A Struggle to Survive

During my visit to Guatemala, I witnessed some of the most deplorable living conditions I've ever seen. In Guatemala City, there are people who are referred to as "basureros" who spend their days in the city's garbage dump, searching for recyclable material (e.g. plastic, cardboard, glass) to sell to recycling companies. On a good day, they might make $1.00 or $1.50. Children dig through heaping piles of trash in search of toys that have been discarded. Families sift through rotting garbage for food to survive. This is a life unimaginable by most of us.



Before I left for Guatemala, I got in contact with an organization called Camino Seguro, or Safe Passage. This organization provides assistance to the families working in the Guatemala City garbage dump. They provide the children with an educational after-school program (since school is only half a day), nutritious food, access to computers and a nurturing environment. A program for mothers provides literacy classes for those who never had a chance to go to school.

While in Guatemala, I visited Safe Passage and got to meet some of the staff members and the families being served. We started out in the Safe Passage office in Antigua and drove 1 hr to the landfill in Guatemala City. We arrived at an outlook point where we could overlook the entire landfill. An unpleasant stench permeated the air. In the landfill, people rummaged about the garbage. Trucks came in to empty new loads of putrid refuse, and people rushed to find anything of value. The scene was quite unlike anything I had ever seen before.


Recently the students at Safe Passage were asked what their wishes were for the coming year. Some of their responses were:

- Establish an emergency food basket for students who are hungry at times when there is not enough food in the house to feed everyone

- Provide an extra toothbrush to bring home, to be able to brush their teeth over the weekends when they are not in the project

- Distribute an extra pair of shoes and sneakers during the year, since our students receive shoes at the start of the school year that are often their only pair

As you can see, these simple requests demonstrate the basic needs of these children.



It is uplifting, however, to learn that Safe Passage is helping these families improve their quality of life. Real progress is being made. Recently four new students recently graduated high school and are in career-development training, while eight mothers received a sixth-grade diploma through the Adult Literacy Program. The organization is providing tuition, uniforms, books and educational support for over 500 children living near the garbage dump. Lives are being changed, and the Safe Passage children can now hope for a better future.


I applaud all of the staff and volunteers who make great sacrifices to help the Safe Passage families. Being around this type of poverty each day is not easy to handle, yet they are in the midst of it all, devoting their time and effort to help these families.

Please take a few minutes to read about Safe Passage. If we each take one small step to help, together we can make a huge difference.

Three days in the remote village of Chicacnab

This week I had one of the most unique experiences ever - I lived with an indigenous Q´eqchi´family for three days in the remote mountain village of Chicacnab. It was one part of the trip that I was most excited about, as I thoroughly enjoy learning about other cultures and ways of life. After three days with them, I can definitely say that it was one of the most enlightening and humbling experiences I've ever had.

To get to the village of Chicacnab, I started out in the city of Coban. From there, I took a 30 min bus ride to the smaller town of Carchá. I then hopped on a minivan that took me on a 90 min ride on a very rough road to the village of San Lucas. There I met Rosa, my guide and translator (since I didn´t speak any Q´eqchi´) and we hiked an hour and a half to the tiny mountain village of Chicacnab.







In terms of weather, this was not the ideal time of year to go to Chicacnab. Right now it is the time of what they call "chipi-chipi" which basically refers to the light drizzle/mist that occurs this time of year. It comes and goes throughout the day and night, so part of the time is beautiful and partly cloudy, and at other times it is cold and rainy. The dirt track leading from San Lucas to Chicacnab is normally pretty nice, I hear, but during this time of year it just turns to a nasty, muddy track. Wearing rubber boots that nearly went up to my knees, I trudged through rocky and muddy trail up to the house where I stayed.

The house was a rustic home made of wood, with a tin roof and a dirt floor. No electricity. No telephone. No internet. There was a tank of water outside the house which I presume was from rain water, or possibly a well. My room was small and simple, with two twin beds and a wooden bench. The walls separating the rooms did not reach to the cielings, so it was more of a partition, as you could hear everything going on in the other rooms.



In the kitchen there were a couple of tables along the wall for food prep, and a table in the middle as you would expect. In the corner, was a wood fire over which the meals were prepared. The meals were simple and modest, consisting of rice, beans, eggs, some pasta, and lots and lots of corn tortillas.

Irma, the host mother, makes these corn tortillas by hand. First she grows and harvests the corn. Then she cuts off the kernels and boils them in water until soft. Next, she puts them into a grinder and churns away. Out comes this "masa," which she uses to make the tortillas. During my stay, I got to practice making tortillas, though mine looked quite deformed compared to Irma´s perfect, round tortillas.





Irma peeling the beans out of their pod.







Irma has two children - Oswaldo, 7 years of age, and Ingrid, 2. During my hike up the mountain, Oswaldo would run up the trail about 30 feet, turn around and watch me struggling to wade through the mud. The expression on his face was one of curiosity and observement, watching how much effort I was exerting. Once I got within 10 feet, he would take off again and repeat the process. Later on the trail, however, I managed to pick up my speed and pass him. I was very proud of this. :)

Oswaldo, 7

Ingrid, 2

Ingrid and Oswaldo helping to peel the beans out of their pods.

Oswaldo helped me learn several words in Q´eqchi´. I learned how to say tortilla, bean, egg, tomato, and how to count from 1 to 5. I taught him how to count from 1 to 5 in english. One day Oswaldo fell down in the mud and quitely sobbed for several minutes. I consoled him and helped him get up again. He then took off running again. In three short days, I began to feel as though Oswaldo were my own brother, and it was not easy to say goodbye.



Q'eqchi' words (spelling might not be correct):
tortilla - wa
bean - kenk'
egg - mol
tomato - piche
what is your name? - anilak awa'?
how are you? - ma sa laach? good - saw
mud - suluth
rain - hap
cold - ke
a lot, very - mas (ex: a lot of mud - mas suluth)
photo - jalam uxch
one two three four five - jun keep o'sheep kayeep ho

Guatemala Trip - First Update

Well, I am more than 2 weeks into my 25-day journey through Guatemala, and this is my first blog about the trip so far. It has been a fun, exciting and sometimes challenging adventure, full of new people, places and experiences.

When I first got into Guatemala City, I met up with a new friend of mine, Claudia, and her brother Fredy. They are really friendly and helpful people, and I have had a great time getting to know them. They invited me to stay at their house in Guatemala City, and we got along so well that I ended up staying in the capital for three days instead of just one!

I left Guatemala City and hopped on what the tourists call a "chicken bus." I heard that the name comes from the fact you might find yourself sitting next to someone transporting chickens (or a goat or some other type of animal). Basically, these are old school buses from the U.S. that get auctioned off once they are too old or have too many miles. Somehow they end up being used as transportation for most locals in Central America. Once they are auctioned off, they are given a fresh, new paint job (and hopefully re-inspected), and put into action.


These buses, which are designed to seat about 40 children, are crammed full with 60, 70 or sometimes 80 Guatemalans. During my ride on the chicken bus, every seat had 3 people in it, and the aisles were full of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder, from the front door to the emergency exit in the back. I was crammed next to the window (which I guess was better than being stuck between people), and my foot began to fall asleep since I could not really move or stretch. We were weaving through narrow, curvy mountain roads going about twice as fast as I thought was safe. I began to wonder how carefully the brakes had been inspected, and how crazy our bus driver might be.

Thankfully we safely arrived at Lake Atitlán, a beautiful lake surrounded by volcanoes. It was created by a large volcanic eruption about 80,000 years ago. This is probably one of the most gorgeous places in all of Guatemala, and one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.




I stayed at a nice hotel called Hotel Casa del Mundo, which has the most amazing views of the lake. The interior was small by American standards, but nicely decorated and very clean. Outside the hotel was a wonderful garden with lots of plants and flowers.













































During my stay at Casa del Mundo, I got to know some of the employees and one of the guides that was accompanying his Canadian guests. We decided to go have a few drinks in the little town of Jaibalito, about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. We sat in the restaurant patio, had some drinks and chatted for a few hours. They helped me with my Spanish when I didn´t understand something, and we all laughed when I still didn´t understand, haha. The radio was playing ranchera music, and we all started practicing our gritos (ayy ayy ayyyyy!!!!). Was a fun, relaxing night and a great experience hanging out with some of the locals. I definitely hope to come back and visit them soon!


My next stop was another lakeside town called Panajachel (or "Pana" as everyone calls it). There is a nice market with lots of souvenirs here, definitely a good place to stock up on t-shirts, bufandas (scarves), ceramics, or any other type of souvenir.

Artisans making ceramic bowls

After Pana, I headed out to the well-known and popular town of Antigua. Tons of tourists here, but also a pretty good night life. The cool thing about my hotel was that it was right above the club, so I could go dancing downstairs, then just go upstairs once I was ready to call it a night. The down side was that my hotel was right above the club, so even when I wanted to sleep, I had latin or hip-hop music blaring into my room.

Many of the people I spoke with on my trip recommended hiking Volcano Pacaya. This is one of the few, if not the ONLY place in the world where you can get within a few feet of real, flowing lava. The hike up there wasn´t too bad (only about 2 hours), although it did get very cold and windy once we got near the top. Actually getting to walk up to the lava and feel the intense heat from it was absolutely incredible. Definitely one of the most memorable moments during the trip.

Hiking Volcano Pacaya. It was so hot near the lava that I could barely open my eyes...

After that was Quetzaltenango, visiting the small town of Almolonga, and my 2nd visit with Claudia and her family. However, I am running out of time and will have to discuss these in the next blog. I am currently in the town of Cobán and have lots more exploring to do, so I might not post another update until after I get back to Austin.

Anyways, that´s the update for now! The trip is going wonderfully and I´ve had a blast so far. Thanks for reading!