Scrabble (Es-crab-lay)

Hola familia y amigos,

I am writing from a new place. An opportunity arose for me to move in with a different host family and I decided to go for it. It is a great change because this family is very warm and welcoming. Getting to know them has been the highlight of the week. Last night we played Scrabble (in Spanish) and Rummikube together. Also the location is better because now it is just a short walk to Pop Wuj….as well as four ice cream shops on my block!

Guarderia

 I spent every day this week at the Guarderia. On Monday, I taught another yoga class to the older kids. I made this class a bit harder with different poses. They are already asking when our next class will be, so I think that’s a good sign. Also, in honor of Earth Day last Friday, I led an environmental chat. We talked about some of the environmental issues in Guatemala such as deforestation and water pollution and some of the ways we can reduce our environmental impact such as “The Three R’s” (Reducir, Reusar, y Reciclar). As a follow up, we did a campus clean up the next day all around the Guarderia separating out the recyclable materials to take to the recycling center in town. Carmen, Amy, and I are working on finding a way to make recycling a long term habit at the Guarderia. The week ended with a puzzle-making frenzy on Friday. Amy discovered long ago that the kids have an affinity for puzzles, or in Spanish rompecabezas (which translates to head-breakers). A couple puzzle donation drives later, the Guarderia is fully-stocked with loads of puzzles ranging from 10 pieces to 500 pieces. The kids can’t get enough of them. I have enjoyed getting to know the kids and the ladies that work at the Guarderia of the past few months. I have gotten to know one of the older girls, Yolanda, especially well. She is studying to be a bilingual secretary and is very mature and driven in her studies. The other day, just for fun, she wanted to learn the names of all of the countries in the world in Spanish and in English. It was a learning experience for both of us!

Other fun happenings this week including a couple yoga classes at the Yoga House downtown, a 3-on-3 soccer game with some Pop Wuj students, and a big “breakfast for dinner” feast at Pop Wuj.

Adios,

Carrie

yes that's a pig. Had to take a picture.

Preparing our feast at Pop Wuj

Some of my favorite people

Safe Stove Project

Me with two grandkids of Dona Juana, Yakira and Coco

Dona Juana and her new stove

Her old stove

the whole family came to see!

PS Here's the link to Voces de Cambio...they are so cool! http://www.vocesdecambio.org/

Semana Santa

Hola a todos!

During the beginning of this week I was still in recovery mode from being sick. Ironically, the medicine made me sicker than the parasites, but by Wednesday I was back to 100%. This week has been Semana Santa (Holy Week), a holiday observed by all Guatemalans. The week was full of religious processions, special food for the occasion like dulce de garbanzo, and lots of family time. Central Park was always filled with people and vendors and when my timing was right, I caught a few processions, complete with musicians, incense, and men in purple robes carrying large wooden statues.

Guarderia

There was no school during Semana Santa, so Amy, the coordinator, decided to make Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday field trip days with the jovenes (13 of the oldest kids) at the Guarderia. On Monday, we headed to COPAVIC, a glass factory in Cantel where they make decorative chalices, margarita glasses, vases, etc. out of recycled glass, which are shipped all over the world. We got to see the glass blowers at work, using hollow metal rods to pull out molten glass from big brick ovens and then blowing it into something as intricate as a wine glass. Tuesday, we collaborated with Voces de Cambio, a local nonprofit that teaches photography classes to adolescent girls as part of their self esteem/women empowerment program. Three young women who had participated in their program taught our group the basics of photography, as well as led some team building activities. Afterwards, we headed to the park to let the kids try out their skills with their new disposable cameras. Next week, we are going to get them developed and have a little exhibition at Pop Wuj. On Wednesday, the kids got to experience yet another first, a trip to Las Piscinas (the pools) in the beautiful agricultural community of Alomolonga. For most of them, it was their first time in water. Fortunately, the pools were shallow and no one had to know how to swim. I attempted to teach them some of the basics of swimming and floating. As an extra treat we took them out for pizza and ice cream as nice way to end the week. Along with everything else, the Guarderia was closed Thurs and Fri.

Stoves
Thursday was an ad-hoc stove building day. We completed the third and final stage of Dona Juana’s new stove. Since I did the initial interview, heard her story and met her family, and helped purchase the supplies, this stove seemed extra special to me.  After a long morning of putting on the finishing touches, she served us big bowls spaghetti as a way of saying thanks. Next week, the volunteers start a completely new stove project with 10 families in another rural community.

Pues, es todo por ahora,

¡Tenga un buen día y Feliz Pascua! (Easter)

Carrie

COPAVIC glass factory

a finished piece

Veronica posing proudly after doing some glass blowing herself

In the park with their photography teachers

At the pools in Almolonga

ice cream in the park

one lonely blurry photo

The videos of the fiesta are not uploadable, so all I have to share is this one blurry picture.

Bob Esponja

Hola,


This week included some of the best and worst moments for me in Guatemala


On Tuesday, I taught a yoga class to the older kids at the Guarderia. They got a kick out of it and for the rest of the week kids would come up to me to show me their arbol (tree pose) or montana (mountain pose). I plan to do another class next week. On Thursday, we had a big Fiesta del Cumpleanos, complete with a Sponge Bob (aka Bob Esponja) piñata, chocolate cake, gifts for the birthday kids, and an Easter Egg hunt. Yes, an Easter Egg hunt. It was a joyous afternoon that will stay with me for a long time.


I also had the regrettable experience of getting royally enferma (sick) after eating questionable leafy greens for lunch at the Guarderia. Three days later the doctor informed me that I have parasites inside me. Wahoo! But the medicine seems to be working and all is well again. First time for everything right?


That’s all for now.


Adios,


Carrie and the ‘sites

(My internet connection is too slow to upload photos today, lo siento...)

Cuales son los germenes?

Hola familia y amigos,

Hope everyone had a good week. Mine was pretty low-key: went out to the Guarderia three days, traveled back to Buena Vista, helped grill hamburgers for Thursday’s big dinner, and went to a lecture on the education system in Guatemala. 

Guarderia

This week I gave two workshops on personal hygiene at the Guarderia, one with the jovenes (ages 12-16) and one with the medianos (ages 8-11). I focused on discussing what germs are and how they can be spread and what good habits of personal hygiene are that can help prevent getting sick/spreading germs. We played “germ tag” with baby powder (it was like Carnaval all over again!) and “hygiene charades” to keep things interesting.  Also, coincidentally, I found tons of hotel-size shampoo and conditioner, soap, hand sanitizer, and toothpaste in the donations closet at Pop Wuj that needed a home, so I gave all 40 kids little hygiene goodie bags (not quite as fun as candy, but still well-received).

Water

On Friday, Carmen, Alejandra, and I returned to the village of Buena Vista to meet with about 20 women who had received water purifiers a few weeks ago. The lack of access to clean water is the biggest obstacle that keeps Guatemalans from drinking an adequate amount of water, but also, most are not in the habit of drinking water. Disconcertingly, soft drinks, sugary fruit drinks, and atol (a hot corn drink) are also referred to as water here. For example, after doing a stove interview the other day, I was offered a glass of water by the mother of the household, which ended up actually being a glass of Pepsi. So, Alejandra and I talked with the women about the benefits of drinking water (the real stuff), what happens to our bodies when we are dehydrated, and how to create the habit of drinking water throughout the day. The community leader, Doña Juana, translated what we said into Mam, their local Mayan language. Even though the women were very welcoming of us Gringas coming into their community with our Western ideas, I think it helped that everything we said went through Doña Juana, someone who is well-respected in their community. She also added some extra commentary that kept cracking the ladies up, which made it a fun, lively atmosphere…even though we had no clue what was so funny! 

Hamburgesas

On Thursday, I helped Jon (a student a Pop Wuj who loves to cook) and others prepare an American meal with a Guatemalan twist: Hamburgers, black bean paste, and lots of guacamole. I always look forward to the cooking (and eating) of Thursday dinners at Pop Wuj. It’s a chance for the students, teachers, and volunteers to get together, eat good food, play ping-pong, and say farewell to departing students.

Education in Guatemala

This week I also attended a lecture on the education system here in Guatemalan. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very positive chat since there a lot of issues with education here (Guatemalan is the most illiterate Latin American country). I learned that in many rural areas, school takes place under a trees or in  little shacks without walls, because there are no school buildings. Also, since there are no supervisors or principals in these areas, there is a lack of accountability for the teachers. Moreover, all teachers in public schools are required to pay for their own teaching supplies and they only get paid around $2,900 a year. Another thing that causes setbacks, is that with every new president (every four years), usually comes a completely new education system with different requirements, curricula, exams, etc. This week, there is no school because all of the teachers are on strike because the President’s wife took 10 quetzales from every teacher’s monthly salary for her political campaign. This is an election year, and even though it is illegal for spouses of current presidents to run, she is going to anyway.

Well that´s all for now. Hope you have a good weekend!

-Carrie

 

                                                    Amy, the youngest at the Guarderia

                                      A terrible picture of a wonderful Super Chivo victory

                                                      A big yellow church near my house

                                                                    Sunset on my roof

                                             Just a taste of the kitchen chaos on Thursday

                                                             Jon, El Cocinero

Super Chivos

Hola a todos,

Espero que esten bien. I just realized I completely missed April Fool’s day. Hope nobody got fooled too badly!

This week I spent some time at the Guarderia, traveled to the village of Buena Vista with the mobile clinic, prepared the curriculum for my first workshop with the kids next week, went on a shopping spree for stove materials, and managed to make it to a Super Chivo soccer game.

Guarderia

I took two groups of volunteers/students out to the Guarderia to hang out with the chillens, play soccer (always a big hit), help with homework, draw, etc. Also, Carmen, the social worker, and I led the monthly Mothers meeting on Friday which included a kids’ clothing sale. Whenever Pop Wuj gets a healthy dose of clothing donations from students and volunteer groups, we take them to communities that have women support groups and have a “venta” (sale). All of the money earned goes towards the womens group. At first, I was confused why we would sell things that are meant to be donated, but then I learned that when things are given out for free here the service/product are often considered to be rubbish. It is very common for NGOs and cooperatives here to charge a “symbolic fee” for the services they provide.  For example, Guatemalans are charged 20Q for a doctor consultation and any medications at Pop Wuj’s clinic. That’s about $2.50. When we distributed water filters a few weeks ago, the families were charged 10Q ($1.30).  The fees do not actually cover the cost but encourages Guatemalans to take ownership in their health and well-being.

Stoves

On Wednesday, Carmen, Caleb (another social work volunteer), and I went out to the vibrant and lush village of Buena Vista. We met with a few different families to see what kind of need there was in this community for safe stoves. Buena Vista has no home addresses or street names and the narrow dirt pathways we took to get to different homes were being taken over by beautiful tropical plants. I met many cows, goats, and turkeys along the way. I am going back a couple more times next week to meet with more families. In addition to the Buena Vista trip, I went around town in a pick-up on to get bricks, cement, clay, etc. for the next couple of stoves. I was grateful to have Carmen there to do the haggling of all the prices. I would have been a helpless gringa being overcharged due to my naiveté.  

Xela fun

This week I started taking little Shakira for walks around Xela. She is a quick learner and already knows how to fetch. I’m impressed. I also took a couple yoga classes and played a rousing game of soccer with some students from Pop Wuj and some Guatemalans. Friday night, I headed to the city’s soccer stadium to support the Xela’s team, the Super Chivos (Super Goats..haha!). We cheered, learned malas palabras (bad words) to yell at the other team, ate questionable street food, kept a safe distance from the diehard fans who were throwing fireworks at each other, and walked away satisfied with yet another win for the Super Chivos.  Hasta la proxima!

Adios,

Carrie

PS If anyone knows of any quick and easy art activities or outdoor games for kids, I am all ears! You can email me at carrieray5@gmail.com.  The art activities would need to require very few supplies. Gracias.

Finger Painting

before things got messy...