So now that you know about Luis I will continue the day. Ruth and I were driven to Luis by Leo. We couldn't
take a bus because he lives far out in the country. Ruth had never been to where he lives, she usually meets him at the school
or here in the office. We both thought it would be good to go and see his living conditions. On our way we passed several
hundred people by the side of the road. Leo said it was a strike and had to do with the city and the land use.
They were taking away some land from the people. We met Luis in the park in the village where he lives and he took us
on the drive to his house. It curved around the country roads and at one point we passed a dump that really smelled.
I looked out aand there were several people going through the garbage trying to find something they could salvage. One
lady and her small son had discovered several pieces of styrofoam. In this country when you think you have met someone who
is poor you always see someone who is poorer. It just seems to never end and could be very defeating if you let it.
But we at Sharing the Dream keep going on and hope we can make some differences to end this cycle of poverty. That is
why education is such a big goal of ours. I think education is the way out of poverty.
We arrived at a country
road and left the car and walked the rest of the way to his house. It was up and down quite a few small hills but it
is a very pretty area. We arrived at the house and he was very proud of his room. He had it padlocked, it is very
small and he shares it with the son of the owner. The room is made of cement blocks and has a dirt floor. The
roof is tin and looks very good. This is so much better then his previous room at his fathers. When I saw the room there
it looked like a place where you kept livestock. After opening his room he immediately showed us his bed. Although the
room is very small it is clean and looks very safe. We visited with him there and then we decided he would spend a few hours
with us. He needed a pair of shoes so we thought if we could find a place open we would get him a pair. We also
wanted to take him to lunch which he thought sounded like fun. The family that lives in the house was gone but he showed
us the cooking area. This is on the ground in a lean too. I also needed to use the bathroom so he showed us that.
The bathroom was about 4 feet from the cooking area and was a latrine. After looking around a bit we started on our
walk back through the hills to the car. We didn't have big plans for the afternoon but just wanted to hang out together.
Luis showed us the small town and also the school where he goes. They were having Sunday classes too. I believe
they have 4 shifts on the weekends.
I am a gardener and I thought the open area in the office needed some plants so
I wanted to buy some and donate them to the office. So one of first places we stopped was a place that had plants.
Since we had Leo's old SUV we thought this was a good time to get some. So the four of us walked around admiring the
plants and giving our opinions. There was a large clay pot shaped as a turtle so we thought that was a must. We then
all agreed on some bright colored flowers to go inside. We purchased one more pot and several other plants and started
back on our way. We told Luis he could decide where to go for lunch so he wanted to have pizza. By now we were
on our way back to the city and in a nicer area so there were several nice pizza places. We went to one and as I was
sitting there country music was playing. In fact it started out with "Rhinestone Cowboy". (Missed my husband at that
point) I could have been at any restaurant in the U.S. We spent about an hour eating pizza and drinking fresh
squeezed lemonade and then went shoe shopping.
The only place that was open for shoes on Sunday was a mall. This
mall was like any mall in the U.S. We found Luis a nice pair of shoes. He doesn't have very nice things so a good
pair of shoes is something that doesn't last long but that he wears constantly. After climbing the hills in the mud
to his house one can certainly see how shoes wouldn't last very long.
The mall was busy with shoppers. Malls
are not my favorite places to go and this one was no exception. The wealthy here in Guatemala shop at the malls.
There are all the typical stores and all the items that one does not need but after walking around the mall for awhile feels
like they are necessities. When does it ever stop? Like my good husband says," The more you get the more you want,
and the more you think you need."
Getting in the car and leaving the mall I could see contrasts immediately.
Right across from this mall were houses and shacks and people not having enough to eat.
We drove to a bus stop.
Dropped Luis off with hugs and kisses and promises to see him at Christmas when I come down with my family. He is such
a good boy and I am really proud of him and the good decisions he makes.
Ruth, Leo and I proceeded back to the office.
Taking a detour through the Korean section. Ruth said that lots of Koreans own the maquiladoras (sweatshops) and they
really alienate themselves from the Guatemalans. Most do not learn the language and they live separately and even have
separate stores. She said Guatemalans are not welcome in the Korean stores. The neighborhood was not fancy but
you could see that it was definitely separate. You could see the stores with Korean writing on the signs.
Ruth,
Leo and I stopped for ice cream and then came back to the office. Late in the afternoon we both rested and then at about
6:30 started some office work. When I was resting I left the front window open just a little. This is such a fun
neighborhood because the children are always playing out on the street. They play kick ball quite a bit.
The balls often land on the roofs of the houses and then fall down in the areas of the homes that don't have roofs.
So after loosing their ball in someones house, the children go door to door knocking and asking for their balls back.
They particularly liked knocking on my door because I am such an oddity. I would go to the door and quite a few small
brown faces would look up at me and in Spanish say, "Tienes mi pelota?" (Do you have my ball?)I would then say "Que colores
es?" (What color is it?) They would tell me the color and I would go back and look. I would come back and tell
them I didn't have it and off they would go. About every 20 minutes they would come and ask me. At one point I
heard a ball land back by the pila. Then I heard the knock and there were about 6 children all with smiles asking for the
ball. I asked them what color, they told me and I went back and found it. Then they told me thank you in English.
This has become quite a game for us.
Ruth and I worked in the office for awhile and then joined her brother and sister-in-law
for some black beans and tea. I will have to tell you about them sometime. They are very interesting people.
Right now they are not living in their home because Leo is getting death threats.
I will include some photos.
I do not include all the photos but I am sending them on to Vikki in the Sharing the Dream office in Vermillion. She
is one of our great volunteers. She is putting these photos on our web site along with my journal entries. You
can see these at
Trip Journals.
