Una Aventura en Guatemala

So every other year my youth group takes a week long trip to Guatemala, and this summer was one of those years. I first went two years ago, and I was super excited to go back. My church has a special connection with Guatemala, and I fell right into that on my first trip. We worked with an organization called HELPS International. HELPS has a medical and a community development branch. Considering none of us actually have medical degrees (except one of the chaperones), we participated in community development pouring concrete, putting together water purification systems, and building stoves.

at least we had a nice view

We flew into Guatemala City early Saturday (July 28) morning. Ok, it wasn't actually all that early. Our flight was at like 9:30, but we had to meet at church at 5:45! The parking lot was filled with not happy teenagers. Anyway, we spent Saturday night at a seminary in the city. The next morning we embarked on an 8 hour bus journey through the mountains to the village of Nebaj. Now Nebaj is actually only 146 miles north of Guatemala City, but the road goes up and over countless mountains, so it takes awhile.

no parents, there weren't seat belts...

So we stayed in the village of Nebaj, but we worked in a village called San Juan Cotzal. It took over an hour by bus to get there every morning (San Juan probably wasn't that far away, but again, mountains and the eventual end of paved roads). Speaking of roads, we eventually hit a dirt road and it would be unsafe for the bus to try to drive up it. So instead, we all piled into the back of the 3 old pick-up trucks and rode the rest of the way up the mountain. It was like a crazy and bumpy and not entirely comfortable roller coaster ride, but it was SO MUCH FUN! I thought I would be thrown out of the bed on more than one occasion, but hey, it just added to the adventure.


So our first day of working consisted of mixing and pouring concrete. We were split into 6 different groups and each groups took 2 families. It was hard manual labor, but very satisfying. Before they get the concrete, families just live on dirt floors. Concrete floors are easier to clean and therefore healthier to live on.

On our second day we visited 2 schools. We installed 4 stoves at each school and gave them water purification systems. This was probably my favorite experience of the entire trip. Each school put on a welcome ceremony for us. All the children were lined up waiting for us, and then they performed for us! Different grades sang, danced, and recited poetry for us. At the second school, some second graders were performing a dance, and at the end, they grabbed people from the crowd to dance with them. I was one of those people. I felt privileged! Since there was only room for a few people to build the stoves in the schools' kitchens, most of us spent our time playing with the kids at each school. I work with the children at my church, and I love them, but the kids in Guatemala are different. They love you immediately, without question. All they want is for you to pay attention to them. Beyond names and age, we couldn't communicate much, but that really didn't matter. As soon as the welcome at the first school was over, a group of girls came up to me and my friend and asked for a picture. Several photos later, they grabbed hold of our hands and stuck by our side the 2+ hours we were there. We tried to teach them games and dances (ultimate frisbee, the hokey pokey, the chicken dance, football), but they also just spent a lot of time climbing all over us. Those kids reminded me what is was like to truly love people, a concept I fear our society hasn't truly grasped.

my favorite!

Day 3 we went back to our families and installed stoves. Families (and when I say families, I mean the women) normally cook on big open fires. This causes a couple issues. Problem 1 is smoke. Fires obviously produce smoke, and women and children spend most of their day breathing in that smoke, and prolonged smoke inhalation is not good for your lungs. Problem 2 is safety. Small children running around + large open fire = scary safety hazard. So I really enjoyed installing these stoves because I knew I was doing something genuinely helpful. Each family received 2 stoves, an indoor and an outdoor stove.

I think I've already mentioned that Guatemala is a beautiful country, but adding to that beauty was a waterfall right outside of the village we were working in. After all the groups had finished installing the stoves, we met by this waterfall to take pictures and have a closing ceremony with the families and village representatives. This was another highlight of the trip. I saw the very same waterfall on my trip two years ago, and being able to appreciate it again was awesome. It's kind of a magnificent sight.

The next day consisted of another 8 hour drive back through the mountains, and that afternoon we arrived in Antigua. Antigua is the cultural capitol of Guatemala, and it's kind of a shock after spending several days in the rural portion of the country. Antigua is popular with tourists, so the atmosphere is very different. Regardless, we spent the last day of our trip hanging out in the city. Well actually, in the morning we visited a special needs school right outside of Antigua. It's called the New Hope School, and they take kids with all sorts of needs, from learning disabilities to physical disabilities. Children with disabilities don't normally do well in Guatemala, so this school is a huge blessing to some. After visiting the school, we spent the rest of the day exploring Antigua. Fun fact: Antigua is built in between 2 volcanoes: Volcan de Agua and Volcan de Fuego. Can you guess which one is dormant and which one is active? :)

famous street!

taken in the ruins of an old church

One final thought. A very popular mission trip questions is "What did you learn on your trip?" or some such variation, and I have been asked that more than once. So here is my response (I'll try not to sound too cliche): The thing that I kept thinking about throughout the trip is the importance of community. Yes, I am aware of how privileged I am to have a roof over my head, reliably clean water, plenty of food, and a superb education; and yes, I believe that the least I can do with all that is to help people who don't have that. But there is so much more to the story. Material goods aren't bad. It's not bad that we have what I just listed, but material goods aren't everything. Love and community is far more important than anything we could ever own, and I think the relationships we formed will survive longer than any stove or water purification system we provided.