Guatemala: Day 5

Waking up at 7 a.m. today actually felt like sleeping in! We ate our regular breakfast of eggs & beans and then went to the ambulance to stock up our travel packs with kits to take to the villages. I loaded my pack with hygiene kits- and Danielle and Katie loaded theirs with school supplies kits and baby care packages. To get to the village, we took a "bus" which was actually hopping in the back of an open truck bed, with medal bars to hold on.

After arriving in the village, we each got our materials ready to teach our class. I taught about the importance of washing your hands, Christopher taught about bacteria and parasites. All of our class members were young mothers. The other group members taught about nutrition breast feeding, first aid and diarrhea.

It was crazy to teach because we began our lessons in English, Kyle then translated them into Spanish and then finally Herbert translated it into Quichean. Surprisingly, the women were pretty attentive and hopefully they learned something helpful to them and their children.

After our lessons, we all went on a tour of the village. We saw a small doctor clinic and watched how they perform the U.S. version of "physicals." To calculate weight, they hang the kids in a pouch or if they're infants, they are wrapped in a blanket and hooked to a pulley system. For height they are laid on a wooden board with slider to measure. The village huts were very interesting. Sometimes one family had 10 kids and they all shared a hut with only a few rooms. They didn't have running water and some didn't even have beds- only hammocks.






I got a lot of cute pictures and the kids were really willing to smile and pose, unlike other areas of Guatemala where they ran away. Katie, Tressa and Chris played soccer with kids and Chris volunteer to help a group of guys construct a building.

Later on, we had a quiz of facts and information learned from our lessons. We gave out our kits as prizes. The people loved us and were very grateful- and I love them too. They taught me a lot about the true sense of happiness. These people had almost nothing, even compared to the poorest American. But despite their poverty, they smiled, they loved, they laughed. Money wasn't sought after, because they had everything they needed.

The woman in this village were hard working. You could see by just looking at their hands. They have nothing, but are willing to give everything. When we visited one hut, a woman recently had a baby. She gave our group a steaming hot corn drink. While it was about 90 degrees and we were sweating hot, the last thing we wanted was a boiling hot drink. But we had to drink it. In my mind, we didn't have a choice. When someone gives you the best they have, you can't refuse it, no matter how burnt your tongue is. I respect the Guatemala women so much and hope I can remember this lesson when I'm complaining about having to do laundry (with a washing machine! not in a river).

Christopher also got the chance to ride a motorcycle. He was pretty excited. I'm not sure if it was because the bike ride was fun...or if he was just happy that he didn't have to walk :) haha

Back at hotel, we took a little siesta (nap) and I played with Poncho the monkey and then went to the Internet cafe. It was comforting to have access to some technology- even though writing a blog post & emailing my mom took me about 5 times longer than normal.

When everyone woke up from their naps, we took a bus to San Nicholas where the rest of the group was working on building the school. Kyle bartered our fare from 10 quets to 5- he was always saving us money! It was a beautiful ride up into the mountains. When we arrived, the kids were crazy! They shouted "Goal!" and waved their hands excitedly. I couldn't help but take a thousand (literally) pictures of them because they just ran around posing the whole time. They would follow me around and shout "Ay! Foto!" They were so adorable...and yet again- even the kids with no shoes or shirts, were content and happy. Whenever they saw their picture in the LCD, they FREAKED out. Like seriously- screaming and squealing and giggling, it was awesome.

While we were playing with the kids, the leaders of our group made plans for the school. It was difficult because they have different supplies and less options for tools and machinery. We had to do things in a very simple, basic way. Chris, Dave and Kyle played soccer with the natives and Chris assisted Dave for a goal. The natives actually started passing to them and including them in their strategy. When David scored, Chris and Dave did a chest bump and all the natives laughed. Even Chris scored a goal. He was really excited.

When dusk came, we traveled back home for dinner. The best part about the night was...my shower! I was so sweaty and stinky...the COLD water felt awesome! I honestly didn't even desire a hot shower, ever. Then we walked around La Tinta and I got hooked on yummy Kiwi Popsicles for only 2quets! (That's like $.25) They were my favorite- definitely one thing I miss about Guatemala.