her current stove/kitchen setup (open flame in the house), we made arrangements to start gathering materials and building next week. There were a lot of volunteers this week with stove construction, so we completed three phases of different stoves. I am going to take a step back from the stove project and spend more time at the guarderia for the remainder of my time here. I will help interview/orient families with the stove project and build/lead construction days when help is needed, but I do not think construction is quite my skill set. Also there are two other volunteers interested in taking charge.

Water purifiers

This past Monday I had the privilege of going to a rural village called La Victoria with a couple Tufts University students, Carmen, and representatives from a Guatemalan business called Eco-Filtros to distribute water purifiers to about 30 families. The two students had fundraised to buy filters and came to distribute them during their spring break. They are coming back for the summer to volunteer with Pop Wuj so it was “nos vemos” instead an ”adios” for us. It was full days of listening to the representatives give a tutorial on how to install and maintain the purifiers (with a translator translating from Spanish to their indigenous language), surveying the families to inquire about current water access/use, eating questionable food that I culturally couldn’t refuse, and playing tag with some of the kids. I really enjoyed getting to travel to this little village, getting to sit together with about 30 indigenous women, and getting to be a part of this much needed project.

Xela life

Life in Xela is buenisima. I have started taking Hatha Yoga classes a couple of nights a week at a Yoga studio downtown for the low price of $2 a session. Also, this past Wednesday I joined the ragamuffin Pop Wuj soccer team for a duel against a Guatemalan team.

Life with the host family has been wonderful. My host mom’s cooking has been incredible lately with homemade dishes every day like lasagna and strawberry cheesecake. And the highlight of the week is the new addition to the family…they got a puppy! Her name is Shakira and she is part German shepherd and part who knows. She looks a lot like Sheila, Sean’s pup and they are about the same age. I am a little concerned that she may not get enough attention and care that she needs because the majority of the family is indifferent about getting her. Like most other dogs that are pets here, she is destined to live a life as a roof dog spending her days atop our house never to come inside or get a proper walk. But in the context of Guatemala, she is going to live a life of luxury, since most dogs are strays.

Lake Atitlan

Last weekend I went with four other Pop Wuj students to Lake Atitlan, which is a massive lake surrounded by volcanoes a couple hours east of Xela. While we were there, we hopped around the various lake-side towns via motorboat, ate some delicious food, took a yoga class by the lake, and soaked up the beautiful sites. We discovered early on that there is a large hippie presence at the lake with tons of dreadlocked, barefooted hippies who have made towns like San Marcos and San Pedro their new home. There were flyers for “mystical yoga farms” and “lunar meditation retreats” and “cacao ceremonies” at every turn. While the lake was beautiful, it didn’t feel like Guatemala. By the end of the weekend, we started to get a little drained by all of the vendors trying to sell of scarves and excursions around the lake.

Well I think this has been the longest post yet. Congrats for making it this far! Here are some photos to make up for all of the words.

-adios

Carrie