The End

 Well we all made it home safe and sound last night.  It is great to be back home with my family, but I have to say I am really missing Guatemala right now. For our last blog post, I just wanted to share a little bit more about our last day at Common Hope. Friday afternoon we taught the Youth Group how to play Capture the Flag, and we played a big game of it across the site.  The kids really seemed to enjoy it and we all got very competitive. Brian even slid across a sprinkler to win the game for his team! After we finished the game, the kids in the program expressed their gratitude to us for spending the week with them.  We each received a personal thank you from one of the kids and a photo of the kids in the program underneath the mural that we made.

 Teresa and the kids saying thank you to us.

 

Caroline receiving her thank you card

 

Hana receiving her thank you card

 

 Me receiving my thank you card

 

Saying goodbye to the kids was very difficult. They all signed a giant card for us and wrote thank you notes throughout the week we spent with them.

 

  

Us with the Youth Group

Our group

Hearing such heartfelt words and receiving thank you notes from the Youth Programs office really made us all feel special and like we made a difference for the short week we spent with them.  The thank you ceremony was a great ending to our time at Common Hope and I know we all left feeling like the month we spent there flew by.  On the way home from work that day we all talked about how we wanted to return either this summer or next Jterm if possible.  

That night we went out to dinner with Andy from As Green As It Gets and had an amazing last meal at a restaurant called Epicure. It was a great ending to our trip. John left early the next morning, and saying goodbye was not fun. The rest of the group spent the day hanging out at our house and wandering around the markets in town.

Taking in the gorgeous view of Antigua from our roof

 

 The boys at our favorite lunch place - they serve amazing fish tacos and chicken nachos

 The girls - I miss these two already

Our trip was such an amazing experience and I came home knowing so much more about Guatemalan culture, living abroad, and living with a big group of people.  I learned a lot about myself in the process and if given the chance, I would return in a heartbeat. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to in the future!

Adios, Guatemala

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Sorry we haven't blogged in a while! We are usually exhausted once we get home so we end up falling asleep before we are able to turn on our computers.

On Thursday morning we went to San Rafael el Arado, which is an indigenous village outside of Antigua. I visited San Rafael on my first trip to Guatemala back in 2011 and was pretty insistent that everyone get a chance to see the village on this trip. San Rafael is one of Common Hope’s newer affiliated villages and is on the opposite end of the spectrum from New Hope. In the town of San Rafael--which is about 1400 people—there is only one high school graduate (she went on to be a teacher). Overall, the village of San Rafael is mostly without running water (they have well water), electricity, and medical attention. The most bizarre part? 80% of Guatemala still lives this way. Renato explained that since the Civil War ended in 1996, Guatemala is really just starting to rebuild itself.

Common Hope has helped to get doctors to visit the local clinic more frequently, but since the citizens are Mayan, there is some skepticism of modern medicine. Renato told us a particularly unfortunate story about a young child who died recently from an infection. The boy had had a fever (which is a sign that the body is trying to fight off an infection). The Mayans believe that when one has a fever, the slightest breeze could kill them. They swaddled the boy in so many blankets, and wrapped them around his body so tightly, that he couldn’t breathe. The boy suffocated to death. Common Hope and the doctors that visit the clinic have had some success with explaining the benefits of modern medicine. This was pretty clear when we showed up to the clinic and there was a line out the door of women and children waiting to see the doctor. 

Hana in San Rafael el Arado

 

 Piglets

Renato gave us a walking tour of San Rafael, which lasted for about 15 minutes. The houses are made of cornhusk and scrap metal and look like they have collapsed and been rebuilt a few times. The people all wear traditional clothing and it is more unusual to see a car than a horse traveling down the unpaved road. We weren’t allowed to take any photos on the street because Renato explained that the Mayans don’t fully trust Common Hope yet. Apparently the first time the coordinators of Common Hope ventured into the town, a rumor was started that they were there to steal children and sell them to “gringos.” Obviously this didn’t go over very well. Adoption used to be an enormous business in Guatemala, so people began kidnapping children to sell.

 
We arranged to be in the school (which has about 450 children) for about an hour and a half. We brought along beads to make those lizards that we made with the children at New Hope too. The only problem we ran into was a slight language barrier…the language Mayans speak is called Kaqchikel and it sounds nothing like Spanish. Luckily a lot of the kids have picked up some Spanish, so our directions didn’t entirely fall on deaf ears. The kids were really fast learners!

Hana got some incredible pictures of the kids. They were incredibly sweet!

   San Rafael is relatively isolated, so the children were pretty shy at first. A lot of them seemed to have never seen a "gringo" before.

 ...But they warmed up to us pretty quickly.

 Jenner's futbol skills were definitely a good ice breaker

 Somehow John climbed this pole...the kids were pretty impressed (as were we).

 

Around lunch time, we headed back to Common Hope for lunch. From there, we split into two groups and went on “A Day in the Life” visits. Hana, Lindsay, Brian, and Tyler went to the house of a man named Don Francisco where they learned how to shave down and shape jade.

Jenner, John, and I went to the house of a sculptor named Marco Tulio. Marco specializes in making handmade birds. We were all blown away by how quickly he was able to shape an incredibly realistic bird, just using his hands and a smoothing tool.

 We got the chance to try to make birds and elephants too, but ours didn’t turn out as well...

My elephant, Sam. Sam's life was cut short after I dropped him off the kitchen counter last night.

  Marco Tulio's birds make beautiful Christmas ornaments. My parents bought 30 last year...our tree this year was covered in Quetzals and Cardinals! Each bird costs 25 Q (which is equivalent to about $3). Feel free to email bellabirds@sbcglobal.net if you'd like to order some!

Linds is going to write some more about the closing ceremony we received from the kids yesterday. I can't believe the trip is almost over...John left this morning and the rest of us head home tomorrow. I can honestly say this has been one of the best experiences of my life. We learned so much about ourselves, about each other, about how to live in a big group of friends (it's harder than it sounds), and about life in Guatemala. Leaving this country, these people, and my six new best friends is going to be way harder than I thought it would be.

--Care

1/30

Today was a pretty relaxed day here in Antigua. We finished our work on the mural, planning out the quote and hanging it on the wall. It took a little longer than expected because we had to measure out each of the lines and then tape up the letters to make sure they were properly aligned before finally gluing them to the wall. It was a little bit of a tedious (and slightly frustrating), as the letters kept falling down before we could glue them up. But finally we finished and it looks great!
In the afternoon, we continued our work with the youth programs. We conducted a seminar on mental health for a group of about 15 kids. From many of the social workers, we learned that maintaining a positive attitude and outlook can often be a challenge for many of the children. Home life is not always easy. Thus, we thought it would be a good idea to talk about strategies for developing a positive mental attitude. We talked about exercise, the importance of a healthy body and looking for constructive ways to express their feelings. Finally, we introduced the idea of yoga and meditation. From our physiopsych class this year, we learned that meditation is a great tool for centering the mind and reducing the activity of the DMN (default mode network). The DMN is an area of the brain that is activated upon self-rumination. Any sort of "self-centered" thought occurs with the help of the DMN. Oftentimes, these self-centered thoughts are negative, leading to unhappiness and frustration. Mediation, however, counteracts the activation of the DMN and leads to a more positive outlook, as well as a more focused mind. We thought that even if we didn't fully explain the DMN and the positive benefits of mediation, just by introducing the concept and walking them through a couple mediation exercises we might be able to instill some good habits in them that might help them in the long run. While some of the children clearly didn't seem to want to try out meditation, there were a few who seemed to have a genuine interest in the exercise. It felt good to see at least a couple of kids who might be able to use this information to help them in the future. Moreover, it was pretty cool to be able to take information we had learned in one of our classes and implement it in a way that could really help people and possible make a difference in a couple peoples' lives.

Painting!

This morning John, Lindsay, and I started work on the mural! We painted an enormous white wall green (which was much more challenging than we thought it would be). I have a lot of respect for house painters now--it is tedious work.

I think Lindsay posted the quote we are putting on the wall, but I figured I'd translate it in case some of you don't know Spanish. For some reason, I couldn't find the actual English translation of the quote, so this is a loose translation:

"Never consider school to be an obligation, but an opportunity to penetrate the beautiful and marvelous world that we know." - Albert Einstein

The wall was taller than we first thought... 

 

Oops...

 Lindsay and John had a paint war...it was a tie                             

It is definitely a bright color...

A photo from our health lecture yesterday

We'll put the letters up tomorrow and we'll definitely put up pictures.


I figured I would post some more photos of New Hope since we all agreed it was two of the most fun days of our trip!

 Morning assembly...when the students file into the school, Minor (the principal) greets each student individually. Nueva Esperanza puts a lot of emphasis on teaching children how to shake hands and maintain eye contact.

While the others were shadowing in clinics, Jenner and I went from classroom to classroom introducing ourselves and playing ice-breaker games. Jenner was really good at this game, "Camaron Caramelo."

 I met Andrea on my first visit to Guatemala in March 2011. She is the youngest of 12 and is unbelievably sweet.

 

Jefferson really liked Jenner's sunglasses

Lindsay, Renato, and I in the back of Tono's pickup truck. We went to an indigenous village to help with a reforestation project. Unfortunately, after a very dry year, all of the saplings that were planted last year died. Along with a group of students (all dressed in traditional Mayan clothing--see photo below) we emptied the bags of soil that had been planted. Tono and his group will be replanting the bags in February. 

 Jenner and Renato

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Sergio (in the blue and white shirt) is the boy my family sponsors. My family sent me down with an extra suitcase full of clothing, teddy bears, and books for Sergio and his brother Jonathan. My first visit to Guatemala (March 2011) I was convinced that I would feel uncomfortable meeting families that were affiliated with Common Hope... I guess I pictured I would sense some level of hostility from the families because after the trip was over, they knew I would return to my cushy life in college in the US. I couldn't have been more incorrect. Based on the level of gratitude that the people express, I actually feel like I can make a difference in Guatemala.

 Sergio making a beaded lizard (that I taught him how to make!)

I know I've put a few plugs in my post about Common Hope and sponsoring a child, but I really can't emphasize enough how much it would mean to me, my family, and my new family at Common Hope if you would look into sponsoring a child. Common Hope currently supports quite a few more children than they have sponsors for. Please check out the website! The children send the sweetest notes thanking you for your help. Honestly, I can't even begin to express how much it means to these children and parents to know that someone is looking out for them.