TheBanyanTree: Hello from Antigua, Guatemala

[apmartin at canada.com]

Hello friends

Well, Andrew and I have finished two weeks of Spanish
school and are taking a break.  I am
staying in Antigua this week for some relaxation and
writing; Andrew has gone off on the bus to an isolated
area where he plans to do some hiking in the mountains.
He'll be gone about a week.  He will be living in a
Mayan village and I am sure he will have many
adventures.

Here in Guatemala, it is winter.  Every day it is sunny
in the morning with the temperature in the mid
twenties. Every afternoon, there is a thunderstorm and
a short  downpour.  Because Antigua is in the
highlands, it is cool at night.

There is so much to tell I don't know where to begin.

We recently contacted Camino Seguro (Safe Passage), the
organization where we plan to volunteer and they took
us on a tour of their facilities at the Guatemala city
dump.  We rode the chicken bus and had to stand for at
least 30 minutes of the hour long trip.  They pack the
buses so full here, it is incredible and then they send
a man walking through the aisle to collect the fares
and there is no room for him to walk.  By the time we
arrived in Guatemala city, we were tired just from the
bus ride.

(The bus drivers here are wild; they recklessly pass on
curves and often have accidents.  Every time I ride the
bus, I feel I am taking a chance... The roads are
windy. Unless you brace yourself, you go flying into
other passengers.  It's kind of like riding the
'tilt-a-whirl' at an amusement park.  Riding a chicken
bus is something you must experience to understand.)

We were in a group of 13 and needed to walk together
for security to get to the Camino Seguro facility.
It's about a 20 minute walk.  Zone 3 where the
Guatemala city dump is located is the most dangerous
area of the city.  One shouldn't wear any jewelry at
all and shouldn't carry a backpack either.  Three of us
women became a little separated from the main group as
we walked toward the Project and two men began to
follow us.  I am certain we would have been robbed
except that we sped up and caught up with the group.

The poverty in this area is the worst I have ever seen
but Camino Seguro is making a difference for these
people.  In 5 short years, they have built a brand new
school which just opened a couple of weeks ago. This
school is for the children whose parents live at the
dump.  These people don't have easy access to running
water.  The school has addressed this problem by
building showers and scheduling time for the students
to use them.

Families at the dump scrounge cardboard and metals to
sell.  They also pick through the garbage for food.
Often there is a single mother with numerous children
(around 9) and no father, living in a tiny one room
shack made of metal and plastic with a dirt floor.
When it rains, the floor becomes mud.  Many mothers
become addicted to glue sniffing just to escape the
hopelessness they feel.  Many fathers are alcoholics or
drug addicts.  The adults are not educated but Camino
Seguro encourages all of their children to go to
school.  If the kids are educated, there is a chance
they can have a better life.

In order to be a part of the Camino Seguro program, the
children must attend public school for half a day (the
project provides school uniforms and supplies for the
kids).  In the afternoon, the kids attend the Camino
Seguro facility which looks exactly like a school but
actually augments a formal education. There are
classrooms, teachers, a library, a communal dining room
and everything is brand new.  If the kids attend school
regularly and the parent(s) meet with the social worker
once a month, the family is provided with a food hamper
once a month.

As well, the Camino Seguro facility feeds 350 children
per day breakfast or lunch.  Often this is the only
food these kids receive in a day.  We visited three
Camino Seguro locations near the dump and visited with
some of the children:  a preschool, a carpentry shop
and the new school.

Camino Seguro has social workers who visit the
childrens' homes.  Some of the children go to live at
Casa Hogar which is a live-in facility and is the place
where Andrew and I plan to volunteer.  It is a walled
community close to Antigua (15 minutes away by chicken
bus).  Inside the walls, it is very beautiful and
clean, unlike most places around here.  There is a
large house with an activity room and numerous bedrooms
that houses 30 - 35 kids.  These kids have lived in
deplorable conditions and their parents can not support
them. Often the parents are addicts or alcoholics or
there is severe violence in the home and the Camino
Seguro staff have convinced the parent the child will
do better in the live-in facility. There are also ten
bungalows for volunteers there, a nice park and a
swimming pool.

Volunteers at Camino Seguro in Guatemala City assist in
the classroom and do not have one-on-one time with the
kids.  Those who work in Casa Hogar are able to spend
time with individual kids to encourage and mentor them.
Both Andrew and I feel we are more suited to that.

These poor kids come from the dump to Casa Hogar with
lice and there isn't medicine to treat them.  As much
as I want to do this job, it is hard for me to resign
myself to the fact that I will likely get lice.  Just
thinking about it makes my head itch.  Who knows, maybe
I'll come home with a shaved head.  Andrew thinks he
might shave his head as an easy way to not get them.

One poor girl at Casa Hogar has lived through hell...
In one year, she was raped by her neighbor, had a baby,
baby died and her mom blamed her and kicked her out...
all before she was 14.  I hope I am able to help her in
some way...

We'll be moving to Casa Hogar in two weeks.  I'll take
this week off and likely will go to school for another
week before starting work.  Once we move, we will have
to do our own cooking, laundry, shopping etc.  We have
enjoyed our home-stay very much.  There, the maid did
everything for us.

Yesterday Andrew and I visited the Saturday market in
Antigua.  It is so interesting!  Everything you can
think of is there to buy.  Baskets of freshly ground
coffee, vegetables and fruits of every type, live
chickens, ducks, chicks, plastics, clothes, CDs, you
name it.  The meat market section is the most
interesting.  There were piles of roasted iguanas,
tripe, a pigs head, sausages, brain, hearts etc.,
roasts, pork rind.  None of it covered or refrigerated.
At least there is one supermarket in Antigua where I
will feel comfortable buying meat.

Must head off for now.

Sending love and good wishes,
Pat

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