cold oatmeal: Guatemala 2012

I recently returned from my second trip to Guatemala. Thank you for your love, support, donations, thoughts, and prayers—it was all greatly appreciated and it all helped make my travel to Guatemala another amazing experience.

What I did…

Similar to my trip last year, I went with a group of 16 students from Edgewood. For the majority of the trip, we stayed at a ranch in the Santa Rosa area of Southern Guatemala. “Kico’s Ranch,” is owned/operated by Enrique ‘Kico’ Gandara who is a US and Guatemalan citizen and is also on the Edgewood Board of Trustees—he’s a great guy! Each year, he hosts multiple medical missions and service trips at the Ranch.

While at the Ranch, we volunteered at the Oliveros School (where I volunteered last year) and spent two days at the San Rafael School (a new addition to the trip). Last year, in our fundraising, we raised money for the Oliveros School to build a new classroom. This year, we raised enough money to put in a cement floor and windows to that classroom as well as new paint and fencing for the San Rafael School. On a regular day, we would go to the school in the morning and either assist the masons or work/play with the kids.

After our time at the Ranch, we stayed in Antigua for a few nights to do some touring and sight-seeing. One day, we made a trip in to Guatemala City to visit Safe Passage, an organization started by one woman from Maine to educate those that worked in the dangerous conditions of the city dump. Other days, we hiked a (somewhat active) volcano and toured a fair trade sustainable coffee farm.

The greatest lesson…

While we were at the Ranch, Kico hired 4 Special Forces Guatemalan Police (with huge M16 guns) to protect us. Although the Ranch is in a relatively safe area of rural Guatemala, he hires these guards for every medical mission or service trip due to all the supplies and equipment that is around.

While we were at the school for the first couple days, the guards stood on the outskirts of the property and did not interact with any of us. They just stood there and were very intimidating. One of them even initially expressed to Kico that he didn’t understand “why a bunch of Gringos would waste their day playing with these kids.”

Throughout the week, the guards became more comfortable with us and we became more comfortable with them. As they witnessed our loving interactions with the kids, slowly, they too began interacting with us and the kids from Oliveros. I vividly remember one of the last days as we were getting ready to leave the school for the day, I saw a group of boys huddled around one of the guards. They were joking, asking questions, smiling, just having a great time. I’ll never forget observing that change, firsthand. To see the guards go from standing on the edge of the property, to playing with the kids in a matter of days was really cool.

This lesson, gives me hope. During this trip, I saw a lot of hurt, disparity, and a quite a few unsettling things. However, what I took with me from Guatemala is the experience of pure joy. The kids I worked with come from almost nothing—most live in homes nothing more than tin walls and a straw roof, but they gave me so much energy and love through their smiles, hugs, games, and loving interactions. Seeing a change in not only myself, but those around me—like the guards— gives me a hope for a better, more loving future.
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