Guatemala Help Week

Trip 2 Day 8

2009-05-22T19:44:00.003-04:00

My apologies for taking so long to fill out this blog for May 21st.
It was quite an adventure of a day; filled with plenty of tears, hugs and goodbyes.
Both trucks drove to the sites, while balancing a metal door, window and paint in each of their truck beds. We were piled in as well. I remember having very mixed emotions about seeing the family for the last time. We were bringing them gifts including the stools, books, pencils/pens, mirrors, New! shoes, food, etc. and a piñata. I was both excited and “muy triste,” very sad.

Knowing that I was going to be holding the children for the last time or the hand of the mother for the last time was an emotional roller coaster. While sitting beside the mother of one of the families, her husband asked Kristen for the names of each of us. Kristen mentioned that he had a conversation with some of the people from our group about believing in God and in thanksgiving for what we helped build for his family. He kept the sheet of paper with our names in a small book and said he’d continuously pray for us. Each time they would thank us, I would be compelled to thank them right back for such an experience.

Once we arrived to the site, we were again greeted by smiles, death-gripping kids :) and tickling. Soon enough we were stirring and painting. I’ve noticed that Guatemala is filled with primary colors, from the Reds, Blues and Yellows of the hammocks we laid in at Casa Sito, to the exteriors and interiors of the houses we painted. Both houses had a blue interior. The exterior of one house was yellow (shout out to “Casa Amarillo!!!”), whereas the exterior of the other house was a vivid red. This Casa Amarillo good luck charm certainly came in handy as our worker group played futbol for the last time against the other worker group after we left the family ;)

Some of us decided to unleash our artistic abilities on the wall and on each other. Before I had even decided to participate in this paint party, I had a hammer fall from the roof onto my head then into my blue tub of paint. My teeth were apparently blue as well. After taking a brake, a few of us continued with this “party” covering each other from our tops to our bottoms with primary colors. Papas looked like he had some kind of growth on his face or a late case of the Chicken Pox. Most of us including the Guatemalan workers could not escape Toran’s red-handprints-of-love on our backs…

Giving the family the keys was by far one of the best experiences of my life. After seeing Adam give the keys to one of the families, I knew it would bring me a heart attack after being chosen to give the other family their keys. The grandmother was crying. I couldn’t take it. I had no idea why I was given this kind of opportunity in the first place or what I should tell them. An interpreter helped translate our words to each other. There were so many emotions and words going on at once, so it’s hard to completely grasp what exactly happened during that moment. When I would say thank you for this opportunity; they would just thank me right back. I know that what happened then was not me, but a compilation everyone’s spirit all pushing their ways to that one moment. I just remember thinking about how much I truly wanted to learn Spanish so that I could hear the words from them instead of from an interpreter.

I couldn’t help but notice that no matter how different the familys’ lifestyles were from our own—it’s practically impossible to not be attracted to one another. We all most certainly were. With a mixture of emotions at the worksite, a piñata and paint party, a birthday night, a high class Guatemalan restaurant later on in the evening, and a live traditional Guatemalan band that played “Feliz Cumpleanos a Trina.” This was by far the BEST birthday of my life (even taking into account a hammer that fell directly atop my head as our crew of Cheeky, Edgar, and Mickey were installing the roof above)…

Every bump and bed-bug bite and new friend helped make this trip amazing. It was one of the best experiences of my life and one of the best examples of how people who, for the most part only know bits and pieces about each other, can pull together and abundantly enjoy each other’s company through the Grace of God.

When I was hugging each child and adult of the family for the last time it was hard to hold back the tears…especially when the leaders of the family—the grandmother, fathers and mothers of the group—had tears in their own eyes.
Shout outs to Sara and Toro, Kreeston, Mango, Papas, Lindsay, Giante, Cindy, Funky Chicken, the beautiful family, and the rest of the crew for the immense amount of God-given teamwork throughout these 8 FULLFILLING days. I’d go to Guatemala again in a heartbeat.
God Bless,
Trinaa.k.a. “Cheena”
a.k.a. “Cheena”

Trip 2 Day 7

2009-05-20T22:28:00.003-04:00

Today is Wednesday and the day started out normal for us just as any other day has been here in Guatemala, except for the excitement of not having to make lunch because we were getting pizza delivered at the work site. That seemed to make everyone happy. On our way to our work site I was handing out rosaries to kids and adults. It was so nice to see their reactions to the gift. One girl looked at what was handed to her and exclaimed "Rosario". She was very excited about the gift. In fact all of the people who received the rosaries seemed to like them including our Guatemalan crew.

On the ride in I was in the cab of the truck with Alfonso aka Micky Mouse and I presented him with a Micky Mouse pin which he wore proudly all day. He had to show all of the other crew members the pin who in turn teased him about his nickname - but Micky didn't seem to care.

Once we were on the site we split up into our seperate groups and got to work - well kind of we always seem to find time to have a little bit of fun. In fact this morning while the cement was being mix, Fred decided to make a "Cement Angel" that was a first for me as well as our entire crew. Wish I had the picture of that. Anyway the mixing of cement consists of pilling up in a large mound until everything is incorporated. We had our own little Pacaya Volcano. Fernando aka Cheeky was spreading out the mixture while taking down our mountain and Fred thought it would be fun to have someone flatten out the rest. As you can see I volunteered for that task - not very pretty but it was effective. There was no sign of a mountain after I got through with it.

Our task today was simple but far from easy. The floor was our main project this day; the cement just needed to be spread for the floor of the house. The house may not look that large but I bet that if you ask Fred, Micheal, Kristen, or Trina about it they would have said it seem three times it's size. The room seemed to grow.

In the picture you can see Cheeky, he's probably trying to decide what mischief he can reak on us. And Micheal was the recepient of his humor. Did you notice the slant of the house? Water had to be poured down the slope and Micheal happend to be in the right/wrong place (depending on you view) when it happened. But since it was a hot day a would guess that it just might have been good or not. Right in front of the house there was a stoop added. Nice touch don't you think?

After the floor and stoop was layed/spread, most of our folks went over to assist the other folks with their house. While they were doing that some of the guys went to get the pizza. About that time is when I notice Innoceta over in the corning by her house. She was signing the sign of the cross and started to pray and she started to cry. She was so moved by the house that she took time to thank God for her gift. (at least that's the way I saw it)

It was kind of funny but everything seemed to happen about the same time, you see once the other house as finished - the floor spread, then the pizza guys where back. I call that good timing. After our lunch we got to go. Our day was done.

Up above you can see the big yellow truck with me in the driver's seat. You see what happened was that I jokingly told Micky that I wanted to drive his truck - by the way it's a stick - 5 speed. I'm not sure if Micky was calling my bluff or not but he tosted me the keys. Then Fred made a mad rush for the driver's side of the truck but since I was in the passengers side already I just locked him out and crawled over in the prized seat. Well I couldn't back down then so I had to drive. You can't image the streets here. Most are not paved and alot of them will not allow for two cars on the road side by side. Not to leave out that the stick shift was so badly worn that I could see, nor remember where reverse was. But Michael came to my rescue and I managed to get us on the road and on our way. Well until I had to make a right hand turn that caused Micky to turn pale and I ended up relinquishing the driver's seat. But he did tell me that I was a good driver. I still can't believe I got to drive in Guatemala!

Like I said earlier we had a short day and we were lucky for that because it started to rain about 2 PM and it was nice not to be out in it for a change. As is normal for us once we're back everyone starts to take showers. I was the last one to take my shower and I just wanted to let you know what it's like to be here with all these students. There was a group of them in the kitchen talking and another group was in the hall. Laughter was ringing out throughout the house. I can't imagine a better way to end the day. Even though there was more to come.

We went shopping for the families. We went out in the rain after all and had a great time at the store trying to pick out just the right stuff for every member of the two houses. I'm sure the families will be happy. After the shopping and getting everything back to CasaSito we then made our way back out in the rain for dinner. There was alot of laughter and nobody seemed to mind that we were getting wet. Way a high we were all experiencing.

This is little Ophelia Maria and she's a doll.
Can't wait until tomorrow to see the reactions of both the children and their folks will be. I won't be suprized if all of us ending sheding some tears of joy.

Pax et bonum

(Peace and all good)

Cindy Gravely

Trip 2, Day 6

2009-05-20T00:31:00.006-04:00

As we sat in the back of the pickup on the way to work today, some of us realized a little sadly that our time in Guatemala is running short. After everything we´ve experienced over the past week, it´s easy to relate to this sentiment. Not only have we bonded well as a team, but we´ve also spent wonderful times laughing, talking, and playing with the families we´re serving in Santa Maria de Jesus. The From Houses to Homes crew has been a fun and friendly part of our time here, and on top of that, I am inspired by the tireless efforts of the Casa Sito staff and volunteers (Casa Sito is the volunteer house which has rooms for five of us).

Today at work we finished five more courses of concrete blocks on the two houses we´re building. Tomorrow we´re pouring the floor (lots of concrete mixing!), and the day after that we´re finishing up with the roof and the painting. I am very impressed at the precision of the Guatemalan crew we´re working with. Our foremen (Henio and Isaias) have memorized every step of the building process and know exactly how much of everything (such as sand, fine and coarse aggregate) we need and when.

After taking the winding road down the mountain and into Antigua after work, several of us attended a meeting held by Casa Sito volunteers at a cafe downtown. The purpose of the meeting was to inform the audience about an important educational program called EducArte, which serves kindergarten through third grade children near Antigua. An non-governmental organization, EducArte is staffed by volunteers and provides education in the arts and nutrition as well as the traditional subjects such as social studies and literacy. As part of the meeting, many of the students from EducArte performed a wonderful rendition of Snow White. The kids obviously put a lot of work into the production. Their lines were memorized and the costumes were simple yet effective. I especially loved the dwarves´beards, which appeared to be made of cotton and were in various stages of disarray! The meeting lasted only about 45 minutes, but it made a deep impression on me. There is a lot of beauty here--one sees it every day in the spirit of the people and in the efforts of volunteers and workers who want to make a difference.

--Adam Cross

Trip 2 Day 5

2009-05-18T23:48:00.013-04:00

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After a weekend of exploring the different scenes of Guatemala, we all went back to work for Monday. Sentiments were mixed about a new work week, but even before we arrived at our house, our spirits were lifted and motivation rejuvinated while driving through the narrow streets of Santa Maria de Jesus. Above us on a hill, a small red house stood out to us. This house, Fred explained earlier, was the house that had been built only a week before by the first trip´s team. Next to the house, we saw a group of tiny figures waving as we drove by. Clearly, the last family was greatly impacted by the From Houses to Homes project. Enthusiasm was in no short supply as we jumped out of the back of the truck only to be stopped by hugs and smiles from our own two families.

The work day was fairly uneventful. The floor had been leveled by the family, and we added five more layers of cinderblock to the house. The door became more pronounced and windows began to take shape. However, the day itself was in no way uneventful. The oldest and most outgoing girl at the site, Favia, spent a few minutes watching and helping before being called into the house for breakfast and then rushed into town for what we understood to be her first communion. We spent time with the rest of the family during lunch, and were able to play more with the boys who are less outgoing than the girls. I was also touched by the joy and gratitude of Innocenta, tho mother always carrying little Victor on her back, who wrapped me up in a big hug as lunch was wrapping up. Everybody joined in a few games before going back to laying cinderblocks.

Before long, the fifth layer of blocks was laid and everybody piled into our little yellow pick-up truck to head to the villiage´s soccer field. No matter how many times we ride in the trucks, the precision of the drivers always amazes us as we drive around seemingly impossibly tight turns between houses and fences, and today--around a horse teathered in the road. We played soccer with the From Houses to Home workers on a relativly small basketball/soccer court for at least an hour while waiting for the second truck to come pick us up. A few people decided to relax on the hill next to the soccer field and were quickly aquainted with what seemed to be half the villiage´s children who came asking for gum and settled for a few games instead.

Back at CasaSito, we wound down the day with a few rounds of Euchre (a new favorite card game,) a debriefing of the day, and a very laid-back dinner with a not-quite-all-there waitor at a resturant/hostel called Kafka. Around 9:30, we dragged ourselves back to our beds and prepared for another day in Guatemala. ¡Hasta Mañana!

-Kristen Zeiler

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SATNIAGO SAN MORA

2009-05-18T00:04:00.006-04:00

before we begin, I’ve noticed that the group has not really been introduced.

Adam - "Gigante". a returning vet who got his name last year for his impressive height
Lindsey - the other returner, with Adam she helped organize and lead the group
Cindy - "Berni" a woman with endless positivity and good cheer
Michael - "Mango" name of unknown origins - he is known for his love of jumping on volcanoes
Sarah - a Clemson grad teaches martial arts
Toran - "Torro" named cause know one knows how to say his name (sounds like ripped paper). He is lucky enough to be dating Sarah
Trina - "Chi-Na" known to children and dogs everywhere as that girl that says "Awww" and is silly
Kristin - a dancing fool who's knowledge of Spanish has been invaluable
Potatoes - aka Jonathon - papas, taters, papas fritas, etc...his brother is "meat"
Fred - "chicken dance man" our campus Minster and fearless leader

Our Sunday started with Mango, Torro, Sarah and Berni attempting to attend church, again. However our Fearless Chicken Dancer had his Saturday and Sunday Mass times crossed and sent us there at 8 instead of 9am. Realizing our mistake, and seeing that attending the 9o'clock Mass would leave no time for breakfast, we opted for breakfast. The German place next door offered an impressive "desayuno" that included coffee, oatmeal, eggs, toast, potatoes, fresh squeezed OJ, sausage and some fruit. Everyone being very satisfied, we pilled into a couple of beat up pickup trucks with Fred and Esteema (our German translator) and headed out.

Santiago San Mora is about 30minutes away from Antigua and i'll include a short summary of its history - both sad and inspirational.

Many years ago during feast time when everyone was sleeping a disaster struck the village (we think it was a few generations ago early 1900's). A fire consumed the village and the lake was very low. Many people starved to death and as bodies piled up more became sick. Searching for medicine and assistance, the villagers offered their property to a wealthy coffee grower as collateral for medicine and money to rebuild...they also promised to do one week of labor for him. He and his family have kept the land for generations and every member of the community still does one week of work for him every year...but he has never returned their property.

We were told this story by a middle aged woman of incredible courage and ingenuity. Due to the poor conditions in the village - there was a great deal of poverty, domestic violence and alcoholism; the people are Mayan and because they worked so hard, trying to repay the debt, many children didn't attend school and never learned Spanish - an essential to getting ahead. Our story teller spoke of the abuse and poverty she endured and the inability for the men to get ahead farming.

Amazingly she organized the women of their community and struggled to find a way to better their situation. They contacted the government and got a Spanish tutor for themselves and with the help of non-profit organizations began bringing visitors to their community and sharing their history, cultural and art. Their textiles are amazing and of very high quality. We were shown the various, long and difficult steps needed to create their products. We were also treated to a traditional dance , stalk weaving demonstration and fed local dishes...we even tried coffee grinding the old and difficult way (with stones).

At the completion of this cultural emersion, and a new found appreciation for the amount of effort that goes into their products, we eagerly paid high prices for all their wares. All the money goes to providing schooling and medical care to the community's children - so it’s for a good cause.

Upon further reflection, pretty much everyone down here needs help - so all the money we spend is really going to a good cause.

There was also a bit of ego proving on the side of the males in our party. A certain wooden top was launched from a string – but no one except the maker was able to make it spin and stay up. Many a fruitless attempt was made by Potatoes and Mango…but the action was mostly dominated by Fred, who just couldn’t stop trying until he go it right ( I was almost struck in a very sensitive spot by a stray flying top). Finally, needing to leave, Potatoes just bought it with the intent to master it later.

Returning home, we had some down time to play cards and go grocery shopping for tomorrow’s lunch. Sarah and I decided that we would splurge on some dog food (both being big dog lovers) being very saddened by the condition and treatment of the dogs at our building site. Pretty much all the dogs we’ve seen in Guatemala have been half-starved and mistreated by their “owners”

Before Mass at 7 (we were really hoping we’d actually make it this time), the group met for a reflective debriefing. The condition of those in Santiago san Mora and others in Guatemala were discussed and ideas concerning how best to continue to contribute to their wellbeing continued to surface in all of our thoughts.

It is one thing to spend 10 days down here, and many have had amazing, transformative and informative experiences. We wonder what it will be like to return to our land of easy living. “economic downturn” has a different meaning in the developing world – and having been able to glimpse a little of what real hardship is – many are going to take a new and appreciative look at their lives. Also – we’ve met a lot of interesting people that are giving more and doing more…and many of us are now inspired to step up to another level.

Having worked in Katrina Relief efforts in New Orleans and been part of other trips into underdeveloped parts of the world – I think I understand a little more and less about the world. The cruelty and suffering that is experienced…and the ability of others to be indifferent is more confusing. But having seen first hand how others cope in horrific circumstances has also helped me keep my life in perspective.

Some say “the truth shall set you free”…I have not found that to be true. The truth – when seen clearly and understood BINDS YOU.

Truth demands action! One can not claim to understand the needs and problems of others less fortunate than yourself and not take action to help them. This is the weekend of Love in our Easter season…and reviewing the readings in English before hearing them in Spanish at Mass – we talked about what love/agape really means in the context of God and his commandments. Love thy neighbor! Jesus said that this was the greatest of the Ten. One can not claim to know God without knowing love and one can not claim to know love while turning away from the suffering of our brothers and sisters.

I sat in church thinking that what we don’t have in common is far less than what we all share. Language, cultural, possessions or political outlook are but trivialities in the human experience – things to add color and richness to our interactions and keep it interesting. But there is no Other or “outsider” to hate. God is love an love is God – and when we allow that love to work through our hands and help our fellow human beings…that is far closer to God than I can get in any other way. It is not enough to simply throw money at a problem to buy off our guilt or compensate for inaction. I’m not suggesting that everyone should come to Guatemala and I certainly appreciate everyone who was generous enough to donate so that WE COULD come here. No, I’m suggesting something far simpler – that we should all just go out and touch someone else’s life. In the smallest of ways – be that change you wish to see in the world and feel Gods love moving through you.

Anyway – in conclusion. I think one of the keys to success is the carrying on of momentum. That is one thing we have in abundance – but what further actions we can take to carry that forward is unclear. Suggestions would be great. We would like to continue fundraising for those in need down here. We have also come up with ideas like getting a website for the village weavers so that they might peddle their wears further abroad. Giving talks/presentations on circumstances down here has also be brought up and if anyone has any connections or suggestions we would be very grateful.

Education opportunities down here are very poor and lack of Spanish is a great impediment. We were really impressed that not only were the weaving women paying for tuition and supplies for 450 boys AND GIRLS to attend school, but there was even an English speaking volunteer giving classes. Instruction is in both Spanish and their native Mayan dialect…but giving them access to English will really give them a leg up in the world...but they need more!!!!

Teaching tools like computers are inconceivable to most poor inhabitants and even small infusions of money into communities (micro-loans) have incredible impact on the living conditions of these people.

Sorry for all the rambling – its late and no one told me to shut up and stop ---but now i'm tired. Back to work tomorrow - looking forward to seeing them all again and feeding those dogs.

“Torro” Toran Gordinier

Trip 2-Day 3

2009-05-16T23:26:00.005-04:00

The 3rd Day, or the day we went to a volcano and crashed a wedding...

So today was virutally unanimously voted the coolest, jam-packed day of fun that we´ve had so far in Guatemala! Everything we have done so far on the trip (it´s crazy to think it´s only day three!) has been incredibly beautiful and rewarding! After a fun night of dinner and hanging out with our new friends on Friday, everyone was pumped for our volcano hike on Pacaya! The day started out with a long, but pretty ride to Pacaya that only included a few heart attack inducing games of bus vs. even bigger bus chicken (but don´t worry parent´s-our driver´s a professional)! As we went up the winding road on the base of the mountain, it was interesting to see the lush fields of various crops growing on the hillside and every now and then passing a little boy with the proposition of "you want horse?" We didn´t want to mention to the little guy that tour bus > horse when dealing with ten people, but oh well, he´s working out his business plan :) When we got to our destination, we were flooded with even more kids selling their precious cargo-walking sticks! After making sure everyone had their stick, we set up the volcano, eager to see the lava! The hike was challenging but fun, and because it was a rainy day we had a surreal mist to wade through all the way up! When we got to the top, everyone was excited to see the star of the day-the lava! It was a little unnerving being so close to molten magma, but who cares, it was really cool! After a yummy marshmallow roast the group had lunch nearby, and in the view of two volcanos (Pacaya and Agua) some of us took the opportunity to have a little fun with gravity! Many, many jumps and pictures later we had a slippery descent down the mountain and headed back to Antigua!

After a little downtime and rest, the group decided to go to the Saturday evening Mass at La Merced. It is a beautiful, immense church that left all of us awestruck and contemplative. There was a service going on that turned out to be a wedding, and after a little shuffling around we took our seats. What happened in the next few minutes was all of hilarious, incredibly awkward, and permentantly documented! As it turned out, we were not sitting there (in the front rows no less) waiting for Mass to start, we were apparently sitting there waiting for wedding number 2 to start! As we tried to beat it before the bride´s family made it down the aisle to be seated, we tried our very hardest to be respectful yet swift (all the while trying to suppress giggles). Fortunately for us, we had the wedding march to hide our shuffling footsteps! Welcome to Wedding Crashers 2-St. Andrews Style (rated E for everyone and coming soon to video!)
After that experience we decided to have our group dinner at the nicest McDonalds in the Americas and spent the meal buzzing over the wonderful happenings of the day!

It´s only day three of the trip and already it´s been one of the most positive, fun, and rewarding experiences of my life! I feel truly blessed that I could be a part of it with such a great group of friends! Stay tuned-tomorrow we take a trip to the village!

Sarah Grubb

Trip 2 [Build] Day 2

2009-05-16T01:01:00.003-04:00

It's Friday, which means it's the end of the workweek (already!). Because we just arrived on Wednesday, there were only two days to start the new houses. It was also a very, very rainy day. As a trip veteran, I would even say it was without a doubt the rainiest day I've seen here. We got drenched on the way to the worksite and then spent a good bit of time in one of the family's houses waiting for the rain to let up (and returned a few times during the day when it got too heavy for work again).

As we found out, there were definite pros and cons to having a rainy work day. On the plus side, being indoors with the families meant that we had extra time to bond with them. The family members were somewhat tentative on the first day, but the kids especially had warmed up to us by today and we had a great time with them. The families don't speak Spanish, so it is sometimes more difficult to communicate with them, but both parties are very patient and tend to get enough of a conversation going.

On a downside, we got very wet and muddy. The houses are being built into a hillside and the rain created quite tricky work conditions. We still ended up quite well for the day, almost on par for where we should be in building, and muddy boots can't slow us down!

After we got cleaned up, we went to a German restaurant where the From Houses to Homes crew met up with us for dinner. I was really happy to have the opportunity to socialize with the workers outside of our work on the house. It's a reminder that we are all regular people who have come together to make something great happen. And it's also a good time, of course!

I have decided to call it a night somewhat early (it is a Friday night, after all) in order to rest up for our hike on Pacaya tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it again. I am also looking forward to seeing everyone else's reaction to being on top of an active volcano. It's a pretty impressive scene!

On a personal note, when I first arrived, I was feeling different from the "noobs" who are here experiencing Guatemala for the first time. I didn't have the rush of being somewhere so differnet like they are experiencing. But now, I am very much enjoying Guatemala in a different way. Much like a movie being watched again, I get to see things I didn't see last time. Also, I get happiness out of watching those who are being bitten by the Guatemala love bug.

- Lindsay Flis

Team 2 Day 1

2009-05-15T00:13:00.006-04:00

Today team two started their work. We met the trucks at the town center and took a typical fast crazy Guatemala drive to the area where these houses were going to be built. The family looked on shyly as we unloaded out equipment and started getting ready to build. We are building two houses, one for a family of five the other for a family of six. Immediately we saw a young girl of one of the families struggling to carry a cement-block up the hill. One of us meet her to carry it the rest of the way up. As soon as the young girl had handed of the block she ran down and started carrying another one up.

We worked on the foundation of the house today. We started by digging a trench around where the house is going to be. This turned out to be an adventure for both groups. One group encountered some hard clay that took all of their muscles to dig though. My group encountered several rats. We tried our best to save them, we put them over in the field next to us. However this effort did not work. The mom of one of the family saw the rats and went over and whacked them with a stick. We ended by mixing some concrete and laying the footer. Then we waited around for the trucks to come back. For an hour or so some of us rested while others played with the kids. Slowly the family became less shy. Then we hopped back on the truck to go wash up and eat. It was an awesome start to our trip--to see how these people live and everything we take for granted. Hopefully this will make their lives just a little easier.

Jonathan (Potatoes) Hubbard

Guatemala Week 2 Day 0

2009-05-13T22:51:00.009-04:00

Day 0
Ou journey began with 6 of our crew leaving at the reasonable hour of 3 AM, while myself, Kristen, and Potatoes got to sleep in untill 5 and take a separate flight to Guatemala City. The trip started off on a good note (with Potatoes getting stopped at the Atlanta airport security for having a pocket knife). After this mini-epic, we boarded our flight and after some in-flight snacks and movies, arrived in Guatemala City. After being instructed by flight attendants in Spanish, we left the plane and were greeted by several nurse-looking people wearing masks, asking us if we had swine flu. We collected our bags, and immediately after were joined by the other members of group 2, who had said that they saw the volunteers from week 1 as they were flying out of Guatemala. After we gathered our things, and Trina said goodbye to her new friend from the airplane, whom she called "la abuela", we met Fred and our bus driver Franscico outside. The lot of us drove in a big white van to an exquisite and authentic "Guatemal-ian" restaurant where we dined on the finest appetizers they had to offer. The place was a beautiful giant tiki-hut type deal right in the middle of Guatemala City, and the food was great. The next hour or so I was asleep, but I assume that we drove through the mountains to the quaint old city of Antigua. When I awoke, we were cruisin' past a beautiful church on old cobblestone streets towards our destination, Casa Sita. The girls settled in here while the guys moved our stuff down to a similar hotel around the corner. After we were all moved in, we began to explore our surroundings. It was still somewhat quiet in the part of the city we were in, and it seemed almost deserted. After walking in and out of local shops, we all gathered up and made a trip down to the town square. We passed by the beautiful church previously mentioned, know as "la merced", and strolled on down "El Arco", the main drag. This street, marked by a giant arch over the middle of it, was lined with locals offering all kinds of trinkets, beggars, artists, and tourists alike. We decided to exchange for some local currency, called "Quetzales", named after a rare central American bird. After some wandering, we ended up in some sort of market, in which we split up, agreeing to meet back in fifteen minutes. I somehow got stuck with Potatoes, and we ended up half-lost power walking through long and narrow passageways filled with music stores and dead chickens. Sooner or later, we all reunited, and continued on into the local supermarket, where we did some shopping. Tension mounted, however, when I clumsily dropped a glass bottle in the middle of the store, causing the loudest glass bottle explosion these young ears have ever heard. It did not phase anyone, however, except us uptight Americans. Everyone here seems to be extremely laid back, but not to the extent of being careless. Its a very relaxed atmosphere that, to me at least, is very comforting. Anyway, back to the glass bottle incident; we quickly cleaned up the mess and hurried back to Casa Sita, where we were met by the head lady-in-charge "Alice", who spoke to us at length of all the projects her and her husband had been working on. The next thing I knew I was sitting in a pizza place listening to Fred's awesome Karaoke abilities. After Fred had successfully driven out all of the other customers with his beautiful voice, we enjoyed some great pizza and some great laughs, and then headed back home. We made arrangments for the next morning, and I began to write this blog.
THE END (of day 0)
-Michael LaDue

Trip 1: Day 8

2009-05-13T00:12:00.006-04:00

Well that`s it! The house is finally completed! The only tasks for today were to put the roof on, which Henio and Edgar took care of, and paint! The family was allowed to pick the colors that they wanted to use, and they chose to make the outside red, and the inside a sky blue color. Painting was a breeze. With Edgar and Henio taking care of the roof, everyone else could paint. And everyone did! The kids took care of all the lower painting, while we took care of everything higher up. It was definitely a combined effort. The paint was actually a powder, which we mixed with water and then spread over the bricks. More to come! Out of time!

Trip 1: Day 7

2009-05-11T23:25:00.002-04:00

After a fun weekend of hiking volcanos, (actually just one), it was back to work today. Of course, last week, we finished the wall of the house completely. So, today we would do the last of the concrete work.
The house is made with one wall higher so that the roof slopes down. So, in order to fill in the gap between the roof material and the side walls, it was necessary to make a sloped form of concrete along the top of the two side walls. I wish I had a picture. Hopefully you know what I mean.
Anyway, Hennio and Edgar (our Guatemalan building guides) secured wooden forms on both sides, and the rest of us mixed concrete and the forms were all poured.

We had a massive pile of concrete to be mixed today, bigger than usual because we were also pouring the entire floor of the house as well as a small ramp next to the front door. And it all gets mixed by hand: the sandy dirt, the bags of cement powder, and then rocks and water.

So we got an assembly line going with some of us mixing the water in (Edgar and Cesar -father of the family), some of us shoveling the cement into buckets, some of us carrying the buckets into the house to be poured, Fred dumping the buckets where they were needed, and Hennio leveling the cement to achieve a nice clean-looking surface. Finally, forms were made for a small ramp outside of the entrance of the house, and that concrete was poured too.

Oh, by the way, Patrick Fuller took off today to head back to the states (he's got a Maymester program he's got to do in order to graduate on time, so it's legit). But without him, we sure had a lot of work to make up for. man.

Patrick played a bit of soccer with the chill'ns around the place. Those kids are just tumbling all over each other, and never seem to get hurt. And then we were done with work for the day (early) so we headed down to the town's soccer field (a outdoor concrete basketball court - of course they don't use it for basketball!) for some soccer with Guatemalans from other building crews. In general, we learned that Americans aren't the best at goalie (Fred, Patrick, and I).

Something to note is that everything in Guatemala is S L O W. This is true except for cars. In restaurants, it's almost as if the waiters avoid you. This isn't the case, it's just that they assume you are in no rush to leave. It's not like in American restaurants where they're constantly coming back, trying to get you out of there as fast as possible so they can take another crowd in. No, here you almost have to act like you're going to leave without paying in order to get their attention. Let's see....oh, the internet is slow too. And even fast food is slow.
Today we tryed a fast food chain restaurant called Pollo Campero (pronounced "poyo" -this means chicken) and must've waited half an hour for our food.

Honestly, us trip one folks are nearly at the bittersweet end of an eye-opening experience. Tomorrow, the house will be painted and a tin roof will be put up. Thanks for keeping up with us thus far, and God Bless.

Trip 1 Day 6

2009-05-10T19:39:00.005-04:00

Manuel, our bus driver, actually came early this morning (really early by Guatemala standards) to take us to Picaya Volcano, one of the most spectacular volcanoes in the country. We were all long awake by then, however, because fireworks had been detonating since before light in celebration of Mother's Day. (Happy Mother's Day, to all of you moms reading this. Felicidades de Madres!) We left around 10am and traveled back towards Guatemala City before bearing south again towards the volcano. The dirt road up the mountain was in considerable disrepair, so we were happy we had soft van seats to ride in instead of the back of a pickup truck as usual.

After we parked, we were immediately bombarded by children asking us to buy walking sticks for the hike up. Men with horses were also congregated convienently by the entrance to this national monument. This presented an opportunity which one of our members, Joe, could not turn down. We were fortunate to have an English-speaking guide because Manuel helped Joe bargain for the price of the ride. We all thought the whole trip was a bargain, though. Halfway up, we met some returning Americans who described conditions as the best they had seen in five visits here. This provided great incentive for those of us on foot to persevere up the steep, eroded path. The first thing we saw as we came around the top of the mountain was the huge field of hardened lava spreading out into the valley below the volcano. As we rounded the last corner we had an amazing view of the lava flowing red-hot out of a recently formed cone. When we got up close we could hear the crackle of the lava flowing. It sounded like clay shingles falling off of a roof, or like the tinkle of metallic sound-effects in a B movie. In between dodging blocks of steaming rock, we got up close to one of the lower lava flows to roast some enormous marshmallows over the heat. After the long hike, these marshmallows were delicious.

On the way down, I learned a little bit about Manuel's life in Guatemala. He is from San Antonio, a town adjacent to the village we visited yesterday. He told me that learning English completely changed his life. Before he was a guide, he worked on a farm and carried all of his loads of vegetables or firewood on his back like the villagers we have seen in Santa Maria. He taught himself English by reading and watching American movies; the other guides would not teach him English words because they did not want more competition. His persistence has paid off, because he was an excellent guide for us today and Fred was asking if he could be booked for a repeat trip next week.

We returned to Casa Sito around 4:30, leaving us enough time for a siesta and shower before we go out for a unique cultural dish, pizza.

Patrick Fuller

Trip 1 Day 5

2009-05-09T23:39:00.005-04:00

Today we didn't work at our project, and had a day of leisure. We left for a very small village down the road. Again in the back of a mini pickup. We were accompanied by a young man from Freeport Illinois and a young lady from the North of Germany, both of whom spoke Spanish far beyond our abilities. Our tour included a seminar given in native Spanish on the history of the village, and how they made woven fabrics, rush matts, and ground coffee. This was in native tongue so the guy from Freeport interpreted for us. The items they made were for sale and so we purchased many of them via our interpreters. I found the young lady from Germany most helpful.

The story of the village is that after a bontiful year the citizens had a great celibration and most over indulged and fell asleeep, with the cooking fires still burning, resulting in the village burning down. They were very poor so they went in search of financing to rebuild the village, a successful effort. However they could not make the payments and the loaner foreclosed and to this day still owns the entire village. The villagers to this date still pay the landlord a week's labor each year. Sooooooooooooooo the story goes.

The proceeds of our purchases are turned over to the village with most going towards educating the children, so in addition to believing we received great values in our purcchases it is heartwarming to know when our money goes.

Upon returning to Antigue we toured a beautiful church that the iterior had been recently restored. Saw another one on theway

Notwithstanding that we got rained on in transit back to Antigue, the ride was good with a great driver and we had a very interesting venture in the village.

Upon returning to Atigua we toured a beautiful church with a recently restored interoir. On the way back we saw another smaller church, and then we went to 6:00 mass at another refurbished church. (all catholic of course) However the 6:00 mass was delayed as there was a wedding mass going on when we arrived. Sooooooooooo we observed the bride and groom and wedding party, and then attended mass, most of which we didn't understand as it was in Spanish of course. Fred had us read the readings and gospel before we went to mass so we were prepared.

We topped the evening off with a good German meal at the German restrant next door.

Joe Bosman

Trip 1 Day 4

2009-05-08T18:13:00.005-04:00

Today began a little differently than our three previous mornings .... we had breakfast at a differnent cafe, a Bavarian one just a few doors from Casa Sito. Croissants and streudel were enjoyed by everyone. Once again Fred preferred to sleep-in and get lunch started .. what a nice guy!

Arriving at Santa Maria we noticed that more children were in the street to watch us climb the hill to our building site. We seem to be gathering more 0n-lookers each day. Today like yesterday we assumed water carrying duty for the girls in our family. How they do it several times a day remains a mystery to us.

Our task for the day was to complete the construction of the four walls. Teamwork and friendship were more visible today as each of us seemed to know what needed to be done and got to it. The family is amused by our playful jokes on one another (like tossing small stones and mortar). Fred found time to doodle in the extra mortar and all of us were amused by his antics. James and Patrick contributed to the fun by doing more than doodle ... you'll need to ask them more. Fred also did face painting on James to give him mutten-chop side burns, and Patrick received his "war paint" to compliment his smile.

After lunch most of the worker bees trudged to the top of our hill/mountain to view the village from higher ground. We are impressed by the town center and how green everything becomes as you look up the valley. There are gardens aplenty growing fruit and vegetables for local consumption.

The family is fully engaged in the project and it's obvious their excitement increases as the house nears completion. Monday we'll pour a concrete floor and set the roof beams, and on Tuesday we'll complete the roof and help the family paint their new dwelling. We are constantly amazed by the spirit of the family and their ever present smiles.

Tonight we'll search for burgers and fries after enjoying Italian and Mexican. It's hard to believe we've reached the halfway point of our trip ....

Bob Brinkman

trip 1 Day 3

2009-05-07T19:57:00.009-04:00

Before I begin to talk about all that Day three consisted of, I must first discuss the free concert that we attended last night. At some point in the afternoon, while we were all half asleep in hammocks or yard chairs in the center living area of Casa Sito, a group of minstrels in very interesting, colorful costumes came parading down our street with a drum ensemble! When we went outside to see what all the commotion was about, they stopped and read off a message, revealing a free concert in the Central Park. So, with nothing better to do that night, we attended! It turned out to be a very interesting, entertaining, and empowering concert, which I think was all for women´s empowerment (no way to be really sure). All I know for sure is it was comprised of all women performers who had a very stong opinion about something, and James was very enthusiastic about it (I have a picture of him right in front of the stage with his arms in the air). It began with some interesting tribal performances and ended with multiple women singers, providing for a very entertaining night!

The next morning, we headed straight back out to Santa Maria to finish off the next four layers of cinder blocks. Just as before, the family was very excited to see us! I believe the whole neighborhood in general is getting more used to us as well. As we drove up the hill to Cesar & Isabella´s house, we were greeted by the smiling faces of many children in the area who we have not seen before. Since we only had to complete 4 layers today, it left more time to play with the kids and get to know the family a little better, which is exactly what we did. The day was packed with a mix of soccer games with the kids and work. Whenever we were not working, we were playing, which was actually a lot more work than the actual work, especially when the ball would roll down the extremely large hill that their house was on (they live on the side of a mountain to put it in perspective). James actually beat the kids down the hill while chasing a ball one time, although he did slide half the way down on his back. For lunch today, pizzas were delivered from Antigua along with some Sprite and Coke. I think everyone would agree that it was a very delicious meal! It was the first time that I have ever seen little kids eat a supreme pizza and love it (it was all that there was to offer).

After we completed the four layers of cinder blocks, and many games of soccer, we said our "Buenos tardes" to the family and headed off to play some soccer in town (still Santa Maria) with the Guatemalans working for From Houses to Homes. They took us through town to some basketball/soccer courts where we played for quite a while. Growing up in a soccer family, it has always been a dream of mine to play in a foreign country that truly loves the game. That couldn´t have been more true here. All the workers go straight from their jobs, in concrete crusted work clothes and all, to play soccer on dirt, or in our case concrete, fields. It was incredible to not only play with them, but also see how enjoyable the game is to them. One of our foremen, Henyo, is quite the talented player, as is Fred of course! There are soccer fields everywhere here! I love it!

To close out our day, we returned to Casa Sito to tend our wounds from the game for a while, and then headed out to diner. We dined at a fine Italian restaurant today that had home made pasta (a necessity for Fred). I have yet to find a dish that was not delicious here in Guatemala!

-Patrick Needham

Trip 1 Day 2

2009-05-06T18:50:00.006-04:00

Tomorrow was indeed longer. We just finished a hard day of mixing mortar and concrete and laying blocks for the foundation. But that's the kind of exercise we needed after our voluminous meal last night; we visited an Argentinian steakhouse on the recommendation of another Casa Sito resident, Aaron. Luckily it was delicious, because we learned afterwards that Aaron had never actually been there. With a boardwalk dining area over a pool and with tuxedoed waiters, this restaurant takes my vote for the finest dining in Antigua. One thing we learned from this experience: you know a place is good when there is an armed guard with a sawed-off shotgun at the entrance.

Back to today: the family seemed very happy to see us. The smile on the 5-year-old boy's face reached ear to ear when we presented the family with a soccer ball (with a Clemson logo, of course), and everyone seemed very grateful to see lunch once again. So were we, by the time we had laid three rows of the concrete blocks.

It is still difficult to get by without having had Spanish language training, but we are all learning more as we go. Instead of just waving or saying an English goodbye, we all had our own "Buenos tardes" or "Hasta mañana" to say as we left. We skated down the steep path of loose gravel to wait for our ride back down the mountain, proud of making another step towards completing our project.

-Patrick Fuller

Trip 1 Day 1

2009-05-05T18:57:00.006-04:00

Today, we woke up, got dressed in our work clothes, made some PB & J sandwiches and headed to the town squre to meet our crew leaders.

Joe Collins, the founder of the project was here to greet us with Oscar, the overall project manager and the job foremen. After introductions, we hopped in the back of the pick-up truck (with the Clemson seat cushions that we brought with us as a donation for this very pupose) and headed 30 minutes up the mountain to the town of Santa Maria. After the truck could not go any farther up a side road, Henyo and Edgar, our crew chiefs led us up on foot the rest of the way to Cesar & Isabella's house where our tools and supplies awaited us.

Cesar & Isabella are parents of 8 kids (whose names I have not memorized yet). Three of the younger boys were at school in the morning, but we got to meet them later in the afternoon. At the house with their parents were the three teenage daughters, a young son (looked to be about 3 or 4 years old) and a 20 day old baby.

After meeting the family, we got to work right away. Today's goal was to dig the foundation of the house and fill it with cement. Long story short, that's what we did and were finished by 1:30 PM (8 able bodied men work pretty fast). Tomorrow should be a longer day.

This family of 10 live on the side of a hill with a beautiful view of Agua Volcanoe. In contrast to the view was the famiy's 3 room bamboo home. I only counted 3 beds, so if you do the math, somebody is sleeping on the dirt floor every night. It took all of 3 minutes for us to realize what a major thing this new home will be for the family.

At our discussion tonight, most of us agreed that one of the things that struck us the most was Cesar. There is no doubt that he is the leader in that family. He and hs son sell ice cream from a cart in town for the family's income but today he spent working with us - all the time with a giant smile and an excitement that quite frankly I have not had myself for anything since I was a kid.

Now we're waiting for the Patricks to get out of the shower and get dressed so that we can go get some dinner. Based on experience wth the Patricks so far, we should be leaving in about 2 hours. Actually, only one of the Patricks is slow moving (I won't say which), but it's good. Every group needs a slow mover to remind them to relax.

-Fred

Trip 1 Day 0: Off the plane, and discovering Antigua

2009-05-05T00:48:00.006-04:00

It is hard to type here b-c the keyboard is different. We got here around noon, our time. The time is two hours before you. We landed in Guatemala City where we were surveyed to see if we had swine flu...if we had said yes to having the symptoms, we probably would have been quarantined. We were picked up in a really large van and were taken on a very curvy, high velocity, roller coaster like, mountainous road out of the city to Antigua, 45 minutes outside. Antigua has a 80 to 20 ratio of locals to foreigners, or at least it seems. There is a Spanish immersion school here which seems to attract a lot of Europeans, Americans, et al. Casa Sito, the place where we stay, is down this street of all concrete buildings, all one story, all painted, end to end, on a cobble stone street. There are two huge wooden doors, and you open this little door within one of the doors to get in. The middle of the house is not covered, open to rainfall and sun. There are bedrooms and a kitchen and bathroom. We went today to an upscale ish restaurant where I had some delicious grouper over ratatouille (vegetables). Then for dinner we just got appetizers (fries, buffalo wings) at an Irish pub (yea). We all tried the Guatemalan beer, Gallo. The market was an experience. The grocery store was huge, packed with people, totally unorganized though. The open air market was like a tunnel of vendors selling shoes, bookbags, jewelry, vegetables, baskets, you name it. The Mayan women were the main ones selling the produce; they are really short and dark. There are a lot of church ruins...large concrete structures which are crumbling. You can make out old statues of saints on the front and side facades and see the remains of what was probably a lot of detail. Actually, they just had an earthquake yesterday, which is why those ruined churches were abandoned I think. But the earthquakes they have aren´t usually bad, just tremors. You can see really big mountains all around the town. At least one I know is an active volcano, spewing lava day and night. All the horizons are hazy, so you can´t see too much. There are some really nice cars here. There were more in Guatemala city than here, but still. At the same time though, there are many people that certainly have no cars; buses - really colorfully decorated buses I might add- seem to be very popular. Finally, something must be said for my most significant realization today, poverty. While so many well off people inhabit Antigua and while there are so many restaurants and other upscale ways to spend money here, there is a significant crowd of poor people. While the people, like Mayan women, selling things in the open air market are definitely quite poor, there exists even a poorer crowd. For example, those vegetables that are defective at the market were being piled with raw garbage and wheelbarrowed to a small dump area. There were actually several dozen people picking through it, foraging for food. There are plenty of beggars sitting around some streets and they are also allowed to come into restaurants to ask for money from customers sitting at the tables. It happened to us twice at both restaurants today. Additionally, some poor folks with resources have things to sell, and will harrass anybody waiting to get money at a bank, as we found out today, sadly. Tomorrow we start working at 9. Everybody is in bed so I better go too. Our work will be in a much poorer, more rural village, unlike Antigua where we´re staying. By the way, the electricity went out briefly today, but the water´s still out. They say this never happens. hmmm. The water´s a story in itself.

-James Ellison

Destination: Guatemala!

2009-05-03T05:51:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Guatemala Help Week Blog!

This site is designed to give viewers a personal, day-to-day glimpse into a process that is based on building--building homes, building people, building community. It is a process that begins with a decision to serve, intensifies over months of preparation, and culminates in a week-long construction project near Antigua, Guatemala.

The first Guatemala Help Week took place in May 2008, when five volunteers from the Catholic Parish of Sts. Andrew, Francis, and Paul in South Carolina helped build two homes for impoverished families living in the highland village of Alotenango. (The slideshow on the right side of the blog shows scenes from GHW 2008.)

Since 2008, our operation has grown. This year, fifteen volunteers will build a total of three homes near Antigua. Our first team of five volunteers will leave the States within hours and return on May 13. The second team of ten volunteers will depart May 13 and return on the 22nd.

During the months from last fall until now, the Help Week team has not been idle. We have planned and executed several fundrisers, including Clemson baseball concessions, a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper, and a spaghetti dinner. We have held meetings. We have worked hard to bring awareness of our cause to the parish community. And the parish has responded with an outpouring of time, talent, and treasure that has enabled the Help Week team to meet its goal of donating the cost of all three homes we'll be building in Guatemala.

As a participant in last year's Guatemala Help Week and as one of this year's Help Week coordinators, I have been priviliged to work with some of our parish's finest. Many of the volunteers are Clemson Universtiy students. Others have finished their education and have joined the workforce. A few are retired. Together, they offer a combination of dedication, spontaneity, and wisdom which is both exciting and inspiring.

This blog allows readers to see Guatemala Help Week through their eyes.

Adam Cross