2014...here we go!!

I’m excited to start 2014.  I am more organized in the work area…my programs are going to be even greater this year!  There have some logistical items changed in my job that will make it more enjoyable and give me more time working directly with the youth.  My Spanish is better.  I have amazing friends and family (in all parts of the world).  I am a better salsa dancer.  I have chairs, a table, and umbrella for our terrace.  I am going to start running again…next week. :)  It’s going to be good.  Do I have all of 2014 figured out yet, nope.  But that’s okay…it’s going to be great, I just know it!

Image of Success

2013 was definitely a year of success for me regarding my work in the youth program – specifically my leadership programs.  Were there failures or bumps in the road?  Of course!!  But they were overshadowed by the great memories, laughs, accomplishments, and successes!  It was fun looking back through photos and the calendar remembering everything that we did in the year…and thinking ahead to the new year with how my groups can improve and be even better.

I am not going to list off all the accomplishments or successes from this year…they are too many and I (sadly) won’t remember all of them…but I do want to share one image with you that will forever be imprinted in my mind.  It is from my girls’ leadership group.  Early in the year there was a small conflict between three girls, with two of the girls (Dulce and Yeimi) recording the other (Reyna) dancing a routine without asking and then not agreeing to erase it in the moment. The conflict was resolved with a valid explanation being given, erasing of the video, and an apology.  Though, as is common, the moment was not easily forgotten by Reyna and the relationship between her and the other two was damaged.  Unfortunately, Reyna had to leave our group for a few months because of some family issues.  She was able to return in the beginning of November just in time to take on a small part in the play we were creating and presenting.  The day of the performance arrived and Reyna did not show up.  We figured out how to make the play work without her part and then I went to finish up some prep, leaving the rest of the girls back stage.  When I returned backstage to tell them I was going to give the introduction and we would begin, I was informed that Reyna had arrived running and I had been nervous she was late and we had already started…she had been crying.  I made my way over to Reyna…there she was, sitting on the prop table with Yeimi drying her tears with a Kleenex.  I will never EVER lose that image from my mind, two girls who shared a strong conflict now drying the tears of the other…prepping her to be ready to go on stage.

That image to me is an image of success.

Un Año

On year.

It sounded like a long time. It’s not.

Yes, a lot has happened.  But it’s not a long time…it’s not enough time.

August 13, 2012 I left Minnesota to live in Antigua, Guatemala for one year as a long-term volunteer with the organization Common Hope.  All I knew was that I was going to be working in their youth program…my full job description had not developed yet.  I was excited and nervous.  I knew I was doing the right thing.

Today is August 13, 2013.  It is one year later, and I’m not going home yet.  I decided to extend my stay until December…and now I just recently decided that I will be coming back here in January to stay until June after being home for Christmas.  I’m not finished here.

It’s amazing how comfortable you can get in a place that is very different than your home for your first 22 years.  Though, places may be different, but people and communities are everywhere.  And that is what makes you comfortable in a place…that’s how you make a home in a new place.

Why am I staying?  There are many reasons.  One of the big reasons is I still feel like I’m not finished with my work that I am adding to the youth program at Common Hope.  I started a girls’ leadership program this year, and I really want to make sure it continues.  I feel if I can start it off next year, I can make it better and it will continue.  I re-vamped the leadership group they had when I arrived here.  I think we have made some positive changes this year, but it can be better too.  Am I the only person who can make these changes next year and ensure that it continues?  Of course not.  But I know that I can be the person who does it, and I want to be that person.

My work is the main factor keeping me here, but that does not negate all the great relationships I have established that I am not ready to leave.  I receive such energy from living here that I cannot explain.  Life is exciting and enriching.  I like it. I love it. :)

Will I ever come (go) back to Minnesota?  This is a question I know some people in my life are wondering.  The answer is “Yes.”  I am sure of it.  I love my life here; that is for sure.  But I know that I will be back in Minnesota.  So, do not fear those who are wanting me back.  It will happen. :)

One year.  It seemed like such a long time.  But it is here.

This is a photo of almost all of the employees of Common Hope after a work event!! :) A great family.

Señoritas Líderes

In the beginning, I had no idea what I was doing.  Well, maybe “no idea” is a bit of an exaggeration.  I like working with youth; I am an older sister so I’ve grown up mentoring and interacting with younger girls while being mentored and loved by my “strong, all-women’s liberal arts educated” mother (as we often say); I attended an all-women’s university where woman’s leadership and development was highly emphasized; I have had a few experiences being a teaching assistant or running a workshop with young girls or women.  BUT, I have never created, planned and facilitated a young girls leadership group…and then in another culture and language.

Regardless of the the pre-text, whether or not I was (or am) qualified to do this, this is what my assignment was and is.  It is not just an assignment; it is a need and something I wanted to do.  So, here we are.  It is July.  The group has been up and running for about 6 months (planning and recruiting of course started before).  The first weeks…it was a good day when I had 3 girls.  There was a Friday when I only had 1.  And then it happened.  They started to come…and they kept coming.  We now have 13 on the attendance sheet with about 10 that are very consistent.  Now, numbers are great, but they do not capture it.  These aren’t just numbers these señoritas, they are engaged, active, willing participates who want to learn and do something; who have really started to own their group.  They take initiative, are great workers, and work as a team.  I love them more every Friday that we meet.

Here are some highlights:

• Choosing their name (which is more their motto now as it was kind of long and the name Señoritas Líderes [Girl Leaders] has stuck).  They had many ideas, discussions were made, along with voting.  The final vote was: Señoritas que nunca se rinden [Girls that never give up]
• Everything month they plan out what we are going to do for the month.  They understand that there should be a variety of activities (some focused on learning or improving ourselves and others can be recreational).

Workshops and themes we’ve seen and worked with:

                a.    Women’s health

b.      Sexual health and pregnancies

c.       Public speaking

d.      Planning and hosting an activity

e.      Learning about other cultures through conversations with volunteers from other countries

• Planning and executing a “rally” on Saturday.

a.       A rally here is where there are several stations of games and the youth are in teams and must complete all the stations.  The first to complete them all wins.

b.      My señoritas were amazing!  They took the planning very seriously, made shirts to identify themselves, came early, set everything up and the activity was a GREAT success!  It was truly THEIR activity and was LESS work for me.  I was just BEAMING with pride. :)

• Circle discussion with an invited affiliated young woman guest who had a baby before graduation (and is still studying with her 1 year old baby).

a.       The invited guest shared her experience, the changes in her life after having a baby (the good and the bad and the different)

b.      She encouraged my girls to really take advantage of “their youth” and study hard while they are their only responsibility

c.       One of my girls asks, “what was it like to give birth?” and then quickly covered her mouth embarrassed…thinking she shouldn’t have asked such a question.  But it was a perfect question for this place and this space of all women.  I encouraged the question and the open space and our invited guest was happy to explain what her experience was like.  It was GREAT.  This is something all girls are curious about…but what happens if you don’t have a safe space to ask the questions and hear the answers?

There are many more highlights…some I remember and some I know I am forgetting.  All I can say is I am SO happy I started this group and am proud of the young women who are making it into what it is.  Friday afternoons are starting to be one of my favorite parts of my week.  They are such eager girls – goofy and full of life…but able to be serious and get work done too.  It is SUCH a pleasure to work with them and be a part of their girls group.

I am a bit nervous about the sustainability of this group.  Just for the fact, that currently there is only one other woman working in my office and her work load is already full…and therefore would not be able to continue the girls group once I leave.  The plan is that another volunteer will be hired to take my place.  I can just hope that she has the same passion (if we can designate the volunteer be a woman) as I do for girls leadership and development.  I don’t want to see this group end.  And it is going to be incredibly hard to let them go.

Though, not focusing on the end but on the time I still have with them…we have in the works, a “water day”..guess I’ll be getting wet that day. :)  Also, next month I want to bring in a panel of working women to give them an idea of the variety of opportunities they can have in the work force and to hear about these women’s experiences.  I hope to get a variety of women in different positions (some that are positions where women are not as often seen).

I didn’t know what I was doing.  I still can’t say I am completely sure.  But the beauty is I don’t have to have it all figured out…because these young women are the leaders.  They are going to make this group their own…I am just here to support them.

This is not all of them - but don't they just make you smile?! :)

In the moment...

They come to visit our reading corner, several moms and their children.  I invite them in, explain our corner and they begin to sit and read.  I see a little boy just outside of our carpeted reading corner area near his mom…he curiously looks on.  I approach him:

“Quieres escoger un libro para leer?”  “Do you want to choose a book to read?”

“Es que él no puede leer.” – su mamá  “It’s just that he can’t read.” – his mom

“O, está bien! Es por qué estoy aquí.”  “Oh, it’s okay! That’s why I am here.”

I take his hand and we walk over to the little pond of rubber ducks where he gleefully picks one up to show him the number of which book we will read.

We go and sit next to where his mom is with book number 5, El Patito Feo (The Ugly Duckling).  

Little Freddy is on my lap as I read the Spanish words on the colorful pages…pointing out the pictures and he copies me and points at the ugly duckling himself.

When we finish, I ask if he would like to get another one.  He smiles largely and nods his head as he jumps off my lap, takes my hand and we head back to the duck pond.

When we are back in the chair next to his mom, Freddy on my lap, I begin to read.  I notice that his mom leans in a little more time, so I turn closer towards her and open the book so we can all see.  There we are..all three…reading and sharing the moment.

We visit the duck pond one last time, but do not have time to finish this book.  It is time for them to go and we still need to sign the window which is serving as our guest book.

“Vamos a ir a firmar tu nombre en la ventana.” – yo  “We are going to sign your name on the window.” -me

“Es que él no puede escribir.” – su mamá  “It’s just that he can’t write.” – his mom

“Está bien! Yo puedo ayudar. [a Freddy] Puedes dibujar lo que quieres y después firmaré tu nombre.”  “It’s okay! I can help. [to Freddy] You can draw whatever you want and then I’ll write your name.”

Freddy aproaches the window with the red marker and quietly draws a square.  With a smile he hands the marker to me.  I ask the mother how to spell his name, but she misunderstands me and says her name.  I then assume she wants to sign her name as well and try to hand her the marker to write her name.  She quickly because nervous and says, “no no no” quietly.

She is illiterate.

I write Freddy’s name and his mother’s name, Francisca, on the window.

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I look back…I see 11 smiley, laughing, chatting faces tucked into the back of the van.  11 girls beyond excitement that this Saturday morning we are going to the pool.  The 25 minute ride has no pockets of silence and every molecule of the air is filled with their energy.

We arrive to the pool, but it will not be open for ten minutes.  I believe the longest 10 minutes of these girls’ lives.  Every person that walked near the door was the potential owner opening the pool.

At 10:00 on the dot, I allowed them out of the van and the swarm rushed to the door.

Smiles, laugher, jumping, splashing, playing…all morning.

“Teresa! Mira!”  “Teresa! Look!”

“Teresa! Estoy nadando?”  “Teresa! I’m swimming!”

“Teresa! Ayúdame nadar!”  “Teresa! Help me to swim!”

“Teresa! Teresa! Teresa!”

“Teresa. Cuando vamos a regresar?”  “Teresa. When are we going to come back?”

“Teresa, MUCHAS GRACIAS!!”  “Teresa, THANK YOU SO MUCH!”

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[por teléfono / on the phone] “Es muy importante que todos los líderes están este sábado porque tengo una sorpresa para Uds.”  “It is very important that all the leaders are here this Saturday because I have a surprise for you all.”

I repeated this line to all thirteen of the youth in the leadership group, and the rest of the week all I heard from them when they passed by my office was:

“Y Teresa…la sorpresa? ¿Qué es?”  “And Teresa…the surprise? What is it?”

Saturday afternoon…sitting at the table after just cleaning up after lunch…“Y Teresa..la sorpresa?”

Hands holding their individual wrapped packages labeled with their names…ready to tear the paper as soon as the last name is called.

Smiles and shout out’s as they realize what the package contains.

The table and air around it is soon filled with navy blue as they hold up their personalized shirt to see their own name printed on the back or to show it to someone else at the table.

Smiles.

Half of them have them already have the shirt on before I have the chance to tell them that we’re all going to put them on and take some pictures.

50 pictures later…10 different poses…and I might have one picture where everyone is looking and no one’s eyes are closed.

We end in a circle, standing on the grass, discussing how we are team.  These t-shirts are a visual sign of that, but more importantly the way we work together, communicate and work through the good and the bad together is a sign of that.  Somos un equipo.

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8pm in front of Café Condesa.

Moli comes from the north and Karin from the south.

Maybe it’s pie or hummus or a coke or an empanada over which we catch up on the week or laugh about the randomness of our Pie and Bean Club.

Laughter.

9:30pm enter Las Palmas

I untie my tennis shoes, replace my white socks with black footies, and slip on my dancing heels.

I stand up, a few inches taller than before.  I hand the black plastic bag containing my tennis shoes and my jacket to the doorman who now knows my name and with whom I have an agreement that he will tuck my things away in the cabinet by the door.

We can hear the band warming up with the DJ’ed music in the background as we approach the door to the dance floor…it is empty except for a lingerer or two standing near the wall as it is still early.

Greetings to Julio, our friend and DJ, and the waiters that are nearby.  We find our place.  

The night of salsa will begin.

…..dancing, music, energy, spirit….all night.

1am the last song…the realization that I must get these heels off as soon as possible…goodbyes…contentment.

Ready for the next night.

Common Hope Blog

Good morning everyone!

I just wanted to link here my blog post that is featured on the Common Hope blog.  They asked each of us long-term volunteers to answer some questions and have been putting up our responses on their blog.  Enjoy!

6 months

Thursday, February 13th marked six months that I have been in Guatemala.  1 year ÷ 2 = 6 months.  I have arrived at the mid-point of my stay.

Has time flown by? Yes.

Does August 13, 2012 seem like a long time ago? Yes and no. Time has flown by, but I have definitely changed which makes my first few weeks here seem like a long time ago.

How does it feel to be on the down-hill slope of your stay? Mixed feelings.  Definitely mixed feelings.

Was the year experience the right choice for you? Yes. Absolutely yes.

I am really amazed as I take a moment to reflect how well I have adjusted to my life here in Guatemala.  I like it.  I like the people, culture, my job, dancing.  It’s very nice.  Everything is not perfect of course.  There are things (more specifically, people) I miss from back home.  There are parts of life here that get tiring or bothersome.  Though, really overall, it is a good life.  I meet many interesting and fun people.  I am learning and practicing Spanish constantly.  I am working with a purpose and mission with a community that has a similar goal and vision.  I get to go out dancing regularly with amazing dancers.  Life is pretty good. :)

Updates (as I have really started to slack on getting blog posts up – sorry!)

My home as now changed from just me living here to a happy family of 4!  First came my roommate, Talen, who is a friend of a volunteer I work with.  He is originally from Norway but has lived in the U.S. for a lot of his life.  He’s a great ball of energy and fun…and he is currently dog sitting a tiny little puppy for his boss.  So, we also have a pet. :)

My other two roommates are Lauren and José.  Lauren is a new long-term volunteer at Common Hope and José is her boyfriend from Honduras.  It’s a great balance with them two here as we all get along very well….and who doesn’t like a full house???

To add to the community, my friend Alejandro is also currently visiting Guatemala for about two months to get some work done and also see what I’m up to do down here.  He has a little place just around the corner from where we are in Santa Ana.

With all these new people in Santa Ana (and those who were already here) we have a nice little community going which has involved game nights or “family dinners” on our terrace.  A lot of laughing…which is my favorite!

Work has been keeping busy as usual.  I will be starting my girls group this coming week and I have to do some re-vamping of my other leadership group as some “bumps in the road” have come up.  Please send some prayers for guidance and wise decisions with that!  Also, there is going to be some movement in the office so that my cube mate Karen is changing positions in the foundation and moving out of the office. :(  It’s a bummer for us, but we are happy for her because she is excited about her new position with the library on site.  She will only be a staircase and a few steps away…but it will definitely be very different.

Our Saturday activity program has REALLY grown.  Last year we were planning for about 90 youth to come (sometimes we’d make that number, but usually it was a little less) but now we have to plan for 150!!! That is a lot of kids.  It makes Saturdays very busy, but we are figuring it out and making it better each week.

I have been helping to coordinate a profession sound course that a volunteer from Spain is providing for 10 weeks to our youth and other employees.  It is turning out to be a very great course – the students love Pedro and he’s a great person to work with.  He is on site with us on Saturday mornings.  It has been fun remembering the Andalucian accent and word choices when talking with him…but I forgot how fast they talk in Spain!  I have been spoiled here in Guatemala. :)

One last update.  On February 14^th I participated in the flash mob dance for the movement One Billion Rising which called women (and the men who love them) to all dance together to stand up against violence against women.  There was a choreographed dance you could learn on youtube.  People all over the world got together to dance and there was someone organizing a dance here in Antigua.  I got connected with her and taught some of my youth and friends at the foundation the dance and then we all danced in Central Park at 5:30.  It was a lot of fun and very energizing!!!

Well, that’s all for now!!  I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and hugged many people you love!