Serving in Guatemala

In February 2008, we moved to Guatemala, Central America, to live out our dream to help the poor communities living in this developing country. It is difficult to leave our family and friends but we know that this will be a decision that we will not regret.

Almost 60% of all Guatemalans, or 6.4 million people, live in poverty making less than $2US per day. Approximately 16% of this number are in extreme poverty living on less than $1US per day. Furthermore, more than 50% of the children are malnourished and have no hope for a better future. Reasons for the continuous poverty in Guatemala include illiteracy, lack of access to health care and low levels of education. The Arms of Jesus Children's Mission (AOJ), a private non-profit organization, has responded to this need by creating a school with specialized educational programs, meeting the daily nutritional requirements of the children, and offering social support to families. We feel very fortunate to be working with an organization that is dedicated to meeting the basic needs of the poor communities in Guatemala. For more information on AOJ, you can visit their website through the hot link on the bottom right.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Mother´s Day in Pampay


May 10th was Mother´s Day in Guatemala and although we sad because we weren´t able to spend the day with our moms, we were able to spend a special day with the warm people of Pampay.

Pampay is a small village that is about a 40 min drive from the city of Antigua. It is situated in a deep valley surrounded by dense forest and farming land. Access to Pampay is limited to only two unpaved roads that can only be travelled via a large vehicle, such as a 4X4. There are only about 300 people living in Pampay, who are mostly indigenous and live in poor conditions.

AOJ has been providing essential services to this community, such as: organizing volunteer teams to build houses for poor families who cannot afford one; organizing the first ever child sponsorship program for the community that will provide essential food and clothing for the children and their families; finding and organizing volunteer teams to come to the village to carry out development projects or even just play games with the children who do not posses any games or toys; and, working with the community elders to develop projects to help the community. More on our work in Pampay in future blogs, but for now, back to Mother´s Day....

Mother´s Day in Guatemala is very special. Mothers are treated with high regard and admiration in Guatemala. The festivities for mothers are carefully planned and are often held on a large scale. The elders of the community invited us to participate in their Mother´s Day festivities and it was great timing because a volunteer team from our home church in Ottawa happened to be in Guatemala during the same week. We were able to watch several performances put on by the children of the school and had a delicious lunch hosted by the elders of the community. One of the most precious performances was a traditional indigenous dance put on by the kindergarten class. You can see from the pictures that they looked adorable in their traditional clothing. We were amazed that they were able to memorize a complicated 15 min routine!




























Members of our volunteer team were also able to participate in the festivities. Below are some brave Canadians listening to instructions from Sandra before they start the "lime dance" with some local mothers. The object of the game is to dance with their partner to traditional Mayan folk music without dropping the lime. The big joke was the guys were so tall that they had to practically stoop to their knees so they can dance at head level. It was quite the site!



Another fun activity was the "toilet paper mummy". In this one, some of the mothers competed with each other to see how fast they can wrap their children in toilet paper! All of them did a pretty good job but there can only be 1 winner and the mother on the left ended up winning the contest. You probably can't tell, but that's her 5 year old daughter wrapped in toilet paper!

The festivities ended with some closing remarks from the local Mayor. Pictured below is the Mayor speaking to the crowd with Sandra at his side translating in English. The Mayor particularly thanked the volunteer team from our home church and AOJ for all the work we are doing in Pampay.

It was a great day for all as we really bonded with this community. Although we were foreigners and they did not have many financial resources, the community still invited us for food and hospitality. Pampay is a special place with people who have very warm hearts. We are both very excited to continue to work with the people in this region throughout the rest of our year in Guatemala so stay tuned for more updates from Pampay!


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