This Week in Pictures

This past week, the Manna interns and Visage students all paid a visit to Maya Traditions, a social enterprise organization based in Panajachel. In addition to observing traditional weaving practices and studying the organization's business model, we had the opportunity to visit their medicinal garden which grew several local remedies and boasted a spectacular view of Pana and Lake Atitlan.

This week also featured the 20th anniversary of Cooperativa's Basico school. Students from local schools all competed in basketball and soccer matches, and even the teachers played in a special match. We had a great time cheering on our students and colleagues, and eating lunch with various teachers and community leaders.

The advent of rainy season has brought local crops springing up at an impressively fast rate. We are constantly amazed by how quickly the landscape is changing!

Thanks to Alli for the pictures!

Ideas about Identities

Invariably, one of the most rewarding and challenging elements of traveling is interacting with those around you. Sometimes they are locals, sometimes they are just passing through, sometimes they are lost souls, sometimes they're a version of you. Regardless, they offer a different perspective-- and there is always a lesson.

In one of my most recent interactions in Guatemala, I had the chance to talk to a Bolivian man, living in Guatemala, who attended university in Germany. Certainly, we had some similarities in our relatively cosmopolitan lives.... I also am living in Guatemala, but have been schooled in Hong Kong, and am, by nationality, American. But it was at this point, when he asked how I identify myself, that I realized just how malleable identity might be. he urged me to answer if I believed the future of America will be to align itself with Latin America, or if we might continue to align ourselves with Europe. I tried my best to explain that the concept of America is beyond that of who we align ourselves with; America is made up of different people, with different ethnicities, and different goals for the future. And that is what makes an American-- that is our identity.

Unbeknownst to him, this complete stranger elucidated one of the most magical elements of this experience. Here we are, ten women from across the U.S., with different backgrounds, with different ideas, with different homes, with different identities. And yet, we have come together on the premise of ideals. That our identities are so varied doesn't change the commonality that is most relevant during our time here-- a commitment to cooperation and a commitment to service. And so long as we continue to identify ourselves like this, the rest really doesn't matter.

- Alli, MPIG Summer Intern Supervisor

To travel is to live!

BINGO! My Spang-lish is out of control after all of these English classes I have taught. It has been.. an adventure teaching to 5th and 6th grade for the past 2 weeks. They are so extremely enthusiastic and also super competitive when we play games like, BINGO or, “run to the board as fast as physically possible with the correct picture in hand”. It has been a blast and I am pumped to see them so excited to get the right answer or to pronounce a new word or learn a new phrase. Recess is nearly a danger zone because of all the balls being kicked and thrown everywhere but, again, it is a blast having conversations with all the eager little girls and boys to learn my name, how old I am, where I am from, and even what my father and mother’s name is. It is sad to think I only have one more week to be the gringo English teacher!

Today we went down to Pana (in a pick-up aka the best form of transportation except when there is a live chicken on the ground mixed with at least 15 people) and visited Maya Traditions. This motivational team helps the skilled Mayan woman artisans to improve their quality of life while preserving their culture through facilitating access to a Fair Trade global marketplace. The weaving and threading the women create is absolutely beautiful and it was awesome to see an organization dedicated to helping them sell their awesome work to the states and even Europe. We also got to check out their medicinal herbal garden which was a lovely little place. All ten of us smelled probably 20 scents of herbs that are believed to help in relieving all different health issues. Check out the pic! It was great.

It's the last week in Guatemala and I plan on making the best of it! Even if that means I draw a mustache on my face in Santa Cruz this weekend (apparently there is a cross-dressing themed party). To travel is to live!

Medicinal Herb Garden with Maya Traditions

Backstrap Weaving Demonstration

- Kalie, MPIG Summer Intern

Looking back at the first half of the session

My experience in Guatemala so far has been so amazing. Guatemala itself is so beautiful, which I appreciate during every walk or car/bus ride we take. The people here are also so friendly and welcoming. Whether we are in Sololá, Pana, Chaquijyá, or a town we are visiting for the weekend, there are so many amazing things to see and do as well as interesting people to meet. 

Teaching English at the schools in the community has been an amazing experience. I am one of the people who teaches the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes. We also teach English to the teachers on Friday. It is amazing how much the kids want to learn English. They love learning new words and doing activities and games to practice what they have learned. They even ask us questions about English during recess. It is also very evident that the teachers are eager to learn in order to be able to teach their students or simply for their own personal benefit. 

Traveling around Guatemala has also been amazing. Last weekend four of us went to Xela and had a great time exploring the city, which is very different from the other places we have been in Guatemala. I am glad we had the chance to travel there. 

So far I have loved everything about the trip! Whether it is painting the playground the first day, teaching English, exploring Guatemala, or practicing my Spanish with the people here, all that we have done has been extremely meaningful and a lot of fun too. 

- Allie, MPIG Summer Intern

Nutrition in Guatemala: Access vs. Resources

Guatemala is so beautiful - from the rolling hills and lakes, to the vibrant colored, diverse crops sold in the markets. The country seems to have it all. This reminds me how the majority of issues in Guatemala can be due to lack of access, not necessarily resources. 

For example, when I walk through the market, here in Solola, I am amazed at all of the fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, beans, spices, etc that are sold. They are grown here and sold here. So how can Guatemala have such high rates of malnutrition? And this is where I believe the lack of access versus the lack of resources idea comes into play.

It's not that the people lack fruits and vegetables, or other foods that provide necessary nutrients, but instead the people, especially the indigenous people, choose to sell those nutritious crops for more money, instead of keeping them for their own famliies. Nutritionally, fruits and vegetables are not as sustaining as items such as corn and beans. Therefore, families have historically made meals based on more filling foods that lack the nutrients they need. And this has become a part of their culture in the kitchen.

This can be seen in both the meal we had with the family in Tecpan, as well as with the cooking class meal we had in Panajachel last week. Both meals involved a "tamalito" or corn-based dough item. (I found this to be extremely filling.) It is also very typical to have multiple corn tortillas with every meal. Additionally, we had a corn-based soup at our traditional meal in Panajachel. Also typical is Atole, a corn-based hot drink, often served with cookies.

Keeping cultural sensitivity in mind, we must put ourselves in their shoes. Instead of blaming them for choosing unhealthy options, one must consider how tradition has shaped their decisions in the kitchen as well as how the market and poverty continues to shape their choices today.

Vegetables for sale at the Sololá market 

- Blair, Visage Student

Making Memories

This is a drawing of my two favorite girls from the first time I went to Cooperativa in Chaquijyá. Both of these girls were not in the class that we taught, but were eager to hang out with us. The class that we taught this day was on the importance of dental health. I was amazed at the amount of 6 and 7 year olds that already had rotted out teeth. We used a few examples with an egg and an apple to represent what happens to the tooth and its enamel when you don’t brush your teeth. The kids were incredibly receptive and were able to identify what foods and drinks are good and bad for your teeth along with the reason that they are bad for your teeth. This class was a little insane because school was cancelled the previous day, causing us to teach two sections of first graders together. However, the kids were still able to take a lot from the lesson and I was glad that we could give them handouts to take home on how to brush their teeth. I hate that we couldn’t purchase enough toothbrushes in order to give one to each child at the school, but hope there is a way that could be done so in the future.

This drawing in particular is of a photo I took of two little girls insisting on having a photo shoot. They had such colorful little personalities, pulling their friends in the photos or requesting to have their solo shots. I loved the outgoing and carefree spirit of these little girls and it breaks my heart that they will probably never have the opportunities that I have. This day was a great first day of breaking out of comfort zones and trying to make connections.  

- Nicole, Visage Student