Week 2 - Wet Streets and Wet Diapers



Lorena - 2 months, 4 pounds



It's hard to believe that we are finishing up our second week tomorrow. We have had a busy week and we are still getting more and more comfortable. This week we started our volunteer job at Nuestras Ahijados (refered to as the project). We worked in the Casa Jackson which is a malnutricion center for small children. 50% of the kids in Guatemala are malnutricioned. When kids go the Casa Jackson, they have been referred by a court, brought by their parents or referred by the hospital. Our job is simply to hang out with the babies. We get to feed them and of course there is diaper duty, but mostly, just stimulate them. Kids recover very quickly with more attention.

 

Michael with Aracely

Next week we are not going to work at the Casa Jackson but with another part of the project. The project was founded by an american couple and really reaches out to the entire family. They have a school for children who cannot afford it, they have the Casa Jackson, and a homeless shelter. They give classes to parents on how to get jobs and how to feed their kids. They have classes to empower women and give them confidence in a very male dominated culture. They are all around helpful. Next week, we get to work in the homeless shelter which we are really excited about. We got posted with the babies for the first week because our spanish is limited. At the homeless shelter there are two sections, one for homeless men with addiction problems and the other section is for families. We only work for two hours serving a meal and hanging out. We are looking forward to it. Also next week, we get to go out to the local farms that donate crops to the project. We get to help collect from the farms. We are looking forward to seeing more of Guatemala and what the farms are like. Antigua, where we are at, is very touristy and rich by all standards. Ten minutes out of the city are the shacks and dirt floors --- we want to be there!

Guatemalan Slug in our room

This weekend we are going to try to go to Lake Atitlan. Click here to see more Its pretty close to where we live and cheap to get there and back. Like I mentioned, its been raining non stop for days. It looks like we are going to have a little break in the weather so hopefully we can enjoy some time away. We have been a little overwhelmed by all the rain. In the last four days, there has literally only been 30 minutes of sunshine. I thought there was going to be a landslide yesterday, it rained so much. Because our dwelling is not sealed at all, the moisture just collects and collects. Everything in our room is moist. Every night when we get in bed, the sheets are wet. This is one part we could live without and we had this little visitor on the wall last night when we went to bed. In Guatemala, electricity is extremely expensive, so no one has clothes dryers, which usually is not that big of a deal, because there is usually enough sun to hang clothes on a line. However, these past days, it has been too wet to put clothes out, so when our pant legs got wet, they stayed wet. And the same for our bath towels. I thought of my friend Jeremy yesterday. He refuses to reuse a towl even once. Our family gave us one towel to share and we have used it for about three days straight. In those three days, I dont think it was ever dry. Jeremy - you would not be able to live here....even with all the tequila!


Coffee Trees

 Our teachers have been really great. Each week they have a fun day planned for us. Today we got to go to a coffee plantation. Guatemala is the 3rd largest producer of coffee in the world (Brazil is #1). We got a guided tour by Spanish speakers and I am glad to say that we understood most of it. I learned that coffe has be grown in the shade, so all the coffee is surrounded by taller trees. Its really interesting how the coffee is processed from the tree to the cup. The beans of one tree will produce about 40 cups of coffee and they only produce once a year.  At the plantation, they also had a small museum of mayan culture. It included a mayan music room. It was really neat to see the evolution of the musical instruments of the mayas.
Here is a picture of me with my teacher, Claritza. I bent down so she didnt feel so short. I stand about a foot taller than her.

Me and Claritza

More to come after this weekend. Thanks again to all of you who continue to pray for us on our journey. We feel very much like God is directing our path and creating every next step of our bridge. Our teacher says, poco a poco, little by little. Thats exactly how we feel. Hugs and love from Guatemala. Shannin y Miguel