Reconstruction and Children

Today I went with the group of Education Promotores I work with at Common Hope, in addition to some psychologists to work in San Miguel, one of the hardest hit areas. There are many people living in a temporary shelter in the church and the school. We went mostly to give the children a diversion and to give their parents a break for a while. We rounded up as many kids as we could find (~45) and headed over to the school. There, we have time for the kids to draw pictures and talk if they wanted. Many of the kids were kind of in a zoned out phase. Either from stress, dehydration, or lack of food, I'm not sure.

Once we were about half way through, another volunteer group came with a projection screen and projector to show movies. When we left, the kids (who had grown to about 60) were watching 'Rainy with a chance of Meatballs" or Lluvia de Hamburgesas" in Spanish. It seemed like a good diversion for them for a while, at least.

Common Hope's blog has been putting up a lots of pics (some of which I've posted on this blog) and can be viewed HERE.

As far as an update on the country's situation, I've been reading the papers (and plan on bringing them home to share). The Airport is open, 50% of the volcanic ash has been cleaned up in the capital, 17 major bridges connecting the larger outlying departments(states) of the country have been destroyed by flood waters and have left many areas isolated, over 140 people have died as a result, and there are many still without homes. Antigua, the city that I live in remains mostly open, with tourists still walking around and making their purchases as if nothing happened.

Reconstruction Effort

^ once a main street.

Today was another day that started with a meeting of all people at Common Hope. All of their personal have been accounted for, however some are still unable to leave their homes. Today I helped out in the storage rooms with a group of Canadians, acting as a translator, to help mobilize the aide. We sent out pick ups and vans full of clean water and other staples like rice, beans, soup, and salt. We also unloaded a truck of water, 3,000 portions of water, each in their own 8 oz bags, and then contained within a larger bag which holds 20 or so. To San Pedro and San Miguel, we sent out as much potable water as possible and 300 rations each. Around 9am one of the bosses got a call from San Pedro saying there was no food in the entire community (~500 families). Many of the families were sleeping in the schools and gymnasiums.


^the road on the way to Common Hope, being cleared of debris.


^the water, in bags


^some of the foodstuffs to be sent out.


^Ramen transcends all cultural, and linguistic boundaries :)

Bad News

Things are not good here. I am fine. The communities surrounding Antigua are not. The damage done by tropical storm Agatha and the explosion of Pacaya will be felt for months if not longer.Today on my way to El Proyecto the roads were impassable. Everything was covered in silt and mud. Cars could not get farther than 1 mile. I walked to the compound and from there learned of the news. Most of our people were accounted for, but the affiliated families have not been. One city where CommonHope does a lot of work is called San Miguel. The city was destroyed. 300 families are without homes, there are children missing, and they lack the basic essentials like potable water and sanitary conditions.

Don't have much time to write, so i'll post as many pictures as i can. Please pray for the people of Guatemala, there is so much to be re done and people to be helped.

Tropical Storm Agatha and more Volcanic Ash

Well, it's official, Guatemalan weather is not what I expected. Maybe I was in an illusion thinking that since Guatemala was next to Mexico, that they would be similar in weather pattern. nope. HERE is a story in the Star Tribune about it.

Newest news: Airport is closed for 5 days. Tropical storm Agatha is approaching, and the rain has not stopped for 4 days. Luckily, the drainage system in Antigua is relatively good and I own a rain suit. Best thing i packed other than my passport. While it may be wet, the rain is not stopping me from going out. Today I went to the bookstore (where you can trade your books back for half price, score!) and to my new favorite store "Cookies ect." which i'm sure you can guess what they sell. Tomorrow i'm going out to dinner with my friend Sarah and some girls from Holland.

here's a link to some info on the storm (with pics at the bottom)
HERE is a better story done by the huffington Post.

Volcanic Eruption

Well readers, in addition to it being rainy season, I guess it's also volcano season. Last night, Volcano Pacaya, one of the most active volcanoes in Guatemala located near the capital erupted more than usual. I read in the newspaper here 'El Diaro' that it sent rocks, lava, and ash 1,500 meters into the air. The airport is closed, traffic which is normally very frequent in and out of the capital is limited and... schools are closed!

Today was supposed to be my first day as a substitute teacher (with my cooperating Guatemalan teacher) for the 2nd grade. The minestry of education has canceled classes in the capital, Antigua, and the surrounding areas due to ash. Espicialy in the capital, heavy ash was falling and posed a health hazard. This morning there was a fine dusting of ash on the trees and on top of cars. (photos are of the ash). A reporter who was covering the volcano was killed by falling rocks and there are three still missing. (remember, this is the volcano i climbed last weekend). Read the story in the Huffington Post HERE. The surrounding pueblos were evacuated and there's no real prediction as to when it will stop.

Also, it was my last day of class with Paty, a super nice teacher who taught me a lot about Guatemalan culture. As always... I"m an amazon compared to everyone else.

Seno Betsey!!!

Today was another day at the primary school in Santa Catarina. It went well, though today was the first day that I really did things on my own. My cooperating teacher had to speak to the principal for an hour (!) about upcoming events with the big group who are volunteering with CommonHope. They will be painting the entire exterior of the school, with the help of the sixth graders, and doing many activities with the younger children during the school day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Because my cooperating teacher was busy, she quickly explained what the plan was for the day, taught me a cute song about a little worm, and then sent me on my way.

I had a class of 24 5 year olds, 16 3 year olds, and ~20 4 year olds (all separate classrooms). I read a book about a boy who is traveling to the city and then had the students help me with the sounds each mode of transportation uses. After, I asked some comprehension questions about the plot, and then we made an art project where I gave them squares, triangles, rectangles, and circles to make cars, buses, planes, and other creatives modes of transportation. only problem, I didn't know the word for 'wheel'! I talked my way around that one, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. There was lots of yelling "Seno Betsey!" (teacher betsey!) but pronounced comes out more like Vetsy, Vetchy, or just Seno. I was kinda scared to be the only one in charge, but it was really fun and I think i improved my ability to understand little kid voices in spanish whispering about how they want the purple square, not the orange one :)

On the way home from school, I picked up a snack- Strawberry ice pop thingy for like 75 cents.


(also included: a cool door knocker).

Bananas and Beer

That, is a picture of my breakfast. Cook plantain with choco krispies on top. Kinda weird combination, but surprisingly good. Today I worked at El Proyecto, getting things ready for when the big group comes. Mostly just cutting up paper for teh kids to decorate their picture frames with and cutting the frames out of hard cardboard like material. I got to spend some time with Marissa, the other volunteer in education from AZ, and invited her to come with me and the other students from my house to the 'Bagel Barn' tonight to watch Shirlock Holmes. Hopefully it's a halfway decent movie.



After that, I had school and today went on the 'extra activity'. We went to the cervaceria, or beer factory. Guatemala is a country with about 11 million people, and as such has only one major beer company. Gallo (rooster), is it and it is HUGE! They also produce all of the pure water for the country in addition to all the crush soda products. We got a tour around the brewery (unfortunately in English, blah!), and then a free beer each. I"m...not a big fan of beer, so I had their equivalent of Smirnoff Ice, a 'STATS'. It was okay, but not good enough to finish. The company employs 500 people, (who are uninionized) and is apparently one of the best paying jobs anyone can have in the country. They also do a lot whenever natural disaster strikes because they're the only really big, organized company.

^view from my front door on my way to the internet cafe :)