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Monday July 12
This morning I worked around the office until Ruth came at 8. I planted some plants that we had
bought on Sunday. I also worked on my journal and worked in the back room packing crafts. Right now we donīt have
as much to bring back so I will be purchasing items as we go to the cooperatives. When Ruth came we had breakfast.
I always put on the coffee for us, although half of the pot is gone by the time she gets here. (I know too much
coffee). This morning we had yogurt and granola for breakfast. It is so nice to have a refrigerator and some other
things here so we can do that. All of the items in the office are purchased from money that is taken in from the groups
that stay here. The office is getting quite nice and can accommodate small groups very well.
Ruth and I worked on office work all morning and planned out the afternoon. We were going to go see 3 new groups this
afternoon. One that makes candles, one that does wood, and one that does clay. Irma called and said that Miguel
was going to stop by and get some clothes. About 12 Miguel came and with him was Rolando, and Miguel’s cousin
Myria and her husband and child. Miguel and Rolando had come to the city on Sunday night and had gone to Miguel’s
aunts. Apparently they had a big party for him with lots of relatives on Sunday night. The aunt lives in a dangerous
part of the city so Rolando told me he didn’t let Miguel out of his sight. He said Miguel played some basketball
and soccer with some of his cousins but Rolando was right there sitting and watching. He knows if something happens
to Miguel he has both Irma and I to deal with…. They stayed for several hours. We needed to plan out the
rest of Miguel’s time. As it stands right now he went back to his aunts for awhile yesterday. He is meeting
a man that he called “Dad”. I don’t think it was any relation but somehow he was close to this person.
I will get more of the story from Miguel at home. Rolando and Miguel went back to Esquintla last night. On Wed.
Miguel and Carlos his brother and maybe Willy his brother are heading out to the orphanage at the river. We had to make
all these arrangements. Carlos does not know his way around the city so Myria said she will meet them at the bus stop
and take them to the other bus that goes to the river. They are very good about making sure that Miguel is safe and
that someone is always with him. Miguel of course thinks he is fine and can do all this on his own. ( Of course
he wondered around all these buses by himself when he was 6) Miguel’s Spanish is doing good and he is going back
and forth between languages quite easily now. Ruth and I didn’t realize they were all coming and that it would
take so long to make these arrangements so we had to change plans for the afternoon. In Guatemala you have to be flexible,
flexible and more flexible. Ruth ran to do some errands so the family and I went to McDonalds which is about 5 blocks
away. Not my favorite place to eat but there isn’t much for restaurants around here and I didn’t have food
for lunch in the office. They brought me back to the office we said are good-byes and off they went. I really
enjoy Myria and her family. I had met them a year ago last April when I was here. Myria’s husband works
at the coca-cola plant and Myria goes to school. I believe it is University. She wants to teach older children.
She also works afternoons in a school for younger children and like most Guatemalans in her spare time sells things.
In her case it is perfume. Rolando was exited because he had spent some time Monday looking for a job. He is a
truck driver. Willy had told him that they needed drivers where he works. His truck route would be around Central
America.
After they left I spent some time at the office alone because Ruth was doing errands. Banking etc. (which
can take forever). Anyhow I called Angie the director of the orphanage Casa Guatemala. She is in town at the Zone
10 house because 4 months ago she was hit by a car and really hurt her foot. She has had several operations on it.
She can not go to the orphanage at the river because she might get infection in it and also because she needs to have physical
therapy every other day. She said she can’t get around very well and must use a walker. We spent a lot of
time visiting. Catching up on old friends, children who have been adopted etc. She was so pleased to hear that
things were going well with Miguel. She said that generally when the children come back and look for the families it
is very disappointing. She told me some stories that had happened recently to some children who came back. They
had a horrible experience. She said she had not heard of an experience as good as the one Miguel had… I
also made arrangements with her about Miguel and his brothers going out to the river. Miguel’s brothers will only
stay a couple of days and then Miguel will help out at the Backpackers ( the hostel run by the orphanage) or at the orphanage.
This is his second time back and he is always treated like a hero there too.
When Ruth came back we drove to the candle group. This is in a very poor part of town where most of the people
started out as squatters. The name of the place is Tierra Nueva Uno. To get there we drove through very narrow
streets and sometimes had to back up so that an oncoming car could come through. There were lots of children and you
could see that they were coming home from school as most of them had their school colors on. The group is 9 women who
have decided to come together to learn some skills. Right now when they do the candles they pay for the women’s time
and than use the profits to bring in some things for the community. Some examples were speakers on women’s rights,
cooking classes etc. They liked candle making the best so that is what they are concentrating on. Since they have
just started they wanted our input on color, design etc. The candles they had were blue, red and green. I liked
the texture of the candles but the colors were not all that good for the US. It is very hard when groups get started
because they make things they like and what they can sell here. We visited about the market system and that there are
2 markets. One is the domestic market and one is the international market. There is a big difference in what they
can sell here and what we can sell there. Always the best is to try and sell locally, but if they want to market internationally
they have to make some changes in the product. We worked on colors and shapes and I told them I would find the colors
that work well for us. I will also look for some candle molds etc. If anyone has ideas for this let me know.
One of the ideas we did come up with is doing a coffee candle. There are so many coffee shops in the U.S. and a lot
of them have to sell coffee related products. So….( Karen Kraus and Angie Caldwell be sure and give me imput on
this.) They are going to try and make a white candle with brown dried beans in the candle and the coffee aroma.
What does everyone think?? I was thinking that we could put this in a gift basket at our store with a bag of coffee.
I will put a photo at the end of the group and some of the candles. This group was much easier to work with than a lot
of the groups we do. The women were educated and also they spoke Spanish.
We went back to the office, ate with
Ruthīs family and then worked in the office. We wanted to go over some things before the group came.
More later.
Diane
Quote
for the day—“We have to be the change that we want to see in the world.” Gandhi
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