Highlights of our February 2008 Volunteer Trip
( Click on the links to view pictures )
Stove Building : We spent 5 days building stoves in the town of Rancho de Teja. Everyday we got up early for breakfast at Mezon Escondido, just down the street from the Casa Argentina. By 7 or 7:30 am we were picked up by José and Betty and other drivers in the van and trucks and taken to the mountain town of Rancho de Teja, in the municipality of San Francisco el Alto. Each day we were organized into teams of 4 or 5 with an experienced mason and someone who could speak Spanish. We ate lunch together every day as a group, usually in the home of a member of the community. We prepared group lunches at Casa Argentina and brought our own food and drinks with us. Some building days were faster than others, depending on the group, but we usually finished stove building by 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
The Town of Rancho De Teja is in the Municipality of San Francisco el Alto, our stove building location for this year. This mountain village was very picturesque, with lovely sloping hills surrounding the valley, grassy pathways and farm animals wandering up and down the roads and fields. The people were friendly and appreciative of our efforts to help them by building new stoves. By working in their houses we were able to see their true living conditions and came to understand the nature of poverty for them - no running water, inadequate sanitation, limited electricity, and the never ending need to acquire firewood for cooking. The people of Rancho de Teja for the most part make their living by sewing - endless hours spent over an old fashioned sewing machine in a smokey house making backpacks or shirts or other items of clothing that will earn the family a few quetzales profit by the time the materials are bought, the work is done and the items are delivered to a middle man in the city to be sold. There were always people toiling away in the fields with simple tools, preparing the soil for the next corn crop. These humble people work so hard just to obtain the basics for their families. They want better for their children, but are stuck in the cycle of poverty. When we had finished our time here, a community leader came forward with a list of 50 more families that were in need of our masonry cooking stoves. We hope that future fundraising efforts will be able to help them.
The Mobile Medical Clinic: The bus was delivered and began its new life as a Mobile Medical Clinic. Several of our volunteers had an opportunity to spend a day on the clinic to observe the CEDEC doctors and medical workers in action. It was quite an experience to see first hand the health workers translating from Quiche to Spanish for the doctors and to see the variety of medical complaints that often require common medicines that weren't always available. Scabies was a common complaint and was something we noticed as well on the village children when we were building stoves. We hope to continue funding the clinic with some of the medicine that CEDEC can't provide.
Quetzaltenango (Xela) was our home base for most of the trip. We also made side trips to Fuentes Georginas and visited a school in Cantel to deliver backpacks and school supplies. The beautiful colonial city of Quetzaltenango is easy to get around once you get your bearings and understand the location of Casa Argentina and the "Zona" system. We were only a short walk away from a number of great restaurants and the City plaza area.Travelling together in groups is always recommended and the city is safe if you use common sense. A trip to the Fuentes Georginas hotsprings was a great way to unwind from our previous day of travel from Canada and a stroll down the mountain road gave us an excellent view of the countryside and the agricultural industry of the area. A visit to a school in the township of Cantel was an eye-opener as we travelled up a rutted mountain road to see a small school with about 4 classrooms, outdoor washrooms and a basketball court. We passed out school supplies and were treated to several wonderful dance and singing performances by the children and their teachers.
A special visit was arranged to the relocated mountain village of Nueva Chuicutama, about an hour away from Xela. This Maya community lost their town and ancestral lands because of mudslides from Hurricane Stan in 2005. The town has been rebuilt and the people are struggling to make new lives in homes donated by USAid. The town looks desolate compared to the others we had seen and the people were thankful for the handouts of school supplies, used clothing, toothbrushes, shampoo and other hygiene products we had to give them. We were left with a feeling of thankfulness for our good fortune in life compared to these people, mostly mothers and children who came out to see us, some of whom stood barefoot in the mud or carried heavy loads of wood down from the surrounding hills.
Trips to the Chichicastenango Market and the town of San Pedro La Laguna on the shores of Lake Atitlan were undertaken after our stove building days. A highlight of the trip for those who love shopping was the Chichicastenango Market - a bargain-lovers paradise. In a few hours we were able to purchase bags of treasures and souvenirs for our families and friends. Our overnight stay in San Pedro La Laguna was a real treat with some warmer weather and the picture-perfect views of Lake Atitlan.
Antigua and a mountain trek to Pacaya Volcano were the culminating activities of the trip as we made our way back towards our departure point of Guatemala City. Antigua is the tourist mecca of Guatemala and boasts a warm tropical climate, lovely restaurants, outdoor cafes and lots of shops - a striking contrast to the rural Guatemala we had experienced firsthand for the rest of the trip. For those with some energy left, a hike up the Pacaya volcano was an invigorating experience!