TheBanyanTree: First Three Weeks at Casa Hogar

[apmartin at canada.com]

It was Friday, July 1, 2005 and I was waiting for the
bus at Safe Passage’s office in Antigua, along with
several other volunteers.  All the children from Casa
Hogar, the teachers and volunteers were going to the
Guatemala City Zoo, thanks to two American volunteers
who had offered to pay for the excursion.  

I had been working at Casa Hogar for three busy weeks. 
 The first week, my hours were short, from 2 pm until 6
pm, because most of the children attended school in the
morning.  I had used my free mornings to set up my
apartment.  My second and third weeks, however, were
fulltime because the children were on school vacation.  

I had been assigned to work with the older girls
(nina’s grandes) whose ages ranged from 9 to 16; there
were eight of them.  When I had the chance, I played
with the younger children.  More than once while
chasing them around the grounds shouting ‘Soy un lobo’
(I’m a wolf), I had marveled at how fortunate I was to
have a second chance at childhood.  I missed out on
that carefree time because I lived in fear of my
mother’s violent rages.  During my childhood years, I
felt old.  It was a pleasant surprise to discover that
the fun-loving child was alive inside of me and aching
to get out.  Working with the children in Guatemala was
not only good for them, but good for me.

Working fulltime again had been an adjustment, though.
I enjoyed my days at Casa Hogar but I was tired by
nightfall and quite content to read, watch television
(which I hadn’t done for months) and to write. 
Although I had no social life in Antigua, I was not
lonely.

The volunteers and staff had organized many special
activities to keep the children happily occupied during
their vacation.  On four occasions, I entertained 35
children for two hours playing Loteria (a picture bingo
game I discovered in Mexico that was suitable for all
age groups).  

To add to the children’s excitement, I arranged prizes
on a table for all to view including apples, bananas
and pineapples in addition to the things I brought from
Canada.  I was curious to see whether any of the
children would choose a piece of fruit over a toy.

These children seldom eat fruit; it is too expensive to
purchase and the rare time any is donated, it is
overripe or damaged.  Still, it surprised me to see
Paula, a five-year-old walk past the stuffed toys and
choose a juicy, red Delicious apple and Allan, a
four-year-old, ignore the toy cars on the table and
proudly choose a whole pineapple that was just about as
big as he was.

In addition to Loteria, there were other games, a
rally, a scavenger hunt, special crafts (I purchased
the supplies for the nina’s grandes to make butterfly
mobiles), and a visit to a farm.  

One of the games we played was called, ‘El Rey Pide’
(The King Asks For).  There were four teams:  small
girls, big girls, small boys, and big boys.  The king,
Vinicio, one of the administrators, asked for different
items and the first person to present him with what he
asked for received a point for their team.

I think my eyes bugged out when the King asked for a
piojo (head louse) and all the children went wild
picking through each others hair.  After a few minutes,
someone held a fine tooth comb with a louse on it in
front of the King, who grimaced and rolled his eyes.  

Later that day, all the children were treated for head
lice. I was pleased to discover a regular treatment
program had been implemented since my last stint of
volunteer work.  Even with regular treatments, it was
common to see the teachers picking nits out of the
children’s hair. It was impossible to get rid of the
problem completely because many of the children went
home to the slums on the weekends and returned to Casa
Hogar with ‘little critters’ to share.

Before my work in Guatemala, the thought of anyone
having head lice disgusted me, and imagining getting
them myself put me on the brink of hysteria.  Working
with the Project had changed me.  I now viewed them as
unpleasant but non-life threatening and treatable, a
more rational reaction.  Every night I carefully combed
my own hair with a fine tooth comb just in case I had
picked them up when hugging the kids.  So far, so good.

I looked at my watch.  As usual, the bus was behind
schedule, but that was typical; nothing ever ran on
time in Guatemala.  I was glad my sprained ankle had
improved enough so that I could manage a full day on my
feet.  

Three days earlier, the children, teachers and
volunteers toured Hotel Antigua.  What a surprise to
see such a top-class hotel inside the plain cement
walls that fronted onto the street. Smiling staff in
starched uniforms greeted us.  Stunning floral
arrangements of white gladiolas and crimson protea
decorated the lobby and open courtyard.  I hadn’t
realized Antigua had such places. Out of curiosity, I
asked the receptionist for the price to stay there. 
The most inexpensive room was $US110 per night which was
about double what the average Guatemalan earned in an
entire week.  I wondered what these children from the
poorest neighborhood in Guatemala City thought when
they saw how those with money lived. 

Several hotel staff led everyone across a manicured
lawn past a crystal clear swimming pool to a treed area
where a life-size piñata of a masked man was hoisted
into the air with a pulley and rope. Each child was
given a small plastic bag and then they took turns
hitting the pinata with a long stick until it broke
open and sprayed candies. It was high excitement for
the children who dive bombed onto the lawn after them. 
Afterwards, several of the girls gave me their ‘bolsas’
(bags) to guard in my backpack.

We toured the hotel, through the kitchen, the laundry
room and a room with huge, stainless steel hot water
tanks.  Everything was sparkling clean and the staff
throughout were welcoming and friendly.  Then, our
guide led us to an area of tables next to the swimming
pool. White-coated waiters served all 45 of us fries,
ham and cheese sandwiches, unlimited soft drinks, and
slices of chocolate cake.  There were balloons for all
the children.  I sat with the nina’s grandes and
watched them gobble down their food and go for glass
after glass of pop, which was served from the nearby
poolside bar.  

Nothing was wasted.  The children who weren’t hungry
gave their food to those who were.  Some of the girls I
sat with ate three or four servings of fries and
wrapped sandwiches in serviettes to take home.  These,
too, were given to me to guard.  

Before we left, a man from the hotel spoke to the
children.  I wasn’t able to understand all of what he
said but I heard him tell them about the importance of
education and encourage them to fill their heads with
knowledge.  I nodded my head in agreement.

After saying thank you and presenting the hotel with a
giant card, we left to walk to the bus stop.  All was
going well until I decided to step down from the high
sidewalk onto the cobblestone road.  My ankle folded
over, and I fell and sprained my foot.  One of the male
teachers grabbed my arm to help me, but it was a few
minutes before I could walk.  I couldn’t believe my bad
luck.

Now, three days later, my foot was sufficiently healed
to attend the Zoo with the children, provided I walked
slowly.  The chicken bus with the children pulled up to
the curb and the volunteers got on.  Lupe, one of the
little girls, came to sit with me on the front seat. 
She and Andrew had formed a strong bond the previous
year and she often asked about him.  Before dropping
off to sleep, she again told me she wanted to see
Andrew.  

The bus was an old with a severely cracked windshield
on the driver’s side, and wipers on the passenger side
that did not function.  Like all chicken buses, the
familiar thump, thump, thump music throbbed from the
speakers.  An hour later, we were in heavy traffic in
Guatemala City, and the driver was asking for
directions to the zoo, as he had never been there.  One
of the teachers trotted up the aisle to the front of
the bus and guided him the rest of the way.  

The zoo was in Zona 13, near the international airport.
 To my surprise, it was beautifully landscaped and
litter-free with a wide variety of well-taken-care-of
animals.  It was a pleasure to stroll through it. 
After two hours everyone met for lunch.  The Project
brought food for the children and teachers but was
unable to provide lunch for the volunteers.  There was
an area of street vendor type stalls on site as well as
an area with some chain restaurants such as Dominos
Pizza and Campero Chicken, where we chose to eat.  

After lunch, I met up with the nina’s grandes again who
were at a mini amusement park on the grounds watching
the bumper cars.  They were excited when I bought each
of them a ticket.  Two girls chose the bumper cars and
the others rode a mini-roller coaster.  It was the
first time any of them had been on a ride, and they
were thrilled.  It was the perfect ending to the day.  

.....