March 23-30
Our group gathered for a day at Semilla after free travel then Sunday morning we left for our service learning assignments. Zoe and Amanda stayed in the city at Clínica Jac de Wit. Caleb, Sam and Malachi went to Comalapa to work with Rujotay. Malia, Emae and Payton went to Santiago Atitlan to work with Anadesa. Sarah, Kaylin and Ivy went to San Juan Atitlan to work with AMI. Claire, Nathan, Noah and Esme went to Alta Verapaz to work with CCFC. Rose went to Santiago Atitlan to work with ADISA. Liz and Lily went to San Pedro Carcha to work with Sembrando Esperanza.
I have definitely learned a lo
t during my first week of community learning. I am placed at a private clinic in the city called Community Health Center Jac de Wit, with one other student, Zoe. We arrive each morning at 6:00 a.m. to start our day with a wonderful breakfast made at the clinic. We have observed different parts of the clinic like the lab, in-patient area, and the emergency area. We also helped with their monthly inventory checks. In the lab we helped test blood and learned about that process.
Overall, we have observed a lot of patient care. The clinic can be slow sometimes, but that gives us time to talk to and connect with workers here. They have all been very welcoming to us. They are excited to show us their jobs and are patient with our Spanish. I will always remember their kindness. Each person I’ve worked with has shown great interest in my story, and I’ve loved getting to know them. I’m excited to use what I have learned here, at school and in my future career.
-Amanda Yoder
For our two weeks of service, a few others and I were tasked with working at Community Cloud Forest Conservation. The organization partners with local teachers to provide classes for local students and teach leadership skills and more environmentally friendly agricultural practices. During our time there, we got to work side by side with the teachers as they did a variety of activities in the forest. Some of the things we did included harvesting vegetables, preparing soil at the tree nursery, and cooking meals for the group. Throughout our time, we were able to connect with those working at the conservatory, as well as the beautiful landscape around us. We were able to learn about sustainable agricultural practices and really be involved in the process of developing the land in a healthy way. We had a wonderful time being able to learn from and spend time with the teachers here, providing unique perspectives on life here in Guatemala.
– Nathan Miller
Fifteen women’s voices ebb and flow in the dance of conflict, some louder, some softer, some with much to say, others with few words. Don Carlos, having stood to leave, removes his backpack from his shoulders and slides back into the green plastic patio chair. He nods and listens, careful not to interrupt. I understand little to none of the conversation taking place in Q’eqchi’.
In the midst of all this, a young girl named Helen in a teal huipil and colorful corte, bounds up to me, making sculptures with her already-been-chewed gum and asking me to guess what it is. A baby chick marches in through the open doorway, pecking at crumbs along the red concrete floor, dropping its poo as an offering in the middle of the meeting. I sit on the bed in the corner near the door, outside of which, trees, taro, cabbage, and cardamom grow along steep hills.
These neighbors are connected by dirt paths and bloodlines. They can’t agree on where to construct their community hoop house that will allow them to more carefully tend higher quantities of vegetable starts, and one leader is ready to give up her role as Agriculture Promoter due to the disagreement. Suddenly, Don Carlos motions us to stand up and join the circle. I watch him slip off his baseball cap and follow suit with my own.
Thus begins the cacophony of voices raised to the heavens, blending the Q’eqchi’ ban’tiox (thank you) with more familiar Spanish words like bendiga (bless). Everyone prays aloud, all at once, louder and louder. I am reminded of how, at the beginning of it all, God created order out of chaos with the spoken word dabar and it was very good. Likewise, God hears these spoken prayers all at once, and in this collaborative way of asking God for mercy, powerful transformation takes place.
I am later told that the women reconciled, and construction of the hoop house will continue. A few won’t join, but “for those who are compelled to work, who will stop them?” By the time we walk out into the fresh, sweet-smelling air, we have stayed well over an hour beyond the first time Don Carlos stood up to leave.
– Liz Miller, Sembrando Esperanza-ODIGUA,
San Pedro Carchá, Alta Verapaz
