Newfoundlanders Introduce Tiddley to Guatemalan Village!

In September 2008, a team of 14 brave men and women with tremendous hearts trekked all the way from Newfoundland, Canada to the land of Guatemala to meet the needs of the poor. They built six houses for needy families who needed shelter, prepared more than 100 food bags for needy families who needed food, freely gave away much needed clothing for needy mothers and their newborn babies, and, if that wasn’t enough, taught an entire community of village children a great Canadian game…no, not hockey…Tiddley!

I know you are probably asking, what on Earth is “Tiddley”?? That is exactly what we were asking, and much to the disappointment of our Newfoundlander friends, we have never heard of such a game. However, admittedly we are not very familiar with Newfoundlandiana (See: www.heritage.nf.ca-dictionary)

Tiddley, originally a children's game enjoyed by both boys and girls, is played where a stick, balanced on a rock or over a hole, is hooked or flicked into the air and struck with another. It’s played by using two sticks; one about a foot long (the tiddley stick) and another about three feet long. Two stones are arranged so that the ends of the tiddley stick rest on them. The other stick is used by the “batter” to flick the tiddley stick as far as possible (this action is called a TIDDLE). If a member of the opposing team catches it, you’re out. The batter also has 3 chances to hit the stick before being called out. Points are measured by the distance the tiddley stick is flung from the batter, which is marked by rocks.

When the team visited Pampay, a small indigenous village in the middle of lush trees and rolling hills, a couple of the men on the team decided to play soccer with the local children. It wasn’t long when the soccer ball got punctured and the game was over. Since the children were still itching to play and were getting bored, these same men came up with the brilliant idea to teach them the game of their childhood. The best part was that no equipment was needed. They simply found some sticks and a rock nearby and suddenly, Tiddley was born in Guatemala!

Below are exclusive photos of the first Tiddley game ever played in Pampay, probably even in Guatemala (to our knowledge). As one team member prophesized, don’t be surprised if in a hundred years you will note a reference in the pages of Guatemalan history of how the world-renowned game of Tiddley was first introduced to Guatemala by a band of 14 Newfoundlanders on a routine mission trip. You read it here first!

Mid-term Report from Guatemala!

It is hard to believe that 6 full months have already past and that we are already halfway through our 1 year assignment here in Guatemala! We’ve learned so much and had many rewarding experiences. We’ll try to summarize the past 6 months in this one blog entry!

As Director of Education, Sandra is responsible for further developing the education system in the school and she was able to introduce a lot of ideas based on her graduate studies in education and from her experience as a teacher in Canada.

For the past 6 months, Sandra has been developing and conducting training workshops for the school staff, including the principal and 9 teachers. These workshops are essential because the teachers have very little formal training on teaching in a classroom since a university degree in Education is not required to teach in Guatemala.

Sandra's first workshop was on multiple intelligences, where teachers received instruction on enhancing the learning environment in their classrooms. She also held workshops on: creating educational visual aids; capturing the reading interest of students; active science in the classroom; and, how to provide students with clear objectives and expectations. She will continue to hold workshops almost on a weekly basis until the end of the year.

Sandra also developed a reading program for the entire school. It is not common for a lot of the poorer people in Guatemala to pro-actively read books on their own, which poses a real challenge when it comes to developing their literacy skills. Furthermore, children at our school are not exposed to books because it is likely that their parents cannot read and/or the household cannot afford to purchase books. In order to nurture a habit of reading, Sandra developed a reading program that required each grade to spend 30 min a week in the new library. The program started by introducing students to genres of literature where they had to determine the characteristics of a given genre. This involved the students reading a sample from that genre and then completing a fun activity related to the text. As part of the reading program, Sandra created CHILE, which stands for: Creciendo (growing); Hablando (speaking); Imaginado (imagining); Leyendo (reading); and, Entendiendo (understanding). This program is designed to allow students to freely choose a text of their own to read independently, or with a friend, and then discuss their opinions on the texts they read.

A program that we’re really proud of is the English program that Sandra developed for the Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 6 classes. The program includes lesson plans, instructions for the teacher, songs and even games for the children to learn basic, conversational English. The children at the school come from impoverished backgrounds and just to have an opportunity to go to school is such a blessing. On top of that, introducing the children to English gives them an advantage and opens their doors to more opportunities that allow them to break their cycle of poverty. Formal English classes are only available to those families with money, but we are giving these children the same opportunity for free. Check out a couple videos below of our Kindergarten children singing...in English!

Perhaps one of Sandra’s most important responsibilities is to be a mentor to the education staff at the school. A number of the teachers are quite young (average age of 20) and they have a great opportunity to come to Sandra for guidance and support. Sandra also provides advice to the principal of the school in managing the staff and the school’s curriculum.

As Assistant Director, Steve is responsible for supporting the AOJ Directors in their management duties. One of Steve’s responsibilities is the management of volunteer teams that come from across Canada and the United States to volunteer in Guatemala. These teams range from 10 – 20 adults and they come for a week to build houses for needy families, distribute food bags or interact with the children at the school. Steve is responsible for determining the team’s schedule, prioritizing their projects, and directing the team’s activities during their stay in Guatemala. For example, since arriving in February, Steve has organized and coordinated the construction of 38 houses for needy families in the rural areas of Guatemala (like the one pictured here). To date, a total of 6 teams through our regular AOJ network and 4 teams through other non-profit organizations have come to volunteer with us in Guatemala. This does not include the individual non-affiliated volunteers who work with us on a part-time basis to take on various tasks in AOJ. Through networking and advertising efforts, we are now experiencing a steady stream of volunteers to help us meet our mission objectives. Steve is also responsible for managing these volunteers and their activities.

Steve also has been helping the organization find efficiencies within its management structure. As the mission continues to grow, the ability to make critical management decisions are becoming more necessary and frequent, particularly as more sponsored children are added to the school and a higher pace of operations brings its inherent challenges. In response, a management committee comprised of senior staff was created to handle these decisions in an efficient and effective manner. Steve is now advising and supporting this committee on different aspects of management through workshops on various management themes. His first workshop was how to make decisions based on a risk-management system, which Steve custom designed with the organization’s needs in mind. Future workshops will discuss themes such as how to effectively manage committee meetings, communication in an organization, and being effective leaders.

Steve is also responsible for managing the new Centro de Capacitación (Development Centre), which includes: a computer school; a beauty salon school; and, an artisan craft school. This is where students from elementary grades to high school can learn specific skills and trades that they can use to earn money. Generally people would need to pay a lot of money to take these courses but our students, who obviously do not have that kind of money, have free access to these courses to give them a hope to find a job or even start their own business. Some of the skills they learn include: basic computer operations; making textiles and souvenirs; sewing; and, cutting hair. Steve also created a “Children’s Market” that is run through the Centro de Capacitación. This is where students sell the various things they have made to the teams that come to volunteer at AOJ. This “market” teaches the students how to manage money and the value of having a marketable skill. To date, we raised more than 5100 Q from the market sales that will be invested in school projects and materials. The Centro de Capacitación also includes a health clinic that employs a registered nurse who looks after the medical needs of the students and staff of the school.

A customer "trying" to negotiate a better price.

The Market Team with some happy customers
in the background.

In addition to our respective responsibilities, we manage a number of joint projects as well. The library is our biggest project and you can follow its progress on our other blog entries that are devoted entirely to this project. We also coordinated a clothing distribution program to hand out donated items that arrived in a container shipped from Canada, courtesy of WARM in Alberta. This container was filled with bicycles, clothes, toys, office furniture and much more needed items for the people in Guatemala.

We determined a schedule to distribute the donated items to all the sponsored families at the school (at least 400 families) and all our staff, who also come from very humble backgrounds and are not much more economically well-off than our sponsored families. Everyone was very grateful and overjoyed that they were able to receive these gifts. The items were distributed over several days, with staff and families arriving to the distribution room on an hourly schedule. At times it was very hectic but we were fortunate to have our friends from Ottawa, Canada visit us during that week. They offered to help in anyway they can so we gave them responsibility to manage the schedule and the distribution of items. They did an amazing job with all the people coming and going and helping them choose their items. It made the experience much more special as they were our close friends from our home town!

We also had a lot of fun projects involving the children of the school. Whether it’s judging a regional aerobic competition, taking pictures of the students for the sponsorship program or giving out annual donations such as shoes, these less serious activities make our jobs fun and that much more rewarding.

Steve giving his best Simon Cowell impression.

Grade Six children receiving a pair of brand new shoes.

One of the annual sponsorship photos - just 399 more children to go!

We also made meaningful relationships with community members from poor rural areas in Parramos and Pampay. One of our goals was to really connect with these communities so that they can be comfortable with us and don’t see us as foreigners who do not want to mingle with the locals. We’ve tried hard not to visit as much “tourist attractions” and attend more local cultural events (see blog entry: “Mother’s Day in Pampay”) and experience the personal lives of the friends we made here. For example, Sandra participated in an indigenous engagement party for one of the teachers at our school, which was really interesting as we got to witness the two families “negotiate” the wedding details of the future bride and groom.

We have really enjoyed our time here thus far. The only difficult part is being without our family and friends back in Canada. However, we are fortunate to have directors such as Rafael and Claudia Araneda who welcomed us warmly and gave us the flexibility to put our ideas into action. The rest the staff at AOJ has also been very kind to us and made us feel at home. We feel part of a new family here in Guatemala (Steve even found a Mini Me!) and their faith in us has given us the opportunity to truly be part of something special.

Stay tuned for more updates for the rest of the year! Yes, we are trying to post more frequently…!





Steve and his Mini-ME

Canada Day in Guatemala!

July1st is Canada Day, where we celebrate the day Canada gained independence. We´re both pretty proud Canadians and we sorely miss the huge celebrations that take place in Ottawa on this day. But, just because we´re living in Guatemala now, doesn´t mean that we can´t celebrate being Canadian!

Of course in Canada, we wouldn´t need to do go to work but that didn´t let us down. We just got dressed up in our Canada Day gear, armed ourselves with lots of Canadian flags, and took the Chicken Bus to work! We did get some strange looks, but hey, we´re Canadian, eh?!

We basically painted the school red and white (although Steve is wearing all black but he claims that those were all the Canadian clothes he has! At least his shirt had a red maple leaf!) We brought lots of Canadian candy and gave a treat to every child in the school. The kids were so excited and said ¨thank-you¨in English everytime with big smiles.

Living here has made us realize how fortunate we really are to be Canadian. We were born in a great country with great opportunity. We´ve been truly blessed to have grown up in an environment were we had access to an abundance of resources that the children here do not . To give a little of what we have to bring a smile to a child´s face is truly rewarding.

Of course the students were not the only ones who would fall victim to our Canadian invasion. To the right is a picture of our Head Social Worker and the school´s principal. They were great sports and were more than willing to help us celebrate Canada Day in style! Although we miss all our Canadian friends and family back home, it is good to know that we are not alone here and have some new friends in our adopted country.

Although we never expect any gifts on Canada Day, we were really surprised to get a special gift that we will never forget. The Grade 5 class made a large mural on the school in honour of Canada Day! Apparently they did the research and made all the materials in the morning and by lunch time, we were greeted with such a beautiful display of Canadiana!

Yes, we weren´t in Canada but it ended up being one of the greatest Canada Days we ever experienced! We are very fortunate to have people here that care about us and our country. So happy Canada Day everyone, wherever you may be living!

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!

Library Update!

Our library project started last month and we’re making excellent progress! When we first started, we only had enough books that occupied a small amount of space (see blog entry: “Help Us Create A New Library in Parramos!”). Now we’re receiving more and more books through the generous support of our donors. We have a beautiful building (pictured below) that is surrounded by trees and gardens and can be easily be expanded to 2 levels.

As soon as the first books arrived, we started to use the library right away! When we first opened our doors, the children peeked through the doors out of curiosity but they didn’t touch any of the books. This was the first time where there was such a place where they had free access to books and they weren’t sure what to do. First we were disappointed that they didn’t come in to read but we patiently waited. Then one day, one girl shyly poked her head in and asked if she can go in the library and take a book to read. “Of course!” we both exclaimed at once! We were both really happy and even more happy to see her followed by more children shortly after. Below are pictures of the first students who came into the library and seeing them take out books on their own to read for the first time in their lives really touched us.

Sandra also created a reading program for the children in every grade. Each class needs to spend at least 30 min a week in the library either listening to the teacher read to them or doing literary exercises where the children have the opportunity to express their ideas and discuss issues based on books they read in the library. These type of activities are truly valuable for the children as this is the first time for many of them where someone has read them a book. It is also the first time they have had the chance to express themselves, giving them an opportunity to tap into their creative potential.

We’re really proud of our first project here in Guatemala but with your help, we can do more. From the pictures you can see that the bookshelves are still somewhat empty. Also, only a quarter of the space in our building is being used due to lack of furniture and books. But with your help, you can really help us fill the rest of the library with much needed books and furniture.

If you’re interested in donating to this cause, please contact us at Tharakan.steve@gmail.com. Together, we can bring the gift of reading to this poor community - a gift that will last a life time!

Help Us Create a New Library in Parramos!

Our first major project here is creating a new library in Parramos, which is a small city where the illiteracy rate is high and the economic conditions are poor. The purpose of the library is to provide a comfortable, multi-purpose environment where students in the AOJ School and the general public can have free access to reading material. The intent is to promote and encourage the habit of reading in the local community, which is necessary for further educational development. The ultimate objective of the library is to benefit and develop the whole community of Parramos and not just the students of the AOJ School.

The AOJ School has been operating since 2001, when it started with 35 children in grades one to three. In 2007, the school grew to 450 students in grades one to six. There is currently an inadequate supply of reading material to encourage reading amongst the students given the exponential growth. There are approximately 200 books currently servicing 450 students at the AOJ School and the majority of these books are in English as they are usually donated by teams and churches that visit the school and see the need. The picture above shows the current state of the library. As you can see, we are in desperate need of more books and some furniture to have a comfortable environment for the children!

In a country where the literacy rate is only 69%, there is an essential need to obtain Spanish language books so that students are encouraged to read at an early age and to instill the habit of self-development. We have just completed the construction of a room that can accommodate at least 3000 books, including space for learning centres to facilitate specialized activities and computers for internet research. If the library grows as planned, it will become the only such facility in the entire region servicing 1500 students in the public school system in addition to the students attending the AOJ School.

We are calling this project 'Leer Para Crecer' (Read to Grow) and have determined that we need to raise $10,000 US to start. If you want to receive more information about this project, including specific reading material required, please contact Steve Tharakan at tharakan.steve@gmail.com. Please note that all financial contributions are eligible for income tax receipts. With your help, we can make a difference by giving the simple gift of reading to a community that is starving for this opportunity!

Adventures on the "Chicken Bus"

It is halfway through the our first full week at work and getting there has been somewhat of an adventure. Every morning, we catch the local bus from the main bus terminal. Most buses here are converted school buses that are painted with bright colours. We have been warned about the buses here in Guatemala, nicknamed "chicken buses", because commuters bring whatever they can, such as laundry, plants, tires, bicycles and yes, sometimes chickens! But the one thing that we always heard, and what worried us the most, was how fast these buses go (nothing like our tame buses back home in Canada).

The first morning, we boarded the bus with our now fellow Guatemantecos. The bus was half empty so we had plenty of space...and there were no chickens! We thought this was a good start. The bus also travelled at a slow pace, trudging along as it picked up stray passengers on the way. This seemed like it was going to be a breeze for us and we sat back to enjoy the scenes of Antigua as they slowly passed us by. Perhaps what we heard about Guatemalan buses were just rumours. But as the driver picked up more passengers, the bus started to get pretty full. Pretty soon, the bus was jammed with people standing in the aisles and baskets of food spilling from the over-head compartments. A large man decided that the tiny 2-seat bench that we were sitting on can really fit 3 people. As Steve's new "friend"squeezed in and the bus became jammed to capacity, the driver suddenly kicked into a higher gear. All of a sudden, we started racing through the streets of Antigua, narrowly missing pedestrians, cars and the odd tuk-tuk!

Our bus ride suddenly became a rollar coaster and Sandra firmly gripped the handle bars with both hands. Steve decided to make a snide remark, which he regretted when the bus leaped over a bump and he shot up a couple of feet in the air! To top it off, the bus was so full that we couldn't see where we had to get off. Steve reached for the bell but Sandra reminded him that he was no longer in Canada. Since there are really no bus stops, we made a guess and told the driver where we wanted to get off. The bus came to a "rolling stop"and we had to leap off before the bus sped off to its next destination. Unfortunately, when we looked around, we guessed wrong and ended up walking 30 min to our work...what a great start to our first day of work!

If that adventure wasn't enough, the next day Sandra had to go to a meeting but the bus was so full that she couldn't get a seat. In fact, she couldn't even get inside the bus so she had to hang off the second step! She always wanted the wind in her hair but she never imagined it would happen while riding off the side of a chicken bus!

We feel relieved and exhilarated when we come home after our chicken bus adventures. One day, as we got off the bus feeling kind of whoozy, one elderly Guatemalan gentleman, who probably felt sorry for us, gave us a warm smile. We smiled back, admiring his shirt that said "World's Best Grandma". And so ends another day in Guatemala.

Settling In Our New "Home"Country

We had no problem with our flight from Ottawa to Miami to Guatemala City, despite warnings that our luggage might get lost. It was great to arrive under sunny skies with a temperature around 24 C, especially considering we left Ottawa when it was -15 C! After arriving in Antigua, where we will be staying, we spent the last couple of days checking in our temporary accommodations (a guest house in the centre of Antigua) and visiting the staff in Parramos, where we will be working.

When we visited the school where most of our projects will take place, the staff gave us a very warm welcome. It was very touching to see the smiles on the children again, especially how they each ran up to us and gave us huge hugs! We couldn't of asked for a better welcome to Guatemala!

There is a lot to do here. Our first job is to create a library where people of all ages (kids to teens to adults) can have a safe place to go and enjoy the gift of reading. If you or your school is interested in contributing to growing this libary, please contact us by email.

We will also create programs for students to learn skills such as sewing, hair-dressing, and basic computer operations. These courses will be housed in the newly created trade school. And that's just to start! Stay tuned for progress on these projects and the new ones we will be staring shortly.