San Marcos, Bottle School, & Broken Ankles

Hey so this is my first blog post.  We are here at the Manna house in Solola, Guatemala.  So far I have been having the time of my life.  From going to Carlos’ house for lunch and talking to him about a great number of things in Spanish, to working with the 4 and 6 year old kids in the “Parvs” class and teaching them about the gusanitos who get you sick, every part of this trip is going to impact my life.  Just recently, we got back from San Marcos, after staying in a Hostel and enjoying the bugs near and on our beds.  The park where we kayaked and swam was amazing though and we got to jump off of the “trampoline” into Lake Atitlan.  The jump was close to 7 meters high and I remember thinking right after I jumped: “why haven’t I hit the water yet! Oh my gosh this is higher than I thought”.  It was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad that I got the chance to do it.  

Jumping off the "Trampoline" in San Marcos, La Laguna

While kayaking, I was the only one to tip my kayak and have to get back in out in the middle of the lake.  I guess I deserved it however because I was splashing my fellow kayakers.  The whole weekend trip was so great and the food was awesome as well. 

Since we got back, we went to the bottle school/fathers’ day ceremony at Central in Chaq.  That was an interesting experience and even though we were there for close to 5 hours, the lunch we got was great, with tamalitos and soup which got all over my pants.  The whole ceremony was sweet and Jess got to say quite a few words about Manna and what it is that we do here and hope to accomplish.  Everett got stung in the lip by a bee, but what surprised me was how a random man offered honey candy to sooth the pain, and everyone was very helpful in the whole situation.  This was nothing compared to Ja when she broke her ankle and how random people stopped their cars and offered to help too, but it was still similar.  This is one thing that I appreciate so much about this place, how much kindness there is and how people truly care about others.  It is nothing like that back in the states and this experience will stick with me forever.  I love every second, and thank Manna so much for this experience. 

-Alex

Spring Break!

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that blog updates on this particular page may decrease this month... but don't you worry. We've got four awesome groups coming from universities in the States to spend a week with us in Chaquijyá:

Vanderbilt - March 2-9
UGA & UNC - March 10-17
UAB - March 17-24

The great thing is, you're going to hear about their experiences straight from them! If you notice at the top of the blog, there are tabs with each university's name on it. We will have a couple of them post almost every day of their stay here, so be sure to check back daily for updates on their projects, culture shock, and exciting adventures.

To give you a brief introduction to what's going down this month:

Vanderbilt will be helping us re-launch a community garden in Cooperativa, working alongside a local organization named CEIBA. They will spend two days in the garden and two days giving nutrition charlas in each of our primary schools.

UGA and UNC will be doing Bottle School related work. Unfortunately, since the bottle school is yet unfinished, they will no longer be painting the new addition as planned. Instead, Esteban is putting them to work on painting other classrooms of the school. Each of the groups will spend two days painting. On the other two days, they will be doing recycled art projects with the kids! We will be making toothbrush/toothpaste holders out of recycled plastic bottles...

Which leads us to UAB! UAB will be providing students with fluoride, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Along with providing these materials, they will also be leading dental workshops.  However, we will be doing this in FOUR of the neighborhoods of Chaquijyá! We are super excited to be expanding our reach to Yaxon and Xibalby for this project. We just met with the director of Yaxon Primaria today (his name is Juan), and he was extremely nice and well-organized. I'm glad that we will able to work with him and his students.

As you can see, we are putting these college kids to work! I'm so excited for all of the projects we are doing with each of these groups. It's even more encouraging to see how they all somewhat relate to each other. Recently, Jess posted about Escuelas Saludables, which is a certification we are trying to help Cooperativa and Central Primarias to achieve. All of these projects ultimately help us in attaining this certification at both schools. As Jess mentioned, the community garden will help students (and the community) learn more about leading a nutritious lifestyle. The recycled art programs (albeit, temporarily) aid with trash disposal. Furthermore, the toothbrush holders will be perfect for the toothbrushes and toothpaste the students receive the following week... which is also a requirement for Escuelas Saludables. Each student must have these items at school and use them each day after snack.

Not only do our college Spring Breakers have the opportunity to volunteer their time on cool short-term projects, but all of them contribute to one of the larger programmatic goals of our organization: the Escuelas Saludables certification. I'd like to say that Ja & I planned it this way on purpose... but I think sometimes things just happen work out for the best. :)

So, here's to Spring Break! We thank you in advance for all the help you're giving us, and we look forward to making some great memories together. See you soon!

-Nicole

Bottle School Update & PD interview!

When I walked into Central a couple of days ago, I was stunned by the amount of progress with the bottle school! Most notably, it had a roof over the 4 new classrooms! All it needs now are doors, windows, and electricity. Also a fresh coat of paint, which 2 of our Spring Break groups will help us with in March! Along with painting the school, they will lead art projects with recycled materials with the Primaria Central students. We hope to reinforce various environmentally-related projects in the future, using the bottle school as a key example. Soon, the students in Primaria will be able to utilize this new space. It's such an inspiring thought to envision them filling these classrooms and having the opportunity to focus on learning without worrying about space. 

Almost finished!

From a side angle of the 2nd story

Also, we're going to start doing a PD video interview every other month here in Guate. Each interview will highlight a Program Director, who will then be asked various questions sent in from family, friends, co-workers, etc! For this month, it's Nicole Altamura! She graduated from Vanderbilt with a major in Human & Organizational Development, and her involvement in programs include Basico English, Women's Cooperative Development, and the Healthy Schools Initiative. Not to mention, she's our social media guru. Please send in possible questions to ask Nicole at ja.lee@mannaproject.org by February 21st - anything from her experience here in Guatemala so far to fun, silly ones ! :)

Nicole with Christian, who attends Primary School in Central

-Ja

Sunday Snapshot: More Bottle School Photos!

Thanks to the lovely Jessica, you've already seen some snapshots of camp this week. So instead of more camp photos, I've got some fun new Bottle School photos to share with you! Since we are working our camp at Central through Thursday, we have been able to watch the construction efforts every day. It is especially exciting because our camp is environment-themed, and this project exemplifies one of the biggest environmental projects Manna has done here in Guatemala!

In order to keep things interesting, we have some photos from a new angle. Ja and I were administering some surveys in Central after camp one day, and we were able to marvel at the construction from a new view point... behind the school.

We're exciting to continue watching the construction over the next couple of months! Thanks again for everyone who's helped make this happen!

-Nicole

9/26 Bottle School Update!

Second story construction really took off this week. On Monday (9/24) when Ja and I went to Central for our Básico classes, we could see a wall or two.

Today, however, almost the entire outer rim on one side has the first layer of bottle walls, and a few of the walls that will divide the classroom have been built! We were fortunate enough to be able to climb up to the second level (which we've never done before!) to snap a few shots while construction was taking place!

A bigger view of the external walls. Some already have their wood paneling.

Adding cement: the wall already has bottles lined between 2 layers of chicken wire.

Ja and Jess modeling the gorgeous wall.

Lining the chicken wire for a new wall!

These two are adding more bottles between the layers of chicken wire.

Bottles, bottles, bottles!

We are so excited by all the progress thus far, and we'll keep you posted as things progress!

-Nicole

Goal Reached!

As of this evening, we reached our goal of selling 100 T-shirts (courtesy of www.teespring.com) for the Bottle School Project!!! Your support and generosity during this campaign these past weeks have been truly amazing and a testament to the positive impact we are all capable of making as a team. As stated previously via social media and past blog posts, the profits will go directly towards funding the labor, renovation, and construction costs of the Central School in the community of Chaquijyá.

The final number of T-shirts sold came right at 101, which will allow the profit of $1762.45 to go towards the school!! We, the MPI-Guatemala team, are so excited to see the development of the construction efforts leading up to the opening of this section of the school in possibly January (Just in time for the new school year to begin!). The very image of all the kids filling these new classrooms, come next school year, is such a powerful and encouraging one to imagine. Before we know it, this image will become a reality and we have each one of you to thank for that.

Not only will they physically have these classrooms to further their education, but they will also have the opportunity to fully realize their potential and learn to develop it in these classrooms. The students will no longer have to learn in a crowded classroom, separated merely by a temporary, tin divider with another. The teachers will be able to use these new classrooms more effectively in educating these children. The school will be able to enroll more students due to the new space. The benefits are endless to this community and especially, to these students and those of future generations of Chaquijyá.

Again, we want to thank you for your support in helping fund and/or advertise this campaign these past two weeks! It would simply not have been possible without your efforts. We will keep this blog updated with the progress of the Bottle School Project and of course, when the school finally opens, lots and lots of photographs of the smiling students :)

-Ja

Sunday Snapshot: Breakdancing

As Sarah mentioned in her previous post, the schools have been gearing up for Independence Day. While the festivities themselves have been rather foreign to us, there is one commonality between Guatemalan children and US children-- they like to breakdance.

These guys were seriously impressive.

You're never too young to start.

But don't worry, just like in the States, not everyone breakdances. Some just pose and look absolutely perfect instead:

How can you not be in love with this picture?!

Have a great Sunday! :)

Oh, and if you want to be extra-awesome, help support the community Bottle School Project!

Bottle School T-Shirts!

I am so excited to announce the launch of our 3-week t-shirt campaign!

Before I jump into the t-shirts, I want to thank our supremely generous anonymous donor who gave $30,000 toward the Bottle School Project! We are so grateful and humbled by this amazing gift, and we know the members of Central, Chaquijyá appreciate it as well. :)

After such a generous donation, we only have $5,600 left until the project is completely funded! We are so close!

Thus, in order to celebrate the generous donation and help raise that last bit of money, we are having a t-shirt fundraising campaign! Just a few months ago, I fundraised through Teespring's t-shirt campaigns in order to raise money toward my personal PD fund. I had so much fun designing the shirts and promoting my upcoming work with Manna, not to mention, it was quite successful... so I jumped at the opportunity to do something similar for our site to fund the Central Bottle School!

The way these campaigns work is that you have to set a goal of shirts. In order for the shirts to be printed and to receive funds toward your cause, you must reach your goal within a certain time frame. We have a goal of selling 200 shirts in 3 weeks, and we hope to sell even more than that! But that means we need your help.

Here's what you can do:
1. Reserve a shirt. Each shirt is $25, and $17 goes directly to the Bottle School. Here's what it looks like:

And here's a close-up of the design:

2. Support us directly. If you'd rather your entire $25 (or other amount) go directly toward the Bottle School, then click above and be sure to select "Guatemala Bottle School" in the designation section.

3. Spread the word! Social Media and word of mouth can go a long way. I couldn't believe how many people I didn't know purchased one of my t-shirts, because my friends were awesome enough to promote my shirt among their friends. If you know people who have a connection with Manna, Guatemala, or really cool environmental projects, target them specifically.

Thank you for your support! With your help, we can construct many more walls like this one:

Please feel free to contact me with any questions! (nicole.altamura@mannaproject.org)

-Nicole

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!

Sunday Snapshot

Chaquijyá Central's 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes filled over 650 bottles in last week's bottle stuffing competition for our school addition! Congrats to Willy's 5th graders for winning with 272 bottles!

Sunday Snapshot

Following a $10,000 anonymous donation to our bottle project, the roof comes off! We've begun reinforcing the first floor in preparation for the second floor bottle addition. Onwards and upwards in 2012!

Photo Credit: Dana Zichlin

A Picture's Worth 13,000 Bottles

As promised, here is one of the plans drawn up by our architect for our bottle school project! Pretty cool, eh?

Bottles on the Brain

The term "Central American time" gets thrown around a lot. The usual context involves arriving at a meeting on time, only to wait two hours until your counterpart arrives unapologetic but ready to begin. So, you learn to bring a book and chalk it up to cultural differences, right? Well, in the past few weeks this concept has been thrown on its head.

As you may or may not know, we've been in phase 1 of our bottle school project for months, over 6 to be exact. I could rattle off a long list of why this is, but I will spare you the details. Instead, let's talk progress and speedy progress at that.

At the beginning of last week, I walked into the La Primaría Central on a normal day, ready to teach some 4th graders English. As I walked down the row of classrooms, I saw that each was putting together an ode to the environment on a large poster board. My brow furrowed a bit, confused at the sudden adoration until I was finally introduced to the man responsible. Emerson was invited by our principal to more clearly show the relationship between our bottle project and the environment to the school's 275 students. The short version in case you’re interested—when all is said and done, our bottle school will remove about 13,000 pounds of trash from Guatemala's streets, rivers, and mountains. Emerson works for AMSCLAE, the Atitlan area's foremost authority on everything environmental, and now MPI Guatemala's newest partner organization!

In the next two weeks, Emerson and I put together a presentation on our bottle project and gave it to over 450 people in 3 different assemblies reaching children, parents and community leaders. On top of that, we also had an architect in to draw the plans for the new second story, four-room addition. The kicker? I was taken to see the local kindergarten, and again, quite confused about the purpose of the visit. The director unlocked the first classroom and as the door swung open, stuffed bottles jumped out of the way. The room was entirely devoted to bottles, plastic, and bottle stuffing. Apparently for months now if you were a kindergartener, you participated in "stuffing time," requiring you to stuff plastic for 20 minutes at the end of recess each day. As if this weren’t enough, they also convinced Big Cola, one of Guatemala's largest soft drink producers, to donate their used plastic shrink wrap and discarded bottles to the cause.

I still carry a book just in case, but is it possible that Chaquijyá just reinvented "Central American time?"

I hope so,

Dana

Change You Can See

Community development initiatives rarely solves problems overnight.  It’s a hard realization to come to, but the nature of the field is so large in scope, population size, and unproved theories that goals are hard to meet, let alone create. So it’s refreshing to come across a project like Hug It Forward’s bottle schools (or here).  The solution is ingenious in it's simplicity - it takes two of the pressing issues in Guatemala, education and the environment, and presents a solution that's rapidly adaptable and easily incentivized. 

Take an empty plastic bottle, stuff it to the brim with inorganic refuse like paper and plastic, and you’ve made your very own eco-brick. Now collect 13,000 more and you’re ready to build your very own school.  Local masons use the bottles in place of cinder blocks, wrapping them in chicken wire and coating the outside with a plaster of concrete.  They're as structurally sound as traditional building methods, cheaper, and remove hundreds of pounds of trash from local watersheds.

School building is currently prohibitive in communities where the average income is less than $2 per day.  In addition, most communities burn their trash, this offers a green solution to waste disposal, a positive result they can see.  The tangible solutions and relatively short-term gratification that result from bottle projects sprouting up all across Guatemala are innumerable; the project cleans up neighborhoods and drinking water sources, teaches environmental awareness, fosters community leadership, imparts new technical building skills, and provide a space new students and teachers can call their own.

Here in Chaquijyá, Manna Project is still in the middle of phase one: environmental education and bottle stuffing. It’s a funny thing to teach a roomful of bewildered Mayan men and women how to stuff plastic bottles with trash because a school built from trash-filled bottles is hard to imagine. So we’re trying a broad approach: We’ve recruited the local community leaders (COCODES), the primary and pre-schools, a local microfinance organization, and a slew of friends we’ve made along the way to help spread the word.  We recently installed trashcans along the main road to make trash collection easier, and next month we will begin our bottle stuffing competition between 3rd through 6th graders to get the ball rolling in two separate elementary schools.  Along the way, we're seeing the community come together on the project.

Now we realize the trash collection for this project is a temporary solution to Guatemala’s general waste management problems, but it's a start, and it highlights the long-term positives of responsible trash policies.  The timeline is long, but the change is real. The development world needs more projects like these: creative, holistic, and community-led.  Therein killing at least two birds with one stuffed bottle.