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| Diana
( who works for STDG) and Hugo ( our forever taxi driver) picked us
up. We had a lot of luggage and we wouldn’t fit in one car. Isabel
who lives at our centre in Guatemala and is one of our scholarship
students came with them. When we arrived at the centre, we were met by
Rosa one of our volunteers and her sister Val, who had come to visit.
It had been a long day so we went to bed shortly after arrival. Oct. 9, 2008 We had breakfast. Fresh fruit of course…. and then headed for the lawyer. We wanted to meet with her and discuss different options for STDG. Right now in Guatemala we are under the organization ATUKA which is 3 organizations. We joined with these other two because we were all small and it made sense to do this together. Since STDG is growing we eventually might need to form our own NGO (non-government organization) so we wanted to know how to do that. Julio the accountant for ATUKA came with us. After this we headed for Panajachel. Diana drove us and the road was really rough. There was road construction, wash outs, and mud slides so the combination made for pretty poor roads. Diana is a good driver though and we made it just fine. We were staying at the Maya Tradition bungalows so we took our things there…left the car and then went to MT work centre and shop. We picked up some items for the US and made an order that will be delivered early next year. They had some new colors and fabrics so it was fun to see them. We went back to the bungalows and met with Rocky. Terry was glad to see her as was Rocky glad to see her dad. We all ate together in the sala at MT. Rocky and her dad did not stay with us, as Rocky had a dog and had to stay somewhere where dogs are permitted. Rocky also wanted to stay an extra day in Pana as she had things to do so Terry stayed with her.   Oct. 10, 2008 Vikki and I got up really early as the only clock I had was on my cell phone and it was in US time. It didn’t hurt though as the morning was more relaxing. We ate breakfast at MT and then headed across the lake to Santiago Atitlan. This is still the rainy season so the weather has been cold and damp, not the most pleasant that I have seen in Guatemala. When we got to Santiago we grabbed a Tuk-tuk and went to the elder centre. Our elder centre in Guatemala has just been remodeled and looks wonderful…. We didn’t have too much time to look around though as we had a meeting right away at the Chacaya school. Diana, Vikki and I went to the city centre to catch a pick up. ( The local taxi service)..It was market day so the streets were full. We found the pick up that was headed for Chacaya and were the first passengers. This meant we would have to wait.. and wait we did. It was about 30 minutes before men and women came from the market with their baskets full of fruits, vegetables, banana leaves and lots of other products. It was interesting just watching all the activities.. We did see our friend Amanda and her little girl Emma…Amanda said we were pretty easy to spot in the market as we were the tall gringas..which is quite a compliment for Vikki as she isn’t very tall. Amanda and I decided we would get together later so we could visit. We arrived at the Chacaya school and were met by the parent committee. The new school had just been finished so it was really exciting to see it. The students were all in their classes and had prepared for our visit. We went from one classroom to the next and the kids were so cute. In some of the classrooms there would be a student who was selected to give a welcome and a thank you speech. In all of the classroom there were gifts for us. We were given cards, beaded jewelry that they had made and pictures they had drawn. We received so many things by the third classroom that one of the parents brought us a box to put them in. This was such a great time for me as when I first saw this school they were in rented huts that looked like cattle pens.. In fact they had been cattle pens. STDG has been working with this school for about 4 years. We bought the land for the new school, have paid for a teacher every year, bought and brought down supplies and other things for them. They had good friends in a group called Peg Partners who paid for the retaining wall that was needed because the school was built on a huge hill. There was a Guatemalan organization that built the school. So the parents group has been very good at trying to find resources for the school.   After our tour around the school we met with the parent’s group and the principal. This is always a time for thank you’s and for telling of their needs and of course there are always a lot of these as the government furnishes very little. The students don’t have desks and they didn’t think they could find a Guatemalan organization to fund this. They also need blackboards, shelves for the small amount of books they have and the list goes on and on. STDG has some great support for the school from several groups who have been down to see it. Jodene in Rapid City has been instrumental through Calvary Lutheran gathering supplies and money for the school as well as a UCC church in Sioux Falls. There was a group that came to Guatemala from the UCC church with two of our board members Karen and Denny and this group has raised a lot of money to help support the school…. But as we always learn, the needs do not end. The big projects that are needed are some ground work. The school is not very well protected from thieves and so a parent has to patrol the grounds every night. They looked at building another retaining wall that they thought would help this… The retaining wall would also prevent the erosion that was happening on the road coming up and if there were a wall they could use fill dirt to have more land. I looked at the plans and couldn’t see how what they had would stop thieves. The man that did the construction walked me through what they wanted to do. Terry who is an engineer had stayed in Pana with his daughter and several times I had wished he was with us as Vikki, Diana and I are not real knowledgeable in construction. When he gets to Santiago I do want him to go out there and see what he thinks. After walking around we sat down again and I did the usual counselor thing and said “OK, separate this for me and tell me what the goals are”….They said their first goal was protection of the school from thieves… I explained to them that I thought that the plan they had wouldn’t do this…. After explaining why they all agreed that this wasn’t going to help. We then talked about how putting bars on the outside windows and putting up a few iron gates would prevent people from breaking into the school. They all agreed that this would help much more… The second goal they had was to improve the road coming up to the school as right now it was washing out and unsafe for the children. This would mean a retaining wall on one side and then the road construction. This is not a cheap deal… The third goal was to add another retaining wall and put in fill dirt to add more space for playground area. We discussed how this had to all be done in phases and that they had to look for other means of support and that we would too. These are big projects and will cost over $20,000.00 plus all the supplies they need for the school.  It was a good meeting but always difficult because there is so much to do….There is always a tough question… Do we help this school more or do we help another school that has nothing? I am not sure of that answer; I only know this is a good and honest group to work with…. I think we have a very good relationship with them and we always work very hard at working with them and not just giving them money. They have told Diana that this is the difference between us and the group that built the school. The group that came in and built the school told them how things were going to be done and didn’t really listen to them. We always sit down and work things out with them… This takes a lot longer but is really beneficial in the long run. Before we left I discussed a couple of other things with them… One thing came into my mind when the children were handing out gifts to us… Could the older children have a business class? They will all go into some type of business probably and maybe setting up something now that is like a small cooperative would be beneficial to them. We could give them start up costs for their little business and they could make some beaded items that we would order and the profits could go back to the school. The business class would help them set up the structure for the business as far as a business plan etc. and they could then use the profits to buy more beads and if they had more profits could buy something for the school that they decide…. The principal and parents were excited about this and really wanted to pursue this. I work at East High in Sioux City and we have a school store. The students and advisor from the store asked me to bring some jewelry items back to them for their store. I think it would be great to work out a relationship between my schools student store and this school. Lots of interesting thoughts. I would enjoy anyone’s feedback on this. The second think that Pascal (the principal) and I discussed was eventually having something at the school the 2 months when the students have their break. This is usually Nov. and Dec. I will be really glad when all the construction items are done and we can really work together on program needs for the students. He said a big need for these months was tutoring for the students who had fallen behind. We left the school and got in a pick up to get back to Santiago.. On the way our pick up had a flat tire so we got out and got another one. Our second pick up ran out of gas… Never fear though… He grabbed a milk jug from behind the seat with gas and filled it up… Hmmmm…. By the time we got back to the elder centre the elders had eaten and were gone. I felt bad about this because I really enjoy seeing them. We had a quick lunch and left for the Hospitalito. We met with Jose the administrator, Lynn the treasurer and the medical director. We pay so much a month to the Hospitalito and they take care of our elders. It is like an insurance policy. They went over which elders had come in and needed care in June, July and August. We then discussed what else needs to happen. We decided it would be good to have one contact person at the elder centre that they could call and would know exactly what was going on with the elders as one of them needed a follow up visit and wasn’t coming in… We also decided that they would get more history on the elders and that when an elder came into our program they would have a physical so the Hospitalito would have baseline information. Sometimes the elders will not go there when they are sick because they think that is where you go when you die. If we can get the elders there when they are well, they may start to see it differently. The second thing we worked on was a collaborative effort with some of our scholarships. The Hospitalito needs to have some of their staff trained better and the staff cannot afford to do it. We said STDG would help with University training for 2 staff and they could decide which two. … They would base this on the needs of the Hospitalito. They chose a young man who works in the laboratory. He is from the community, wants to stay in the community, is very bright, and needs financial help. He will start the University in Jan. and go for two years to get a degree in lab tech. The other young woman works in the pharmacy, is also from the community, is bright and needs financial help too. She will go to the University and get a degree in pharmaceutical tech. They will work at the Hospitalito during the week and travel to Guatemala City…every Saturday for classes. This will be very demanding but is something they want to do. STDG will find finances for 2/3 of their training and they will pay the other 1/3. They will also sign a commitment to work at the Hospitalito for at least 2 years after their training. The other thing that STDG will provide will be their overnight stay in Guatemala City on Sat. night at our centre there. We went back to the elder centre and met with a young man from another organization that works with micro credit. This was interesting to hear about and it would be good information to give to some of the Guatemalans we work with if they want it. It is good not to go into the micro credit loan business as this seems to be the big thing now and there are plenty of organizations doing this. It is good to find out about them though and network. This is the second anniversary of the elder centre so they had made some special food and we had a wonderful cake. It was a nice time for Vikki, Diana and I just to be with Chonita, Bernavela and, Felipa… They are the 3 women who really make this centre work. It has been a long day… After working a bit more with Diana after dinner. Vikki and I hit the sack at about 9:30. More later, Diane |