News and Announcements

Here you can find the latest news and announcements related to Sharing the Dream in Guatemala. If you would like to get e-mail notification as new items are added to the website you can sign-up using the Get E-mail Updates option.

Rising from the Ruins

Sharing the Dream travelers at Iximché are, seated l. to r., Charles Nauman, Jerry Wilson, Norma Wilson, Ronda Harrity and Dana Loseke; standing Miguel Nesselhuf and Grete Bodogaard.

In January I traveled with Sharing the Dream in Guatemala’s “Fair Trade and Indigenous Cultures” tour with my husband and STDG Board member Jerry Wilson, film maker Charles Nauman, weaver Grete Bodogaard, environmentalist Dana Loseke and information technologist Ronda Harrity.

Boating back across the steaming volcano-surrounded lake, I sensed the tension the Maya must feel in this land of awesome beauty so prone to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods and human violence. In Panajachel we took a van toward Los Encuentros, through a deep valley terraced with gardens of cabbage, beans, tomatoes and corn and up the winding mountain road to the modern four-lane Pan American Highway. Watermelons and pottery were for sale beside the road.

We climbed back through five centuries of history, to the ruins of Iximché, a Kachiquel city founded in 1470 on a flat promontory surrounded by cliffs, a site easily defended against the enemy Quiché. Melvin, our Kachiquel guide, described the stone pyramids of Sun and Moon. He said his traditional society was matriarchal, and the queen served as leader and judge. He showed us where Palace dwellings once stood, altars, patios, ball courts, fragmentary remains of paintings, trenches used for drainage, and a stone cistern where rainwater was stored. At the edge of the ruin a ceremonial fire burned. Three Kachiquel people sang to welcome the New Year and ask the Creator’s help.

Iximché was an active city when Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado arrived in 1524. The Kachiquel fled, some to Lake Atitlán, others to live in the nearby city of Tecpan, first Spanish capital of the Central American Empire. But Iximché remains a sacred place to the Maya.

By noon we were in Antigua, the second Spanish Colonial city, built in a valley surrounded by Volcáns Pitaya, Agua and Fuego. After lunch in the garden courtyard of Café Condesa on the central plaza, we explored the city. All that remains of the Cathedral facing the plaza is the front; the rest lies in ruins—stone arches, crumbled columns, and underground, the spooky king’s chapel and crypt. Behind the city’s largest active church, Señora La Merced, lie the ruins of a convent, and on its patio the largest fountain in Central America, a fountain surrounded by angels in the shape of mermaids!

The magic faded as we reentered sprawling, smoky Guatemala City for the night, but reunited with Diana and Isabel, we enjoyed helping them make the guacamole and salsa we savored along with beans, fried plantains, pineapple and tortillas. Sharing the Dream’s house in the suburb of Mixco is relatively safe, protected by gates, security guards, steel doors, walls and razor wire. But UPAVIM, the cooperative we visited next morning is forced to operate with even greater security.

UPAVIM—the Spanish acronym translates “united for a better life”—was formed in 1988 by women living in shanties in a squatter camp on the edge of the city dump. We met Barbara Lorraine, a nurse from the United States who helped women living in severe poverty get training to make crafts of traditional Guatemalan textiles, and helped them market their products. The United Nation’s International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) helped the women form a board of directors. Sharing the Dream and other organizations helped fund their first building, and STDG has partnered with other UPAVIM projects, including raising $15,000 to help erect a second building. They now house and run a Montessori preschool and K-6 school, a library, a health clinic with resident doctor, a medical laboratory, a sewing workshop, craft workshops using recycled materials and beads, a bakery, a soy milk and cheese project, and a bakery.

The women named their squatter camp “Esperanza,” hope, and the name is truly appropriate. The organization can survive in this violent neighborhood only behind locked steel doors, barred windows and razor wire, but upstairs the big windows that overlook a neighborhood of sheet iron shanties also admit light and air. Classrooms are attractive and full of busy, smiling children. The organization has provided scholarships for 600, both those who study here and outside in high schools, but recently they lost half their funding and are eager for help. The school principal, who was substituting in 6^th grade, said the students were making their own rules, which they would then have to follow, a lesson that instills civic responsibility.

After a tasty lunch provided by UPAVIM, we headed for Museo Ixchel, named for the Maya goddess of the moon, women, reproduction and weaving. There we learned of the history of Maya dress from 200 B.C. to the present. We observed the ancient Maya clothing depicted in clay figures and paintings, and saw in the textiles and clothing on display, observing both the fusion of Maya and Spanish styles from the 16^th through 19^th centuries, and far more recent textile fabrics and designs incorporating metallic threads. The museum’s collection of watercolor paintings from the 1970s by Carmen Pettersen illustrate the weaving and embroidery designs of various Maya communities, including the Mam, Quiché, Kachiquel, and Tzutuhil.

Finally we visited Guatemala City’s Central Park and Plaza of the Constitution. Bordering the plaza are the grand Cathedral and the National Palace. Outside the Cathedral, rectangular columns name thousands of individuals killed during Guatemala’s brutal 30-year war. Many worshippers inside the Cathedral prayed at the shrine of the black Christ.

Behind the Cathedral, we walked a block to the Central Market, a vast array of crafts, colorful vegetables and fruits. In the flower market, we purchased Bird of Paradise flowers for our lovely hosts, Diana and Isabel.

That evening, we six shared what we’d learned from our visit. We agreed we would cherish the life stories and dreams Guatemalans had imparted to us, and their artful commitment to sustainability. We came home searching for ways to help Sharing the Dream in Guatemala make those dreams come true.

The Villages of Lake Atitlán

Dana Loseke and Ronda Harrity cross Lake Atitlan by cayuco.

In January I traveled with Sharing the Dream in Guatemala’s “Fair Trade and Indigenous Cultures” tour with my husband and STDG Board member Jerry Wilson, film maker Charles Nauman, weaver Grete Bodogaard, environmentalist Dana Loseke and information technologist Ronda Harrity.

There are three means of transportation in the villages—home-made canoes, tuk-tuks (enclosed motor scooters) and pickup trucks. We rode in the back of a pickup truck to San Lucas Tolimán to meet Los Cuchareros, the only men’s co-operative we visited. Cucharero leader Julio and six craftsmen greeted us and showed us the workshop where they make beautiful spoons from local woods. Like most younger men, they wore jeans and t-shirts rather than the traditional stripped trousers worn by many older men.

When they began in 2003, they made spoons with three basic tools—a  machete, sand paper and beeswax for a non-toxic and waterproof finish. Gradually, they added a vise, rasps and chisels for finishing their products.

The men never expected they’d one day sell their spoons throughout the U.S. But from the beginning they used half their profits to help others in San Lucas and Santiago who were in need. They still sell their products in local stores, but now they also have a website and sell on the internet and through non-profits like Sharing the Dream.

They use several woods, but mostly branches from coffee trees that must be pruned every 15 years. Julio and co-workers demonstrated the entire process—chopping a spoon-like shape with a machete, drawing the interior of the spoon, scooping out the hollow with a round chisel, rasping, sanding, and finally rubbing on beeswax, melting it over coals, then buffing the spoon until it shines. The men express their artistry and cultural identity with distinctive designs, carving handles that resemble the ducks on Lake Atitlán and Guatemala’s national bird, the resplendent quetzal.

Returning to Santiago we stopped at the new community of Chuk-Muk, where the Guatemalan government has built houses, a school, a museum, a church and a hospital for victims of the 2005 mudslide. At Chuck-Muk’s entrance is a mural painted by children depicting the community of their dreams. The movie theatre has not yet materialized, but other dreams have come true.

On Sunday we visited the Catholic Church where Fr. Stanley Rother, a beloved missionary priest from Oklahoma was murdered by a right-wing death squad in 1981. A plaque inside the sanctuary recognizes him as a martyr.

We had lunch with Maria, Jaime, Sara, Diego and Antonio—Santiago area students who receive scholarships from Sharing the Dream donors, and guidance from STDG staff. Middle schooler Maria hopes to attend secondary school in Quetzaltenango and become a teacher. Her friend Jaime wants to study business administration. Sara wants to teach kindergarten. Diego, who dreams of being a pro-soccer player, also has the more practical ambition of working as an accountant. Antonio wants to be a doctor. The scholars study their native language as well as Spanish and English, math, science and other basic subjects during their 6-hour school days. Like their North American counterparts, they don’t seem much interested in politics and history, but they are committed to voting.

Monday morning was everybody’s favorite, a journey across Lake Atitlán to Chacaya by cayuco. The lake was placid and glorious with blue and green herons, egrets and sparkling sun. We were two to a boat, each paddled by a man who stood in back. Our boatman said the fishermen in cayucos were catching mojarras in their nets, which he said are good to eat.

We passed the steep Volcán San Pedro, the slope patch-worked with corn and coffee growing near shore, and arrived at the village of Chacaya. A teacher, Pedro, greeted the women in our group with a kiss on the cheek, and he and his 6^th graders led us through town to the school, past gardens of pole beans and vines loaded with green tomatoes. The rooms of the sturdy masonry building face a central courtyard where everyone was assembled for a ceremony marking the first day of school. The women and some of the girls wore traditional trajes, while other girls and the boys wore jeans and t-shirts. The students applauded their visitors, then we all stood for the pledge of allegiance to Guatemala’s flag and their national anthem. Each teacher was introduced, and the principal, Pascual, wished us all a Happy New Year.

Pascual said the children studied in a makeshift structure of plastic and sticks before Diane Nesselhuf began helping them in 2004. Sharing the Dream supplied them some of the materials to build the school in 2007; and when a mudslide destroyed a wall last year, STDG provided money to rebuild. Sharing the Dream also supplied desks and chairs, and now the Chacaya school is helping poorer schools. The Coffee Care organization provides meals for students.

As Charles filmed the assembly, one little girl drew close, and soon he was surrounded by children fascinated with him and his camera. We visited each classroom and the cramped principal’s office with one bookshelf stocked with donated textbooks. Sadly, the classrooms held few learning materials, and a barbed-wire fence is necessary to protect the school from theft and vandalism.

We returned to Santiago and visited the Panabaj mudslide area, now mostly deserted, and the nearby Peace Park, built where soldiers formerly stationed here shot down thirteen villagers on December 2, 1990. Villagers had assembled to protest abuses, including rape, perpetrated by soldiers. After the massacre, the city petitioned the Guatemalan president to remove the army base. Their demand was granted, and they created the peace park to remember the victims and their sacrifice for the peace of their community.

On Lake Atitlán

Elders gather for lunch at Sharing the Dream’s Elder Center.

In January I traveled with Sharing the Dream in Guatemala’s “Fair Trade and Indigenous Cultures” tour with my husband and STDG Board member Jerry Wilson, film maker Charles Nauman, weaver Grete Bodogaard, environmentalist Dana Loseke and information technologist Ronda Harrity.

Lake Atitlán is a magical place, a thousand-foot deep ancient volcanic crater of clear blue water surrounded by Mayan villages nestled between volcanic peaks. We skimmed across the water in a motor boat to the village of Santiago Atitlan, which lies in the shadow of Volcáns San Pedro, Atitlán and Tolimán. Near the shore fishermen rowed homemade wooden boats, cayucos, amongst blossoming bushes and trees.

From the dock we climbed the hill to Casa de Sueños (house of dreams), the Sharing the Dream hostel. We met night watchman and scholar assistant Estéban, then walked around the corner to El Centro de los Ancianos, the Elder Center. Six young women, ages 14-20, worked at a balcony table, beading bracelets and necklaces. Several were from the village of Panabaj, destroyed by a mudslide in 2005. One lost her parents, and now provides for her family, paying for her brother’s schooling. Bernavela, who has worked for the Elder Center for 30 years, also directs the bead group.

Downstairs we met several dozen elders seated on benches. We introduced ourselves, and Diana translated to their Tzutuhil language. When Charles, who was filming the gathering, introduced himself saying he did not want to take their picture, but to give them pictures, Bernavela asked them to guess the age of “Carlos.” No one imagined he was 88, the eldest of the elders. But one woman said, “We’re glad you’re here because you are like us, and you are doing so well.” Bernavela ladled meat and soup into each bowl an elder had brought, Lidia, her assistant, piled a stack of tortillas atop the lid, and our group served each elder. Julia, another assistant, helped our group serve coffee and multi-vitamins. Each elder hugged and thanked us as they left. “I’ve never been kissed by so many women in one day,” said group leader Jerry.

While we recognized some of the elders from my daughter Laura Wilson’s 2009 book, Stories of Survival, Bernavela said that several have since passed away. Lidia led the way as we delivered a “meal on sandals” to one elder in the book, Maria Chiquival. We ducked through a door in a stonewall beside a woman sitting on the sidewalk selling tortillas and walked a narrow passageway past a series of small, cement rooms to find Maria, age 69. She was glad to have visitors; her life is difficult because one of her arms was chopped off by a machete during Guatemala’s Civil War.

That afternoon we visited three more elders. We found Conception sitting on cardboard beside her dirt-floored bamboo, tin and stone shelter. She was glad to have visitors because she lives alone and worries that her neighbors want to take the tiny parcel of land she inherited from her parents. Conception has a stomach ailment which requires medical attention, and Bernavela promised to take her to the hospital for treatment. She expressed thanks for the corté (skirt) Sharing the Dream gave her for Christmas.

Next we visited Rosa, who lives in a cementblock house inherited from her parents. In her front yard, a banana tree was heavy with fruit and a pink rose bloomed.  Rosa married at 18, but two years later her husband left her with three children. Only one survived, her now 40-year-old son, who lives with her and supports himself by manual labor. Rosa is unable to work because she broke her back in a fall. But Rosa has retained her sense of humor.  Her parting words:  “You should take the bananas—only $10!”

Our third visit was to a disabled 65-year-old man named Gregorio. He lay on planks stretched across sawhorses. When he was young, his parents gave him a piece of land, and he married Maria. But in his 30s, he began to have difficulty moving his legs and could no longer work. He sold his land, and Maria had to support them and their five children by doing laundry. They lost two children because she was not able to feed and take care of them. Gregorio wept as he spoke with us, miserable that they must rely on charity, but grateful to organizations like Sharing the Dream for the food and other assistance they receive.

At the Elder Center we met with two women from Mujeres Artisan, women artisans who make small woven purses. The president, Maria Victoria, said they started with 12 women in 2000, but lost everything in the 2005 mudslide, but regrouped and now have 18 members. Isabel, STDG’s artisan director, is teaching them new techniques to make their products more marketable.

Into the Highlands

Sharing the Dream travelers visit La Estrella weavers in Chuacruz.

In January I traveled with Sharing the Dream in Guatemala’s “Fair Trade and Indigenous Cultures” tour with my husband and STDG Board member Jerry Wilson, film maker Charles Nauman, weaver Grete Bodogaard, environmentalist Dana Loseke and information technologist Ronda Harrity.

On our first day out of Guatemala City, we descended a steep, dusty path to Artisan Development Director Isabel’s home in Chuacruz. There we met her grandmother Santos, mother Maria and niece Sandra. Maria is a member of La Estrella (The Star), a group of weavers who create scarves using a foot loom donated by Sharing the Dream. Isabel and Maria led us up a steep path, past a bin of drying corn, to an adobe building which housed the loom. Nine women and three of their children waited on benches around a dirt floor carpeted with fresh pine needles. Turquoise threads stretched across the loom. Thirteen-year-old Victoria was learning from older weavers, just as Isabel had. Many of the women are widows with children, and they expressed thanks to Sharing the Dream for the foot loom, which makes their work faster and easier, and for marketing their products, which helps them sustain their families.

Our next visit was with Asociación Maya de Desarrolloi, a backstrap loom weavers’ cooperative, dying center and fair trade store in Sololá. This co-op, formed in 1987, now markets the work of 180 backstrap weavers from six rural villages in the nearby highlands. Their products are woven of bamboo, rayon, and cotton fibers, including chenille. In their spacious, modern building, we observed the dying and drying of many-colored threads. Besides backstrap weaving, the women use sewing machines to make handbags and other accessories.

We descended a steep mountain road to Panajachel on the east shore of thousand-foot-deep Lake Atitlan. There we visited Oxlajuj B´ atz´, Mayan for Thirteen Threads, a non-profit indigenous women’s empowerment and non-formal education organization founded in 2004 by Mayan Hands. Their fair-trade store, resource library and community space is housed in a beautifully refurbished building with courtyard. Development director, Cheryl Conway, originally from Ireland, said the organization offers artisan classes such as rug making, and makes micro loans so that women working in their homes can purchase supplies they need. They also encourage women to work with others by requiring that a group seeking a first loan of $200 must include at least five women. After the women repay the loan, they can apply for a $300 loan, and once that is paid back, a loan of $400.

We loved the abundance of flowers and trees in Panajachel—roses, a deep red geranium, calla lilies, moon flowers, an Easter lily, papaya, lemon, orange and grapefruit trees, and a flowering bush we hadn’t seen before, the camarón, with coral colored flowers in the shape of a shrimp. We were thrilled that a hummingbird joined us there. Beneath a lavender-blossomed jacaranda tree, we gazed across Lake Atitlán at the camel-backed volcanoes, San Pedro, Atitlán and Tolimán.

We’ve  had another fantastic year at Sharing the Dream thanks to our donors, customers and volunteers!  Check out our End of the Year Newsletter below  for information regarding our fair trade practice, donation, shopping,  travel opportunities, and more!

Sharing the Dream Newsletter Dec 2012

June 11, 2012 Chichicastenango

¡Buenos días! This morning I said goodbye to Jill, Kayla, and Laura as they headed back to the states. Last week was such an amazing adventure and blessing for our group. I will be continuing the adventure this next week as I travel to visit scholarship recipients with Miguel Nesselhuf. My project this week is to conduct video interviews with Sharing the Dream scholars so that sponsors can get to know our students better! Stay tuned for more details on Sharing the Dream´s webpage!

Last week our group rented ¨micro-buses´´ to get from town to town. Well…this week Miguel and I are traveling like ¨puro chapines´´ (pure Guatemalans)…and that means we are taking chicken buses! Imagine fitting about 100 people into a multi-cultured school bus that plays loud music and you´ll begin to picture what riding a chicken bus is like. You might encounter a few street vendors that come up on the bus to sell their tortillas or chuchitos or jugos to you. You´ll also notice that most bus drivers have their radio turned up…loud. Music is playing everywhere you go in Guatemala – in the cars, the buses, the churches, the houses, the mobile phones, even the bottled water salesman´s truck has loud speakers that blare bachata music!

After about three hours of traveling, we arrived in Chichicastenango (or ¨Chichi¨ as the locals call it) which is in the Quiché department (or state) of Guatemala. Miguel and I were greeted at the Centro de Rut and Noemi by Don Diego. Don Diego has been a pastor in Chichi for several years, including during the civil war here in Guatemala. Many people believe that the department of Quiché was the most devastated area during the war; Don Diego´s church was burned to the ground and many of his parishioners were killed. Yet he has persevered and continues to serve as a pastor and leader in the Quiché region of Guatemala.

Chichicastenango is home to the largest outdoor market in Guatemala – situated between two Spanish missions from the 1600s. After perusing the market and eating at Pollo Campero (think KFC but a million times better), Miguel and I went to Doña Juana´s house to visit 3 of her children that are part of Sharing the Dream´s scholarship program (Veronica, Angelica, and Evelyn). Doña Juana is a survivor in the truest sense of the word and works very hard to provide opportunities for her eight children, two of whom have graduated high school with scholarships from donors from Sharing the Dream.She says to me as she gives me a tour of her house. Sharing the Dream also received money from donors to add a room to the very small sod house. ¨I know what it is like to be an uneducated indigenous woman, having doors slammed in your face. I know what it is like to have limited resources and opportunities. That is why I work hard and am thankful for Sharing the Dream for helping me give my children the resources to succeed.¨

That is what Sharing the Dream (aka Compartiendo Sueños) is about – empowering indigenous leadership and lifting up leaders in their communities.

¡Nos vemos!

*** Stay tuned for the videos of Veronica, Evelyn, and Angelica.***

–Rachel (aka Raquel) Ringlaben

June 11, 2012 Chichicastenango, Chontalá, and Chumal

We woke up bright and early at 6:30am to have breakfast at Don Diego´s house in Chichi. We ate outside in his family´s beautiful garden with humming birds buzzing around us while we chatted. After breakfast Don Diego, Miguel, and I climbed into the camioneta and headed to Chontalá, a small Mayan village within Chichicastengango. Chontalá is high up in the mountains and our trip there took about half an hour.

Once in Chontalá we walked to Miguel Tol Morales´ house to visit and learn more about how the Sharing the Dream scholarship has helped him reach his goals. Miguel Tol eagerly changed into his school uniform for the video interview while his family gave us a tour of their home. Miguel Tol was a pro at the video interview! He looked directly at the camera and spoke clearly and loudly…all with a grin! Tomás, Miguel Tol´s father, invited us inside for home frijoles and tortillas. Tomás is a weaver with the Centro de Rut and Noemi and he takes much pride in his work and in teaching Miguel Tol the trade as well.

We then drove to Auri Maria´s house in Chumal to conduct another video interview. We had a wonderful time laughing and encouraging shy, little Maria to speak up so that the camera could capture her timid voice. She did great! We sat and drank Pepsis (or gaseosas). After the interview we said goodbye to Don Diego and headed into the market in Chichi to find dinner. I thoroughly enjoyed my tortillas con queso, frijoles and caldo de res. Tonight I´ll enjoy the country ¨skyline¨ of mountain peaks and stars! Tomorrow we will wake up VERY early to head to Chuacruz (where the La Estrella group lives) to visit another Sharing the Dream scholar, Hector Churrunel.

***Stay tuned for Miguel Tol´s and Maria´s video interview!***

¡Hasta luego!

–Rachel (aka Raquel) Ringlaben

June 14, 2012 — Santiago Atitlan, Chacaya, Guatemala City

I’ve spent these past five days traveling with Miguel Nesselhuf (coordinator of the scholarship progam) throughout Chuacruz, Chichicastenango, Chacaya, Tzanchaj, Santiago, and Chucmuc to interview over 18 scholarship students and to hear about how Sharing the Dream is helping them reach their goals in education. I’ve written a brief reflection from the past days’ interviews with our scholarship students and their families…

“Raquel, Raquel!” they shout to me as we play basketball on the cancha.

“Raquel, Raquel!” they shout to me to pass the ball as we play soccer.

“Raquel, Raquel! Ven!” they say to me as they take me by the hand and lead me on tours of their homes, their schools, their pueblitos, and their lives.

I look into their eyes and I ask each one of the scholars, “And what are YOUR dreams?”

“To be an artist!” “A lawyer!” “A teacher!” “To be a doctor so that I can help children with disabilities.” “To give back to my community and teach people to read and write!” “To bring my family out of poverty.”

“Estos son mis sueños.” These are my dreams.

I ask them about their dreams and they have so many — too many to keep hidden within. They share with me how their lives have improved since they have been given the resources and opportunities to go to school; to play, to learn, to laugh, to risk, to succeed, to fail, to give, to receive, to serve and to grow.

I tell them that they are not alone, but that through Sharing the Dream, we walk together – with the passion to realize their dreams. As a lump forms in my throat, I tell them not to give up…because the world needs them to risk. The world needs them to dream.

“Matiox” they say to me. (Which is Tzutujil for “thank you.”)

“Ae” I say back. That one syllable word for “you’re welcome” encompasses so many phrases I wish I could say in their mother language — “You inspire me, you are amazing young women and men, you have the right to dream and to dream big.”

But “Ae” is all I can say…“You’re welcome.” And as I stand up to leave, the scholars and their family members hug me, one by one. They run to the end of the cancha as I climb into a tuktuk or a camioneta to head to another visit. They wave and shout, “Raquel! Raquel! Anka! Matiox! Adios!”

And as I wave back, I hope that by sharing our dreams together, we might change the world together. Because the world is in desperate need of uncommon dreamers like these scholars – young women and men who take life by the hand and don’t let go, who wake up every day to breathe in the struggle and the joy of a life filled with dreams.

Chuac chic (Tzutujil for “Until tomorrow”),

Rachel (Raquel) Ringlaben

Day 6 – Saturday June 9th

We started the day eating breakfast at our hotel in Pana. Then packed up and loaded back onto our mini bus. We stopped twice, once at a gorgeous waterfall and again at a lookout over Lake Atitlan. Our final destination was the Chuacruz community, home to La Estrella (The Star) group. This group consists of 18 women, some of whom are widows trying to support their children. Isabel met us upon our arrival as this was her “hometown”. She escorted us along a path through the woods to the group’s meeting area. They had a foot loom in what used to be a one-room home of one of the women. They gave us a tour around the village and demonstrated their weaving. We were the first group to visit their community and we were able to share a meal with them in their workshop.

After leaving the Chuacruz community, we traveled into Sololá to visit the Shenill group. Unfortunately, because it was Saturday, they weren’t open but they gave us a short tour anyway. We were able to see where they dyed their own threads and got to buy some of their products from their shop. We then headed back to Mixco in Guatemala City to have some down time, pack and prepare for our trip home tomorrow.

We will be leaving Rachel here for another week in Guatemala.. stay tuned for more journals from her!

¡Adios!

Laura, Kayla, Jill

(or as Jill calls us, “The Three Gringas”)

Friday, June 8th

Greetings from Panajachel, Guatemala!!! Day 5 of our journey was very eventful.

We started the day assisting Felipa and Bernabela making tortillas at the Elder Center. The Gringos didn’t do so well. We each dropped at least one on the floor and our tortillas were thicker and misformed! Oh well, they all tasted the same!

Before coming to Guatemala our group had decided to do hand massages for the elders. This was something that they hadn’t experienced before. It was great to see the smiles on their faces. Even the men took part! We helped serve the elders their lunch and even got to help deliver some meals to the homebound. This ministry is called “Meals on Sandals” instead of “Meals on Wheels” like we have back in the States.

It became very evident that the staff at the Elder Center are the hands and feet of Christ in Santiago. Pastor Rachel and I went with Benebela to visit 2 elders, Andrea and Concepcion. Andrea was virtually bedridden and was home alone for the majority of the day. I have never seen such poverty as we saw in these 2 homes. These women had so little but yet wanted to pray for us and bless us. Concepcion talked openly about what it was like to be a 96 year old women living alone. The staff at the Elder Center is family to these elders and in some cases their only family. This ministry is truly worthy of any funds that we can share. They accomplish so much with so little.

After lunch we took a boat across Lake Aitalan to Pana where we spent the afternoon and evening. Our first stop was to tour Oxlajuj B’ate’ or Thirteen Threads. This is a non-profit indigenous women’s organization that empowers women. Their mission is very similiar to Sharing the Dream’s. In fact, the 2 NGOs work together in several different arenas.

Tomorrow is our last day in Guatemala. The time has flown by. I am so greatful for the time I have spent here. We’ll see you back in the States very soon!!

In Christ,

Jill Munger (Kayla’s mom)

–

Hola,

Well, we have just finished our third full day in Guatemala. Luckily, I get the opportunity to journal on our busiest day! And forgive me for any Spanglish, but Rachel is currently having a conversation with our night guard, Andrés, en español.. and multitasking bilingually is not the easiest thing to do.

We started our day with french toast and papaya at the Elder Center, and just like every other meal it was all delicious. After breakfast, we walked down to the “marina” of sorts where we got into two cayucos (very similar to canoes) and got a ride across the lake. The view was absolutely gorgeous. We were surrounded by mountains and volcanoes that disappeared into the clouds with houses scattered throughout. About an hour and many pictures later, we were greeted on the other side of the lake by a handful of children who then led us through the streets of Chacaya to their school. The school in Chacaya has had a relationship with Sharing the Dream for the past 8 years. STDG bought the land to build the school and throughout the years has provided teachers, supplies, a retaining wall and many other things.

After doing our “highs and lows” of the day, we decided that this school was easily the highlight of all of our days. We were greeted by all of the children outside and throughout our time speaking with the principal of the school, there were constantly children peaking into the doorway.. it was very hard not to laugh and smile at each one of them. After our tour of the school, we got to go to recess! We walked to la cancha, or basketball court, hand in hand with all of the kids and we barely arrived before we had all been picked on a team. We then spent the rest of the morning playing basketball and talking to all of the girls. Because Spanish is not only my second language, but theirs as well (Tz’utujil is the indigenous language in the area), we all got in a lot of practice. I also got the opportunity to be invited into a conversation between Raquel and a group sixth grade girls. We talked about their favorite subjects, their families and even Shakira and Hannah Montana.. they also explained their need for libros, mochillas y computadoras or books, backpacks and computers. No one wanted to leave, but as we walked away we yelled “¡Adios!” as they yelled “Goodbye!”

We loaded into the back of a pickup which is a common way of travel here. We got to see the countryside as well as a small village that had been wiped out by a mudslide a few years ago and El Parque de Paz. We came back to the Elder Center for another delicious meal of steak, potatoes, and corn on the cob all fresh off la parrilla, or grill. They were served with a type of tomato sauce, guacamole and tortillas. I took extra tortillas and guacamole. After lunch, we visited Artesa which is a group of men who make most of the wood products sold by Sharing the Dream. We got to watch Pedro create an elephant from a block of wood in about thirty seconds. We then spent the rest of our afternoon visiting Diana’s family at their home. The house was very beautiful with an amazing view of the lake from their roof. Before we got supper, we tried on the traditional dress of the women in Guatemala, un huipil y un corte. The women then taught us how to dance.. that had all eight of us laughing. We ate supper with some of the scholars sponsored through Sharing the Dream, three of which are actually sponsored through the Trinity Lutheran Church in Vermillion. After asking all of the scholars about their families and school work, we asked if they had any boyfriends or girlfriends.. they replied with a “no” while blushing. We are pretty sure they were all lying.

I think that pretty much sums up our packed day.. but I know there is so much that I either forgot or just couldn’t fit in! All of the people we have met so far have truly been inspiring. I cannot wait for the next two days and to experience even more in this wonderful country.

¡Hasta luego!

Laura Hansen