Sunday Snapshot: Mini-Camp & Despedida!

This week we had Mini-Camp in Central! We taught the kids about science, danced,  and made crafts!

Girls crafting away making popsicle stick boxes.

Doing "The Wobble" at the end of the week!

The summer interns, Dana, and Lorena, also said their goodbyes to the community. It is certainly bittersweet as they said goodbye, but the new PD's are all very excited to carry on their great work!

The kids loved the "despedida" piñata at the Cooperativa goodbye party. 

Sunday Snapshot: Bottle School Day!

This past Wednesday we hosted an "Environmental/Health Day" in Chaquijyá Central! We started off with a workshop about the importance of hand-washing, had a bottle stuffing competition, played some fun games, and ended the day making an example of a real bottle school wall! All in all, it was a great day!

MPI Volunteers giving our healthy hands lecture

Passing around a glitter pen to show how germs are spread! Look at all the glitter!

Washing off the glitter and germs before a snack!

Stuff! Stuff! Stuff! Bottle competition!

And finally, our bottle wall example! The kids loved it!

Hide and Seek

"Let’s play hide and seek! Let’s play hide and seek!" A chorus of little girls voices rang through the Cooperativa school grounds. Six little girls grabbed onto me and Christina, another summer intern, holding our hands and pulling us to our feet. After ten minutes of girl talk and hand games with these adorable nine year olds, they were ready to play.

A wonderfully joyful little girl named Brenda continued to hug me and talk to us about our American lives back home. Then they taught us some words in Kaqchikel—how to count from one to nine—and after laughing at our attempts at their indigenous language, we all got up to play the universal game of hide and seek. But, here in Guate, one person counts while everyone runs and hides together, much more my style than hiding by one’s self. I have loved being silly and laughing with these girls while running from the seeker. They have so much fun playing these fun, silly, easy games. Their joy for life is so wonderful and makes me think twice about my own and what is important to me. It is amazing to see these kids who are so happy and lively despite their circumstances. They are resilient and strong. We then played an exciting game of pato, pato, ganzo (duck, duck, goose), and a Guatemalan game where the group circles around someone in the middle, who is eventually ready to eat and essentially chases everyone around. I am excited to report that I can actually understand and talk with these kids now. I am really happy that my Spanish has been improving. I can communicate and learn from my students, which I am doing. A lot. They have not only taught me their language, but about laughter and courage.

It’s moments like playing with these kids for an hour in recreo that I will remember and cherish. These cute girls, dressed in traje and smiles, were so eager and happy to play games with us. After being here for almost six weeks, these kids now recognized us, and more importantly, we recognize them. Their faces mean something. We know their names and care about their lives and their wellbeing. I’ll be sad to leave them in ten short days, but I know they will always hold a special place in my heart and will have changed who I am for the better.

--Andrea

Sunday Snapshot

This is real life, folks. MPI Guatemala is in its THIRD YEAR as of today. That's right 2 years have come and gone and I frankly cannot believe it. Even more fitting, today is Lori Scharffenberg's birthday, MPI's Executive Director, and the person that's made those three years possible. Happy birthday, Lori, we all send you big hugs from Guatemala! Thank you for all you've done for us! And now without further ado, I transition our blog into year THREE. (I can't not write that in bold). Stay tuned for the new PD introductions coming next week!

Cinnamon roll in front of La Merced right before picking up the newbies. We love each other.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LORI!!

Someone Pinch me, Please!

Since my last blog we have seen and done so much! Now that we have all been assigned to teach certain classes, and have been traveling and becoming comfortable with our housemates, time seems to be flying by! I have been assigned to the 7^th and 8^th grade classes along with fellow volunteer Christina.  Our 7^th grade class is very large with 44 students, and for the first few weeks they were a bit challenging. But now, Christina and I, or “The Dynamic Duo” seem to have a system down that works.

Our 8^th grade class is quite a bit smaller with a total of 11 kids, this makes one-on-one teaching easier, and makes for a teaching environment that is a little more personal.  It is an incredible feeling to be able to teach all of these kids, and to walk away knowing that not only have you changed their lives, but they have more importantly, changed your own. When you see kids improve in class, and see their eyes light up when they know the correct answer--that's what this program is all about.

Travel has been a big part of my time here, we have made trips to nearby town such as Xela, Pana, and others. A big trip for me was when we went to Tikal, which was probably one of the best trips that I have ever been on. We saw beautiful Mayan ruins, hiked in the park, and had an absolute blast! We were able to watch the sunset and sunrise on top of the tallest temple and it was great to experience the animal kingdom prepare for sleep at sunset, then experience the awakening of the jungle at sunrise! Just this past weekend we traveled to San Pedro, where we stayed the night, ate delicious food and went to a small carnival where we rode a ferris wheel that was a little sketchy but fortunately, we all live to tell the tale! On Saturday we went kayaking, which was a big deal for me because I am terrified of water! But thanks to Dana and her support, not to mention her beautiful singing, I was able to face a fear and do something that I never thought I could.  It was a very powerful feeling to know that I could, it was so great!

This weekend we are going to travel to Antigua, where we will meet the new PDs that will be here for the next 13 months- so excited! After the PDs arrive on Saturday, all of us will be helping to train them and show them the ropes. Then we leave it in their hands to continue our programs. Another up-and-coming activity is mini-camp! We're going to have various activities perhaps including dance, sports, crafts, and English classes! What fun! I am really excited for this! It seems that my time here is rapidly coming to a close and I cannot believe that we only have two and a half weeks left! Someone pinch me!

I plan on soaking up every last bit of awesomeness that these last two and a half weeks have to offer, and enjoying every last second!

-Kylie Mosley

“We all die, the goal is not to live forever but to create or do something that will.” - Chuck Palahniuk

Sunday Snapshot

Epic weekend of lakeside activities! MPIG goes kayaking and zip-lining! Turbo fun!

Guatemala does Amurica

Like any self respecting Southerner, the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. Yup. I went there. Not the traditional fan favorites of Thanksgiving with the mountains of casseroles, or Christmas with its secret santa exchanges but the Heartland’s birthday. That being said, you can understand why I was more than a tad crestfallen upon the realization that I would not in fact be in the Land of the Free for the holiday.

Luckily, nearby Panajachel is home of the infamous Palapa, an ex-pat hot spot, who was hosting a Fourth of July cookout/pot luck! With spirits rejuvinated, I quickly occupied myself with constructing the perfect patriotic get-up with the limited resources at my disposal. Additionally, and nearly equally as important, was my contribution to the pot luck. After a cursory perusal of Pintrest, I stumbled upon what seemed the only doable option considering there isn’t exactly a Sololá Whole Foods. Andrea, a fellow Manna vol, and I agreed upon these adorable strawberries you dip in white chocolate and then blue sugar, creating a nice layering effect while incorporating the three colors of the day into a healthy(ish) dessert! While I soon realized that white chocolate was out of the question, we managed to throw together some blue sugar and white icing dipped strawberries which, while not exactly pin-worthy, were still delicious.

Well, the big day arrived and I blasted my “Cuatro de Julio” country playlist throughout the Manna manor. We readied ourselves (3 out of 5 wearing red, white, and blue plaid) for an Independence Day extravaganza at a local high school where we were to serve as the token Americans and thus guests of honor. Seated front and center, the children delighted us in their “English Day's” (the apostrophe is not a typo) shows depicting their thoughts on America. These lovely vingettes tackled controversial issues such as racism, abortion, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, cheating, bullying, etc. All clearly communicating their positive opinions of their friends to the North. All in all, despite (or perhaps due to) the unsettling content, it was positively hilarious.

Super spirited!

As far as the party outfit quandary, anyone who knows me knows that at twenty years of age I still shamelessly sport bows on the daily. So, with bows on the mind I stopped in an amazing ribbon shop and purchased 9 yards of bright red, navy blue, and shimmery silver ribbons only for 12Q (about $1.50). Anyways, after a group nail painting sesh, bow making, and primping, we were decked out and ready to take Pana by storm. After an initially awkward arrival (no one else dressed up), the night took off with many a sing along to “American Pie” and the like. While I was quite nostalgic for my classic Fourth of July festivities, the night was fantastic and singin’ the classics with other gringos felt, for a moment, like I was right back home in the US of A.

God Bless Los Estados Unidos,

Christina

Sunday Snapshot

Interns and PDs went to Tikal National Park this weekend! Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. A necessary addition to any bucket list!

Temple 6 is overwhelmingly impressive...

Too bad we couldn't climb it!

But, they said nothing about 'no jumping!'