We tried different paths along our walk that curved through neighborhoods., some small and winding and some where one person could only walk. We went between banana trees and coffee bushes.   The paths and roads are  4 to 12 feet wide and shared by people, bicycles, tuk tuks, pick ups, dogs, and delivery trucks.  One never knows what is ahead or what is behind.   We sometimes determine our path by how big the dog is ahead. The small homes meet the street or path, there is no yard or clearance. There is no separation between most homes, one stops and another starts. Small paths wind between some homes and you can look down and see several more homes beyond. The construction is rock or cinder block walls, dirt or cement floors and tin roofs. A nice home could be painted, have windows and the walls meet the ceiling. Some homes have rebar sticking up from the top floor allowing the owners to add on in later years. Along our walk we pass several homes that are very small, maybe 12x12 and house an entire family. The areas around the homes are dirt, not grass and are used for preparing meals, hanging laundry and attending to daily chores.

The air is crisp but has a smoky smell from the wood burning for heat and cooking.

This morning we rode to a school where Sharing the Dream bought the land  and the coffee company donated the money for the building. The ride to the school took us about 30 min  winding down small roads. Mom, Diane and I got to ride is a nice new Ford SUV with Crista, the representative from the coffee company. Diana, Ed and Lee rode in the back of a small pickup truck…standing up. Most of the road was paved and wound around the lake toward this village. Then the pavement ended and we bounced up down and around on a very small dirt road trying to miss the big boulders and holes in our path. As we drove into town the roads were paved or cobbled and we passed several ladies carrying large vases on their heads. These vases are used for carrying water to their homes. The school sits on a hill with a beautiful view of the lake. I would describe it as open air school, in the shape of a “U”. There is a steep dirt hill leading up to the school. I noticed a lady cooking outside the small school in a huge pot over a wood fire. The grounds around the school and inside the “U” is all dirt. As the wind picks up, it blows the dirt and debris around.

At the school we’re greeted with curious faces of kids poking their heads out of the class rooms trying to catch a view of the visitors. They all knew we’re coming. We  go into each classroom and see the kids. There are 5 class rooms with 25-30 kids and 1 teacher. The rooms are sparse with a dry erase board and new desks (that were mostly  purchased by Calvary Lutheran Church in Rapid City) and it seemed most kids had paper and pencil on top. The last class we visit, the 5th and 6^th grades are combined and have one teacher. This is the only room that has books. I asked the principal why the other classes didn’t have any books and he said they were not provided by the government and that they could not afford them. The 5^th and 6^th graders were reading from 3^rd grade books. We were treated to an assembly by the kids…The students danced, sang, there were speeches and we received a big carved fish in honor of giving the desks.

We walked to the old school. We walk everywhere. I really like walking as we get to see the people and the country as it is. The old school was constructed of plastic walls and ceilings. The toilet was a hole in the ground surrounded by plastic. On the way back the road near the school was lined with ladies selling fruits and candies to the kids. The ladies all had on the traditional clothing, and were squatting on the curb. One had cooked up a concoction of a round fruit with a gravy sauce in a huge pot. The kids were loving it. I was surprised some of the kids could afford Q1 for the treats. I asked one lady if she had kids at the school and she said she had 3 and that the lady sitting beside her was also her daughter. The daughter also had a child and I asked the childs age. She said the baby was 1. I asked if the baby was with a relative or baby sitter or where she left the baby when she came to the school for lunch and she said the baby was napping at home.

We headed back to the center in Santiago to feed the elders. When we arrived only a few elders had beat us and they were waiting patiently for their meal. They were so nicely dressed and cleaned up. I would guess we fed 50, all women and 1 man, Gasbar. We visited Gasbar at his home on Monday. They must have known we were coming. I am over 5’8” and I felt like a towering giant against these small people. I now understand why the chairs and benches at the center are similar to elementary school size. We had lost electricity early in the morning so it was dark in one of the rooms. I was given the task of handing out the vitamins. I dumped multi-vitamins and calcium pills on a plastic plate, grabbed a knife and began splitting a white pill with a peach colored pill and started to try to give it to the elder. It seemed each person had a habit of taking the cup of water first, then the pills, but they wouldn’t take the pills, then the water. A few elders just waived their hand as a sign that they didn’t choose to take the pills. Some of the elders had a difficult time seeing the pills on the platter either from the white plate or the dim lights…some I believe were nearing blindness. The meal was a traditional soup which consisted of a chunk of beef at the bottom of small plastic bowl with cabbage soup poured over the top. Each person also received 7 corn tortillas. Not 8 tortillas, 7. We didn’t hand out silverware. Everyone ate with their hands. Some of the elders take their meals home and don’t eat at the center. These elders brought their plastic bowls, tightly wrapped in their shawls. I went from elder to elder collecting their bowls and then we filled them with beef, soup and stacked the tortillas on top. When I returned the meal to the elders each would wrap the tortillas so carefully in her shawl you’d have thought I brought her a beautiful piece of china. They were all so grateful and smiled up at me with their wrinkly little dark faces, most missing a few teeth. When they began filing out after lunch most of the elders came up to thank us for coming and for thee meal. They all were so grateful.

It’s been a whirlwind of a day, but we still wanted to head to the hospital. Diane explained that the other hospital was destroyed in the mud slide a few months after the construction was finished. That was 4 years ago. The new hospital wasn’t constructed yet so we went to the temporary hospital which was an old hostel or backpackers hotel along the lake. We’d been running late so we all hopped into tuc tuc’s and off we went. Mom, Diana and I went in 1 tuc tuc with a kid who couldn’t have been 15 and he drove like Mario Andretti. For those of you who have visited areas with steep mountains, slick roads, driving really fast past other vehicles, people, dogs, up and down and around, it can be a hair raising experience. We arrived safely. Wheew! The building was well worn, open air with stunning views of the volcano’s, lake and surrounding vistas. We asked for a tour and met a wonderful young doctor from San Francisco. He was slim, dressed in scrubs and stood about 6’5” tall and was so blond he was almost a toe head. He was quite a sight in Guatemala where most people are darker haired and skinned. He was quite a friendly person, has been here for 4 weeks, on sabbatical from his private practice with his wife who is a physicians assistant and his 2 kids. He was an interesting person and seemed very relaxed in the setting. He explained that in Santiago currently there were more doctors here than patients…interesting. But as he explained more, it made sense. In the US, we’re so use to getting treated for things and preventative care. And here, people don’t come to the hospital unless they are desperately sick or seriously wounded. The families can’t afford the care and don’t understand the language, pills and practices. He said the hospital has many things they need from a good selection of medicines to 1 operating room and 3 patient rooms. He said when he sees a patient and needs to prescribe something, he just walks down the hall to the pharmacy, checks that he has enough pills to prescribe the medicine, then he gives it to the patient. He said most medicines are donated, they might have 10 extra bottles of Walmart Advil and no Tylenol for example. They do not have a pharmacist or a computer to log the inventory….in fact, we saw several boxes of diabetes medicine and other drugs stacked along the wall in the waiting area and near the stairs. They have 1 X-Ray machine and a small lab. Any other tests need to be sent out. We asked what he sees…diabetes is pretty bad, a few machete accidents, heart attacks, child births. We were surprised there weren’t more car accidents as people drive quite fast on windy roads in overloaded vehicles with no seatbelts… We walked past the new new hospital which is just a few retaining walls, dirt piles and rebar. It will be quite a facility when it’s done in 2 years. Hopefully the San Francisico doc will continue to come here. I know I would feel safe in his care.

We walked back to the center, had macaroni and cheese of all things and met the night watchman, Jose. Jose is Diego Santiago’s (a Sharing the Dream scholar)father. He stays every night at the elders center to keep it from getting broken into again. He was dressed so nicely in his traditional pants, shirt and straw cowboy hat. He was kind and warm and stood like a proud man. Jose told us how much his job meant to him and that initially he was unsure of working there and he felt uneasy about the people and new things. He said he walks to work every night about 1.5-2 miles, sleeps in one of the rooms with that we fed the elders in and then walks home early in the morning so he can hike up the hills to work all day, but he is so grateful for the opportunities he’s getting and Diego Santiago is getting by being a scholar and getting to go to school. He said when he first started he didn’t know how to eat with a fork, or spoon, didn’t dress as he does and didn’t have the experiences he’s now having, but he’s really grateful and he thanked Diane. Sharing the Dream is really affecting people here and these people are very gracious and grateful for it.

Hope you enjoy my journal.