Ending, Interlude, and briefly Home Again

We departed Guatemala on December 7, on Spirit Air, winging our way northeast to Ft. Lauderdale on "the umbilical cord of privilege" that allowed us to leave those difficult conditions whenever we wanted, simply because of the fortunate circumstance of our American birth. We left behind a little part of ourselves - and los ninos, to soldier on without us, scraping their way through a tough life in a very tough neighborhood in a nation filled with danger. And they are much luckier than the kids who live all around them - because someone in their family, probably their mom, cared enough about them to get them into Safe Passage. In Safe Passage, they have access to lots of good stuff, like 4 meals a day, health care, tooth-brushing, a safe place to play and learn, a steady flow of first world volunteer helpers, as well as local teachers, who try to teach them right from wrong, English, academic skills, and that there's a world out there that they can join - with their heads held high. How many will escape the centrifugal force of the dump and the drugs and the violence and hopelessness and mistrust that conspire to hold them in its grip? Will Hanley's love be strong enough to find its way through all of us to all of them - to support them in staying focused on their dreams? Please keep them in your prayers.

                                   Our last evening in Antigua, Guatemala - with Andrea

We arrived back in Ft. Lauderdale to the comparative luxury of the Fairfield Inn. Our lovely room was outfitted with a flat screen tv, a toilet where we could deposit toilet tissue, HOT water in the faucets, water that we could drink straight from the tap, a WARM bed with no lumps or wayward springs poking up, a computer in the lobby without sticky keys and in English, sun streaming through the window next morning. Ahh!

Our first meal was my long-awaited salad (with blackened chicken) and a glass of Pinot and for Bruce, a fajita and a Guinness beer. The setting was a large, bright, noisy sports bar, ringed with many tv's on the walls. Very American and a bit of a culture shock. (You don't have much choice of venue when you are at the mercy of the hotel van for transportation.) It was a stark contrast to our dinner the previous evening in Antiqua, spent with our friend Andrea in the quiet, beautiful courtyard of a 17th century home-turned restaurant.

In the Miami area, we got a taste of the free-wheeling lifestyle and colorful art deco area of South Beach. As we ate lunch at a sidewalk cafe, we saw a parade of ladies in skin-tight jeans and high-rise heels, a German-speaking Santa in sandals, young couples in shorts and flip-flops, wobbly old folks, skateboarders, motor-scooters, a convertible overflowing with sexy young women, tour busses with open sides, bicyclists - they were all there, except for people in suits! South Beach is definitely a place for consumption and fun!

                                            Art deco in South Beach, Miami

                                        Seeing and being seen in South Beach

Since we were in the neighborhood, we made a slight detour to Grand Cayman and spent 8 days on that beautiful island with friends Sharon, Richard, and Ryan, and then Lem and Marcia, friends met during our last big adventure 6 years ago. They shared their homes and time with us, treating us to such elegant generosity and rekindling our friendship. I am happy to report that the water is still as turquoise and the sand as warm and smooth as it was before! The island is looking better than ever, with nary a sign of terrible Hurricane Ivan now. Thanks to these friends, we enjoyed a decadent time of total relaxation and indulgence. One of my favorite experiences (aside from the beach at Rum Point) was attending Ryan's Christmas concert, where we heard bits of the Christmas story read in all manner of English accents from around the world and listened to songs that I'd heard on the BBC Christmas Eve service from London, which is a mainstay at home on the morning of the 24th.

                                   Rum Point in Grand Cayman, the place to chill

Eventually we made our way north to Maine, where the weather is considerably colder but the welcome was as warm as could be. We are spending the holidays at the home of Jane Andrews and Don Bouchard, for which we are very grateful. We've seen Matt and Izik, who were home from Chicago for 3 days, and Sam, at whose home we spent a delightful Christmas morning. It's been fun reconnecting with the rest of our family and a few friends. Unfortunately, Bruce brought home a mild case of pneumonia from Guatemala, which is definitely slowing us down. We're trying to get him rested and cured before we head out again on January 6 for Thailand.

                                             Sam on Christmas morning, 2011

The first leg of our year-long adventure has opened our eyes to another culture, introduced us to some wonderful people, allowed us to give a little of ourselves to a few kids in need, humbled us as we tried to learn another language, and left us with amazing memories. In another week, we will be heading out on another adventure that will, undoubtedly prove as interesting and exciting as the last.

Saying Good-bye to Safe Passage

Last Friday, December 2, was our last day at Safe Passage. It´s been a remarkable experience. However, Bruce´s sister pointed out recently that we haven´t written much about the program. I´ll try to rectify that right now.

I´ve been working in the Guarderia (the Spanish word for ¨day care¨, I believe). It´s a beautiful facility that was opened in 2007, a year or so after Hanley died. Hanley Denning is the young woman from Yarmouth, Maine, who founded Safe Passage as a safe place for children to come to before and after school while their parents picked the dump. She also raised enough money for the children to attend school. Officially, school is free in Guatemala.  However, since uniforms and school supplies are required, it would be out of reach of these ¨poorest of the poor¨ families, without the assistance of Safe Passage.

The Guarderia consists of a classroom building and another building with a small gym and a storage area, an outdoor playground area, and a small asphalt playing field for older kids. The whole compound is located on reclaimed dump land and is encircled by a tall protective cement wall topped with coils of razor wire. An armed guard oversees the big metal door leading into the compound (I appreciate him!). Overhead the sky is unfailingly blue at this time of year, and dotted, high up, with an ever present bunch of hungry black vultures.

                    Inner courtyard of the school, looking toward the screened cafeteria 

The Guarderia program serves about 87 young children, ages 2-7. Organized by a Canadian woman, Susan Schmaltz (whose husband was hired a year ago to head up Safe Passage), its educational philosophy is very progressive. Susan and her husband, Richard, are amazing people who have been working in Guatemala for 12 years, off and on.

Shortly after starting at SP, I was re-assigned, out of the kitchen and into the kindergarten, to assist the teacher. I was happy to see that the classroom was set up with learning centers, similar to those at Breakwater. The children spend time each morning and afternoon at the centers, which includes a wonderful ¨casita¨ (little pretend house), an art area, a puzzle table, a big blocks area, a Lego table, a large collection of picture books, and a loft. There is also a bathroom in every classroom. Ten children were enrolled all day. At noon, another 6 children arrived. Nice numbers!

                                           Friends looking at books together
                                            
Since getting adequate nutrition is an issue for these children, especially at this age when the brain is developing so rapidly, the children are fed 4 times a day with fortified foods. And it seems to be working: the kids are bright, fairly healthy, and of normal weight. All the children gather for breakfast first thing in the morning in the large screened dining area, pictured above.

                                         Kindergarten boys on the playground

In the classroom, the day begins with lots of active singing, which the kids love. It was a challenge for me, with my limited Spanish skills, but the teacher and the former assistant (18 year old Isabel from Germany) both helped by writing out the Spanish lyrics to many of the songs. The substitute teacher syndrome coupled with my lack of Spanish fluency, as well as the feisty nature of some of the children also made my half hour playground duty a challenge. But mostly, the kids were very engaging, sweet, and energetic. There was always someone who wanted a lap to sit in or a push on the swing or a story read to them. I loved observing their daily half hour English class, taught by a vivacious red-headed young Canadian woman who had an amazing ability to keep the kids focused and enthused and having fun. We also had a weekly art activity prepared for the children by 18 year old Grace, a volunteer from Portland.

                                                      Dynamic daily English class 

My biggest contributions, aside from my main task helping out in class, were introducing pattern block activities to the class; using my copy of Lois Ehlert´s English/Spanish picture book, Moon Rope, to help with the end-of-year puppet show; and writing up a document describing the literacy environment that we had created at Breakwater. Safe Passage is in the process of becoming a private school for the early grades when the new school year begins in January, rather than just a before and after-school enrichment program. I´ve been assured that some of the literacy suggestions will be put into place

                                         End-of-year performance for parents

An example of a memorable time for me happened just this week. One of the little boys, Pedro, is quite moody and sometimes won´t participate in classroom activities. This particular day, during choice/play time, he sat alone looking withdrawn and downcast. I approached him with a book that I was pretty sure he´d like, Where the Wild Things Are /Donde los Monstuos Viven). I offered to read it to him. He quietly assented without saying a word but began turning the pages for me - and got another book when we had finished the first (Robert Munsch´s I´ll Love You Forever/ Te Querrere Siempre). After some reading, I proposed another favorite activity for him: the big blocks. We began building a car to take us on an imaginary trip to the beach at Monterrico. I made some paper gauges for him, such as speedometer, gas gauge, temp. gauge,etc. We drove raucously, laughed, stopped for gas, were joined by Josue and the three of us got lunch at a resto. Suddenly I was the waitress taking orders for ¨hamburguesas y agua¨ for my two young customers. In short, by the magical power of the imagination, for a few minutes we exchanged the real life of the sordid dump for a bright sunny road trip. Life changing? Of course not, but a little escapism was good for all of us.

                                         Pattern block designs on the bulletin board

Our last day at the project ended with an elegant evening art/photography exhibit and guitar performance by some of the teenagers who had taken special arts classes. It was held off-campus in a lovely gallery. The art had been tastefully hung on the walls. The guitar students played songs like, "Let It Be", and the 2010 World Cup song from South Africa. Mothers, dressed in fancy clothes, beamed proudly. Teens, dressed in fancy clothes, smiled shyly but with an evident confidence. Voluntarios, such as myself, bought student art work. A shared sense of hope for the future hung in the air. I couldn´t help but feel that this was a fitting culmination of our time at Safe Passage, where I got to see the results of Hanley´s vision - coupled with the generosity of many donors and voluntarios and local staff - coming together in the work of these talented teens who now had a better chance to lead a life of their choosing.

The People of Guatemala

The People of Guatemala

I know it`s tricky to make blanket statements about a group of people but I am inspired to write about the people of Guatemala. As in many things here, there are great contrasts between people. In general, the folks that we have encountered here are gentle, kind, and friendly - among the nicest people that we have met in our travels – a strong statement given our love of the New Zealanders.

One example of this warmth is the custom of friendly greetings that occur frequently between total strangers. On our first weekend in Xela we ate in an Italian restaurant and were greeted by people as they came in an out of the place. Greetings of Buenes Tardes and Buen Provecho (bon appetite) occurred frequently as people passed by our table. It is common, when walking down the street, to hear greetings and good wishes from total strangers – something that is rare in our experience at home. It is common here that people will greet one another with a hug and a peck on the cheek – even with a new acquaintance. Everyone seems to have a smile and a greeting for us which makes it very easy to feel comfortable here.

The other side of this story is the ever present anxiety about being robbed or assaulted. Personal security is something that we have to think about constantly which seems at odds with the warmth of the people. The high rate of extreme poverty here, currently at 55%, creates a situation where relatively wealthy tourists are “targets of opportunity” for any knucklehead with a gun or knife . While there is the ever present fear of robbery, merchants, waiters, and other people that we meet in commercial relationships are friendly and helpful – even with the language differences. We have never once been short changed or felt cheated in any transaction. I accidentally dropped a hundred Q bill (about $12.50) on the sidewalk one afternoon and a young Mayan woman came running after me with the bill. I am sure she could have used it so I was especially impressed with her honesty.

Robberies are common – in fact, four of our fellow volunteers have been robbed in the past few weeks and two members of the Safe Passage staff were stuck up at gun point by two guys in front of the school at 2 in the afternoon. The school is in the roughest neighborhood in the city.  Luckily, no one was hurt but property was stolen. We feel that we need to be constantly on guard – especially after dark – but at all times. The country has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and violence is not uncommon. We have not yet been victims but it seems more of a real possibility than at home so we practice defensive measures.

Domestic violence is a real problem in many families,  and the rate of child abuse is quite high. This dark underside of the culture seems so dramatic in light of the outward warmth and gentle nature of the people that we meet in our daily routines. I suspect that a large factor in this is the profound poverty that impacts so many of the people as they desperately try to care for their families under difficult conditions.
Families seem to be very important and to support each other. Children seem to be cherished even when there isn’t a lot of money to spend on material things. We are told that this is partly because there are no government programs – social security, medical care, or other support services to help out in a time of need. Everyone is essentially on their own to provide for their needs and that families are the really the only support system available in the country.

The racial mix is interesting in that there is little diversity. About 65 percent of the people are indigenous Mayan – with handsome features, dark black hair, brown skin, high cheekbones and short stature. Another 10 percent is Ladino or of Spanish origin with lighter features and greater height and the remaining 25 percent is a mixture of the two groups.

Appearance seems especially important here in Guatemala. In Xela, we were struck by the large number of small clothing stores, the many barber shops and beauty salons, and shoe stores. On our way to classes, we were impressed by the “spit shined” kids on their way to school who all looked, clean, neat, alert and well cared for. We noticed these children emerging from some fairly run down houses and wondered how they could look so good – coming from such poor surroundings. We were told that every child has two uniforms, one for wearing while the second one is cleaned.

The men, and boys as young as 4, seem to get weekly haircuts and sport some very creative hair structures – slicked straight forward or back, piled high in the middle, or swooped into soaring pompadours – all held rigidly in place with copious amounts of industrial strength hair gel sold in huge tubs at every little tienda. We encounter few scruffy looking people – except for the Americans and Germans.

The women tend to be very stylish in their tight jeans, plunging necklines, brown eyes and a fondness for high heels and painted nails. The younger women wear their hair in long pony tails or in a bun. The older women are well coiffed by frequent visits to the numerous beauty salons. We spot a lot of shops with fancy dresses that must be used on formal occasions but seldom seen in public events. The Mayan women are especially attractive in their colorful dresses, belts and blouses which are worn as everyday dress.

This is a conservative Catholic country and the people are especially devout practitioners. In Antigua, there are dozens of churches - many in ruins, having been destroyed by earthquakes, but many are in full operation with lots of people active in the congregation. We have spotted several large processions in honor of various saints or virgins - we’re never sure. These processions seem very ancient - with band music, drums, incense, swaying groups of men carrying large edifices with coffins of saints, spouting fountains, and lighted displays. There is even an electrical generator pulled behind the procession to power the float, and men with large sticks to lift power lines before the edifice passes.

In addition, there are festivals to honor the dead, numerous saints days, and even a burn-the-devil day. Now, as Christmas approaches, the town is getting more intense in its rituals, with more processions, fireworks, concerts, street entertainment, and lights. We are told that Semana Santa - or Easter Week, is even wilder, with the entire town given over to various processions and ceremonies. Some folks say that it is wise to avoid this because of the crowds, but it might be fun to see - at least once.

As our trip to Guate ends, we are looking forward to getting back to Maine but will miss the people of Guatemala. We trust that our experience here has made a bit of difference, albeit small, in the lives of the Guatemalan people, as it has enriched ours.