Saturday, June 19, 2010

Volcano and city dump







Hola,

The XU OT Team had an awesome final day in Guatemala. Once again, we split into two groups; one went to Volcan De Pacaya (the volcano) and the other went to Rolando’s ministry at the Cemetery. The Volcano team will relive their amazing adventure first…

Team Volcano (Joan, Carol, Meridith, Hailey, Melissa, Rachel, Kaitlin, Katy, Krista, Lauren, Mabel, Steve, Josh, and Darvy) left at 7am to head towards Pacaya with food and water to give to those who are living on Pacaya when it erupted last month. The volcano has been closed to visitors since the eruption last month and the XU team was the first group of individuals to hike/tour the volcano since. We drove up at least an hour to a village (past San Francisco…no, not California) and handed out food, water, and milk. While it was an amazing experience, it was certainly overwhelming. Our van was quickly rushed with small children, men and women who were in great need due to lack of resources. As Steve explained to us, not only did the Volcano destroy their homes, but it took away their source of income, mainly crops and tourism as well as access to food. Afterwards, we continued on our quest to climb Pacaya and see lava. After driving around Pacaya for over 2 hours, we finally made it and the views made the entire trip worth while. We immediately climbed out of the vans and rushed the volcanic molten rock. Beautiful. Breathtaking. B’dazzling….just kidding on that last one…kinda. We even roasted marshmallows over the sulfur pockets. And let me tell you, nothing beats a sulfur-mallow. Yum! It was definitely an experience to remember for a lifetime.

After Pacaya, we drove, some more, and had a minor pit stop at a Texco gas station due to our van dying. Thankfully, an American driving Buick (with his car battery placed UNDER the back seats…wild, I know) came to our rescue. Finally, we made it to the cemetery which provided an overlook of the city dump. Many of us stood there speechless as we watched the trucks pile in, dump the trash, then people scavenge through the fresh load of garbage. The dump provides a job for many people. When the trucks come in, people hover around and search to find anything worth selling, or even worth eating. It is a lifestyle one doesn’t wish upon anyone, so, as you can imagine, it was difficult to watch.

Favorite quote:
“It’s already band-aided” –Meridith when replying to Lauren about her volcano badge of courage
“You mean bandaged?” –Lauren
“Oh” -Meridith

Fun story:
Lauren getting slapped in the face…by a horse’s tail. End of story.

Lauren (student) and Meridith (therapist)



Team Cemetery: Susan, Laura, Lisa, Kelly, Kate, Georganna, Danielle, and Stephanie went with Rolando, who is one of our drivers/translators to his ministry which is working with the young kids who work in one of the large the public graveyards in Guatemala City. It was fascinating. The public graveyard was packed with people who go every week to place flowers on the graves...which are actually crypts above ground...no in ground vaults but the driver could not tell us why. The crypts, are actually small mausoleums that the families build for all their family members to be entered into, and they are quite decorative, individualized and interesting. The children who live near there go to either clean grave markers or sell flowers or other odd jobs that someone will pay them a small hand of coins for...and Rolando goes there from 10:00-2:00 every Saturday along with three other young adult friends. They teach the children to sing songs about religion, have prayers, give them lunch and then play with them for awhile. They are also teaching the kids to do a dance routine that they are going to go to do at a competition somewhere near Guatemala City in August. It was adorable to be a part of this. The kids and their grandparents and parents embraced us with open arms.

Georganna and Susan also worked on a local pastor’s wheelchair while we were there as he had heard from our driver that some therapists were going to be there on Saturday. Stephanie, Kelly, Danielle and Laura played with the children (ie. colored, ran around like crazy women, cuddled and hugged them). Kate & Lisa worked with a young boy who has cerebral palsy...as again, they had heard there was going to be therapists in the cemetery. The grandmother of five of the children who were with us for the ministry approached Georganna and Susan to ask what to do about her pain in her wrists, which was obviously carpal tunnel. We told her what to do and not do and promised to send her a pair of wrist splints back with Rolando next Saturday...so on our way back to Antigua we had to stop at a WalMart to buy splints to send back to her next week. We all joined in a great game of soccer with all the kids after they had their lunch which was energizing, exhausting, exciting, and a great way to end the time with the children. Many of the therapists decided to show off their 'world cup' moves, which resulted in Susan (accidentally) taking out an 8year old, while scoring the solo goal for the girls team. GO TEAM MUJERES! As we were leaving, many of the children AND their grandparents or parents came up to hug us and wish us a safe journey home. It was a fantastic way to spend our last day here - and well ended up getting a tad (well for some a ton) sunkissed :)

We too went to the dump overlook. Talk about both a contrast of the beautiful flowers and ravine, surrounding the shocking scene of garbage mounds, trucks and people scrounging for their next source of survival. An amazing scene that is too much for words, and will never be seen anywhere in America. Talk about culture shock. Our afternoon ended with Rolando taking us to get 'the best ice cream' in Guatemala, and and afternoon free to roam around the beautiful town of Antigua for some last minute shopping, coffee and adventures. What an amazing place - we are sad to leave!

FYI-
For your viewing pleasure, please observe the video below - as Stephanie & Kelly attempted to master the dance (featuring some Michael Jackson tunes) that the children have been practicing since February for their August competition. Granted, an hour later they still couldnt pick up on some of the novice moves (taught by a professional dancer - seriously!) - they still had an absolute blast. Not so bad for beginners!

Georganna (faculty) & Stephanie (therapist)







Note from the trip leader:
It has been a great week. What a joy to serve and work with the children and their caretakers at the orphanages. What a pleasure on our excursion days to learn more about the country and its people. Our time here has been meaningful for us all - our hearts and minds have been touched and blessed many times over.

As our week ends, I want to thank the practitioners for donating their time and expertise. I want to thank the faculty and Dean Meyers for their support and assistance. I want to thank the students for making this trip possible as it is only with their enthusiasum, spirit, and, participation that such an experience was possible. And, I want to thank our in-country hosts for their gracious hospitality; especially, Steve, for his many connections and wealth of knowledge and experience that made all go smoothly. Lastly, I thank all of you at home as it was your caring, support, and donations that carried us through.

With kind regards,
Carol (faculty & trip leader)

No comments:

Post a Comment