Another day, another... avacado?

Hola. So here´s another post for all of you living vicariously through the internet. Things have taken several riveting and drastic changes since we last posted, though whether for the better or the worse no judgement can be made.

Our job assignment at the womens shelter turned out to be carry bags of dirt from a hole, over this giant hill, where kids dumped them on the grass and spread them around. It was hard work and pretty tiring. The reasoning behind this was that the dirt would fertilize the soil, though in all actuality it was questionable as the soil buries the grass from the sunlight. Let´s just say our group had some questions about why we were moving dirt and what impact it was truly making. We can see the benefits of an area that is well landscaped and can serve as a tranquil hideway from the stresses of day to day life, but couldn´t our energies be better utilized somewhere else? It´s always an internal struggle.

Before we left the states we collected alot of clothes and brought 8 boxes of nice things with us to donate. Today the mission truck took us to a community where they were building homes for people who had been affected by a landslide that destroyed their previous community. Our assignment was to distribute the clothing and play with the children. It was odd how this seemingly amazing assignment turned into an almost sickening and gut wrenching experience.

We sat on the bed of the truck and began distributing clothing. As soon as people in the community realized what was happening, the fight was on. Women and children rushed the boxes grabbing whatever clothing they could, barely pausing to see what it was that they were grabbing. Women ravaged a box of baby clothing, grabbing armloads - the box was literally empty in 30 seconds. While the poverty and need for clothing was obvious, the way the scene unfolded left one questioning the morality of passing out free clothing. How do we know the people who really needed the resources got them? Granted they need clothing, but wouldn´t there be a better way to help them achieve sustainability than through handouts?

The struggle only multiplied upon really viewing the community. Everywhere are houses made with 4x4s, tin roofs, and plastic donated by USAID - plastic boldly announcing "From the American People". It seemed so arrogant and was disheartening to see that we could donate plastic, but do little in terms of sanitation or any other resources they could have used.

From this point we progressed to playing with the children. They loved our digital cameras and looking at the screen at the pictures we had taken of them. Some members of our group, Born into Brothels style, gave them the cameras and allowed them to take photographs. It was amazing to see the children´s happiness over simple things and their resiliency in the face of utter poverty. On the other hand, I personally couldn´t help feel a slight tinge of guilt at our "touristy" behaviour. It was easy to the see the unamused look on the faces of many adults and older children. I wondered how many times Americans had ran around their village giving handouts, playing with the children, and snapping photos, only to run off to the luxury of the mission and ultimately the luxury of life in the United States.

But while my perspective may sound melancholy or pessimistic, in reality it is far from that. In the words of one group member, our group is finding that "serving in Guatemala is not so much about helping them, as it is about self-help". I feel that our group is really waking up to the reality of life outside of the US and that the internal exploration and realizations will lead us all to make an impact in the lives of those around us.

Adios, I-i.

Josh

What the whatever...

You guys and your silly blog wanting to hear all the adventures from Guatemala. Well, here they are, at least from my perspective.

We arrived at O´hare at 10am for our 1pm flight, checked our luggage, went through security, ate lunch and then when to boarding. There we found out our plane was delayed for maintenance reasons. After an hour and a half we boarded and having gone through the usual ¨fasten your seatbelts¨ business the pilot came on and told us that due to weather we would not be taking off. We sat in the plane for another 3 hours, which caused us to miss our connecting flight from Miami to Guatemala.

In Miami, Beth argued with the lady until we got a free room and food vouchers for the Airport Regency, because our next flight didn´t leave until 12pm the next day. We ate food, watched Contact and went to sleep. Suffice to say the next day went off without a hitch and we arrived in Guatemala and undertook the three hour trek to San Lucas.

Stuff here hasn´t changed much, though I´m happy to say that there is noticable progress on projects we worked on this winter. The house for the family with ten children is painted and almost complete and the women´s shelter has a floor and all. Dr. Sierra is also here, and though he´s noticably thinner due to illness, he´s as kind and helpful as always.

Today we worked carrying dirt from one place to another to enrich the dirt near the women´s shelter. It was hard and hot, but then it began raining which was fun. Not only was it refreshing, but we all turned to mud.

On the agenda for tomorrow is possibly some coffee sorting. Today we saw the process from bean to roast, and all the beans we picked this winter are now shelled and being sorted and roasted for sale.

Things here are fun and well. Our house has a fire pit and we are halfway through life stories and finishing them tonight. The group gets along well, and I feel that we all bring really interesting perspectives to the trip.

Go I-i, I hope that you´re all well and enjoying where life takes you this summer.

Adios,
Josue´

i-i, the next generation

oh my GOO'ness! i am so excited to hear about all the awesome projects this summer!

we got edor, holla!
gmala, holla!
mexico, what what!
and dominican republic, hola!
(yes that's hola, not holla)

post post post!
~miriam :-)