Saturday, May 28, 2016

Hola from Allie L. and Allie D.!!!! Friday: Yesterday we began the day at the school. We had the opportunity to listen to a variety of speakers. The first speaker was a woman from The Office of Women of the Municipial of Quetzaltenango, an organization which empowers women who have been affected by violence and oppression. It was really awesome to hear about the opportunities they offer the women to participate in society such as workshops to help them learn skills and give them support. The second speaker was a man who works with the organization Innerchange, an organization which can be found around the world. They accompany individuals and communities in their journey through life. Our speaker helps many orphaned children who live on the street by listening to their stories and helping them turn towards education or a craft. The third speaker was a man who lost both hands in a work related accident. He gave his testimony and shared how having prosthetics has helped him continue providing for his family. After the speakers, our professora Diane had a surprise for us! We walked to a dance studio and learned how to salsa! We all let Leeah, Lauren, and Gloria  take the lead and Sean had to juggle a lot of women! After, we all headed home to our home stays for lunch. The group then split up again and half went to learn to weave and the other half went to the Mayan sauna. We switched activities from what we did on Tuesday and you can look back to Katie and Sean's blog for a refresher! The group that went to the sauna had a unique experience because they got to meet Vanessa's (the woman's  house where the sauna is) sister and nephew. The little boy has a developmental disability and has utilized FUNDABIEN which we had visited earlier. We were touched by her kind words and gratitude towards our profession. At the weaving co-op Megan and Sean decided that they were so talented that they were going to start their own shop. Look out for them on etsy ;) Afterwards both groups headed back to their home stays for the last night with their families! We think they were starting to feel bad for us because about half the group had Pizza Hut :) Sarah and Leeah tried on the Traje (traditional outfit of Mayan women) and went to a family party! It was a bittersweet night as we thanked and said goodbye to the families who took us in as their own.

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