Special Education School

Today I went to the special needs school in Nebaj. In Guatemala, people with disabilities are complete outcasts from society. Some parents will even tie their children up on the porch because they don’t want to deal with them or don’t have time to deal with them. About 10 years ago, an American named Popi (his real name is Donald... not quite sure where the name Popi came from) started a special needs school here. Side note- Popi owns a restaurant in Nebaj that has the best apple pie in the world. Who would have thought that the best apple pie ever would be in the middle of nowhere in Guatemala? Anyways, there are about 40 students from age 2-46, and only 2 teachers. We are working on creating an internship program (for college students studying special education and recent graduates) that would allow these students to come down here for the summer to work with the school. They are in desperate need of some help and funding. Not only are there 46 students, but their disabilities are across the board; down syndrome, autism, blindness, muteness, and the physically disabled. With only 2 teachers, many of the children don’t get the attention that they need. We went today and played with the kids for a while. We bounced around basketballs, helped students with their work, and showed them how to take pictures. Afterwards, we talked with Popi and Margarita (one of the teachers) about the internship program and what we can do to help them. They were really receptive to the idea. We also talked to them about planting some vegetable seeds in their small garden for the kids to take care of and eventually be able to eat. They are already learning how to make jewelry, paint, and cook. The teachers are teaching them with the hope that someday they will be able to be independent. We are creating a website for the school as well, which will include more information, the school's mission, and a place for people to donate. It is a little overwhelming because there is SO much to do and we are only able to work with them for a day or two, but we both really want to continue working with the school back in the States.

Searching for the Perfect Shower...

No, I have not found it yet. However this post will briefly summarize the contestants: 

#1 Bucket bath, Antigua

Pretty nice for a bucket shower... At first I was intimidated by the cinderblock bathing house (it lacks a window) and the giant bucket, but the water was incredibly warm and clean. Downsides were running out of water with sudsy hair, and being freezing cold between bucket-fulls.

#2 Low Pressure Shower, Las Camillas Inn

This title pretty much gives it away. The only thing worse than a bucket shower is a real one that dribbles out water. 

#3 Steam Shower

For those of you who watched the NBA draft this shower was like a first round draft pick that tears his ACL in the first month of pre-season. HUGE disappointment. At first is was great, warm, decent pressure. But I was either too far away and freezing (getting misted by the steam) or up close burning myself on the one-temperature-fits-all water valve
(size: HOT HOT BURNT). To cap things off, as I was grabbing a spare towel, a giant tarantula (roughly the size of my palm) crawled out of the folds. Awful.

#4 bucket shower, Nebaj

It had dirt in in, it was cold, enough said. Also, as a tease, the real shower wasn't working "due to lack of light" whatever that means. Bummer

Anyway, you can clearly tell I'm craving a shower... Count down to water pressure! 

Showering definitely makes the list of things I take for granted. Along with...
-peanut butter
-dryers (clothing, hair, hand...anything that turns wet to dry)
-a non-sticky space bar on computers (they are terrible here for some reason...)
-my health
-cheddar and sour cream lays (they really are a gift from god)
-cheddar cheese in general
-actually, all cheese that isn't krafts singles (which are a gift from the devil)  
-bars (the drunks just roam the streets and harass you)
-cold milk
-and the united states sanitary system (I'm writing them a long love letter when I get home...there is no garbage pick up here so everything gets dumped in the road, in rivers, or in the backyard, so smelly).

and...

Midweek in Antigua!

This week we have been back in Antigua, debriefing with the whole group. It has been amazing being back with our homestay families! My family is in full-on preparation mode for Sofi’s 1-yr-old birthday, which is on July 2 (On the homestay profile we got when we arrived in Antigua it said that their favorite activity was celebrating birthdays... that should give you an idea about how excited they are for this party). About 300 people are invited (most of which are family) and they are getting a band and cooking a huge meal for everyone. Unfortunately, we are going to be in Nebaj for the party, which I am so bummed about. It seems like it is going to be a lot of fun.

We have been doing work with our organization in the morning and doing Spanish classes in the afternoon. Yesterday was our last day of Spanish classes, and I am actually really going to miss my teacher. She is about 8 months pregnant and is one of the funniest people I have ever met. One day when we were all playing soccer, I asked if she was going to play and she pointed to her stomach and said “No, I’ll be the ball!” She proceeded to make her own pom-poms and cheer vigorously on the sideline. She gave me her email address so we can keep in touch.

This weekend, we are staying in Earth Lodge, which is a tree house style hotel and avocado farm. Then, it’s off to Nebaj for a week and Huehuetenango for the second week. It’s crazy to think that we only have three weeks left!

A Hike to the Clouds

Campaign in Panaxchaj

So today was my first campaign. At campaigns, the interns (us) help our an acessor team (the Guatemalan entrepreneurs) sell products to local communities. Our campaign was about two hours outside of Xela in the gym of a small town called Panaxchaj. Like many things in the third world, I could not have possibly predicted anything that happened at this campaign. In short, the campaign was a giant parade of disasters ending in small, but infinitely rewarding victories.

Disaster #1 (the main disaster)

The accessor in charge of the campaign forgot the eye exam. Because the "main" attraction of the campaigns happens to be the free eye exam, this was a huge, gigantic, big-foot sized issue. So at 8:45, 15 minutes before the start of the campaign, the accessor and Devin (another intern who 1. happens to have a stomach bug and 2. is the only other intern beside myself above an intermediate level of Spanish) left to go find a printer (difficult) and wifi (impossible) in the next 15 minutes (yeah, right). 

So, Alicia, Tim, and Emily and I were left by ourselves to run the campaign. Shit.

Disaster #2 

Because I'm a half-awake idiot in the mornings, I forgot to bring the surveys for our new product (agro-drip...see last post for more info) to the campaign. Not that it really mattered because Devin, the most fluent spanish speaker in our group, was gone on a wild-turkey chase (there are no geese in Guatemala)

Disaster #3 

Devin and the accessor get lost, can't find wifi, and are now 1.5 hours away. It is 10:00, and people waiting for eye exams are getting antsy. We have distracted them with presentations about our water filtration bucket (Alicia rocked this job, she had a script prepared and everything), our solar lamps, and our light-bulbs. This did not work (Guatemalans are very perceptive, my home stay mom knows when I'm hungry, when I want a shower, and why I didn't come home before 6...scary). The group of locals pulled the metaphoric "cut the shit" card and asked, in ernest, when the exams would start.

The Solution 

To steal from one of my favorite T.V. Persoalities Tim Gunn, it was a "make it work" moment. I called James, our regional coordinator (who was on the other campaign with Annie) and asked him to describe to me the approximate sizes of the letters on the close-up eye exam (we had the far-away exam, but we only provide reading glasses so the close up exam was key to the entire operation). So, using a pen for a measuring tool, I drew the letters. The highest row was "a tiny bit bigger than the width of the pen" and the smallest was "about as small as the tip of the ballpoint". Granted James and I could have been holding completely different sized pens but hey, when in Guatemala... It was around 10:15 and we began using my makeshift eye exam. (Luckily Tim and Emily have both had glasses since elementary school and were therefore Jedi masters at eye exams.) They showed me the ropes and I proceeded to give the exams. Devin and the accessor were now one hour away with the real eye exam. In conclusion, we gave over 30 eye exams and I sold 15 pairs of glasses (we sold 22 in total, an incredible day ordinarily, Herculean on this particular day.) Alicia also succeded in pitching and selling a water filter, our hardest sell (another incredible accomplishment given the circumstances). We also sold 6 eye drop bottles, 8 packets of seeds, and 3 light bulbs. My "fake" exam turned out to be surprisingly perfect, a very close match to the real one. Guess me and James had similar pens after all.

Anyway, the moral of the story is first, you can never predict how things are going to turn out, and second, you should always, always carry a Bic ball-point pen :) 

Hello Again

Post #9

Annie and I have both gotten sick in the last week, I had a bacterial infection and Annie had a bad cold and stomach pains. Unfortunately neither of us know what made us sick, but were on the mend, sorry for the lull in posts! 

Xela is incredible. Our group has been staying in apartments in Zona 1 of the city, right next to central park. We've been cooking "family" dinners every night (spaghetti on Tuesday, burrito bar on Wednesday), playing catch phrase, watching movies (Taken was the most recent one...I do not recommended watching it while abroad). Tomorrow is our campaign (my first one! I missed the last one due to sickness) and we're very excited, all of our publicity went really well so were hoping to sell lots of products! 

Random side note:
Guatemala is a dog catcher's dream...every street, house, pathway, field, and door step has a dog, or many dogs, or new puppies. Like, brand new. Yesterday we got to see a day old puppy and her mom, so cute!! Not gunna lie, I have definitely contemplated smuggling a little puppy back into the states...

What We've Been Up To

A lot of you have been asking about what Annie and I have been doing here in Guatemala so we've put together a quick post with information and websites.

#1 Soluciones Comunitarias

This is the organization Annie and I are working for. It is an organization based in Antigua, Guatemala and run by locals and international volunteers with branches in Xela, Solola, ,Nebaj, and Huehue. SolCom trains rural Guatemalan women how to sell products aimed at improving the overall well being of individuals in their communities. Products include solar lamps, water purification systems, energy efficient light bulbs, eye glasses (vision and solar protection), and seed packets. The organization functions on the "micro- consignment" model. Basically SolCom recruits and trains women to be salespeople for the business, free of cost, provides them with products, and helps them go into communities and start selling. The women get to keep a portion of all of the profits and the rest is reinvested in SolCom. Therefore the women take on no financial risk (a loan), receive financial benefits, become their own bosses, and start their own businesses that help them and their communities. 
http://www.solucionescomunitarias.com/

#2 Agro-Drip

Annie and I are working on researching a product called Agro Drip, a small irrigation system that helps rural families with limited access to water more efficiently water their gardens. If we find the system feasable/marketable it will be added to the list of products sold by Soluciones Comunitarias. http://www.ideorg.org/OurTechnologies/DripIrrigation.aspx

#3 Good Stuff Good Works

This program, run under the same umbrella as SolCom, helps to being rural woman's handiwork and weaving to international markets. The two organizations we've worked with thus far are Lema, a woman's weaving cooperative in San Juan del Laguna and Las Mujeres del Triunfo, women's artisan cooperative in Truinfo, Guatemala
http://lasmujeresdeltriunfo.com/