Manna Project International: Guatemala

Sunday Snapshot

2012-02-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

New neighborhood, new schoolhouse. Guadelupana, Chaquijyá's newest caserio is renting out a house until they can find a space to build a new school.

Woo! Spring Break!

2012-02-08T17:32:00.002-07:00

Who can believe it’s February? Apparently time flies whenyou’re teaching English. And building a bottle school. And planning for SpringBreak. Speaking of Spring Break, in less than a month, we will have our firstgroup of Spring Break volunteers arriving in Sololá. Fifteen fresh-faced studentsfrom the beautiful Nashville campus of Vanderbilt University will be here for aweek, experiencing a little bit of the Program Director lifestyle. Thefollowing week, we will be welcoming students from both Tulane University andthe University of Georgia. Finally, to round out the month of March, we will behosting medical students from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Each groupwill be working on a week-long project in one or both of our schools in Chaquijyá.Now, preparing these projects ahead of time is no walk in the park. Let mepaint you a picture.

Talkin' it out with Celso, the principal of La Primaría Cooperativa

Vanderbilt is coming in a little less than a month to assistin building a playground in La Escuela Central. Essentially, the volunteers have 4-5 days to construct a fullfunctioning playground that can withstand the madness of 275 children. SinceJanuary, the group and I have been brainstorming a plan of what we want toinclude in our playground. Easy? Well no. Getting everyone in the community onthe same page in building the structures is probably the hardest part. Thearchitect wants to build everything out of wood. He wants all the wood shippedin from the capital. The metal worker wants to build everything out of…youguessed it…metal. He wants to construct everything at his shop, for anexorbitant fee. Meanwhile, the director of the school wants me to present ablueprint to the PTA-equivalent to gain their support for the project. We needmanpower from the community to assist in building the structures. No manpower,no playground. A lot of action going on at once.

However, this is fun. All this timeI’ve made some great relationships, come up with cool ideas, and at the end ofthe day, we’re doing something for the kids! I know everything will get doneeventually, and I’m excited to have the volunteers come and work next to us fora week. Stayed tuned for project and Spring Break updates!

See ya!

Cam

Sunday Snapshot

2012-02-05T14:05:00.001-07:00

On a walkabout of Chaquijyá Guadalupana/Cooperativa with the principal of one of our schools.

From left to right: Emily, Celso, Cameron, and Lorena

Figuring It Out

2012-02-01T21:12:00.001-07:00

When my friends sometimes make remarks about how we are allgetting older, I always respond that I’m really excited to age. Understandablythis is not your typical response, but when you think about it, growing olderis a beautiful thing. Aging comes along with new experiences, relationships,knowledge, wisdom, and personal growth. At age 24, estoy emocionada (now Ican say my favorite English phrase in Spanish) about starting thisnew chapter of my life in Guatemala. As Dana previously mentioned, I am thenewest addition to the MPI Guatemala team and I feel really lucky to work with such a wonderful and driven group of people. In my few days beinghere, I can clearly see how beneficial Dana, Emily and Cameron have been to theSololá and Chaquijyá communities. They are well-respected by the students theyteach and the people that they serve. More importantly, they have anunderstanding about the community they are serving, and work with theircommunity partners to best address the issues at hand. Needless to say, I’mimpressed.

Summer in Guatemala recently ended and the school year justbegan. I went with Cameron to his 6^th and 7^th gradeEnglish classes at La Escuela Central and enviously watched him engage with hisstudents. “Facil, facil, facil!” he repeated, as he encouraged his class andgave them confidence about their English skills. Yesterday was the start of anafter school English program in MPI’s other partner school, La Cooperativa. Whenwe showed up for the first day of classes expecting no more than 40 students,we were surprised to see a giggling group of 80 small children flooding intothe classroom. By the end of the day, the total headcount for both the Beginnerand Intermediate level was 96 students. We are glad that the students areshowing such a high interest for additional English classes, but we definitelyneed a new game plan about how three teachers (and only one fluent in Spanish)are going to handle 90+ students! Figuring it out is part of the fun though :)

I have a lot of “figuring it out” to do, but beingchallenged by a dynamic group of people, a new community, and a foreignlanguage is quite invigorating. One of my favorite pieces of advice is “allowyourself to feel uncomfortable.” I believe this is where we learn the greatestlessons. As I walk the bustling,unfamiliar streets of Sololá, I remind myself of this and subtly smile, knowingthat there is a whole lot to look forward to in the months ahead.

paz y amor,

Lorena

Sunday Snapshot

2012-01-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

The view into Sololá from our balcony this lovely afternoon.

Tell Your Friends

2012-01-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

Manna is a very small organization. There are 6 full time staff members spread between four countries, nineteen Programs Directors, and in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, MPI operated on a budget of about $427,000. To give you some means of comparison of annual budgets in the non-profit sector:

Pencils of Promise: $1.1 million; WorldTeach: $3.15 million; Invisible Children: $8 million; Charity Water: $11.6 million; Falling Whistles: $104.7 million; Habitat for Humanity: $285 million.

The point is we're small in almost every way. We don't have the manpower or resources to publicize and market ourselves with the big guys. Even when it comes to recruitment, truth is, the majority of our volunteers hear about Manna from one of our current or past volunteers, and we rely on that. I personally found out about Manna from my high school friend, Jackie Weidman who was a PD in Ecuador before MPI Guatemala ever existed. I remember reading MPI's website and wondering why I had never heard about the experience before, and MPI isn't the only one. There are so many life-changing opportunities out there looking for candidates, but seldom do the interested candidates and opportunities meet.

In a few days MPI Guatemala will welcome a new PD named Lorena Zamarelli, who--you guessed it--is also a friend from high school, and Manna is currently recruiting summer and 13-month volunteers for 2012-2013. Posting to Facebook and other social networking sites does help, but it's not enough. We need a grander advertisement, a broader PSA.

These are my best friends from high school. 75% of them have either volunteered themselves with MPI, visited an MPI international site, or donated to the cause.

So do me a favor, tell your friends. Share our story, and spread the word. To beef up your Manna knowledge, visit our "about us" page, or our volunteer page.

Gracias,

Dana

Sunday Snapshot

2012-01-23T09:44:00.001-07:00

Class is back in session in Chaquijyá, and so are our programs!

Dora the Explora looks excited!

Second graders all lined up to go to class!

Switching it Up

2012-01-18T14:13:00.000-07:00

In an organization basedaround collaborative communitydevelopment, who should have the power?

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Monday marked the beginning of a new school year inChaquijyá and a big change for the Manna Guatemala team. After several discussions, we havedecided to pull out of teaching in school classes in Central and switch to anafter school format that we already use in Cooperativa across the street.

There are some very real benefits to after school English.For starters, after school classes allow us, as teachers, more liberty and control overthe curriculum. We will be using our time more efficiently by mixing 3rd - 6th graders in only two classes instead of individually entering seven separate classrooms during the school day. Furthermore, because the classes arenow optional they will be filled with kids that are motivated and sincerely want to learn English.

Teaching 4th grade English in school

Of course we cannot ignore the drawbacks to this change. Thecommunity, from the beginning, has voiced their desire for us to teach English in schools. Our announcement of the changing format was thereforemet with some resistance by the principal and the teachers who will now have toresume teaching English themselves. While this may be concerning, I think we haveto be realistic and realize that we do not have the manpower to be teaching 20individualized classes a week in one school and still managing to teach 6 classes a week inanother school. Our organization’s mission is not to teach English; it’s muchmore holistic than that. Manna is about collaborative, community-baseddevelopment. Although it was never one of our original plans, we have runin-school English for a year and a half because the community asked for it. Atthis point, I think we have earned the right to tweak a program that is neithersustainable nor efficient.

We have learned from experience that new ideas and changeare often met with resistance. Both summer camp and the bottle school projectwere unpopular when first suggested, but the tides have since changed and thecommunity has shown their support by paying for their children to attend summercamp and helping to collect bottles for the school.

A 6-year-old's take on English greetings

During ourdevelopment talks, the issue has often come up whether we are forcing our ideasupon Chaquijyá. At this point the answer is frankly, yes, sometimes we do. This is obviously dangerous because we are assuming we know what’s best forthis community. On the other hand without us pushing, new opportunities would rarely arise. In the ideal situation, community members would be the onescoming up with new ideas and we would be there to help implement them. It’s a delicate balance and one that we certainly don’t enter intolightly. For me, the distinction comes with the question, why? Why are peopleresistant? Sometimes the answer is that they just need a better explanation and a clearer understanding of the proposed project. Sometimes people need to see a program in action before they canrealize its benefits. However, when a program that has been fully explained andmaybe even put through a trial period is still met with resistance, then it’stime to admit that this program is perhaps flawed and not well-suited for thecommunity.

Bottle school under construction.. after much debate

Chaquijyá has not reached the ideal situation, honestly wewouldn’t be here if it had. But, we are working toward that goal. The awesomepart is that our pushing appears to be working. I can see the communitystarting to reach towards their full potential instead of settling for thestatus quo. One of the clearestexamples is how quickly the community has taken ownership of the bottle schooladdition. Six months ago we still had a lot of skeptics and now they are the ones pushing us to continue moving forward with construction.

Back to the topic at hand, my goals for the after schoolEnglish program are to give motivated kids a strong foundation in English andspark their interest in continuing their education. The success and future ofthe program will be measured by attendance and performance. I hope that thecommunity sees the benefits of this different approach. At the same time, I’mprepared to scrap the changes if they prove unsuccessful because, in the end,I don’t know best.

-Emily

Sunday Snapshot

2012-01-15T13:13:00.003-07:00

Following a $10,000 anonymous donation to our bottle project, the roof comes off! We've begun reinforcing the first floor in preparation for the second floor bottle addition. Onwards and upwards in 2012!

Photo Credit: Dana Zichlin

Welcome Back!

2012-01-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

The Manna Guatemalateam is back in business! After three relaxing weeks at home with our familiesfor the holidays, we recently returned to our beautiful home in Sololá.Fortunately, Oliver, our flea-ridden cat had survived the holiday season aswell. In fact, Santa dropped off a couple gifts for Oliver at the Rothhousehold, so all is well. School will be starting soon, and we are veryexcited to begin our transition from in-school English instruction toafter-school lessons. One of the highlights of the upcoming months includes thearrival of a new Program Director, Lorena, who we are all very excited to workwith. Additionally, in the month of March, we will have four groups of SpringBreak volunteers from Vanderbilt (who ya wit?!), Tulane, University of Georgia,and University of Alabama-Birmingham. We look forward to showing these groups this beautiful country andintroducing them to the friendly people. More updates to follow, so stay tunedto the blog! Hope you all had a very happy holiday season and here's to 2012!

Now it's time for the playoffs,

Cameron

Ecuador Blog Swap!

2011-12-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Keeping with the theme of this week, blog swap!, Heather Kryzak writes to you below from MPI Ecuador.
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Hey everyone, this is Heather Kryzak, one of the 7 ProgramDirectors at the MPI Ecuador site. I am in charge of our site’s blog, (alongwith Watkins Fulk-Gray) and am writing to give our Nicaragua and Guatemalareaders an update on how things are going here in the Chillos Valley.

We arrived here in July and spent our first two weeks livingin Quito with host families, getting to know the Ecuadorian culture and takingsome intensive Spanish classes. Then we moved into the valley and got startedwith a 3-week summer camp for kids. This was a great chance for us to meet thekids in our community and their parents and to start finding our way around thevalley.

Since then we have been busy with our first quarter ofprograms, most of which we run out of our public-lending library and communitycenter in Rumiloma. This space holds our adult and children’s English classes,children’s art, women’s exercise, adult’s nutrition and cooking classes, and anew computer class one of our PD’s Charlie started up this year. The library isalso a safe space for children to come and play games, read, and get help withtheir homework. A special part of the library is reserved just for teens tohang out, play videogames and ping-pong, and occasionally watch movies on aFriday night.

In addition to the programs we hold in the library, thesmall business development program meets directly with local businesses givingthem free consultations and help with accounting. Two of our PD’s work directlyin a nearby high-school giving nutrition classes for children once a week. Wealso have an agriculture program that works with a local organic farmer’scooperative and with another foundation nearby that has small organic gardenplots.

We just said goodbye to our first round of short-termvolunteers, a group of 5 girls from the University of Georgia who spent theweek shadowing our programs and helping us with some manual labor. It wasexciting and refreshing to get some big projects taken care of and hear someoutside perspectives on what we are doing here.

The first quarter has flown by for us in a whirl of meetingnew people and establishing lasting relationships in the community. As we wrapup and prepare for vacation we are also busy planning a Christmas party forcommunity members in the library and a larger community celebration to be heldwhen we return in January. We have found it to be important to hold eventsevery once in a while to attract new faces to the center while letting everyoneknow we are still here and our programs will continue to go strong.

Thanks to Guatemala and Nicaragua for this chance to share alittle bit of news from Ecuador. Check out our site’s blogfor more information on life in the Chillos Valley!

Nicaragua Blog Swap!

2011-12-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Every week you hear about our work down here in Guatemala, but did you know that Manna has three international sites? Though all three sites are driven by the same mission, and run community development programs led by small teams in their respective countries, each site looks very different on the ground. This week we will bring you first person narratives of MPI's work in Ecuador and Nicaragua. So, without further ado, I present this week's blog from Samantha Wyatt of MPI Nicaragua.

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Hi! My name is Samantha and I’m a member of MPI’s Nicaraguateam. This week, MPI Nicaragua is excited to share a bit more about what we dohere at Manna’s oldest site. Rather than rattle off a list of programs, wethought it might be fun to share a Thursday in the life. Below is a typical, ifslightly busy, Thursday in my life. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

7:30 a.m.: Wake up, sneak out of my room so as not to wakeup my roommate Carrie, and head to the kitchen. There I find Elena, our amazingcook, finishing up a batch of French toast. We havea cook Monday through Thursday to allow us to focus on programs during our fourbusy days of the week.

9:00 a.m.: Pile into the micro with all nine fellow PDs tohead to La Chureca (Managua's trash dump). The drive to Chureca takes about 20 minutes, and providesan interesting cross-section of life in Managua. At one main intersection, two familiarmen propel themselves onto the hood of the micro and begin cleaning thewindshield. We keep a stash of cookies in the glove compartment for suchoccasions, and these guys always remember us, making sure to shake everyone’shand through the windows before the light turns green.

9:45 a.m.: We arrive at the clinic and community center inLa Chureca after a brief but incredibly sweaty walk. On Tuesdays, I help Jesse teach our brand-new kids’ Englishclass in Chureca’s Esperanza School. Thursdays, however, I still work withJenny and Karen, my older, more advanced students. Unfortunately, Karen wasunable to come this morning due to a university soccer game, and Jenny isnowhere to be found. On the walk to Esperanza werun into Milton, one of our students. His regular teacher, Matt, is busy, so I offer to work with Milton. Milton is 17 years old andrecently moved out of Chureca, but returns to the dump to hang out with friendsbecause he feels that people outside aretoo fresa (pretentious). Miltonknows everyone in Chureca, and offers to help me find Jenny’s house to check inand schedule our next class.

10:10 a.m.: Milton and I find Jenny’s house, and, in lieu ofringing a non-existent doorbell, we peer over the fence (constructed with blacktrash bags). We see Jenny’s head peeping out of a structure on the other side,and realize that she’s in the shower. While rinsing shampoo out of her hair,she tells us with a smile that she’ll be ready to meet next Tuesday.

11:00 a.m.: I conclude a short but productive lesson on thepast simple tense with Milton. After finishing our discussion on Lil Wayne vs.Eminem and giving him a homework assignment, I meet up with the other PDs (whohave been walking around talking to moms in our Child Sponsorship Program) andwe make our way back to the micro.

12:30 p.m.: Arrive at El Farito, the community center wherewe work in the local community of Cedro Galan. Thirty kids promptly spillthrough the gates and line up to wash their hands before sitting down tocollectively scream/sing their prayers and eat (“GRACIASSSSS SEÑOOOOOOOR POOOORTU AMOOOOOR!!!”). I have a great talk with Armando and Gerald as they inhaletheir arroz con pollo.

1:15 p.m.: To incentivize and reward kids for helping withComedor cleanup, every two weeks we put on a venta in which helpers who have earned “dolares” canpurchase items ranging from silly bands to crayons or—for the big spenders—aFrisbee. The venta runs smoothlythis afternoon, without any tears or drama!

1:30 p.m.: Today, I stick around for Fiona and Christin’sKids English class. I sit at the back table with Agdiel, a 16-year-old with asevere mental disability. Agdiel is great today, super quiet and well behaved.We draw squiggles and participate when Fiona shouts call-and-response questions(“IS HE ON THE BUS?!” “YES HE IS!”)

2:30 p.m.: On the way back to the house, I pass by Jorge,one of the students in our Kids English class at Salero. Even though he’s withhis cool friends, Jorge still waves to me! Yes!

3:15 p.m: Get home and help Carrie and Anna to prep for thewomen’s exercise pool party. Today all of the regular attendees of women’sexercise are coming to the house for a pool workout!

4:15 p.m.: After taking some amazing photos of everyonebouncing around the pool, Maggie and I watch Peter Pan and play Frisbee withHenry, Junior, and Jose, three boys who have tagged along with their moms.

5:30 p.m.: Time for Adult Beginner’s English! Fiona reviewsobject pronouns, and we do a worksheet in class to practice. We have a bigclass today, and everyone is a little more chatty than normal, but also excitedto participate. We’ve recently decided to incorporate more listeningactivities, so we end class by asking students to fill in the missing lyrics ofa Taylor Swift song. Unfortunately Love Story is way to difficult for ourclass, but everyone remains enthusiastic, especially after seeing Fiona and Ising along.

6:45 p.m.: Get home, eat a quick dinner, and get ready forAnna and Maggie’s Advanced English class. I don’t teach advanced, but enjoygoing, as it tends to be very social and conversation-based. A lot of our closefriends in the community go, and it’s invariably a good time.

8:30 p.m.: Get home from advanced, do some dishes withFiona, and relax. Friday’s a light day—our only programs are computer class andgirls’ soccer—so there’s nothing to prepare for!

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If you'd like to keep up with Samantha and MPI Nicaragua's work, you can follow their blog. We'll hear from MPI Ecuador later this week! Thanks for reading!

Happy International Volunteer Day!

2011-12-05T12:14:00.001-07:00

"On International Volunteer Day, we recognize the dedication of volunteers, their admirable spirit of service, and their wide-ranging efforts to promote the goals of the United Nations. With the world population having surpassed seven billion this year, we must tap every person’s potential to help others. Everyone can make a difference. Volunteering matters." - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Photo Credit: Benjamin James (www.emptyspacestudio.com)

Read more about International Volunteer Day here or here!

Sunday Snapshot

2011-12-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already the 4th week of camp! Urban Week!

Building our own cities in Science!

Making graffiti in art!

The girls' team after the epic dance off! (video is embedded 2 posts down)

A Crow's Eye View

2011-12-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today's blog post comes to you again from Brendan Crow. Brendan has been with us for the last four weeks helping us run our summer camp program. He has been instrumental in both the Science and English programs, and has evened out the boy to girl ratio, probably for the first time in Manna's history. Brendan, it's been a pleasure, we'll be sad to see you go next week! Come back and visit soon!
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During my travels through Guate, my goals were simply to practice the Spanish I was learning and find a feasible way to stay in Guatemala for the near future. Then, a friend of mine gave me a lead with Manna Project in Guatemala and the timing couldn't have been better to help run their 5 week summer camp program. Now I'm living with 3 fantastic people that make up the heart and soul of MPI Guatemala. It has felt like I joined the family for a month to get a taste of the good life. Since living in Sololá, I've been able to use my Spanish in the daily routines here from navigating the market to preparing lesson plans for the week.

As for the summer camp, I've rediscovered my youthful days, though only half the energy I used to have. Soccer, basketball, and the all-time-favorite cat and mouse game (Gato y Ratones!) have brought me back to the treasured days of after-school programs. We have pick-up soccer or basketball before camp begins in the mornings, then class begins. I specifically help with Science and English. The purpose of science is learning through experiments. Lots of experiments. All planned around the ecosystem of the week, we've had a test of floatation in freshwater vs. salt water, smell tests of foods found in the rainforest, and even a semi-realistic version of quicksand (no kids were lost in the quicksand). This week we're in the Urban Ecosystem and decided to design a city made of paper.

The strategy of providing the hands on activities for the kids applies to English as well, however, with Roberto as the lead teacher I play more of a supporting role through lesson planning and assisting in the classroom. All of the kids have had 1 or 2 classes of English in the past, so after reviewing fruits and numbers through games of papa caliente (hot potato), Roberto and I decided to create a market in the classroom with fake money and real fruit. Turned out to be a huge success, and reminded me a little of what I felt like the first time in a Guatemalan market.

The past four weeks have flown by, and I'm sure the last one will too. Camp has been great, and I've had the bonus of attempting Kaqchikel at the same time as Spanish. In a couple weeks, I'm onto see more of the country before heading home, but I consider myself lucky to have found this group for the short-term.

All the best,

Brendan

Can I haz another vacation day?

2011-11-30T14:55:00.001-07:00

Afterblabbing away about how excited I was to go to the beach last weekend, myfather mentioned that he had been under the impression that I was doingvolunteer work in Guatemala. “Duh, I am Dad but that’s on the weekdays,” was myquick retort. For me, one of the best parts about living and working in anothercountry for a year is the opportunity to travel around and explore this newarea. We actually end up traveling on a day-to-day basis. Chaquijyá isabout 40 minutes from our house in Sololá, and Panajachel, where we go tohangout, workout and use fast internet is another 20 minutes in the oppositedirection. Beyond the day to day traveling, we make good use of our weekends,especially if they are long ones! I started by exploring the different laketowns, each one having its own particular feel. San Pedro, for example, is thecool hippy town and Santa Cruz is known for its great hostel and scuba divingoptions.

ForHalloween and Día de Los Muertos we had several days off, so we decided to packin as many different stops as possible. First we went to Guatemala City to see Pitbull in concert and then onto Antigua to dress up and celebrate Halloweenwith friends. Since we had a couple more days we decided to visit SanCristobal, Mexico as well.

After a 5 AM wake up call in Antigua and 11 hours oftraveling, we made it to Mexico. Luckily we are all pretty good travelers. Igo with earplugs, but Cameron has upped the ante with his earplugs/eye-maskcombo. I know what I want for Christmas, hint hint. But then there's the issue of packing. Having done no research ahead of time, I was surprised to find that SanCristobal was freezing this time of year. My sundress remained crumpled in mybackpack as I unsuccessfully attempted to layer a pair of jeans over myleggings.

Ourmost recent excursion was a Thanksgiving trip to the beach. Having learned alesson in Mexico, I researched this beach thoroughly and after convincingmyself that this destination was in fact warm I loaded up the sundresses again.Tilapita, Guatemala is very warm. It’s also quite remote. Once we reachedTilapa we took small wooden boats over to Tilapita where our rental house was.Our beautiful house was right on the beach and besides a few local fishermen wewere the only ones around. We swam and tried not to drown in the big waves (success!) andplayed football on the beach at sunset. Walking on the beach at night wasespecially beautiful. With so few lights around, the stars were brilliant andthe ocean glowed with fluorescent plankton.

It'sabout to be Christmas and time to travel home for three weeks, but I’m alreadylooking forward to the Manna retreat to Semuc Champey that we will take once wereturn in January. And while I have not decided exactly what I’ll be teachingonce we’re back in school I have been daydreaming about how many places I canvisit during Semana Santa, a week-long vacation in April!

Emily

Stomping the Yard: Dance Off 2011

2011-11-28T15:50:00.001-07:00

Cast your vote for the winner in the poll on the right!

Sunday Snapshot

2011-11-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's Oceans week at Summer Camp in Chaquijyá!

Delia learning about food webs & ocean salinity.

Making beautiful kites in art class with Emily

Bayron was plankton is our oceans-themed, and food web inspired game of cat and mouse.

Learn Spanish or Bust

2011-11-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest, most daunting parts of this job is the language barrier. I'd consider myself an advanced Spanish speaker now, but when I first got here I was terrified to open my mouth. Terrified. Proper communication is all about timing, so when I had to first sing a song in my head to pinpoint the correct past tense ending, I often ended up contributing an anecdote to an old topic (Q: Isn't the weather beautiful today? A: Yes, my food was very good...) My coping mechanism? Keeping my mouth shut.

Thanks for your impeccable Spanish skills, Maddie!

One day too soon, my feasibility trip partners left and I was still in Guatemala charged with the task of creating MPI's newest international volunteer site--cementing local partnerships, attending meetings, convincing people that I wasn't a mute American with no personality. And as you've probably already guessed, all of that required Spanish. What was MPI thinking right? Well, when I first broke my promise to myself and opened my mouth to a foreign tongue, it was not pretty. I butchered even the simplest of statements, if not grammatically, absolutely in pronunciation. But out of the need to speak, I spoke. You know the drill--hurdle, jump; water, swim; fire, stop, drop and roll.. or run? I'm still unclear on that.

The point being, trying to speak a foreign language does make you feel stupid, embarrassed, and the butt of many a joke (and trust me, I was. I once blurted out some unintelligible question at a restaurant and when prodded to repeat I just froze like a deer in headlights, didn't say another word, turned around, and made my friend take over). It's like doing anything as a novice in front of seasoned professionals: singing, dancing, cooking, anything. So why should we try? There are a lot of Guatemalan English speakers that would love to accept your money in return for relaying meeting notes to you. Aaron Ausland of Staying for Tea offers this poignant response,

"Because language is a bit like food. People just love it when you make an effort to eat their food...I was talking with some community volunteers who were recalling the last time they had an American visit their village from World Vision. "Hey, do you know so-n-so?" they asked me, a bit naïve to the size of my organization. But, in fact I did know this person. "He's such a great guy!" they exuded. "Why do you say that?" I asked, curious. "He ate everything we gave him," one exclaimed. And the rest all nodded vigorously and happily at this. "Do you know who this man was?" I asked, pressing the point a bit. They recalled that he was an American and from World Vision and again applauded his culinary enthusiasm. What they didn't recall aboutthis person was that he was the International President of World Vision.

What left a lasting impression on these folks was not the man’s position, but his willingness to lift his fork and dive into their culture. He embraced part of what defined them without hesitation or judgment. He received from them without turning up his nose at what they had to offer. Language is a bit like this. A willingness to learn and use even a few words demonstrates a willingness to be vulnerable and to make an effort to accept and use what is local. It recognizes that you are the visitor and honors your host."

Olga & Jose are learning their third language!

The two terrifying things that I take away from this short excerpt are 1) I need to start eating more corn tortillas and atoll loaded with sugar. 2) If the goal is simple communication, Spanish will suffice, but if ultimate goal is honoring your host, shouldn't the PDs and I be learning Kaqchikel?

The good news? Learning a new language can stave off alzheimers!

Till next time,

Dana

Sunday Snapshot

2011-11-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Environmental Day at summer camp!


Our partner org, AMSCLAE, giving their presentation!

Josue & Jaime showing off their new plants!

Adventures in Summer Camp

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A

Whilestudents in the US are gearing up for the final push until the winter holidays,MPI Guatemala has commenced summer camp. This is the second year of summercamp, which runs three mornings a week for 5 weeks. With only 2 PDs and a Country Director, the weeks leading upto camp were a flurry of successful recruitment that produced: Brendan, our newmonth-long housemate; and Roberto, a Guatemalan involved in our leadership course. We also recruitedsome part time help from Jared, an old PD; his girlfriend Sarah; and Jose, our favorite local English teacher. Feeling more confident with 8counselors, we began to plan themes and subjects for camp. Each week we are ina different ecosystem: desert, rainforest, ocean, urban, and artic. EveryTuesday the kids have science and art class. Wednesdays are then English andsports, and each Thursday is an all-camp activity.

Robertoasked to teach English, Cameron quickly claimed sports and Brendan was assignedscience. Dana asked me if I wanted to teach art. This was definitely not because I was the only person left, but because sheprobably sensed my artistic creativity. I call your attention to Exhibit A. Entitled Pu Pu Platter of Desserts,I made brought this masterpiece home in 3rd grade, and it has been featured prominently in my parents' house since. My mother, referencing themany layers of meaning in the piece, lovingly refers to it as the “PooPooPlatter.” Clearly I was up to the challenge.

Afteran intense brainstorming session, I decided to get all my arts and craftsprojects off the Internet. Why recreate the wheel when there are perfectly niceones online? So during desert week, my first project was making binoculars, anessential desert tool that allows you to see some sand that’s far away asopposed to the sand that’s right under your feet.

Ialso got to lead the first Thursday all-camp activity last week. I made atreasure hunt for the kids that took them all over their community. The ideawas that they were lost on a desert island without food or water and to getfood and water (nutritious and filling candy and juice boxes) they had tofollow all the clues back to the treasure. There were a few things that I hadfailed to anticipate for this hunt: 1) these kids obviously knewtheir community and all of its “shortcuts” like the back of their hands whereas I was only familiar with the main road. 2) children run very fast anddon’t like to be told to, “WAIT UP!” by the gringa wheezing 30ft behind them. Iwish I could say I handled everything with grace like when we were runningthrough a cornfield and the kids, matter-of-factly, told me, “Don’t speak orthe dogs will get you.” However, I cannot. There was a moderate amount ofpanicking on my part throughout the entire race, which none of my malecounterparts seemed to share. I don’t know why that was. The one thing keepingme going was my conviction that we were going to win. I had designed the huntmyself and there was no way that Roberto and Brendan’s team was going to beatCameron and my team. Much to my dismay and consternation, we did not win. Howdid my team lose the game that I had designed you might ask? Well, it wasn’t myfault. Obviously, the other team cheated.

Asour second successful week of camp draws to a close, I have begun torethink career options. Is there such a thing as a professional summer campcounselor? While teaching during the school year is great, camp has proven evenmore fun and rewarding. All the kids at camp have signed up to participate andthey genuinely want to be there, which is not always the case during themandatory school year classes. These kids have made coming to camp a priorityand fit their chores around it. And while we are still teaching, the main objective is that everythingis fun. I just hope the kids aregetting as much out of camp as I am.

-Emily

Otto Perez: Real Change or a Return to Military Rule?

2011-11-15T17:43:00.001-07:00

On November 6th, Otto Perez Molina of the Mano Duro Party was elected the new president of Guatemala. As the already unstable government prepares to turn over a new leaf, many wonder what changes lie ahead for this crime-ridden country. Today's blog comes to you from Brendan Crow, a month-long volunteer that's helping us run our summer camp program.

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What's different about General Otto Perez Molina and what direction will the country take now?

There has been much discussion about the 2011 Presidential Election in Guatemala, but many are reluctant to get their hopes up with the recent election of Otto Perez. The country has struggled to get back on track ever since the US organized coup of 1954 to oust the democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz. Though after multiple military dictatorships, Guatemala has returned to a more democratic forum. Despite the outspoken effort and promises by those in power today, the country still suffers from extreme poverty and one of the highest homicide rates in the world. With Otto Perez now at the head of the government, many hope for a decrease in the crime rate but not many believe he will bring change to the root problems of Guatemala.

Perez, or Major Tito, as was the pseudonym Perez used as a mid-level commander for the Guatemalan Military in the 1980s, was the head of military intelligence in the Quiche department. During the violence, Quiche suffered the greatest number of atrocities but very little documentation has been found to understand Major Tito’s involvement in the violence (video). Perez still stands by the government’s actions during the violence claiming that his job was to win back the confidence of the people through constructive means. Several survivors of the violence claim he ordered the torture of suspected guerrillas and led the massacre of several villages in the Quiche department. In 1982, revolutionary militant groups united to form the URNG (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity) and started a long series of peace talks. Fourteen years later in 1996, the Guatemalan Peace Accords were signed by the URNG and the government, including General Otto Perez Molina, who represented the military at the time.

By signing the Peace Accords, both sides agreed to drop arms and reach goals through peaceful means. Ultimately, the Peace Accords had some success during the following year in 1997. A new structure created 3 levels of committees to increase involvement from Mayan communities in the democratic process in Guatemala. However, lines of permanent communication between the largely rural population and the government never developed and funding for the changes quickly dried up. Shortly after voting for change in critical areas of civil society, those in elected positions lost interest in implementing initiatives agreed upon a year earlier. Focus quickly turned to the impending election in 1999. Power today remains centered in the capital with little regard for the rural towns and villages.

All candidates throughout the electoral cycle this year mentioned the Peace Accords and Millennium Development goals but none were really willing to talk openly about them. The government pledged that the Peace Accords were widely distributed throughout the country, but actual awareness and understanding has a long way to go. With 22 different Mayan languages spoken and a literacy rate of 69%, publishing the document is hardly enough.

Amidst the evidence from Otto Perez's violent past, there is also evidence of hope. His actions in the 1980s to oust one of the most brutal dictators, Rios Montt, show that he has courage to stand for what is right. Following that, in 1992, he stood against President Jorge Serrano when he tried to dissolve congress and suspend the constitution. Finally, he is proud to list the Peace Accords as one of the accomplishments on his resume, despite the lack of progress in implementation. Recently, in his campaign he focused on a return to justice as part of his ‘firm hand’ against violence and drug trafficking. He recognizes that the challenge is steep with the rate of prosecution for violent crimes at an abysmal 2%. That said, the recent success of attorney general Claudia Paz y Paz to prosecute ex-military officers for the crimes against humanity will also be a measure of where Perez’s loyalty and support lie. Hopefully with time we'll seehim put his words into action, and do more than just declare war against violence and drugs.

For a more complete analysis of the Peace Accords: http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/guatemala/index.php

Sunday Snapshot

2011-11-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Our summer camp theme this year is ecosystems: deserts, rainforests, urban, ocean and tundra. Each week we will "travel" to a new one! Week one of summer camp: Check!

Making binoculars in art!


Quicksand in science!

Treasure Hunt!

Any guesses as to which ecosystem we did first?

Tell Me What You Really Think

2011-11-10T14:06:00.001-07:00

I attend general assembly meetings in Chaquijyá monthly to share with interested attendees MPI's current happenings and ask for suggestions and/or questions. Generally I get polite nods and blank stares, followed by an applause as I exit the stage. Today there are about 200 people, men, women and children, and most of them are talking all at once in everything from a whisper to a shriek. Yes, the meeting has started, but you wouldn't know it. I always wish I spoke/understood Kaqchikel, but now more than ever (although I'm sitting on stage wearing a shirt that says "peanut butter jelly time," so yes, I'm still thankful for the language barrier). Finally, the woman sitting next to me explains that they're fighting about a bridge that's being built. She tells me that two sectors--Saloj and Julajuj--do not want to support the project.

So it appears Chaquijyá is split into teams by last names, like color war at summer camp. In fact, in Chaquijyá, you have a team even before you have a first name. If it were real color war, the teams would go something like: green Gonzalez, silver Saloj, yellow Yumil, purple Palax... but I digress.

Blue team huddle

People are speaking on behalf of their own clan, and following each speech, ardent supporters yell "aye!" as I imagine people did when writing the Declaration of Independence. Then come the wave of "nays" as if we're talking about reinstating Prohibition.

What I've realized sitting here is that I want this. I want to talk about summer camp and hear a commotion brewing, I want to be berated with questions and concerns when I talk about teaching English, I want people to shout and scream, to aye and nay, to voice their opinion whatever it may be, because mainly I want people to care. Positive or negative, input means people care about the outcome, but it's easier said than done. You can't assemble a group of people and ask them to care, people need to choose to care on their own. So I will happily sit through these four hour meetings, understanding nothing, but happy hoping that with time they will yell at me, question me, and boo something I suggest... I'll also take positive feedback.

Dana

Do you have questions, concerns or feedback for us? Leave a comment!

Further Reading:
The Second Principle of Community-Based International Development: Process Matters
Effecting Change Starts with the Community by Noah Marwil
Spotting Community Ownership
Listening to People on the Receiving End of Aid

Sunday Snapshot

2011-11-06T05:03:00.000-07:00

Feliz Día de Los Muertos & Happy belated Halloween!

Photo Credit: Dana Zichlin

A Picture's Worth 13,000 Bottles

2011-11-04T12:21:00.002-06:00

As promised, here is one of the plans drawn up by our architect for our bottle school project! Pretty cool, eh?

Brought to you by Vitamin C

2011-11-03T16:55:00.000-06:00

(Background music for this blog)

Do you remember when you graduated from sixth grade? Neither do I. Infact, most people in the United States do not have a graduation ceremony fromsixth grade; they just treat it as another school year gone by. However, inGuatemala, graduation from sixth grade is a big deal. Recently, thirty of mysixth-graders graduated from La Primaría Central, marking the end of their required schooling.Some will continue on to Basico, our equivalent of middle school, while others will suspend orpermanently end their education careers in order to work for their families. Ihave ~~put up with~~ taught these students since August (shout out to Ginny,who did a phenomenal job teaching 6^th-grade English in the eightmonths prior), and I am sad I won’t see them at school next year.

Although the Guatemalan and American ideas of graduation may differ, theemotions that arise during the ceremony are exactly the same. An accomplishmentis an accomplishment in any culture and in any country. Sitting on the stagewith my sixth graders as they were handed their diplomas, I noticed tears cometo the eyes of the proud parents of each student. This sent me on a trip downmemory lane, as my Mom loved to show her emotion during both my graduation fromhigh school and college. Tough, hardworking fathers were beaming with pride astheir children walked across the decorated stage and accepted theircertificates. A proud parent is a proud parent, regardless of whether you speakEnglish or Kaqchikel. Many parents held out their digital cameras and phones,recording this proud moment, as many American parents would have done as well.Loud cheers were heard from groups of families as their child was called. I sawmy students being wrangled into “diploma-holding photos,” where the recentgraduates try to look excited for about…say…25 photos at a time. It was a proudday for the sixth-graders of Escuela Central, and I wish them luck in the future. I lookforward to seeing them around the community (hopefully studying in basico in the afternoons), responding to my presencewith a resounding yell: “Camaron sin cola!” (Shrimp without a tail). Yes, my name means“shrimp” in Spanish, but I digress. Wherever the thirty of them may be, they all haveaccomplished something, and they and their parents deserve to be proud. Buenassuerte a todos!

Onward to camp,

Cameron