photo recap

Here are just a few of the pictures from our trip.

In Guatemala City (Day 1)

Learning about Zone 1 In Guatemala City (Day 2)

Our first Canada v. Guatemala Soccer Game (Day 3)Inside a classroom built by RJC Guatemala 2009 at Lo de Carranza (Day 4)Cutting rebar for cement supports at Lo de Carranza (Day 4)Mixing cement (Day 5)Preparing the trenches for the cement (Day 5)

Carrying pails of cement (Day 5)

Enjoying a spicy lunch after some hard work (Day 5)Meeting some of the children (Day 5)A view of Lake Atitlan (Day 6)Meeting the children at ANADESA's childrens' group (Day 6)Juan and Paige telling about some of the history of Panabaj (Day 6)

Making crafts with the children at ANADESA's childrens' group (Day 7)Learning to make tortillas by hand (Day 7)Our turn to try (Day 7)En Route to La Vega Del Volcan (Day 9)View from the town (Day 9)Morning after our homestay at La Vega Del Volcan (Day 10)Our second Canada v. Guatemala Game at La Vega Del Volcan (Day 10)At the hot springs near Xela (Day 11)

We're home!

It's early (or late?) in the morning and I think all of us are relieved and maybe even a bit excited to have our feet firmly planted on Saskatchewan soil. I think we'll all sleep very well tonight!

Thanks to everyone for supporting us on this trip; we thought of and prayed for you all the time! I'm sure we'll be extremely excited to share all of our stories with you as soon as we can.

I'll do my best to post some photos recapping the whole trip for you to enjoy. For now, sleep calls.

Carmen

Sunrise at Semilla

I've always been a morning person and usually I feel the most inspired in the early hours of the morning. So I guess it's no surprise that as the sun rises over the trees at our Guatemalan villa I feel compelled to share some reflections of this trip.

Our trip has been a fantastic one. I have learned so much more about the people of Guatemala, the issues they face, the students we took on the trip and more about myself and the role I play in all of this. I have witnessed amazing growth in each of the students that are on the trip. Each person shone in their own way as we saw glimpses into the everyday lives of various Guatemalan residents. Without the students and other chaperones I doubt that this experience would have been as rewarding. I am excited to see how each student unpacks all the information they've received and how they will use the lessons and experiences in the future.

I am constantly assured of how blessed and lucky I am as well. There are so many things that I take for granted that I know I am privileged to have. We live in a country where we feel safe and can trust our government leaders (for the most part). I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a place where I never received benefits from an elected group of people in power. The importance of community have also been cemented into my mind. It's quite amazing to see what a group of people with a common vision and support network can do. We've seen communities bounce back from the most devestating things on this trip, and we've seen the hope that a group of people can bring. Even while traveling through the winding roads that I thought were completely desolate there were houses and communities there. It's an incredibly powerful thing. I think we have all witnessed the importance of family as well. I think it's safe to say that each person on the trip is missing theirs and looking forward to seeing familiar faces waiting for them and welcoming them home in the coming days. I can assure you that each of you have been thought of and prayed for each day. Thank you also for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

We have one final day together in this country before we fly out. I think that everyone is leaving with mixed emotions as they are glad they got to come on this trip but equally glad to be on Canadian soil and sharing all the events, stories and pictures with our families and friends. Thank you for all of your love and support through this adventure we've had.

Blessings,
Carmen

Day ? : We are back online!

So it's been some time and now we are able to update you on the adventures of our lives.

After our last post we headed off to Atitlan. It was a long drive and it included a boat ride across the lake. it was a very fun and splashy time, Laura took great pleasure in splashing us all on the boat. Once we made it Panabaj we went to the meeting place of a grassroots group called ANADESA. ANADESA is an organization that works to look out for the members of the community. They raise money by selling handicrafts (of which we bought many!) that is used to create projects for the town. At the meeting place, we jumped right into playing with the children in afternoon play group. We then were given a tour of the village and learned about its chaotic history. We learned of the non-violent resistance where the local people stood up to the military during the Civil War that plagued the country for 30 years. We learned about the havoc Hurricane Stan and the resulting mudslides caused in the town and the responses to these disasters and we saw the school that had to be closed because of the damage from the mudslides. We're happy to share that the people of the village are working to clean up the school so it can be re-opened and that some of the money raised in Pennies for Poverty is going to provide paint for the buildings. Once we got back to the centre we were separated into groups for our first homestays.

The next day, we went to the market and went swimming in the lake. After swimming, we went back to ANADESA and did another children's hour, which included arts and crafts, basketball, and duck duck goose. After doing the children's program, we learned how to make tortillas...old school style. It was quite fun and way more difficult than expected. We learned you really have to move your body to do it. After that we went back for our second night of homestays. It's very difficult to communicate with people in another language but none of us spoke Spanish at all so it actually made it easier. They actually spoke a native language so with broken English and Spanish we were able to laugh and smile together. When we woke up in the morning we said Adios to our families and set off on an early morning bus ride to San Marcos.

In San Marcos we met Nate Howard, an MCC worker who spoke to us about Canada's involvement in strip mining for gold. By mining for gold in the northern part of the country, big corporations, such as Canada's own GoldCorp, are devestating the ecosystems and rural areas around the open pit mines. People are drinking water contaminated with the chemicals used to remove the gold from the other minerals and their ways of life are also being compromised as many foreigners are coming into their Indigenous lands for work. It was a very informative talk which caused us to get excited about informing others of the problem.

After that we took a chicken bus out to Sibinal. Here is where the fun begins. To start, a chicken bus is an old school bus on which people are packed on. We're talking 3 people to a seat and the aisles full of people. We all got in and it was very crowded. Let's just say that it was a very cultural experience. We were quite glad when we got to our very comfy motel in Sibinal.

In the morning we woke up early to get on another chicken bus to La Vega de la Volcan. It is in the mountains and it is flippin gorgeous. We arrived and ate breakfast and had a presentation on what our work project was - a cabin for tourists. Again, P4P stepped in and a large portion of their projected budget was donated by the students and supporters of RJC. We helped dig the foundation until 3:00. Because it started raining, the holes filled with water and we couldn't dig anymore. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and exploring. We then enjoyed a talent show where we enjoyed dancing, singing, and laughter. We separated once again into groups for another night of homestays. We were all shown an enormous amount of hospitality and generosity. The next morning, we picked rocks for cement and helped with rebar since we are now experts at that. We had trout for lunch from their hatchery that was supported by MCC. We played another game of soccer of Guatemala vs. Canada, which we almost won. After the game, we piled back onto a chicken bus back to Sibinal where we enjoyed a night in a comfortable bed and showers. Woooo!

In the very early morning we went back into the chicken bus and drove to San Marcos. There we had breakfast and then got into the Guatemalan equivalent to a Greyhound to Xela. That's where we are right now. We got here and headed out on the town for lunch and an afternoon to explore the downtown of this very cool city. There is a ton of Spanish architechture here and the building facades are amazing! In the afternoon there was a huge fire! it spread to some other buildings but is now under control.

Well the trip is coming to a close but we are determined to have fun these last few days so off we go! We'll be spending the night in Xela and will head off tomorrow morning to spend some much needed R'n'R at some sweet natural hot springs in the area. From there it's back on the micros to the City. We'll spend the rest of our time sharing about our experiences, highlights and low spots, what we learned and what we plan on doing with all this new information. We're looking forward to seeing our families and friends again soon.

Your blogging buddies,

Danika, Heather, and Taylor with a bit of help from Carmen

PS - sorry there aren't any pictures. We'll put up what we can when we can.

PPS- happy belated Valentine's Day and Go Canada!

Day 4 will be cemented in my mind forever!

Today we went back to Lo de Carranza to work on the foundation of the new church. We started by shoveling sand into wheelbarrows. We then dumped it out, added cement to it and then mixed it together. Steven was the translator and helped us figure out we had to do next which included shoveling rocks into the cement/sand mixture. We then poured water into the mixture and shovelled the crap out of that mixture. It was a super awesome mixture. So by doing that we found out that mixing the mixing pile would mix it a whole lot more to make one big mix. Afterwords groups of people shoveled the cement into pails and wheelbarrows and we dumped it into the trenches around the church. We did that about four times. Our legs and backs hurt a ton right now.

Beauty tip: If you ever want to dry out your skin so you get no acne, rub cement powder on it and let it dry. You girls will love it.

We did all this work before lunch. At lunch we enjoyed some unique Guatemalan food included beans and hot peppers. Luke decided to shove the biggest pepper into his mouth all at once. Bad idea. He is now a soprano. It was hot enough to make him cry, though I doubt he wants us to tell you that.

After lunch we carried cement blocks from point A to point B. Lots of the girls have big muscles in our group and Carlos and Heven let them know that. We worked really hard to get the job done. So did Louis.

After we finished working, Meme and Adriana took us to a couple other houses and we learned more about the Guatemalan culture in a much more real way. Also included were free range roosters and sugarcane for the win baby.

We also realized how much we have including water. There was a fire today out behind the church and they didn't even have the water to go fight it. We all felt really helpless and mentioned how at home that would never happen. The kids were also really sad that we had to go and we really didn't want to let them go either. They were adorable. One girl kept tickling Taylor and he felt like the pillsbury doughboy, but he enjoyed it. One little boy wouldn't let go of Erik all day, a few girls loved Katie and Sam, and one little boy remembered Coby and Matt from last year and gave us toys to give to them. Our hearts once again melted to sugar.

We are now heading off to the country and won't have computer access for some time. We want you to know that we will be perfectly safe and will be having a super great time!

Adios!

Danika, Heather and Roy Taylor

Day 3: The Fun Never Stops!

Today we got a lovely wake up call... WITH CHOCOLATE RICE KRISPIES AND PEANUT BUTTER FRENCH TOAST!! HECK YES!

After the tasty breakfast we loaded up the van and headed to the MCC base for most Central American countries. Anthony and David (two MCC workers) told us all about the hardships the youth in Guatemala face. It was really hard to hear all about the trials they endure when we have such an easy life. It really made us thankful for all that God has given us.

After we explored the MCC campus, we headed back out to Lo de Carranza to help build on the church. Our jobs consisted of bending rebar, cutting rebar, wiring rebar together, and laying rebar. We also got to see the children at preschool. Turns out navy and white are pretty common for dress code colours. The people at the church are very welcoming and hospitable. Today they provided us with a tasty snack and lunch. We had a sub and some canteloupe juice for the snack. For lunch we had a type of Guatemalan soup and a juice that tasted like rice pudding. SO GOOD. Laura and Heather were the bees knees at cutting wire. The system fell apart when they moved on to a new job.

Everyone worked hard today. It was fun to work and sorta communicate with the other workers. Steven is still a handy partner. Danika felt super awkward when he would start conversations with other people and leave her out. Luckly she was able to tie wire without being able to speak Spanish. Erik and Jim did the male equivilent of knitting today aka bending rebar. After we finished working, we got to see two families' homes and talk to them about what their lives are like. The people were very friendly and cracked a lot of jokes. After we walked out of the first families home there was a cow eating leaves and we were pretty amazed. Callahan later got attacked by this cow and it was kind of funny. Luckly she wasn't hurt and we can now turn it into a joke. Then we saw a cat cuddling with a pig in the grass. It was the cutest thing ever.

We came back to Semilla and were very grateful for showers as it burned our sun burns and cuts from wire. We are all exhausted and ready for bed. Love you buenos noches. Miss you xoxoxoxoxox

Danika, Heather, and Taylor
P.S. Cheryl: Allison is doing very well, she just refuses to use technology.

The team of awesome wire cutters: Laura and Heather

Raul (our driver) and Adriana (our Guatemalan expert) show us the ropes and translate.

At the MCC Office, Youth Worker David (left) and Country Rep Anthony (right) explain the work MCC does in Guatemala and neighbouring El Salvador.

Many hands make light work!

"Hugo is strong!" (roughly translated from foreman Manuelo) as Hugo cuts rebar for Carmen and Allison. These pieces will become the stabilizers for the foundation.

Sunburns & Siestas

Hola!
Our second day in Guatemala wasn't packed full but it sure seemed like it! We started off by heading to church at Lo de Carranza, a small town approximately 1 hour from the City. This is the site of our first work project and one where a portion of the funds raised through Pennies for Poverty will end up. The service was full of lively singing and an invigorating message even though it was all in Spainsh. The group prepared some songs and a dramatic reading to add to the service.

Once the service had finished it was only a matter of minutes before people had changed from their Sunday best into their soccer gear to have a match. We had been told last year that the Guatemalan team showed up in their complete uniforms and this year was no different, except that they had some t-shirts left from another group to donate to our team as jerseys. After a round of introductions, it was game time. One and a half hours later, the teams finally called it to an end with the offical score being 4-1 for the Guatemalans, even after we aquired a few of their players.

Those who didn't play enjoyed the day and played with many of the children from the town.

We continued to celebrate together with a delicious lunch hosted by the church. After we were full of mashed potatoes, rice, spiced chicken, tortillas, tamarine juice and special hot sauce for the brave, we listened to some stories from the founders of the church and teachers of the preschool. We also learned about our building project for the next two days and were excited to hear all about the work we will do together.

All that excitement in the sun brought an overall pinkish glow to the group. We'll remember to reapply the sunscreen more often tomorrow as we work in the sun. After a long day playing and worshipping together in temperatures we're not used to for February, it was the perfect opportunity for ice cream and naps. We'll be fully recharged for our day tomorrow, I'm sure!

Blessings,
Carmen

Checking out the markets of Guatemala - Canadian style

We arrived in Guatemala City at 10 o´clock last night after a long day of
travelling. We were up bright and early to learn about the city and prepare
for the exciting afternoon of exploring and shopping downtown Guatemala
City.
The morning was very ¨factual¨ as we took in information about the people of
Guatemala. Then we headed off for the market! We frolicked about the streets
of Guatemala and did a scavenger hunt to help explore and improve our
communication skills. Trying to use Spanish to barter is something that we
are not that good at. Steven is the master at the Spanish and is everyone´s
new best friend!
It was really fun to see all the food and merchandise and to try to do our
best at bartering. The people were all really open and friendly as they were
shouting ¨Buenos Dias!¨ and random welcoming messages that we couldn´t
understand - smiling is a universal language. We are all really enjoying our
time here and can´t wait for tomorrow where we will partcipate in a church
service and will play with the children. Adios!
Danika, Heather and Tswizzle aka Taylor
--
Open WebMail Project (http://openwebmail.org)

Guatemala Service and Learning Trip 2010

It's an extremely exciting time of year around the school. This year's International Service and Learning Trip will be departing for Guatemala at the end of this week.

This year, the group will focus on serving different areas around Guatemala. Our planned service
activities include further development of the daycare at Lo de Carranza (an initiative the Guatemala
2009 group worked on), running programs for a children's group at Santiago Atitlan and helping to
promote the newly developing eco-tourism industry in San Marcos by helping with construction of a
cabin. Along the way we will meet new friends and hear their stories about day-to-day life in this
exciting country. We'll also be participating in two home-stays (one in Santiago and one in San
Marcos), exploring ecology and supporting their economy by bartering in local markets. All in all this
year's trip is full of adventure.

The participants of the trip include: Katie Baschak, Samantha Bloomfield, Laura Civica, Callahan Collier, Luke Derksen, Danika Epp, Erik Epp, Heather Epp, Brayden Holman, Hugo Malan, Taylor Roy, Allison Schmidt, and Steven Tetreault. Chaperones of the trip are Carmen Pauls, Jim Epp, and Geraldine Balzer (board member).

We will try to update this space as often as possible and will do our best to share our story as it unfolds.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.