Back to Chaq: Programs thus far and personal reflections

After a month’s hiatus, MPI-Guatemala is back in action in Chaquijyá. For the first summer session, we have the good fortune to be hosting four interns, who will resume the site’s Healthy Living program, as well as English classes for teachers and primary school students in the community’s Cooperativa and Central neighborhoods. The interns arrived last Saturday on Guatemala’s national Día de la Madre (Mother’s Day). After a long, traffic-jam-filled journey to Sololá, the girls all settled in and have already made significant progress in lesson planning and enacting community projects. For example, this past week, the interns and I spent two days painting the whole playground at the Central primary school with the help of several local parents. I believe we are all still rocking paint on our clothes and bodies (for which we were told to just "bañarse" in paint thinner), but hey, its great to have a daily recuerdo of the groups’ collaboration and hard work.

The finished jungle gym!

This summer, Manna also has the unique opportunity to partner with Vanderbilt University’s Visage program. Through this program, undergraduate students pursue a semester-long class on issues related to health and development in Guatemala, which then culminates in a month of fieldwork and research in country. Having enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Vanderbilt, Manna is pumped to host four Visage students for the remainder of the first summer session. In addition to planning and leading our Healthy Living programs, each student will conduct mentored research in Chaquijyá on various health topics such as oral health, geriatric health, physical exercise, and social marketing on nutritional supplements. Both students and interns will live in the MPIG house, and participate in weekly discussions, errands, cooking, and field trips to partner organizations.

A public health student myself, I am stoked to work with these girls, and witness the results of their research. My name is Ginny Savage, and I am so lucky to be working as the Summer Intern Supervisor for the next month with Alli Eis. I first came to know Manna while working as a PD with the Guatemala site in 2010-2011, and I have to say, it is very surreal to be back in Sololá. On the one hand, many things remain exactly as I remember: the “twins” Maria Luisa buses still run to Pana frequently, Byron still instructs PE classes with clipboard and matching tracksuit at the ready, and Christian (aka “Lester”) is still the volunteer favorite. However, on the other hand, many things have changed throughout the past three years: Yessica is in second grade, Central has its own Básico, and the Sololá market is now located at the top of a impressively steep hill.

New Friends!

 I guess it is always a bit disconcerting to return to a foreign country where you have previously lived. When we live and travel abroad, we tend to form somewhat fixed impressions, mental snapshots of our host communities. Consequently, when we return to the communities, we often observe individual, geographic, and social changes that challenge these fixed images. However, though initially unsettling, it is important to realize that change is good. By definition, “community development” initiatives seek to foster growth: to enable communities to improve residents’ quality of life through desired, appropriate and feasible changes.

 In the past three years, Chaqijyá has certainly grown. Thanks to the joint efforts of community leaders, Manna volunteers, and other partner organizations, the Central neighborhood now has its own middle school, built from soda bottles and trash nonetheless. The aldea still operates a trash collection system, Cooperativa has a community garden, and teachers report more children actively speak English and practice healthy living. Such growth and development are the very reasons for why Manna operates in Chaquijyá. They are the factors that motivate 8 interns to dedicate their summer teaching English and health, and I hope that our efforts throughout the upcoming weeks will continue to bolster this growth. Regular English and Health programs will commence this Wednesday, and both interns and Visage students will post daily updates concerning the classes’ progress, field trips, Guatemala living, etc.

- Ginny

Lovin' on After School English

Today marks two weeks left here in Guatemala. Time passed so quickly while the summer volunteers were here! I feel like I just went to the airport to pick up session one, but in reality we sent the last group of summer volunteers home a week ago. So now we have to transition back to only having PDs in the house all the time. Not only is it strangely quiet in the Manna house, but we also had to go back to programs without an army of helpers. After eight weeks of wonderful help and support from the volunteers, going back to managing my two classes of English alone was a little daunting. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be in a classroom teaching by myself. My kids, of course, were full of energy and enthusiasm, but we made the transition back to one teacher just fine.

The kids got a little present at the end of class: the session two volunteers generously printed out pictures for the students and wrote them cards with words of encouragement about their English and ways to contact them. My students got especially attached to the volunteers in session two, and there were quite a few tears on their last day in class. It was really wonderful to see the volunteers get to know the students in my class, come to appreciate all of their funny quirks, and form relationships with them.

There are only four after school English classes left. When I watched the volunteers say goodbye to the students on their last day, I realized how hard it was going to be when I have to do that exact same thing. But as sad as it will be to say goodbye to them, I'm so thankful that I was able to teach and know this bright group of kids.

-Julie

Climbing to New Heights

Every day in Guatemala is filled with new adventures and surprises, but nothing has compared to my past weekend. Climbing Volcan Tajumulco, the highest peak in Central America, takes the cake thus far as one my most challenging conquests, and I know my fellow interns would agree. As if 14,000 feet wasn’t intimidating enough, the weather turned out to be our biggest enemy. Fighting to hike up and down Tajumulco inside of a cold, rainy cloud was challenging, at times never-ending, but most importantly, the most rewarding experience of my life. It taught me that I could push myself further physically and emotionally than I ever thought possible. Also, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the most relaxing part of my weekend was sitting on a chicken bus. What I will remember the most from this weekend in Guatemala is the endless laughter and consistent motivation from some of the best girls I have ever met.

I was also very excited about helping to plan this week’s art lesson for our students in Chaquijyá!  I chose the project, and Sarah helped me to implement it. The students created their own bouquet of flowers, inspired by the Picasso painting “Hand with Flowers.” It felt very rewarding to see my project being successfully executed in the classroom, and I think all of the students had fun creating their bouquets!

-Cheryl 

Spring Break Re-cap

We are back! After three weeks of spring break groups, we had the final week of March off due to Easter. It was a well-timed break, because even though the spring break groups were incredibly enjoyable, they were also extremely exhausting. Ja and I were able to escape to a small island off the coast of Panama for the majority of the week; it was so peaceful and rejuvenating- basically exactly what we needed. But enough about the week we had off; I should probably do a little summary of spring break!

We had spring break groups from four different universities, and they were all so amazing. All the spring break groups were special in their own right and brought a crazy amount of enthusiasm with them to Chaq! We were able to accomplish all the planned projects, mostly without a hitch. Of course, being in Guatemala, we dealt with some logistical issues. But our volunteers took all of this in stride. Here is what we were able to accomplish in just three short weeks: 

                                 construct a fence around a community garden,

                        paint the interior and exterior of the Central school,

 do recycled art projects with students of Cooperativa and Central,

 administer fluoride to grades 3-6 and most of the teachers at all four schools, 

give dental talks to all four schools,

as well as give nutrition talks to both Cooperativa and Central schools, and distribute toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss to all four schools. 

I put together videos from the Vanderbilt and UGA/UNC spring break trips so far. UAB is on its way though! Check out the two finished ones by clicking on the links below:

Vanderbilt Spring Break Video

UGA/UNC Spring Break Video

Now that we are back, Sarah and I are starting to plan for the arrival of summer volunteers. The first batch arrives in just over a month, so we are knee-deep in schedule, budgets, orientation planning, and more preparing for their arrival. We are expecting about eight volunteers per 4-week session, so the site will be packed with volunteers. All these volunteers will be helpful in the new programs that we are planning to offer, hopefully within the upcoming weeks! Possibilities include computer classes for adults and art classes for students at Cooperativa and Central.

Julie 

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!

Sunday Snapshot

PDs and Interns took a trip to Xela this weekend. Here we are at the one and only XOCOMIL, Central America's largest water park!

Left to right: Christina, Andrea, Dana, Kylie, Lorena, Kayla, Jess

Take Only Pictures and Leave Only Footprints

Please welcome Kylie, one of our second-session Summer Interns, to the blogosphere. Much more to come, as they'll be with us until July 28th!
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Today is my third day in Guatemala and if I had to describe my experience so far I would say that it has been extraordinary. This country is not like any that I have ever seen, it is truly unique. The towns may not be the cleanest however it is easy to look past the mere lack of sanitation because the towns are surrounded by pristine natural beauty that is just breathtaking. Our house is by a beautiful lake, which is surrounded by three volcanoes, not to mention the vast amount of beautiful rolling hills blanketed in green trees and crops. The town’s people are friendly, and tend to take great interest in five or six “gringas” walking the streets. Most all the locals dress in very colorful and vibrant fabrics, and the streets are filled with people walking and cars driving crazily, and the buildings are all different colors and the town always seems to be buzzing.

We have been traveling to the schools in a nearby by town which is so much fun. The ride there is nothing short of interesting. We ride in what are called “micros” which are basically taxi vans that take people around town and to neighboring places. It is like a giant sardine can that is packed with people, and there is no such thing as personal space, if you can move, then there is room for more! When we got to the school I found that all of the children are great, and most seem eager to learn English and socialize with us Americans. Smiling is a universal language and can make all the difference, sometimes there may be a language barrier but as long as I try to have fun and I try my best I am sure that my Spanish skills will only improve. The Country Director, Dana, and a long term volunteer Lorena, along with another Intern that has been here the past month, Christina, are all teaching several English classes to various age groups. It is truly inspiring to see the true motivation and passion that all of these ladies have. Us new arrivals are truly lucky to have these awesome people to show us the ropes, and teach us about daily life in Guatemala. The daily life includes the way the house is run, and one thing that we learned on the first night was that when we use the restroom, it is important not to flush the toilet paper, and that old saying “If it’s yellow let it mellow and if it’s brown flush it down” certainly is practiced here.

One of my favorite things is learning about the culture here, and I feel like I am gaining so much from this experience and I’ve only been here for three days! I am concentrating on the present and looking forward to what this adventure has in store. As long as my trip continues to be this fantastic (even though it has been only three days!), I don’t thing I'll ever be able to leave!

---Kylie


“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Sunday Snapshot

We can't believe Summer session 1 has already come to a close. Juliana, Rebecca, Karianne, Michelle, and Grace, you're all amazing individuals, we miss you already! Tomorrow we welcome our second session girls! Christina, here's to 7 more weeks of work and play in Chaquijyá!

Karianne, Rebecca, and our beginner's English class with their Old MacDonald face masks

Vandy kids represent on top of La Nariz del Indio

Rebecca, Juliana, and Karianne ready for the dress-up party at La Iguana

Adios for Now

Well, it looks like my time in Guatemala is coming to an end.  I can’t believe it - I don’t think any of us can.  Cliché as it may sound, it seems like just yesterday that we were wandering around the airport with no clue what to expect and piling into a van with five strangers (Emily too!), nonetheless. In less than a week, something strange happened: everything started to seem normal.  The nine strangers we were living with were no longer strangers but rather our temporary family.  Hopping on a chicken bus to find that it was more crowded than anything we had ever seen was no longer an ordeal, but rather a way of life. The kids in Central and Cooperativa (the schools we work in) were no longer meaningless faces on the street, but rather real people who we quickly began to care about and whose lives we thought we might actually be able to improve.

We have had the opportunity to do a bunch of cool things since we’ve been here: hike to the top of Tajumulco (the highest point in Central America), travel to Monterrico to enjoy Guatemala’s finest beaches, and even explore ancient Mayan ruins at Tikal.  As awesome as each of these experiences have been, I have to say that interacting with our students has undoubtedly been the COOLEST part of this trip. Whether they are giggling as we introduce ourselves with our Gringo names, running to hug us and screaming our names as we arrive at Cooperativa, focusing as they try to contort their mouths so they can pronounce a new English word, or challenging us to a game of basketball, these kids never fail to make life interesting and exciting.  More importantly, they never fail to teach me something new (and here I was thinking that I came to Guatemala to teach them).  Sometimes they were literally teaching me, as in how to say dog (Tze) in Kaqchikel, their native language, for example.  But most of the time, I just learned by watching.  I watched kids fall down or take a blow to the head from a soccer ball without shedding a tear, time and time again.  Surely, if we were in America, they would have been bawling.  I watched others screw around with their friends during school, seemingly as if they lacked any ability to focus, but managed to get down to business and work for their families when they got home.  Their culture is just so different from ours, and over the past month, I have found myself feeling surprised time and time again.

Considering the difference in our lifestyles, nothing has been more significant to me than the moments when we were able to put smiles on the childrens' faces.  Sometimes it was by letting them play with our cameras or letting them listen to our iPods.  At other times, kids were legitimately excited about what we were doing in class. Personally, my favorite was the time that we taught them Old McDonald while they were learning the animals--our students were ecstatic as they held up their animal mask and screamed out its name.  During mini camp, everyone was enthusiastic as Karianne and Grace led a group sing-along to Justin Bieber’s Baby and as they had the opportunity to bust a move to the Cha Cha Slide. 

I really do believe that we have made a difference here and, more importantly, that Manna will continue to do so in the future.  I feel great leaving MPI Guatemala in the hands of Dana, Lorena, and Christina (and the new interns who will be arriving on Sunday), and I can’t wait to hear about the great things that this organization does in the future.

--Michelle Weinman

Toucans and Parrots and Monkeys, Oh My!

After another successful week in the schools, our group split into two to conquer different areas of Guatemala. Dana, Michelle, Karianne, Rebecca and Christina all headed for a relaxing weekend at the beach in Moneterrico where they tanned, swam in the pool and drank refreshing licuados (delicious fruit smoothies!) Lorena, Grace, Cam and I opted for an incredibly fun and exotic weekend in the jungle, visiting the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal. 

 

The adventure started with an overnight shuttle ride at 5:30pm Thursday evening. We arrived at 8am the next morning to our bungalow in the jungle, complete with hammocks and wildlife surrounding us. We began our day with a tour of the magnificent ruins. We subir-ed (climbed) everything that was allowed to be touched...and perhaps some things that weren't. Luckily our tour guide was lenient about letting us scale the ruins and meander as we pleased. Along the tour we saw toucans, parrots, toads, and most exciting of all, howler and spider monkeys.

Tikal is a vast site with such an interesting history. The tour itself was about 4 miles long. Tikal was inhabited by about 100,000 Mayans around 400 AD. It was the largest of the Mayan cities and was very powerful at the time. Only 22% of the site has been excavated thus far with plans to dig up more in the near future. While visiting Tikal you can see temples, acropolises, bleachers, etc. After it was abandoned, shrubbery overtook the ruins. It is currently a World Heritage Site and definitely a must-see when traveling through Central America.

 

In the afternoon we enjoyed naps by the pool and a delicious dinner, complete with licuados. Then it was early to bed and early to rise for us. The next day, we awoke at 3:45am for a sunrise tour. After experiencing what our new tour guide referred to as a "lapse of calamity" after we locked our key along with our tour tickets in our bungalow, we started on our early morning tour. Our fellow companions, the howler monkeys, were wide awake at that hour, as well. We climbed to the top of the highest temple (Temple IV) to watch the sunrise. Well, the sun technically did rise, just not its true form of golden and orange rays. It was very cloudy but it was still an enjoyable experience being up high so early, hanging out on a Mayan ruin. That doesn't happen often!

 

After the tour, we packed up and headed back to Sololá via Sergio's very generous personal car service. We said our goodbyes to Cam in Guatemala City. We hope he had a safe trip back to the States yesterday and that Boston treats him well!

 

Everyone else is happy and doing very well here in Guatemala. I cannot believe it is our last week here! Time flies when you're having fun :)

 

--Juliana

Sunday Snapshot

Jump for joy, it's the rainy season!

PDs and Summer Interns standing on the Inter-American Highway in Chaquijyá, waiting for a minibus back to Sololá.

A week in the life of a summer intern

Dana, Juliana, Karianne, and I stayed in Xela for the weekend while the others hiked up Tajumulco. We had a blast and ate some delicious food at the hostel, El Cuartito, and Blue Angel, two of Dana's favorite restaurants. On Saturday, we had a relaxing afternoon at Las Fuentes Georginas, 3 hot springs located in the mountains. In the evening, we got to witness all of the excitement and commotion of the city after Xela won the championship soccer game against Guatemala City. We even got to see the Xela team's bus parade around the city!

On Monday after our weekly morning meeting, we went to the market and bought TONS of food for the week. Besides Christina and Cam, we didn't have any classes. Some of us ran some errands in Pana, or went to Spanish school. Upon our return we cooked a delicious meal of fajitas and finished off with some casual mustache-shaped sugar cookies.

The following day, all of the interns went to Chaquijyá bright and early in the morning to teach nutrition to 3rd and 4th graders in Cooperativa and Central. We all had the opportunity to practice our Spanish and teach a little about the food pyramid to the children. We ended the lesson with fun activities such as "Simon Dice" (Simon Says) and Gato y Raton (Cat and Mouse) to emphasize the importance of physical activity. Before our after school English classes with Dana and Cam, we visited the absolutely beautiful Catholic Church in Chaq, and a few of us even went on the roof!

On Wednesday, we traveled 2 hours to Comalapa to work with another NGO, Long Way Home. They were rebuilding the Tecnico Maya Vocational School with solely refurbished and reused materials! The various buildings were being made from old plastic bottles stuffed with trash, rubber tires, or earth bag domes (polypropylene sacks). It was crazy to see how much could be done with recycled materials, and how every single step of their process was sustainable (including human waste!). We had such a fun time packing, tossing, and throwing mud balls to fill the spaces in between the half-built rubber tire wall foundation. It was great to have the opportunity to see what kind of work other non-profits in Guatemala were doing. Everything about the project and the organization were resourceful, creative, and inspiring, to say the least. 

 

As you can tell, we've been having an AMAZING time here, and I can't believe we're almost halfway done! We have a ton of exciting things coming up with mini-camps for our kids and weekend trips, so keep checking back for our next blog post!

 

--Rebecca

To the highest point in Central America and back!

Our first week here in Guatemala can only be described with one word: amazing.  As time goes on, we've grown more accustomed to life here in Sololá and the surrounding area.  We've traveled to the neighboring villages to help out with classes and lesson planning, played pick-up games of soccer with the students in Basico, socialized with other residents in Pana, negotiated in the market for fruits, veggies, and souvenirs, and hopefully improved our Spanish along the way.  Some of us, including myself, have even been taking some Spanish lessons from native speakers in Pana.  I definitely appreciate the help!

This weekend we traveled as a group to Xela and had the incredible opportunity to hike Tajumulco, the highest peak in all of Central America!  Without knowing exactly what was in store for us in this 2-day hike, Christina, Michelle, and I signed up, as well as the PDs and some of their friends. So, starting at 4am this past Saturday, we traveled to the base of the volcano and started to make our way up the 17,000 feet with 45 pound packs on our back and lots of nervous energy to go around.  Our four awesome guides from Quetzaltrekkers encouraged us all along the way, with David Green sprinting in front, and myself inching my way along in the back.  Regardless, we all made it up to base camp to enjoy a very cold night in tents with food and good company.  Although it was too cloudy to see sunrise the next day, we finished the last hour of ascent to Tajumulco's peak early the next morning, took plenty of incredible pictures, and then returned to camp to pack and start to make our way back down the volcano.  I think I can speak for everyone that we all feel very accomplished to have conquered Tajumulco!  And although I returned to Xela with two very sore legs and a sprained ankle, I also returned with having met some incredible people.

And that goes for everyone on this trip.  We've recently discovered Karianne's amazing talent for music and insisted that she sing us to sleep every night.  I'm so blessed to share this experience with the five other interns and our PDs, who are all so much fun and add so much to the group.  We've all decided that Dana is an awesome leader and we're so lucky to have her kindness lead the way!

Needless to say, it has been an AMAZING week.  I can't wait to see what Guatemala has in store for us next!

Grace

Spring Cleaning

This past Saturday I picked our six Summer interns up at the airport. They have been doing great so far and are adjusting quickly to Guatemala. The craziest thing to me is that when this group leaves in a month I will be flying home with them. Maybe it hasn’t hit me yet but so far I’m okay with leaving. I don’t mean that I’m “get me out of here” ready to go, but that I’m content with what I have accomplished during my year and grateful for so many amazing experiences with awesome new friends. I also get to share my boundless wisdom with the six new volunteers, which is very rewarding for me and probably quite burdensome for them.

However, maybe I am a little more nervous than I thought about my imminent departure because I have been doing a lot of cleaning. Not to sound too stepford-wifey but I find cleaning to be very de-stressing and I really like the idea of leaving this wonderful Manna house better than I found it. To that end I have wanted to hire a housekeeper to come and clean all of the windows in the house. (I tried one day and after making a huge mess decided that this job required a professional.)  Two weeks ago, we finally found a housekeeper, our landlady’s niece, to come and clean the windows. I was excited to have clean windows until our landlady and several small children all came to help clean. My excitement quickly morphed into guilt and embarrassment as I hid in my room trying to pretend that I didn’t know about the child labor going on 20 feet from me. After that experience I decided that we were capable of doing all house cleaning, regardless of the job.

My latest project has been the art/junk area in the living room. I was really on a roll getting the drawers organized and discarding junk so that the useful stuff can actually be located when Dana came into the room. Dana and I have a slightly differing view on where to draw the “throw away” line. Suddenly, almost anything I tried to put in the trash was met with a, “What?! NO! I want that!” Needless to say, my progress slowed considerably, but I do have to admit that she was right most of the time. For example, much to my chagrin, she wet a dried-out stamp pad and got it working again.

There’s something about cleaning that makes me feel more prepared for change. It acts as a nice conclusion to one chapter while letting you move forward, unburdened by the junk, to a new one. I’m happy to leave Guatemala knowing that important papers, curricula and other teaching materials are organized for the next group of volunteers to come in and use. During my phone interview with Dana last year I expressed some concern about the long time commitment. She told me that, to her, the first six months felt like six months but that before you knew it the second half of the year would have come and gone. Reflecting on my year now I would have to say the whole thing flew by. But what a year it was.

Happy (semi-neurotic) cleaning!

Emily

Summer is here!

Our summer interns are here! Keep up-to-date with new posts from Christina, Michelle, Grace, Karianne, Juliana, and Rebecca over the next month! Our first guest post comes to you from Karianne:
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WE ARRIVED! We were greeted with hugs from Emily at the airport. She is full of energy, warmth and acceptance. I met our other group members: Rebecca, Michelle, Christina and Grace are from Vanderbilt, Julianna goes to College of Charleston and I am from Pepperdine. Cam is supplying the testosterone for our group and Dana and Lorena are friendly, supportive, and sweet. I am really excited to get to know their stories, passions, and hearts. Sololá, where we are living is an incredibly colorful, busy and spirited town. We are living in a home stay with a wonderfully sweet family. They are generous and hospitable, and accepting of my broken Spanish!

Today we went into the Guatemalan middle schools and taught English to 7th and 8th graders in Cam's class.  As expected the kids are playful, lively, and gracious.  A lot of them really do care about learning English which is exciting to see.

Even though it has only been two days, our group has bonded a significant amount and I can tell we are going to keep making incredible memories.  I have been humbled in this short time by the attitude of the Guatemalans.  Most of them seem incredibly content and happy with their lifestyle. Coming from America where I am blessed with convenience and luxury, I assumed that the Guatemalans would also prefer this lifestyle, but I don´t think that is the case.  There is definitely something to learn from their simple, hardworking, content way of living.  Having that mindset really does change the next month for me. in terms of thinking, teaching and learning. So excited for what is to come!

Karianne

Sunday Snapshot XXI

Best summer volunteers ever! We miss you all already!

Photo Credit: Dana Zichlin

Photo Credit: Kati Turner