Guate Life: Just Coordinating Away

Hola!

My sincerest discuplas for the blog-neglect. This final chapter of my Guate life has been full of activity. I am starting to prepare myself for the good-byes because it is coming on quick. Two weeks left in Xela…not enough time.

All is well at the Guarderia. In these past few weeks we have had number of workshops/classes with the kids and other fun happenings. We are collaborating with another organization called Soluciones Comunitarias/Social Entrepreneur Corps (http://www.socialentrepreneurcorps.com/guatemala.html) to teach a series of classes on personal finance, saving, and smart spending. Their coordinator, James, took into account the fact that these topics could potentially leave the youth yawning so he turned the curriculum into a board game called ¡AHORRA AHORA! (Save Now!) which is a culturally-relevant mix of Monopoly and LIFE… and maybe a little PAYDAY. This group will continue to come to the Guarderia once a week for the rest of the summer to work with the youth. In a country where people are accustomed to spending money right when they get it, even if there is some left over to save, a class of personal finance is a novel idea.

We also have started a five week series on nutrition with the medianos (middle age group). In the first class, we discussed the food pyramid and had a junk food vs health food group activity. I think the kids enjoyed the nutritional peanut butter and banana snack more than the class. Can you blame them? The lack of proper nutrition is a big issue here in Guatemala. Junk food is cheap and widespread. It’s ironic and unfortunate that many people in rural areas grow plots and plots of vegetables to sell at the market, but then buy pork rinds and ice cream and lots of soda in the street. I was pretty shocked the first time I saw a baby drinking Coca Cola out of his baby bottle. We also had a nutrition discussion with the all of the mothers of the kids at the Guarderia just a few weeks ago. Our goal was to show them that it is possible to eat healthy on a tight budget, especially when most of them grow their own vegetables.

Last Friday we had our first ever Father’s Day celebration at the Guarderia. Many of us were holding our breath beforehand because we weren’t sure if any Dad’s were going to show up. Every kid has a different story at the Guarderia, but many include strained father-child relationships. This can be due to alcohol abuse, lack of emotional and financial support, indifference about education, or even a history of interpersonal violence in the home. Also, there are a few kids whose dad’s have passed away or have abandoned the family. Needless to say, you do not see many men hanging out at the Guarderia, except for Gringo volunteers, which serve as important role models for some of the boys. BUT, we had 10 dads/grandpas/uncles come which was beyond our wildest dreams. Ronnie, one of the directors of Pop Wuj, spoke with the dads for a while (it was men only, so I didn’t get to sit in) and then the kids performed a little dance and recited some poems. While we ate, I got to talk to some of the dads and granddads who said they were happy they came and appreciate what the Guarderia does.

In other news, two weekends ago Sean and I went to Lake Atitlan for a serene lake-side retreat. We stayed in Santa Cruz, a tiny pueblo on the water. We ate some incredible meals, met some people from Duke, hopped over to San Marcos to say hey to the hippies, and kayaked on a crisp Sunday morning. Last weekend we paid a visit to Las Fuentes Georginas, in a town just outside of Xela. The ride on the back of a pickup truck was beautiful, the springs were muy caliente, and the rain kept everyone else from crowding our pool; ‘twas perfect.

Thanks for reading,

Adios!

Carrie