It's the end of October!!

Well, it has just hit me that October is almost over – Halloween (the last day of October) is THIS Wednesday!!  When did that happen?!?!  Haha!  I’ve already been asked if I’m dressing up…I haven’t thought of anything yet that I could do with my limited clothing supply…except for an oldie, but a goodie that I did my first year in college – a domino :) Wear all black, put some dots on you, and wear a white belt on your waist to be the white line that splits the domino (I do not have a white belt…) But I haven’t decided if indeed I will dress up as a domino (it will be kind of warm/casual in black sweatpants when I’m out in Antigua).  So…if any of you have any simple, but fun ideas within the next 24 hours, feel free to let me know! :)

This week was basically work as usual – a lot of prepping for my programs (there always seems to be new ideas/things that come up that I need to think about and figure out) and then working with the students whenever they come in..tutoring and such.  There has been quite a bit of math tutoring this week (get excited, Mom! :) ).  I’ve gotten better at my Spanish vocabulary for the basic math (add, subtract, multiply), but this week I was doing more with algebra…golly, there are so many little words that we use to describe things that I just don’t have in Spanish yet!  I just did a lot of demonstrating and thankfully I think the two different girls I worked with understood.

There was one day in particular this week, Wednesday, where I had three distinct moments occur that were significant in their own way and elicited different emotion.  First of all, in the morning I was asked to translate a sponsorship visit.  This was for a couple, Trent and Tracy, who are new to Common Hope.  Trent is a dentist and he and his wife were down here to volunteer their services for the first time in the clinic.  Before coming down, they decided to become sponsors of a child and this was their first visit with the child that I would be helping translate for.  Both Trent and Tracy had such a fun, new energy as they were curious about Guatemala, Common Hope, their Godchild, etc.  On the way to the visit we usually talk with the social worker and get an update about the family and if there is anything we should know about the family situation before getting to the house.  I was very happy to translate to Trent and Tracy that everything overall was going very well for the family – the children (all daughters – 5 in total I believe) were doing well in school (a GREAT accomplishment!) and health was good for everyone.  When we arrived in the home, it was obvious very early on just how beautiful this family is.  They are a younger family; both the parents and the younger three girls were in the house (the older girls were at school).  The connection between Tracy and Trent and the family occurred quickly.  Tracy took some years of Spanish back when she was in college and was eager to try out what she remembered…it was just beautiful.  Again, just a fun, great visit – you had to be there to feel why it was so wonderful.  It was actually sad to leave (and we’d only been there an hour!)  Tracy and Trent have plans to be back soon – within the time that I’ll still be here, I guess. :)  It was just a pleasure to see their eagerness and energy to start to collaborate with Common Hope.  Their connection to the place and excitement for the work reminded me of how I was “hooked” early on in my first visits to Guatemala and Common Hope…fun to see!

On that note…I’m going to do a little advertisement :)  If you aren’t a sponsor of a child yet with Common Hope, maybe it’s something you want to consider.  It really is a beautiful thing…a beautiful relationship you can have…and it gives so much to the children and the families.  Sponsorship is a huge need of Common Hope’s right now…so, just think about it. :)  If you want more information you can definitely find it on the website www.commonhope.org or I’d love to help you find information as well, so just send me an email or facebook message.

The second event of Wednesday was not as uplifting.  I was at my desk working in between getting children going on math games and other tutoring help when one of the young guys who attends the Saturday activities and other youth events came over to say “hello.”  When I asked how he was, he replied, “mal” (bad).  Now, sometimes they joke around with you, so I assumed this was the case, but still replied “mal? Por qué mal?” (bad? Why bad?).  His response…”Perdí el año” (I failed the year).  He failed his school year…he will have to repeat.  Oh my.  What do you say?!?  Of course, I did say some comforting words (or I tried) and asked a few questions about recuperating and stuff…but mainly what hit me was during this very brief conversation I saw the moisture in his eyes, the tightness in his face…a look I understand all too well…he was fighting to hold in the tears.  A 15-16 year old young guy, confiding this painful news with me, but then fighting the emotions that came with it.  He changed the subject quickly and had to leave to get to the youth program he was going to attend that day.  Sadly, his story isn’t an uncommon one…I’m curious to find out how many of the youth that I work with regularly will be repeating their grade.  It is such a problem here…many factors involved…one of the problems we are diligently working to change.

The third event came very soon after the second.  Like I said, I was working on getting children ready with math games and exercises that afternoon.  I am still working with the two sisters, Keila and Nataly, on math.  Even though they are done with school, they are continuing to come so that we can keep working on multiplication and division for the next year.  Well, I have introduced them to some RightStart math card games and the abacus…they LOVE playing the games (especially the skip counting memory game – this helps them with multiplication).  Well, they were playing this game and then I overheard my colleague Jóvita asking each of them some multiplication problems that were related to the numbers they were playing the game with…and they we answering them!  Well, I decided to ask them a few too after they were done playing their next round of the game.  When I was asking Keila multiplication problems with 9s she was able to quickly answer me WITHOUT LOOKING AT HER SKIP COUNTING SHEET.  She’s LEARNING!!!  She was VERY proud of this fact and it was just wonderful to see her proud of herself.  Her younger sister Nataly was still using her skip counting sheet (which is just fine!) and Keila was very proud to point out that she did not need to look at her sheet.  Haha!  SO wonderful because not long ago when I first started working with them, Keila would have counted on her fingers from one to whatever the response was for the problem (even up to 63!).  It was a proud and exciting moment for me too!  :)  The kids here are so fun to work with…they LOVE any math game you give them…and Keila and Nataly always want me to give them more math problems to practice.  If I give them 10, they do them; return to me to have me check them; and then ask for more!  Can you believe it?!  It sure makes my job easy :)

I love the relationships I am making with the youth…it is quite fun to be walking in the street of Santa Ana or on my way to Antigua and every once in a while here a child’s voice call out “Seño’ Teresa” o just “Seño’” (which is like calling out “Ms.”) and then see a smile and a hand waving…usually it means a quick peck on the cheek (the common greeting here) and a few exchange of words asking how everyone is doing and what we are doing for the day.  I even know a few of the moms of some of the girls I’ve worked with, and they always pleasantly greet me as well.  I am amazed at the great respect I have gained so quickly by my position at Common Hope…from the children and the parents.  It is quite humbling and energizing to live up to their expectations and kindness.

It was Karen (my cube mate’s) birthday this Saturday, so we had a special lunch for her on Friday.  It was just Jovita (and her daughter Lucy), Francisco and I with Karen as Rigo and Jaime were not in the office that day.  Here a few pictures from the event.  Our team is so fun! :)

Lunch and cake outside!

Jovita and her daughter Lucy

A supportive team

I have had some exciting developments in my programs this week.  As I’ve stated before, I am now in charge of everything leadership in our department.  That means I have taken over the current leadership group that meets on Saturdays and plans the morning activities and I will be starting up a girls leadership group in January (a group just for young girls to develop their leadership skills – but beyond just leadership we are going to work on self-esteem and topics that are the important to young women – it is going to be a community of empowerment for young women).  Well, after being in charge of the current leadership group for a couple weeks, I have realized that there are some great things about the current program but there are also some things that need a big change.  One of these being that I believe there are some youth that are currently in the program that shouldn’t be.  They do not have the drive, passion and characteristics to be in a leadership group (and I don’t think they truly want to if they know what it means to be in a leadership group).  Therefore, I was wishing that I could just start over with the leadership group…stop the current one and start over fresh.  My plan for the girls group (and what I wanted for the other leadership group as well) is that the youth have to apply to be a part of the group.  Therefore, I will receive those who truly have the desire to be a part of the group (take the time to fill out the application) and also I will be able to review their responses and application to see if they are ready for the group.  Well…I didn’t think this would be possible with the current leadership group because I didn’t think the team would want to cut the current program and start fresh.  To my VERY happy surprise, when I brought it up at the meeting they all immediately responded (in Spanish of course) “Yes, we very much agree. Do it.”    AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  There’s nothing like having the full support of your team.  And they are all still very excited for my girls group.  Anytime I mention to anyone that I’m going to be starting this girls group they always say something like, “That is such a good idea!  That is very much needed!”  Whoot!!  All the support is absolutely wonderful!!  Though, I am feeling a little bit of the pressure to make these programs happen and make them happen well…this is totally new territory for me – starting programs…but thankfully I have a great education from St. Kate’s that has provided me with several leadership opportunities that are really going to come in handy as I form and run these programs.

Therefore, my goal is by the end of this month I will have a lot of the general details done for my programs, my posters and flyers finished, my applications ready, and any other plans of how to invite youth to come get an application.  I have been working on parts of these through-out the month and really started working diligently after my meeting with Rigo this week when I set this deadline for myself.  I’m proud to say that as of now the posters, flyers and applications are almost finished (just need a little revising), many general details are done (but definitely not all of them), and I’m still brainstorming more ideas for inviting youth beyond just flyers and posters.  It is really exciting!!  I really hope they are successful and that I get people to apply… :)

Work has definitely been picking up with me taking on the current leadership program, having Vision teams here (I’ve done more translating!), and having all the events coming up in November.  As I mentioned a while back, I will be teaching English classes for two weeks to those who will be going into Básico this next year (there middle school equivalent).  Thankfully, I did a bulk of these lesson plans back in September when I first found out I’d be doing this because I had the time then, so now when I’m busy with my other programs, I only have to go back and revise and fill in the holes.  This is a prime example about why I LOVE being the exact opposite of a procrastinator :) It really comes in handy sometimes.  We will also be celebrating the graduation of our affiliated students on Saturday, November 10^th which means we will have many sponsors coming down to celebrate with their affiliated child along with many students and family members on site.  I’m very excited to see this!!  It is so cool to be here for such an extended time period so that I get to see all these fun festivities!

This last Friday night was a big event in the youth department.  We had what they call La Fogata (the campfire) but it really is an equivalent of what we call a “lock-in” in the U.S.  It was an all night event 5:30pm-8:00am where about 80 youth were on site with us, having a good time.  This year, our team decided to split up into shifts so we all wouldn’t have to be working the whole night.  We drew numbers and I drew #2 which means I was on the second shift, 1am-8am…whoot! :)  They had rooms for us on site to sleep in, so I got a few hours before my shift and then I was awake and in charge!  There were various activities that the youth leaders planned, which included a “Rally” which is like a relay of various games that each team has to complete and whoever completes all of them in the least amount of time wins.  There was a soccer tournament, card games to play, a dance, a costume contest, roasting marshmallows around the campfire with time for people to tell jokes, supper, breakfast….and all the while there was an unlimited supply of coffee.  I was actually pretty impressed with my energy throughout the night (and that was without coffee as I still am not a coffee consumer)…though I did notice that my ability to speak Spanish was not quite as sharp when it was about 6am…my brain new the words, but the execution of actually speaking them was a little more difficult. :)

I know I have hardly put up any pictures (here or on facebook) but that is because I really do not carry my camera around here.  It’s kind of a bummer because there are moments when I wish I had it on me, but the reality is that I don’t carry a purse around often and therefore no camera.  It is just easier and safer that way sometimes (because you don’t have to worry about keeping it safe).  Also, there are many moments when I doing things that are exciting and interesting, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to take pictures…BUT on that note…I do have a few photos for you this time!  One day I actually had my camera at the office by chance and got a photo of my team…and then I took some photos off our office camera from a few of our events…so, Enjoy!

Repostería! A baking class that has gone on for the past several months and now as an end of the class the students were able to show off their work and sell some of they pasteries to us staff at Common Hope. YUM!



Serving supper at La Fogata




They were very excited to get their picture taken! Enjoying the night at Common Hope!



My team! The office of Apoyo a Jóvenes! We got t-shirts for the leaders of La Fogata, but we only had 10 of regular sizes that we had to save for the 10 youth leaders...so we got the left-overs.  The men had a little more trouble with the smaller sizes, but it provided a very entertaining morning in the office!
(Right to Left): Rigo (the boss), Me (the actual boss - haha! that's our joke in the office), Jaime (in charge of the Study Club), Karen (my cube buddy and in charge of Metamorfosis), Francisco (head of the computer room), Jovita (head of Talento Juvenil which includes Saturday activities, crafts, cooking class)

Traducir = to translate

Last week was the week of new adventures and this week was the week of translating (which was a new adventure in itself!).  There was a Vision Team down here this week from Minnesota.  Vision Teams are Common Hope’s week long volunteer groups.  My family has taken advantage of these Vision Teams several times – I myself have been on two of them.  Well, this time I was on the other end of things as I am now staff at Common Hope.  One of the aspects of the Vision Team experience is if you sponsor a child through Common Hope, you get to go visit that child in their home.  Well, I had the pleasure of translating for two of these visits.  I have never been in a formal situation where I was translating, so I was nervous and excited at the same time.  They both went well!!  I was really lucky that the first visit ended up being with one of the girls that is in the leadership group, so I already knew her and was comfortable working and talking with her.  The power you are given as a translator is quite amazing to think about…you are allowing two groups of people to communicate that otherwise would not be able to…wow.  Therefore, translating is an energizing and tiring experience all at the same time.  It is tiring to be switching between two languages so frequently and trying to convey the information well…but it is also energizing in the excitement you feel from the success of the experience.  Of course, I do not know every word in Spanish (I do not know MANY words in Spanish), but the key is being able to think of new ways to explain things or being able to explain the word you don’t know so that whoever you are talking to can figure it out.  I have gotten very good and figuring out new and creative ways to say things or how to explain a word (with words, body movements and/or sound effects).  Haha!

The second sponsorship visit I translated for was in the village of San Miguel which is a new satellite site for Common Hope that they just started working in about a year ago.  It was nice to see this new village for Common Hope because now I have seen all their sites (Antigua, New Hope, San Rafeal, and San Miguel).  This visit was tougher in the sense that the sponsored child was more shy and had a rougher situation.  His two older brothers had died this year (one because of an overdose and the other was killed), he was suffering from depression because of it, and he wasn’t doing well in school anymore.  He didn’t make much eye contact and his responses to questions were short and limited.  Yet, it still was a good visit I think.  The social worker was very helpful in trying to make conversation and it was a good reminder of the tough situations that are faced by these young children – why a sponsorship is so important – and why we do the work we do.  A positive note in this boy’s life is he recently started attending a church with a friend and really enjoys it.  He has been consistently going on Sundays and for activities during the week and has started to form friends within this group with whom he attends.  The social worker says this has had a positive impact in his life and they hope he continues to attend.

Besides the sponsorship visits, I also helped translate with an activity that they did with the youth (making bracelets) and for a “Day in the Life..” activity where a couple of the group members went to the home of a ceramic maker and learned about his business and made some of their own ceramics.  This was particularly fun for me since I love being creative/doing art and it gave me a chance to get my hands back in some clay.  The translating this week made my week quite busy, but it also added some fun variety.  I really feel blessed to have this second language and the ability to talk directly to the people of Guatemala.  Translating reminded me why I have worked so hard to learn Spanish…why I majored in it and studied in Spain…it reminded me of that first vision team I was on in Guatemala when I went on my first social work visit and talked with the social worker (after 1 year of high school Spanish) and felt the excitement of communicating with another in another language.  That is when I decided I was going to learn Spanish to be fluent.  Now I am back in Guatemala, my Spanish is better; I can communicate better; I can help others to communicate; and I still get the same excitement of communicating with another in another language…it is great motivation to keep going – to keep learning – so that I can continue to communicate and connect others.

On Sunday I had a new translating experience – in a hospital.  There are teams of surgeons and nurses down here for the next few weeks and they are volunteering at a hospital called Hermano Pedro (Brother Peter).  The team here this week is from the twin cities area.  There was an email sent around to bilingual Common Hope staff a couple weeks ago asking for translators for the Sundays…I considered signing up, but the list filled up quickly and I was concerned about my level of Spanish being too low for the work that needed to be done.  Well, it turns out that my friend and colleague, Karen, was translating this Sunday and invited me to go with her.  So, I did. :)  We were at the hotel where the volunteers were staying at 7:00 to eat breakfast and then were at the hospital Hermano Pedro by 8:00.  To start, everyone had a tour of the place.  At Hermano Pedro there are people that live there as well because they are sick, disabled, paralyzed and/or abandoned (or their family didn’t know what to do with them, so they brought them there).  There are all ages living there, from babies to adults and everything in between.  It was such a mix of emotions to go and see the different rooms filled with different patients (divided by age and, for the older ages, by gender).  A mix of emotions to see the obvious signs of disabilities or sickness by either the way they talked or didn’t talk; the way they held their body or were frozen in one position; the abnormal or deformed skulls or other body parts; the special chairs; the movement of their eyes.  It was humbling.  A beautiful thing that occurred was Karen automatically was shaking their hands or touching their shoulders and saying “Buenas días” or “¿Cómo está Ud.?  I followed her lead, now knowing this was something we could do and wanting to do it.  By the end of the tour I realized many in the group were greeting and touching the patients!  What a witness Karen was at that moment. :)

The power of human touch.  There were many moments when I would touch a patient and I would see the change in them…whether it was their verbal response back, the smile that spread across their face, or the light that shown in their eyes.  It was a pleasure to greet them – to see their brightness, their appreciation, the connection.  When we went by some of the young men, I was blessed with a kiss on my hand by a few of them – then came the huge smiles and big eyes that looked up at me after they kissed my hand – so happy, so proud to have that gentleman moment.  It was difficult to see the babies, small children, and youth and to think that this was their home…they were lacking the closeness of a family…something everyone needs and desires.  Can you imagine growing up in this hospital, with 30+ roommates?  I cannot.

That was just the tour.  Then it was on to the day’s work.  Today was their clinic day where the doctors and nurses saw all the patients who were potential candidates for surgery, diagnosed them, and if they required surgery they were sent to see the anesthesiologist to get all the proper information for surgery.  The rest of this week they will be doing the surgeries.  To start I was in a clinic room with Karen translating (I helped whenever I was needed with little words or clarifications) and two gynecologists.  After the first patient I was very happy that I was not on my own translating – as I realized quickly that this was a whole new set of vocabulary that I had never worked with…besides that fact that I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the medical situations and terminology.  It was so interesting to hear the different cases and see the different personalities that entered the clinic.  After a few patients, one of the gynecologists said they were going to open another room because there were so many patients to see and asked if I would come with her to translate. Um….  I quickly responded that I really did not feel comfortable with my ability to translate these situations well, but if they absolutely needed me I would try my best.  She told me she was going to go see if maybe one of the other translators was in a situation that didn’t require such a new vocabulary set and maybe I could take their place and they would go with her.  So, I waited.  It turned out that I was then assigned to the anesthesia area as I was told it was pretty repetitive.  Okay.  Here I go.

1^st patient.

Anesthesiologist: “Good morning.  My name is Kim.”

Me: “Buenas días. Su nombre es Kim.”

Anesthesiologist: Have you had any previous surgeries?

Me: ¿Ud. ha tenido alguna operación antes?

Patient: No.

Me: No.

Anesthesiologist: Have you had acid reflex or heart burn?

Me: pause, blank stare

Never have I encountered a moment where I’ve heard, learned, or needed to say the word “acid reflex” or even “heart burn.”  Don’t worry, it didn’t stop there...kidney problems, seizures, stroke, tingling in the hands and feet, anesthesia…. A WHOLE new set of vocab.  We did make it through that first patient though…creative wording and much pointing and motioning.  Then, I quickly ran to one of the other translators and wrote down a few words to help me out…and then continued with my creative translating.  Thankfully, it was really repetitive…so it got a little easier.  I am now very capable of telling someone what it means if they are going to get a general anesthesia or a spinal tap, what they need to do to prep for surgery regarding food and water, and how many nights they will need to stay afterwards depending on what type of surgery they are having.  The hours went quickly but they were exhausting.  We worked until after 5:00 with a quick break for lunch (run downstairs, eat quickly, run back upstairs).  The importance of my translating seemed exaggerated in this moment as I was helping to prepare patients for surgery – it was important that they understood the questions and the information given to them so that they could have a successful and safe surgery.  Beyond just giving information, we were a source of comfort and explanation…we were the ones who were able to communicate that the surgery was safe, the surgeons were excellent, and that the risks were minor and very uncommon.  For some of these patients, this was their first surgery ever (and many in their family had not had any as well), they may have traveled a long ways (some came as far as 5 hours), and now their nurses and doctors were speaking a different language then their own.  Though, everyone was very grateful and attentive.  It was a pleasure to work with them and be part of the process to their better health.

This was a very exciting week, but a very exhausting week.  With volunteering on Sunday too, it meant a very full 6-day week of work.  This meant that Monday was a lazy day, just doing the minimal amount of food shopping that I needed to do to get through the week and a little internet time.  Now to enter into another exiting week with a little more translating (less then this last week, but we do have another Vision Team here) and more youth planning and activities.  Here we go!

New Adventures

This was a week of many new adventures.  It started out with a memorable trip on Tuesday with my office to visit our colleague, Francisco, at his home with his new baby boy.  This trip involved three chicken buses (these are the public buses here…old school buses painted various colors) and a tuk tuk ride (the tiniest vehicle like object that has cloth “walls” instead of metal).  Our final destination was a village called Zaragoza, but we needed to take a bus from the foundation to Antigua; another from Antigua to Chimaltenango; and one more from there to Zaragoza…straight, it is about a 1.5-2 hour trip.  When we arrived in Chimaltenango, we went and bought some food to bring for lunch and a cake.  It was raining quite heavily…we had one umbrella (Jovita and I shared) and Rigo and Karen had jackets…we didn’t know where the food and dessert places were…or the next bus for that matter…we were laughing and walking.  It was so much fun!!! (for real! That is not sarcasm).  I loved how even though it was raining, we were figuring out where everything was.  Even though it was a long trip – there was no stress…there was no worrying.  It made me reflect how this would go if I was in the U.S.  There are some people in my life in which it would go quite the same, but I feel like in general there would be more stress…that is more our culture.  We are on a time schedule; we like to know where we are going; we don’t like getting stuck in the rain.  Yet, this was for me, a fun adventure – full of bonding and laughing and traveling.  Oh, I didn’t tell you about the chicken buses.  Not only are they a little rickety and the drivers drive a little too fast…but they is no capacity limit in the eyes of the workers.  Even when you are sure there is no way anymore people can fit in the bus (3-4 are in each seat and the aisles are full of standing people) you still hear the money collector boy yelling “Antigua! Antigua!” as he motions for people to enter.  Let’s just say, you get very cozy with whoever is around you.  The buses are not always large sardine cans; it depends on the time and destination…but with these longer trips they tend to be fuller as there aren’t as many buses going the long distance.  Again, my thoughts drifted to how most United States citizens would handle this…haha…I’m glad that I’ve had previous experiences like this before and grew up in a big family, so that the extreme touching wasn’t uncomfortable.  Our tuk tuk ride from the last bus to our friend’s house included the four of us shoving into the back of this little cloth bag of a vehicle - Jóvita sitting on top of Karen’s lap, me in the middle, and Rigo on my other side….laughter, smiles, jokes all around.  Again, it just made us laugh at the situation and trip.  I have talked mostly about the journey of this trip because that is what was very memorable…though the time seeing the baby and sharing the meal together was special as well.  Again, another moment of feeling part of the team – part of the Apoyo a Jóvenes office team.

My second adventure this week, sadly was not quite as fun.  I got sick.  It began Wednesday afternoon with back pain and a headache, and turned into stomach pain every time I ate.  I was very tired and slept a bunch.  I was still able to go to work though…I was able to function, but did not enjoy myself quite as much.  I did go to our clinic on site on Friday and was given a prescription for my stomach and I have a blood test tomorrow just to confirm it isn’t some virus we need to worry about (because of how tired I was).  I am feeling MUCH better now though (by Saturday afternoon, I was almost back to my normal self).  I am still taking my prescription though and being gentle with what I eat and how much…but I definitely am on the mend.  Besides the new adventure of being sick, I also had the adventure of going to a doctor and having my whole visit in Spanish.  Do you ever feel that it is hard to explain how you are feeling when you are sick in English?  Well yes…now I had to do that in Spanish.  Of course the doctor was very nice and we connected on shared experience of living in Sevilla for a time (I was wearing my Betis soccer jersey that day).  I got what I needed and am on the mend = success.

On Friday, at our office meeting, I found out that Rigo wants me to take on all our leadership groups in the youth program (instead of just being in charge of my girls leadership group that I am developing and implementing in January).  More or less this is a summary of what was said, “Teresa, I would like you to take on the leadership program in the office.  I would like you to start tomorrow.”  Haha!! Okay, so there were a few more words in there…but more or less this was the message! WOW.  Though, when he said, “start tomorrow” he really meant, begin the process of orienting into this new position…start taking on the responsibilities but Jóvita and he will help me transfer in.  So now I will be in charge of the leaders on Saturday and also my girl group.  We are hoping to revamp the Saturday leadership program so that it has more substance and maybe has some more training for the leaders that could involve a day or two during the week.  I am honored that they trust me with taking all this on…excited with all the ideas I have and all the possibilities…nervous about not meeting their and my goals.  Saturday, I was in charge of the attendance record of the leaders and led the planning meeting (with Jóvita’s support).  One of the biggest struggles for me that I can see right now is going to be my ignorance in Spanish and food.  There are more words I want to know and understand that they youth say so quickly….and a part of planning is making decisions about snack and lunch on Saturdays.  Well, I don’t know hardly any of the dishes that they talk about and therefore I don’t know what ingredients we need and how much.  And guess who is suppose to put the order in for the week?  Yep, that would be me.  BUT no worries – Jóvita helped me out and I also can ask the youth what they think we need and how much.  It will happen…but there will be a learning curve.

Like I said, many new adventures this week…most of them good…and as always, each day brings a new adventure of sorts whenever I get to interact with a new person or tutor a child.  It is quite fun, rewarding, challenging, interesting, frustrating at times, and usually full of purpose.  I like it.  I have more new adventures coming up this week as there is a Vision Team here this week (volunteer group) and I am going to be helping translate for a couple visits of theirs…I will be the only “bilingual” in these situations – it is an exhilarating responsibility.

My hope for each of you is that you find a new adventure in your week…it doesn’t have to be as big as taking three chicken buses and tuk tuk to a far off village in Guatemala in a down-pour…but maybe it’s just taking on a new challenge (big or small) that you have put off because you worry you won’t be able to do it.  I bet you can.  It is quite fun! :)



These are not my own photos, but I found them online to show you what I'm talking about when I mention the modes of transportation.  This is a chicken bus - they are all painted different colors and different ways.  On the front on top you can see where the bus is going...this is how you know if you should get on or not. :)



Tuk Tuk
I don't think the picture captures how goofy and small these things are.

Hope

I have to say it was kind of fun to go back to work after being gone a week as I was enthusiastically greeted by many with “Welcome back!” “How was your trip?” “We missed you”, etc.  Such great people.  I have been jumping back into it all and continuing my work on developing my own program.  Something new and fun that happened this week was that Jóvita (one of my office colleagues) and I met with a couple from Alabama who have been here about two years and are running a youth program in one of the nearby villages.  Some of the youth that attend our program on Saturdays also attend their program and have talked to Jóvita about how they want to have the two groups come together for an activity.  So, we met with the couple to discuss collaborating on a Saturday activity.  What was particularly fun for me with this meeting was that I ended up being a bit of a translator.  Jóvita asked me to come along to the meeting because she realized that they did not speak Spanish proficiently.  Well, when we first got there, we were speaking in Spanish…and they were doing fine.  But when we came across one word they didn’t understand, I said it in English…and you should have seen their faces – complete surprise.  I guess they hadn’t figured out that I was from the U.S. and spoke English.  Haha!  Jóvita told me later when we were laughing about this, that even though I may not look particularly Guatemalan, I could be assumed to be Latina and therefore others may not assume I’m from the U.S.  After our meeting I gave them a small tour of Common Hope’s site…I have to say it was really fun to say “We believe…” or “We do this or that” as I am part of the organization now.  So cool!

This blog post is going to be made up of a couple different observations/reflections that I’ve had since I’ve been here as I don’t have many new details to write about pertaining to what I’ve been doing this week. 

First of all, I have noticed the difference in transportation safety here.

1. Packing many people into a car, truck, or any type of vehicle is not uncommon.  It is not important whether or not there are enough seatbelts (or even seats) for everyone…just as long as the doors can shut.  You can do this in front of anyone, the police and all, and nothing will be said.

2. There are many motorcycles here – and very few helmets.  It is rarity for me to see anyone wearing a helmet.  It is not a rarity to see 3 (and sometimes 4) people on a motorcycle…usually two parents and a child or two.

3. Driving after drinking or when you are drunk is quite commonplace in the evenings.  The only thing that makes me feel a tiny bit better is that the cobblestones and speed bumps in Antigua make it impossible to drive fast…but still…quite different.

Just for fun, I think I’m going to start writing little lists like the one below…this is just a start for now.

A list of things I have learned about myself from some of the Guatemalans here:

1. I do not look my age (everyone assumes I’m younger).

2. I can pass for Latina of some sort

3. I look good in the color purple

4. I am a good dancer

5. I have pretty hair

Finally, in one of our meetings it was mentioned again the statistic of how many children fail classes, fail grades, drop-out, etc (I need to look up the percentages again and add them to this post)…but it is incredibly high.  It was just a big reminder of the huge wall we are up against…the school system isn’t what it should be…and the group of children we are actually impacting are just a small percentage of the Guatemalan children.  When you look at the numbers, it can make you feel pretty hopeless.  When you see all the red dots in the social workers’ offices by the names of children (indicating that they are failing or failed a grade) you feel a little defeated…. But then, you have to remember to look beyond the numbers.  You have to look at the individual faces.  You have to see the green dots between the red ones.  You have to see that girl who proudly shows you her many 100 percent marks in her notebook or the little boy who asks you to listen while he reads you his homework out loud.  You have to see the smile that crosses the young girl’s face when she gets all the multiplication problems correct that you have given her or the young boy’s intrigue and desire to practice talking English with you when he sees you writing something down in English.  There is hope.  In each one of these children and youth, there is hope.  I have a desire to change the world…and a couple years ago I remember being overwhelmed by all that needed to be changed in the world.  I worried about what I could do to make a difference…to really make a difference.  Then, with time, maturity, and reflection, I came to this conclusion.  I want to change the world.  I want to change the world, and I can do this by starting with one person or one child.  If I make a difference in one child’s life, then I have changed their world…and that is changing our world.  It still is overwhelming sometimes when I think of all that needs to be changed – of everyone that needs help – but I am going to do my best to do my part.  If I do, if you do, if we all do…then we really can change this world – I truly believe that.

As a quick addition, I would like to link Common Hope's Donar Impact Report.  It is very encouraging to read.  I love how Common Hope is very intentional in recording their work so that there are concrete statistics and numbers to show progress.  They also present it all in a very accessible and engaging manner.  Take a look!