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!

Back into the swing of things.

I returned to work on Thursday, January 3^rd, to an office not quite full or hopping (just me and two other colleagues in our office), yet the fun and energy of the work was not lacking.  It was great to be greeted by my co-workers…talk about what we did on vacation…and talk about all the events and projects coming up in the next few weeks.  Jaime and I (with the help of one of the interns in our office, Emmanuel) decided that our entrance needed a make-over.  It began with just taking down the letters of the old welcome message that hung around our welcome white board so that we could put up a new one…to touching up the white paint on the wall to clean it up…to encountering some beautiful bright blue paint in one of our rooms…and…well...  Now we have a wonderful splash of color that welcomes you into our office! :)  The white board is cleaned and back up with freshly printed and laminated names (we indicate where we are each day..”in the office”, “study club”, “personal day”, etc.) and on Tuesday I finished putting up all the letters that we cut out for the message.  That little (actually, not so little) project has done in between all the other things that have been starting up with this New Year.

On the 6^th, was the school supply day at Common Hope where all the families in the Antigua area come to the foundation to get their school supply packets for the year.  We wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to every affiliated family, therefore I put together a brochure with all the information about the programs that our youth office provides.  My leadership group and I were there on the school supply day to hand out these brochures and talk about our programs.  It was quite exciting and actually has produced some results as we have had many young people stopping by our office in the following weeks to ask about programs and sign-up for those that have sign-ups.  Very exciting!! :)  An exciting moment for me this day was at the beginning of the early morning (we were all there by 6:30am) when I was talking with the youth of my leadership group.  I was telling them that they were here to do more than just hand out brochures, but they really needed to talk to the families about our programs and why they should participate.  When it was time to get started they all wanted to sit at the table instead of going out to the different lines that were going to form with families waiting because they thought that staying at the table would mean less talking.  Well, everyone sitting at the table was not going to work…so I stopped them all from talking (as they were trying to negotiate who was going to get to stay at the table) and said “Okay, okay – Leaders, hands in!”  We all put our hands into the middle of the circle like sports teams do before the start of a game, and I gave my pep talk.  “We have some important work to do here for our office Apoyo a Jóvenes.  This is your opportunity to help us out.  Remember, I chose each and every one of you for this group because I knew that you could do something like this – I know you can talk to these families.  You are all leaders.  So, let’s get to it! On the count of 3 we are all going to say ‘Leaders!’ 1…2…3…LEADERS!”  And guess what happened?  They all grabbed up handfuls of brochures and rushed off so fast I didn’t even have a moment to blink…and guess who was left at the table?  Me. Just me. :)

I have had one more meeting with these leaders this past Saturday.  It is really fun working with them.  This month we are going to be learning about “What is leadership?” and exploring the different perspectives on it and what they themselves think about leadership.  I try to mix up our time together with games and activities along with short discussions and reflections.  We are also doing some of the preliminary aspects of starting a group such as working out expectations for the group, making personal goals, making our group contract with each other, etc.  It’s amazing how many experiences from my past I am able to pull ideas from…classes I’ve taken, professors or mentors I’ve worked with, groups I’ve been a part of, research I’ve read, etc.  It’s really cool to see it all coming together in a project I am working on.  I like it.

My girls leadership group is not going to start until February because I need more time to recruit.  Exciting news is after the school supplies day and getting the word out to many families that way, I have handed out 17 applications for the group.  Now the waiting…I really hope most of those applications come back filled out.  Right now I sit with 4 completed applications.

Beyond my leadership responsibilities I am keeping busy with other tasks as well, whether it’s planning the schedule and activities for 6 volunteers that are going to be with our office for a week; translating visits as new Vision Teams are starting to come down; or helping the youth that come into the Study Club.  School started up again this week, and we are very happy to already see youth coming in to work on their homework.  As the message outside our office now says, “Tu Meta Escolar 2103 Inicia HOY!” (Your 2013 School Goal Starts TODAY) it is important for the students to begin working hard right from the beginning so that they are learning and doing well the whole year instead of trying to catch up at the end.

I think I may be loving my job even more in this New Year.  I have such a greater confidence in myself and my abilities in my position; I KNOW what’s going on (most of the time :) ); I am forming and making my own activities and implementing my own ideas with programs of our office; and I have even stronger relationships with the youth and my colleagues.  It is good.  Life is good.

Vacation

I am really enjoying the benefits of vacation – a rest, a break.  As I hope you have figured out from my blog posts, I love my work with Common Hope.  I am so glad I have the position that I have and am excited about everything I am doing….BUT that doesn’t mean that it isn’t tiring and draining at times and that I am not fully enjoying a little time off to rejuvenate. :)  To start off my vacation I headed to Costa Rica for a week to see a new place, do new things, see a good friend, and RELAX.  It was quite an adventure that included motorcycle riding around a volcano, immersing myself in a hot river which is naturally heated by the volcano, boat riding and horseback riding to get to our next hostel in the rain forest, salsa dancing and last (but NOT least) zip-lining in the rain forest.  It was all a blast!!  There was also plenty of time to just relax in the sun while reading or chatting.  It was a very great way to start out my vacation.

I returned to Guatemala on the 23^rd.  On Christmas Eve I went to mass with my friend Karen in the evening and then we went to her parents’ house where all her family and the family of her soon to be sister-in-law from Belgium were there to celebrate Christmas.  It was quite an international Christmas as we had 4 languages present: Spanish, English, Belgium and French (Karen’s sister is married to a Canadian man).  Somehow everyone was more or less able to communicate, though those of us who knew two languages were sometimes used to translate for others. :)  The tradition in Guatemala is to eat very late (usually not until midnight), but since there were guests from other countries we ate earlier…10:30pm! Haha!  The traditional food to have on Christmas is tamales and punche (a hot fruit drink).  Though, we also had a very nice grilled meat (Karen’s father’s specialty), avocados, salad, mashed potatoes, bread and fruit.  At midnight, we all went up to the roof as many fireworks were being let off all over town.  They definitely love their fireworks here in Guatemala…they set them off for EVERY celebration (and sometimes just because they can…haha!)  I returned home around 1:30am, pretty exhausted, but happy I was able to share Christmas with a family.

Christmas day was very chill…as it usually is here in Guatemala as everyone is recovering from the night before.  I was able to connect with my family via Skype which was a blessing – such wonderful technology.

In my free time now I am trying to connect with friends for coffee or walks around Antigua.  I met a couple of people who are visiting Antigua on my way back from Costa Rica when we shared the shuttle from the airport to Antigua.  One of them (Michael) ended up getting a guitar playing gig at a place here in Antigua last night so I stopped by there and met some of his friends and three older men who Michael was opening more.  It was quite fun as I ended up sitting at the table with these three musicians as they waited for their turn to play…they have been playing together for 20 years, about 8 years at this café (since the café opened).  One is from California, one from Guatemala, and I didn’t hear where the other was from.  They were quite young in spirit and a lot of fun.  Well, when Michael played “Brown Eyed Girl” I told them that this was my song.  Willie’s response (the Guatemalan of the band) was to tell me that this song was overdone and that they would sing me a new Brown Eyed Girl song…that they would make up on the spot! Haha!  They kept their word and a few songs into their gig “my song” came on…Brown Eyed Woman.  Well, I may just have to go back there some night and request it again.  It was actually VERY good…especially for being made on the spot.

I am also really breaking into the salsa scene here in Antigua – and LOVING IT!  I cannot even explain to you the beauty of this dance here…it is truly art.  I am excited to keep learning more every time I go out and meet new dancers.  Good times, good times.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are still celebrating in this Christmas Season.  How incredibly special that our God loves us so much that He chose to become one of us…to live with us…to sacrifice for us.  A child is born and his name is JESUS!  Merry Christmas!

Wrapping up to start anew.

This past week I was conducting interviews for my leadership program that I’m revamping for the new year.  The youth had to apply to be in the program by filling out an application and then I had them sign up for interview times.  I had twelve applicants and it ended up that there will be nine in the group this coming year.  Yes, it’s a small number, but as one of my applicants said when we asked him what he hopes to see in this new group he said “I hope that we are less people, but stronger leaders.”  That’s what I hope as well…I think that a few strong leaders are better than many average leaders.  Also, I know from my psychology education, that the more people in the group the less responsibility each feels as the responsibility is spread out among many…therefore, with less people we should be more effective in the group (less group effect).  Doing the interviews was very interesting and fun.  I had a colleague outside of my office accompany me in the interviews so that I had an “outside perspective” since I know most of the youth already (and everyone in my office does as well).  For many of these teenagers, this was their first time having an interview…so it was interesting to see their reaction to them and how they answered the questions.  I think one of the best things that these interviews did for me was to demonstrate to the candidates the importance and formality of this group…and to make them feel even more successful when they entered the group.  I called each of them to congratulate them and let them know that they were invited to be a part of the new leadership group next year.  I had to call one and tell him that he was not accepted this year, but we hoped he would consider applying again for the next year.  The other two that applied but are not in the group did not show up for their interviews and did not contact me to say why.  The “congratulations” phone calls were much easier than the one “sorry, but not this time” phone call.  I know it was the right thing to do, but it definitely wasn’t fun to do.  It has been very fun to see the reaction of the candidates who are accepted, especially those who are new to the leadership program.  One young girl, Dulce, has somehow brought up how she’s going to be in the new group next year every time I’ve seen her (which is quite often).  It’s great to see her excitement – I’m very excited myself for this new energy and to see what this group can grow into.  Of course with all the excitement come the nerves and realization of just how big a project this is and how many people are counting on me…can I do it?? I hope so, I think so..we’ll find out! :)

It’s been busy as we try to get everything wrapped up before our office closes on the 15^th until the New Year.  There is a lot of planning and details to figure out, cleaning and organizing of the office, and of course…celebrations!  Our office is now decorated as a “mini-Minnesota” as I call it…as we have paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.  On Wednesday we are going on a field trip to a water park with 100 youth that have consistently attended our programs.  Friday evening all of Common Hope has what they call a “convivo”.  Convivos are very common here – they are basically Christmas parties that you do with friends and/or co-workers because you will not be able to spend the holiday with them as you will be with family.  The verb “convivir” translates to “to coexist” or “to live together”…so it is a time to be with one another, to “live” with one another, for this moment to celebrate.  Cool, huh?  Well, this year they are doing something special – we are having a masquerade ball!  Whoot!!! I’m super excited…but of course I have a great mask back at home in the U.S. that I've only used once (and who knows when I’ll use it again) but somehow that didn't make the list when packing for Guatemala..haha!  So, I guess I have to go find another one… :)

On Saturday I head out for my first trip since being down here…I am going to Costa Rica for a week!!  It is a much needed break and vacation.  I love my work here in Guatemala, but I am definitely realizing how tiring it is and how it is necessary to break up the work life with other activities and happenings.  I will be back in Guatemala for Christmas and have been invited to join my friend and colleague, Karen, at her parents’ house.  I am excited to see how they celebrate down here (Christmas Eve is when the big celebrations occur…not as much Christmas day), but of course I am going to miss my family and celebrations back home as well.

I want to wish you all a very blessed and Merry Christmas!!

A Time to Give Thanks

As it has been coming into the holiday season (one of my favorite times of the year!), starting off with Thanksgiving, it really made me reflect on why this is one of my favorite times of the year and what I am really thankful for in my life.  Being here in Guatemala gives me a new and different perspective.  Being away from the usual traditions and my family and friends gives me a new and different perspective.  When going around the table saying what we were thankful for at one of the Thanksgiving dinners I attended here in Guatemala, I decided to sum up my thankfulness in “I am thankful for the support and encouragement I have gained through the strong relationships in my life.”  For me, everything I have reflected on this season has come back to my strong relationships that are full of support and encouragement – whether that is my relationship with God, family, professors, friends, or co-workers.  I have been blessed with being surrounded by amazing people who have supported me, encouraged me, challenged me, cared for me, listened to me, laughed with me, and loved me for my whole life – in all my steps of life.  I have been raised in a loving and faith-filled family that has raised me with values that I cherish – my parents have been witnesses and consistent role-models for me – my siblings have been my best friends – my extended family has been encouraging and present.  I have been blessed to meet a wide variety of people from all different places, with different backgrounds, different personalities and ideas…and from this large pool of people I have found some of the most treasured friends, who have taught me so much…who have brought me more joy then I could ever know…who have trusted me with their stories, ideas, and questions as I have done the same with them.

Education.  I am thankful for the education I have received throughout my life.  I am thankful for the easy access I have had to this education.  It was never a question in my mind if I would finish the 6^th grade, if I would graduate high school, if I would go to college – I knew I would and knew I could.  I was supported in every way up to my entrance into St. Kate’s and every day I was there as well.  I met some of the most intellectually challenging and inspiring people in my professors and classmates.  I found a community that I loved and in which I fully belonged.  I was exposed to new ideas and information – I was able to grow as a person – I was able cultivate my talents, discover new ones, and form my own educated ideas and opinions.  I was engaged in many exciting opportunities within my four years that have prepared me very well for where I am now and where I am going in the future.

Travel. New places and people.  I am thankful for my ability to travel…for my ability to see new places, to meet new people, to live in new cultures.  I have been blessed with being able to travel to many places already in my life along with the opportunity to live in two different countries other than my home country for extended periods of time.  I love that I have been able to learn Spanish and use it to travel, to connect with other people and to connect other people.  I have been able to leave my house, my town, my county, my state and my country – by my own choice – to see and explore new places, but always knowing that I would be able to return home and be welcomed with open arms.

There is much more I am thankful for of course, and much more I am even more aware of because of my time here in Guatemala, but these are a few of the items I have been particularly focusing on this season.   It all comes back to my relationships…the support and love that has made everything I have done and experienced possible.  I did have a good Thanksgiving this year, but really it was not a true Thanksgiving for me…I was surrounded by good people and good food…but for me, Thanksgiving is what my family was doing back at home…being together with family and friends – being together with people that are very close and important in your life…soaking up the moments together and remembering how important the moments are together.

I am thankful I am here.  That doesn’t mean I don’t miss moments back in Minnesota, but it does mean that I know that I am right in being here and excited about what I am doing.  One thing that Jeff (one of my colleagues at Common Hope) said at our Thanksgiving meal on Sunday for volunteers and friends was that he was reflecting about how thankful he was for this job at Common Hope – how he was thankful for the opportunities it gave him to help others.  He said something next that was interesting to think about…he said, he was thankful that others trusted him and us to do this work.  There are people who donate and support Common Hope and by doing this they are trusting us, the staff, to use their money to make a difference.  It really is a cool thing to think that those who are able give their money to a cause – our cause – and with that they are trusting us to make a difference.  I am part of making that difference…and I am thankful for that.

Sofia

Through the crazy busyness of the week, there was a little light that made me pause and smile and reflect.  Her name is Sofia.  Sofia, a seven-year old niña, will be going into first grade this next year and is struggling in lectura (reading) so she has started coming to Club de Estudios (Study Club – the tutoring we do on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays) to get extra help.  The first day she came, it was a busy day in the office and all I knew from her older sister is that she needed help in reading and that her big sister would be back at 5:00 to pick her up.  Well, as I had many students to attend to, I started her off with a children’s book and asked that she read the first page to herself and I’d come back and ask her what it was about (this was the suggestion of Rigo…as I was unsure what I should be working on with her and as I said, I had other kids that needed my help as well).  When I returned in a couple minutes, she told me that it was difficult for her to put the sounds together to make the words.  So, I sat down with her and we started on the first word…I quickly realized this book was too hard.  I had asked her when I gave her the book if she thought it was too hard, but she replied that it was okay....I now feel that was probably just a response to please.  I decided we needed to go back to the basics so I could see where she was at.  I wrote out the alphabet and started by asking her what the name of the letter was and the sound it makes.  Guess what.  She didn’t even know all the letter names and sounds!! No wonder reading was hard for her.  We spent the next two hours working on letters and sounds in different forms while I also tried to keep the other students busy.  She never stopped working…never go frustrated…just kept trying and trying.  There was a spark in her eyes and a smile was never too far off :)  After my first day with Sofia, I just had this feeling that something wasn’t quite right…I just got this sense that her struggling with the letters and sounds was more than just lack of practice or good teaching.

The next time that Sofia and I worked together, we went over the letters and sounds again and then started on short words.  After practicing that for a little while, I decided to write out five words and then draw five corresponding pictures on the other side of the paper so that she would have to draw a line from the word to the matching picture…I thought it would make it fun for her and be a way to check that she was reading the words correctly.  We did the first word together and then I left her while I checked on another student.  Within 2 minutes she was at my side with the piece of paper and a smile.  I checked and sure enough everything was correct.  We sat down and I had her read the words to me…for some it still took a little bit to get them out, but when she did the beautiful spark in her dark brown eyes shown as the precious smile of pride spread across her face.  We did exercises like this a few more times and even tried some simple sentences with corresponding pictures.  She never failed to finish each activity perfectly and quickly, yet when I asked her to read them out-loud, there was more trouble than you would expect.  I started to realize she was often mixing up the placement of the letters…”dyslexia” kept popping into my mind.

Sofia is a quiet girl, she doesn’t say much with words, but when she walks there is an obvious joy in her step.  She seriously bounces which is emphasized by the spring of the curls of her dark hair…you just have to smile when you see her.  On Friday afternoon she was in again, but I had several tasks that NEEDED to be completed that afternoon which meant I was not able to sit for the whole afternoon with her…and Karen also had work she needed to complete that afternoon…so we decided to trade off with Sofia.  Well, at one moment I was working on a necessary task and Karen was being asked for by someone who had just come to the door, so one of our youth leaders Mynor (a great young guy – I should write about him sometime) offered to help Sofia.  Well, we were set after that…Mynor worked diligently with Sofia with such care and patience you almost just wanted to stop your work just to watch them! :)  Sofia’s joy is contagious…you could see the joy spread to Mynor and to Karen and I when Sofia was successful in a sentence or word.  We were able to compliment Mynor on his great work with her which hit a special spot for him and that same special smile we’ve seen on Sofia so often spread across his face.  Even the next day when I saw Mynor on Saturday with the youth leaders he brought up Sofia and how happy she left on Friday after working so hard on reading.  Precious.  One little girl, changed the afternoon of three people…and continues to have a lasting affect beyond that afternoon.  Such joy, such happiness, such dedication to keep trying…Sofia.

The thought of dyslexia is still very present.  On Friday Sofia continuously kept reading the word “la” as “al”.  We did a “game” for her where she had to look at a paragraph and every time she saw the letters “el” together she had to color them yellow and every time she say “le” she had to color them purple.  Well, Mynor played this game with her and consistently she mixed up the colors (even though the “el” and “le” were written out for her in the corresponding colors).  When I asked Karen what we can do, she said we should talk to the psychology department at Common Hope and see if Sofia can be tested.  Though, when I asked Karen if the school will do anything special for her if she is diagnosed, Karen said no.  She would have to attend a special school for those with learning disabilities.  Hmm..this means more work – the parents need to be on board, possible changing of schools (is there even such a school near her?).  I do not know the answers to these questions.  But first things first, we need to see if she can get tested and if it actually is the case that she has a learning disability such as dyslexia.

I wish you all the joy of Sofia in your day today.