Y'abal Volunteer Project 10/22/11

*Above: The view as we took the microbus through the mountains. After so much rain, it was incredible to have sunshine. We were told that when the clouds aren't there, you can see Lago Atitlan (which seems crazy far away)

*Below: This is the main road of the community. In reality, two different communities that lived miles away from each other on the coast, now live next to each other. Even though they share land, a school, church and clinic, they still consider themselves very separate. Even at the top of a mountain in a small community in the middle of Guatemala, politics rule.

Our volunteer project this weekend involved going to a community in an area of Guatemala called Alaska, located about 1:30 outside of Xela. This community is at the highest elevation in Guatemala (aside from mountain/volcano tops) and is also the coldest area. We worked through an organization called Y’abal. You can check out their website here: http://www.yabal-handicrafts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1

Originally, the people that live in this community lived on the coast of Guatemala. When hurricane Stan destroyed their homes and land and everything they owned, they wandered and wandered until they found this area. They saw it was not owned land, so they started camping there. But, life was difficult for them. The climate and land in the mountains is different than that on the coast, and the people couldn’t survive the way they always had.

That’s when a few people happened upon this community and decided to help them. They organized groups to come help build houses, a church, a school and a clinic. They taught the men how to build and cultivate different types of crops, and the women to do traditional Mayan weaving. The organization now sells the weavings in a store in Xela, and all the profits go back to the community.

Our volunteer project involved setting up a “fun day” for the kids of the community. Melissa, a young woman from Belgium who has lived in Xela for 15 years, was our contact. She helped us organize the projects and gave us important details such as the number of kids, the supplies we would need to provide, etc.

We planned activities in three different locations. One was a clinic, where we taught the kids about brushing teeth. Another was an art studio, where we helped them do art projects. The third was a camp, where we set up a relay race/field day for the kids.

The most challenging part of this project was the fact that none of the children, except for the older ones, spoke Spanish. They all spoke the Mayan language Quiche. You can imagine the challenge in teaching dental health, describing an art project, and explaining a relay race when verbal communication isn’t an option.

We began the day with all the kids on the field. A parent who spoke Spanish helped us divide all the kids (about 50) into three different groups. Then, each group began the day at one activity. We had about 30 minutes with each group before they changed spots.

The clinic/brushing teeth group was very creative with their approach. They used their hands and black beans to represent dirty teeth. Then, they had large brushes and the kids got to clean the hands just like they should brush their teeth.

The art studio did a project with paper plates and colored pieces of paper. The kids were able to use whatever color they wanted and create whatever designs they desired.

I was in the camp group, which in my opinion was the most fun option. We created a relay race, which really just turned into a bunch of kids lining up and taking turns (or not taking turns) playing with the balls, hula hoops, etc. that we brought. But, the kids were being active and laughing and seemed to be having a good time, so we were happy.

The games we thought of included the following. In demonstrating these games, I realized my skills for relay races really suck. Probably the most hilarious was when I tried to do the potato

sack race (in a sack that was clearly too small for me) and face planted. I also stood in for a girl on one team and ended up miserably failing at the crab walk (aka 6 year old boys beat me). We left all the equipment that we brought with the community so they could use them in the school.

1. Wheelbarrow race (which we quickly realized wouldn’t work with girls wearing traditional traje)
2. Running race
3. Dribbling a soccer ball
4. Crab walk (also doesn’t work with traje, so we switched it to “walking on all fours” for the girls)
5. Potato sack race
6. Leap frog (again, doesn’t work with traje)
7. Hula hoop race (we ended up making three different kinds of hula hoop races on the spot in order to take the place of our three nonfunctional games)
8. Three legged race (the field was very pot-holey, and we decided this wasn’t the safest option, so we got rid of this one too)
9. Spoon and lime race (like the spoon and egg race, but we didn’t want to waste perfectly edible eggs, so we used limes that could be eaten after the games)
10. Pass the ball down the line

Above: These two little girls were very loving and clinging... they hung on to my legs for quite a while.

Below: A group of boys doing the "spoon and lime" race.

Above: A group of kids doing our original hula hoop game.

Below: This kid was awesome at the potato sack race! He should have demonstrated for everyone, not me!

After all the groups got to participate in each “station” we served a snack of homemade molasses cookies from a local Xela bakery and fruit punch (not exactly the most healthy snack, but we were on a budget and preparing enough food for 60 kids plus volunteers and other community members is not exactly the easiest of tasks). We also gave each kid a toothbrush of their own. We aren’t exactly sure if they will ever be used, but we hope some of what they were taught sticks with them!

These two kids refused to play any games, but they were great observers.

Some of the families of the community served us lunch. In Guatemalan form, they were very welcoming and served us their very best. We were served chicken, black beans and rice with tortillas. Since the family did not sit with us at the table, I was able to quickly pass my portion of chicken to Geoff, who gladly ate it. This way, I didn’t have to eat meat and we didn’t waste any valuable food.

One thing I do love, when we eat in local communities, is the tortillas. They are always made from scratch, starting with corn kernels. They are cooked on an open fire stove, which gives them a better taste. I’m going to miss real tortillas like that.

After lunch, we waited around about 30 minutes for our microbus to take us back. During this time, many of the kids came up to us wanting to play more. It was fun entertaining them, although difficult when they ask you something and you know you cannot respond. But, as

cheesy as it sounds, smiles and hugs are kind of a universal language…

Below: This picture shows how sturdy the houses are in the community. It also shows a little girl who made a game out of chasing turkeys. Then, she was successful in catching one! It was pretty funny watching her scramble around and then pin down the turkey, pick it up, and walk off with it.