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 

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

Spring Break Wrap-Up

I speak on behalf of the whole MPI Guatemala team when I say SPRING BREAK 2012 RULED. This month, we had the opportunity to work with five different universities and a total of 41 students on 4 different projects in Chaquijyá.

Vanderbilt University started Spring break off with a bang (or should I say a broken water pipe) on the construction of a playground in Escuela Central. As different parts of the playground were constructed, the kids immediately started playing before we could say, “wet cement!” The Vandy students continuously surprised us with their patience and flexibility, willing to adapt and adjust to the idea of "Central American time," which essentially means being late or not showing up is okay.

We were rolling deep Week 2 with a total of 21 students from Tulane, UGA, and Emory. The groups added a colorful touch by painting world map murals at each of the schools, Central and Cooperativa. As the group explored Guatemala, Pancaklandia, and beyond, every minute was a new adventure!

UAB made for a memorable last week with Dental Charlas and administration of fluoride to over 300 students and teachers! Right when these girls stepped off the plane, they were ready to take on Guatemala, one tooth at a time! Filled with energy, luggage, and gringas, there was nothing they weren’t prepared to do.
 

If you want to read more about each project, click on the individual tabs above labeled according to University.

Spring Break 2012 truly exceeded our expectations, and there are no amount of words that can fully describe the experience we had this month. That being said, we’ve prepared this Spring Break 2012 Tribute to help share our thanks. We are so appreciative for each Spring Break team and participant. But more importantly, we have a new favorite song.  

Until my Next Story Hour,

Lorena

Sunday Snapshot

Team Vandy Spring break 2012!

We miss you all already!

And it begins..

Jump for joy! Spring break is here! We're starting things off with a bang, and by bang, I mean Vanderbilt University. This week 14 enthusiastic Vandy students will be building a playground in Chaquijyá Central, complete with a tree house, slide, monkey bars, seesaw, and swings. Visit us here all week to keep up-to-date with Vandy's playground progress, as we'll be updating the site daily.

A Final Goodbye

The following is an excerpt from Kat Mueller and Hudson Baird's letter to the Vanderbilt Spring Break trip after they returned to the states.  To read more about their trip and see a video of the trashcans they installed, read their updates here.

A-Team,

As fun as the last three days have been, it was the first half of the trip that was the most meaningful for us, particularly getting to know you guys personally.  We want you to know how proud we are of each of you.  We couldn’t have asked for better people with whom to entrust our reputation in the community.  You guys did such an amazing job interacting with the students, teachers, and community leaders and it's exciting that your work and the moments you shared, specifically with the students, will remain long after Kat and I leave.  The feeling we got watching you guys in the community, especially during the presentation, was something we didn’t anticipate, you each did incredible.

As you get back into life at Vandy the feelings you have right now may fade, but there are three things we'd like to leave you with:


1.     Poverty is complicated.
2.     The world is a lot bigger than your backyard.
3.     Take care of others.

We hope you saw a glimpse this week of Kat and my belief in confronting injustice in the world, and we hope you saw how much of a difference you can make.  It can be by tutoring kids in Nashville, by advocating for environmental issues, or by starting a school in Africa - what matters to us is that you find time in your life to help people who haven't been given the same opportunities.  What matters to us is that you find ways to keep making a difference in whatever community you're most passionate about.

Lastly, we hope to see you guys here this summer.  If you want to follow, friend, like, or subscribe to Manna across the web, you can find us on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, or on LinkedIn.  I'll send a follow up email tonight with info on getting everyone's pics in the same place.  Finally, add us on gchat - we want to hear about the rest of the year.

You guys were incredible.

Warmly,
 Hudson and Kat

Spring Breakers Galore

This week we're happy to be joined by our very first spring break group from Vanderbilt University (shocking, I know).  Over the next week, the group will be writing their own posts on the tab "Vandy Spring Break."  We have a busy week planned, including the installation of 8 trashcans along the main road in Chaquijyá, the celebration of Carnival, and our environmental kick-off celebration!

So while you're keeping up with us, don't forget to check out Vandy's tab for some added updates from some fresh points of view.

Woo spring break,

Mama D