as
school supplies for all of the children. At the end of this discussion,
we all formed a circle, alternating an Indigenous woman and a member of
our group. We all held hands as the group president led us in a
ceremony solidifying the agreement. We held our hands to the sky, then
touched the ground, and then hugged the person to our left and out
right. She then explained that the ceremony had solidified the
agreement. Later, Diane explained to us that this particular group had
been let down many times over the years by groups promising help and
then never delivering.
Then, they make us very nice dinner and
informed us that dinner would be followed by entertainment. We were all
very tired, but the performance after dinner turned out to be well
worth it. First, there was the Guatemalan national anthem, followed by
a poetry reading and several exhibitions of the local dances. Then, the
group reenacted some scenes that represented the armed conflict that
happened during the civil war. Interspersed in the program, the
students (who had coordinated the entire event) had left parts for us
to show our own culture. After several minutes of hurried whispering,
we decided to sing “Amazing Grace” and “This Land in your Land”. Then
the program went on and again they stopped and wanted us to entertain,
we then did the Hokey Pokey with some of the little children.
Also, Stacey had a brief cameo doing the worm! It made my night! We
spent the night there and bought many beautiful textiles the next
morning.
Wednesday June 25, 2008
We headed to
Antigua, which is way more touristy than any of the other places that
we visited. We ate lunch at a very upscale restaurant and then we went
to an orphanage/hospital in the center of the city. It is run by the
local Catholic Church and many of the patients are severely
handicapped. It is really difficult for me to write about this part. We
walked through rooms full of children and adults, many of whom were not
able to leave their beds for more than a few hours a day. However,
there was a light at the end of the tunnel, Dick Rutgers, a man who has
basically devoted himself to children. He joked with them and seemed to
know every single child and how they came to be there. He started there
by bringing a few wheelchairs with a church group; he now stays on
permanently and has outfitted hundreds of people with wheelchairs since
then. His attitude is what is amazing. It was so hard to walk through
those halls and to hear stories of abandoned and malnourished children;
it was almost too much to take in. Dick just picked up one child at a
time and he communicated amazingly well with them. We left in silence
from the hospital. We wrapped up our day in Antigua by wandering around
before connecting with Venicio and heading back to the center. We all
showered (yes!) and had a delicious meal cooked by Diana and Isabel.
All in all, it has been a life changing trip for many of us. We all
were reflecting the other night how none of us really went looking for
this trip, how this trip really found each one of us. How exactly we
will incorporate this trip in our lives remains to be seen. What is
certain though is that having been on this trip, a part of Guatemala
will remain with us. We have made many new friends and have learned
from them. We will carry this part of Guatemala back with us to our own
homes. |
