Our access to posting on this blog was interrupted the last few days. We’re home now but thought we’d share some comments and photos from our last three days of the trip.
Wednesday, the 24th, was our longest and therefore most difficult road trip. We left Coban at 8am and arrived in Chimaltenango 6 hours later. An hour late for our visit with CEADEL we’d missed the youth radio program. But the girls arrived shortly still animated and excited by the broadcast.
Young girl at CEADEL
We learned how many of the girls had left school after 6th grade to work as domestics or in Machillas. CEADEL gives them the opportunity to return to school and also provides classes in self esteem, computer training, arts and culture.
We left CEADEL after visiting their new building site and drove another 2 hours to Panajachel. A small town on the shore of Lake Atitlan.
We had a well deserved morning off on Thursday to sleep in, walk the shores of Lake Atitlan or explore the small town.
Then we we headed over the mountains back to Chimaltenango and met with a group called FESIRGUA. FESIRGUA is an association of associations. They work with community based organizations on a number of issues but the one we learned most about was a program that works with girls to promote mentorship and health in remote communities. We had the chance to meet with office staff and several young women that had been through the program.
Silvia - Fesirgua
After our visit with Fesirgua we drove to Antigua. Our final destination . Antigua is a quaint, colonial town. It was the capital of Guatemala before being leveled by an active volcano. That night we were hosted at a dinner by the program manager of Guatemala Sana and the Chief of Staff for the Vice President. Guatemala Sana is funded by US philanthropists and is currently a research project focused on health and education.
Friday was the last official day of the trip. In the morning we visited a bi-lingual primary school in Patizicia. The school provides pre-school through grade 6 for indigenous youth from surrounding villages. Children are taught in Cackchiquel, Spanish and English. In addition, they learn ancient mayan culture and beliefs with a strong emphasis on environmental protection. Mayan’s believe everything on earth has a purpose and are part of the sytem (examples flies, and stones). If we don’t protect our system we are killing ourselves.
Before meeting with the director, teachers, member of the board directors we were treated to maremba and drum music, singing and traditioal dance.
Girls at Maya AJ Say
The girls in this photo sang in Cackchiquel and Spanish. The words included “People in the community don’t look up, don’t look down, look around at the need; We are the people, we need education, we need water…”.
Our last visit was a continuation of the Mercy Corps Imare program. In a little more than one year, the farmers in a community just outside Antigua, have gone from growing a single crop of strawberries to growing 12 products on 12 hectares and have a contract for 100% of their products. Imare products are now being sold all over Guatemala and Central America.
Friday night we said goodbye to Jill and Ros. Saturday morning we met with another interesting group called ISMUGUA. Then Cathy and John Brown headed back to Guatemala to visit a project called Safe Passages.
Hasta luego,
Linda
