We walk over the bridge. It’s really high. You can see up and down the river. Not many people are up. We placed our breakfast order last night. We’re to meet at 7am. Angie, the lady who operates the orphanage and Backpackers, meets us for breakfast. We listen to her story as 1 meal is delivered. A few minutes later, another few meals arrive. We are finished with our meal and the yogurt and granola group hasn’t received their meal yet. We’re on Guatemala time. There are other tables of diners. I hear different languages.

Angie has been here for 25 years. She explains that she took over the orphanage when the Canadian couple, who founded it, were leaving. It was located in Guatemala City. Angie wanted to relocate the children to a place where they could swim and play, where they had room to accommodate many children. She made an agreement with the village, Las Brisas, that they would give her the land to build the orphanage if she would allow their children to enroll in the school. In this part of  Guatemala no one owns land. You only receive a 100 year lease. Sometimes, several people could own the same piece of land.

Angie explains how this area has grown. The river is lined with very nice homes. The rich people vacation here. There are small wood boats being “motored” by paddle to large expensive yachts. The coast of the Caribbean is about 40 minutes away by boat. Cruise ships dock on the coast and the locals sell their crafts to the tourists. The tourists feel sorry for the poor locals and pay too much money for the products, which then warps the local’s minds to the value of their product. The locals are rich for a day, but don’t have income to sustain themselves over time.

We ride on a small boat, that fits 11 people in seats, 1 life jacket, to Las Brisas. The village is  just past Casa Guatemala. There are 80 families in this village. The dock is wood with no hand rails. The vegetation is abundant. The trees are walking, they have multiple roots, and huge vines draping into the river. A cactus type plant grows in the crooks. We are entering the jungle.

The village has buildings with bamboo walls, thatch roofs, concrete floors. There is no electricity in the building where we meet. The dogs bark to let everyone know strangers have arrived. We meet in the town hall; it also looks like the medical clinic by the posters on the wall. 1 poster depicts 3 children of different color and above the children are the words: polio, tetenos, difteria, rubeola. The 2nd poster is from Unicef and talks about hygiene. The 3rd poster shows a picture of a child who has received good nutrition and the 2nd child is emaciated, malnourished. The villagers bring in their crafts and set them on a small table that’s maybe 2 feet high and 6 feet long. The chairs match the table size. It’s hard to see the crafts as the light is dim and the entering ladies block the only light from the entrance. The ladies are all wearing skirts with various prints-many have crocheted or lace tops and sandals. Men are in pants and shirts. Everyone has dressed up.

A little girl comes up with her Mom. Diane asks if she’s the girl who was sick last year. She had worms and was throwing them up. Diane was traveling with a doctor and the Mom asked if the doctor would look at her daughter. The doctor gave her some medicine. We hear her coughing again-the little girl is pale. She’s probably sick again.

The villagers crowd in the door and file in to sit with us.  A few bring their kids. 1 baby is also sick and coughing badly.

The crafts are carved from wood or seeds. They’ve made necklaces, earrings, paper picture frames, cards, woven purses and baskets. We try to decide what language to speak in and who will translate. There is English, Spanish, Quekchi, and Quiche.

A huge dog fight happens as we’re meeting. All the dogs are beating up and biting 1 dog. The little dog runs into our building crying, limping and hides under the table. She’s bleeding. Her leg is hurt-the villagers shoo her out, but she hides under me, under the table. She pokes her head out looking up. I want to help her, to comfort her, pet her, but she is dirty and so thin she might be sick. What will happen with this pup?

The kids who have come with their Mom’s are all very quiet. When the little ones are hungry, their Mom’s breast feed them, openly exposing their breasts. A cell phone rings.

There are 31 women in this “group”. One group travels 45 minutes, walking, and 2 ½ hours by truck to get here to show their crafts to us. Las Brisas doesn’t have anything to show other than the shawls on their backs. The shawl is made from the same thread as are fishing nets. It’s very unique crochet. Different patterns. This group is not organized enough to make a big order. We purchase a few items and will get back in touch with them for suggestions.  Diana, Diane, Isabel, Clemente and Angie decided that when we get back to the Backpackers we will put together a plan of what we are going to do with the group.

Felipa  helped translate some of our meeting. He speaks English. He was one of the 1st kids at the orphanage. He has graduated from college. He likes being a role model for the kids.

We walk with Angie to the orphanage along a small path. It rained while we were in the meeting. You’d think it would be muddy, but the ground wasn’t it was hard packed. The path had small boards to cross ditches and wobbly stairs to cross a fence. We meet a young gal who is pregnant. Angie says she is 15. She is expecting her 2nd child. In this village, girls are matched with boys when they complete 6th grade. Men control the women. Make all the decisions. The men deliver the babies.

We went through the garden the children plant and tend to daily. It had beautiful flowers, vines, watermelon, cucumbers, parsley, celery and red die #5 plant, achote. A Canadian group started building a building to study agriculture but they ran out of money. It still needs a floor, bathrooms and screen windows.

The kids are playing soccer, basketball and hanging out. They like getting their photo’s taken. A cruise ship toots its horn-the 40 passengers who have visited the orphanage are leaving. Evidentially they dock, walk around about 1 hour, then leave. They pay by bringing food. We looked in the kitchen and today they brought cheese cake, pies and possibly 10-12 dozen big cookies. I wondered why they didn’t bring flour or vegetables. I wondered if Angie could suggest what they should bring.

 

A few kids tried to get into my pockets or in the camera case. The boy was about 6. A teacher told me to be careful that he steals things. These children are not available for adoption. We see a few that could be ill. Maybe they have parasites with their distended stomachs and little arms. These kids’ families were too poor to support them. It seems to me that the kids at the orphanage have a great place to live. Better than any of the villages we have seen so far. They have a nice little village that has school rooms with books, teachers and supplies, a working garden and farm with pigs, and cattle. These kids have medical care, food, homes. They get to color and play. They are safe.

We ride down the river and look at the terrain. It is beautiful, dense tropical vegetation. The shore is lined with large homes. Many have yachts docked, some in slips with hydraulic lifts. I ask Diana about the people who own some of the big homes. She explains that a few were owned by the Presidents. And that you don’t actually own land in Guatemala. You lease it for 100 years. Sometimes the land could be leased to more than one person. I wonder how that works when you’ve built a home and someone shows up saying the land is theirs……..

I ask Diana my birth control question. She said birth control and sex education is not discussed among family members or in school. Women don’t have sex until they are married or they’ll be cast aside. People will say the girl is sick or a bad person. I asked if she could have a class about sex education when they do training to the Groups and Co-ops. She said they would ask the ladies if they were interested in taking a class and that most wouldn’t know what we were talking about and if they did, they would say No, they didn’t want to learn. Diane said how can you talk to people about birth control when you are working with them on going to the bathroom in the toilet.

We return to the Backpackers.  We have a few hours to ourselves.  Lee and I work on the journals.   The rest of the group walks to Fronteras. It is a nice day to just rest a bit before our trip back to the city.

At dinner, Angie joins us. She is very interesting and so dedicated. She tells us how Backpackers is a for profit business that supports Casa Guatemala. In reflections, I say that I think the kids have it so much better than some of the village children we have visited. They have food, a roof over their heads, medical care, play grounds, nice classrooms, teachers, books, crayons and toys. They learn with books and in the garden and farm. Diane asked Isabel if she thought the kids in the orphanage had it better. Isabel said no. even though her family was poor, she had a Mother who loved her. We asked Clemente. He said he thought the orphan kids were better than the village children. They were not forced to stay in a home with parents who didn’t want them, who were alcoholic or abusers.

Angie tells some very interesting stories about the children past and present. It seems most have gone on to lead good lives. A few have stayed behind for various reasons.

Friday, March 6, 2009-03-06

We are getting ready to head back to the city. It’s raining lightly at Rio Dulce as we drive out. When we arrived in town, it was dark. Leaving, we get to see how lush and green this area is. The cattle are abundant. We see only Brahma’s. The vegetation is dense except where it has been cleared for livestock. The pastures are enclosed with living fences. The trees have been cut into 4-5 ft lengths and hammered into the ground. After time, a tree sprouts from the top of the fence post.

On the way to Rio Dulce we’re stopped by police.  There is a nervous tension in the vehicle. What do they want? They ask for money or look at Our papers. After a few minutes we’re allowed to go on.

Today, we encounter no police or check points. We pass men going to the bathroom along the road. There is no heat or a/c in the van. Only a fan. There is a lot of heavy traffic again. Many trucks are Dole or Chaquita from the US. The country changes from tropical to dry. It is beautiful. When I arrive in Guatemala, I focus on the unsightly things like the trash, abundant power lines or bars over the windows. Now I focus on the beauty in the small things like the rotting boat that is planted with beautiful flowers, the ripe fruits available along the road and the traditions here.

We stop at the Mayan ruins. The buildings and statues are hundreds of years old. I need Lee’s help for this. I’m not the history buff. I am fascinated by the GIGANTIC, multi-trunked trees, vines grow in the trees, the palms that have sprouted up at the 30 foot level. The birds are tropical, a lizard scares me. We are one of the few people at the site. It is well preserved. There are 2 mounds of dirt near the court yard that have yet to be excavated. We wonder what’s beneath. We hiked to the top of the courtyard. The rocks that have been piled to make steps are big. I wonder how such a small person could climb such big steps.

As we leave the ruins, we head for the highway past a large banana grove. It seems like a big operation. The banana’s are bagged on the tree to prevent the bugs from eating them. We are flagged to stop. There is a conveyor belt transporting picked banana bunches across the road. They are heading for the truck and on to the market.

We stop at a gas station. Gas is Q21 and Diesel is Q18.50. All service stations are full service only. One man washes the windows with a hose from a faucet.

We stop at Pollo Campero, a fast food chicken restaurant. We sit at the table and they come to take our order. 6 of us are served immediately. The remaining 3 are served 20+ min later. We have 2 pieces of chicken, fries and cole slaw. The food reminds me of Kentucky Fried Chicken. We can “super size” our meal. Most people in Guatemala are very thin…except at Pollo Campero...3 policemen walk into the restaurant, big guns at their sides. They wonder past the counter and head to the childrens area. I wonder what is about to happen. They sit to eat. The big guns are a bit intimidating to me.

We take a detour on our way back to the center and head  into Zone 1. Diana explains that this area is not so good. We roll up the windows and lock the doors until it’s too hot. The van has no a/c and no heat.  The traffic is bad here. The exhaust stinky. We have the green light, the right of way, but the traffic in front of us at the intersection is stopped so we wait on the opposite side of the intersection. The lanes of traffic that have the red light go through the intersection. We pass prostitutes near the railroad. Many businesses have armed guards at the entrances. All places have bars over the windows and or big cement walls that line the road.

We drive back into the center. Home again, Home again, jig jig jig.

We scramble to get organized, re-pack, make dinner, make beds for the new 9 people arriving from Vermillion.   We will do our final reflections tonight and leave for the airport at 4 tomorrow morning.

Note from Diane…I hope you have enjoyed Jennifer’s descriptive journals.  She has spent a long time on them so that you can see, feel, and sometimes even smell what it is like to be on our trip.