Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America

Sunday, May 10 -- Group Entry

Amy called me at 2:33 AM while I was brushing my teeth (Alana).  I was a little concerned when my first call went unanswered (Amy).  We met at Mundelein where the El Salvador group was managing a last minute complication (i.e. Danny Patton.) (Dan).  Patrick was really nervous at the airport because Paula was meeting us there, so we played boiling points with him.  We flew from Chicago to Houston.  Nearly everyone slept on the flight.  Apparently there was a "morning muffin" and beverage service.  Many slept with their mouths hanging open--like dogs (Alana).  We booked it to our plane transfer at Houston airport.  The flight to Guate was uneventful except that we got breakfast and beverage service x2.  After going through customs, we met some of Patrick's friends and waited for the van.  While we waited, the group played word games.  Then the van came and we took a LONG, HOT, DAMP, BUMPY journey to San Lucas.  After two hours, we reached the beautiful Hotel Iquiti, we have amazing views of the lake and surrounding mountains.  We are exhausted and most are too tired to help journal.  The group is socializing and hearing the afternoon thunderstorm.

Tuesday, May 12 -- by Alana

Our first full day in San Lucas Tolimán was very busy.  We were awakened early by Amy's friendly tapping on our doors at 7:00 AM. We breakfasted at the parish where we had eggs, black beans, and pan.  Afterwards we were given a thorough tour of the parish projects by Julio Martinez.  First, we saw what will become the Women's Center.  He told us that shortly las mujeres will come to the center to learn more about plantas de curación, weaving, and other important homely actividades.  Then, we went to the clinic where we saw men's, women's, and children's salas and a dentist's office.  They can also provide ambulances in case of emergencies.  Third, we saw the coffee and honey houses.  Julio described the process of harvesting the coffee beans from the "chemes" to the parchment stage, then to el café oro (the green coffee stage), and finally the roasted stage.  The families receive 200 Quetzales for 100 pounds of coffee chemes that are then processed.  The best months for harvesting coffee are from December to March, so during the rainy season (like now) they are working on the facilities for processing the coffee. 

The last place we visited was the Reforestation Center.  Another gentleman, Don Torribio, who was in charge of the project, told us in detail the process of growing seedlings and distributing them.  He was a veryknowledgable, kind, and enthusiastic man.  He described the connection of a man to his mother giving him life as like the Earth giving life to the trees which provide life to us.  He believes the trees are our brothers and sisters.

After the tour we had an almuerzo de tortillas, chile, and potatoes.  It was our turn for dishes and we limpiado los muy bien!  During the afternoon, we went back to the coffee-growing project to help move cinder blocks up the hill with another visiting group from Rice U.  An intern from Belgium named Cristóf described in more detail how the coffee is processed

Wednesday, May 13 -- by Ryan

We began the day like any other, with a rhyming Amy gracing our presence at 7:00 AM (I believe our room was about 7:05 to be exact).  We proceeded to get ready and all met to depart for breakfast at 7:50 or so.  Upon arriving at breakfast we were greeted with a surprise.  Fr. Greg was describing a political situation.  He told us that a prominent lawyer had been murdered on Sunday and a tape had been released implicating President Colom as behind the assassination.  He told us not to be alarmed currently, but he would inform us of any changes in the situation.  We proceeded to eat breakfast, discussing the situation, then we went back to work moving the cinder blocks up the hill at the coffee plant.  This time around we only had half as many people doing the same amount of work in the sun.  It grew rather tiresome.  Eventually we were relieved at 11:15 to be given a tour of Imox.  Imox is the land owned by Don Torribio above the coffee plant, quite a steep climb actually, whih has a Mayan altar on it and a beautiful view overlooking the city.  We enjoyed Don Torribio's tour of the land and took our first group picture, quite a moment for us all.

With all of our breath taken, we returned for the long walk back to the mission for lunch.  In classic fashion, we arrived late for our turn to serve food, strolling in at approximately 12:35.  The food was delightful as always--this time including a beef stew, rice, and pineapple.  We were on dish duty so Allen, Paula, and Jocelyn took charge and completed that task.  

The rain came and it seemed that we would not have work, but as seems the case with most early afternoon Guatemalan rain, it was very sporadic and ended quickly.  We then went and worked the sifting through coffeebeans, picking out the bad ones.  A request for volunteers by Cristóf quickly gained my hand in an attempt to survive boredom.  We ended up making cement and placing it on the retaining wall at the coffee plant.  This proved rather easy but messy until we reached a hole in a previous layer, causing all of our progress to seep out of it.  This ended our cement project and we returned home.

Some of us went to the roof to watch the soccer game.  When we returned, we were assailed by hails of "gringos!" by what ended up being a mob of little children from a local yard.  We then went to dinner which was deliciously full of cobbler, Hershey chocolates, and fried plantains.  After dinner we returned to Patrick and Chris's room where Amy lead a gargantuan reflection lasting until after 9:00 PM.  The reflection was very good--touching on all that we are doing and hope to do better on the trip.  The physical work and mental/emotional responses from the reflection left the group drained as we all retreated to our beds, calling it another day in the hills of Solola. 

Tomorrow holds a boatride to Santiago Atitlán.  It is sure to be an adventure.  I never thought I'd be on a big boat.

Thursday, May 14

The rain lasted through the night until early morning today.  I was initially worried that the rain might affect our travel plans on the lake, but the showers became lighter and by breakfast time the sun emerged.  It still has not rained and it is after 11 PM as I write this.

I was drawn out of bed even earlier this morning because of the rains.  At about 6 AM I left the room to observe the birds and the pitter patter of the raindrops.  Instead, I met the man who has been keeping guard of the hotel at night.  Hist name is Noe.  He works at the hotel overnight and is able to sleep intermittently in a small room the size of a closet.  He usually leaves the hotel at 6 AM in order to get to his next job (baking bread) which begins at 7 AM.  This morning he was waiting out the rain and departed for work a bit later than usual.  He is married and has a young daughter.  I asked him when he sleeps and I was stunned when he nonchalantly answered that he can sleep once we all get back to the hotel and things quiet down and then he motioned to the area where he is allowed to rest.  I can't imagine he gets much.

We enjoyed a nice day and a good visit to Santiago Atitlán.  We received a tour by Diego Chavez, a local artist and community leader.  His family helped restore antique/ancient wood carvings behind the altar and a new ambo.  Diego explained the story of Fr. Stan Rother's murder in 1981 and took us to the peace parque which commemorates the murders of 13 members of the community in a 1990 massacre.  We also visited the Cofradia de Maximón.  Allen was good enough to translate for much of the day which was very helpful.  It is nice to be with a group that makes so many contributions to the everyday participation of things.  Tonight Chris led another one of our robust reflections which involved some deep discussion on CST and social justice.  The evening ended with a visit to the roof (with flashlights to avoid anyone impaling themselves on rusty steel rods) and much storytelling.

Friday, May 15 -- by Cassie

Today started, for many of us, a bit more tired than most, after a late night of roof-chillin' on the Iquiti.

At desayuno we found out that we would be working at the school.  The kids from Rice U must have seen the smiles spread across our faces and our eyes sparkle, because they immediately retorted, "Don't get your hopes up.  We had to move compost that had bees in it and didn't get to play with kids at all."  Obviously our hopes were crushed and we held more resentmant than excitement toward our work location.  Little did we what our day had in store for us!!

Honestly, the first few hours at the school were way more than tedious.  We carried rocks from one pile to another.  To keep ourselves from going loco, we entertained ourselves with games of teléfono and off-key singing.

While this was going on, niños ran around us smiling and offering to help carry the piedras.  They were in between games of soccer and marbles and tag and we stared enviously from our treacherous rock-line.

Finally, Amy got the nerve to ask if we could get in on their game of soccer.  They welcomed us into their boys vs. girls match and Chris and Ryan had never been happier all week.  After an anti-climactic game, a few kids hung around to chat with us and play tag.  The kids--Crocio, Cristian, Anamaria, and Amas--admired our watches and jewelry and asked about "how it was in America."  They even showed us their POGS! -- which I believe they called Toz.

After lunch, where most of us "integrated" ourselves with the other volunteers, we did a little market shopping, stocked up on many pounds of dark roast coffee from the parish, and listened to a talk by the man himself, Father Greg!

Father Greg started off with answering questions and concerns volunteers had with regard to the littering around San Lucas and the education of the kids.  Both were valid concerns and F.G. did a wonderful job of answering them both in depth and comprehensivley about the whys and hows of the situations.The rest of his lecture was a mix between his own story and a story of a commitment and mission to social justice. These stories are layered and complex, but F.G.'s honesty and passion as a person are really what stole the show.  The trust built in this community parish, although it's been a long, hard road, is one that warms my heart and actually makes me feel hopeful for our future as human beings.

Saturday, May 16 -- by Allen

Today was our last full day here in San Lucas Toliman and for me and others it was the most enjoyable yet.  We start the day by going down to the reforestation project to do some work til lunch.  When we get there Torribio was not around so we went by the medicinal plant garden where we met with Don Mariano and Victor, Torribio's brother.  They gave us a tour of the garden and explained the medicinal properties of each plant and then we traveled to Victor's house where we showed us a book of the use of medicinal plants.  Back at the reforestation project Torribio asked us to pack dirt into little black bags.  This was definitely a much easier and relaxing job than carrying rocks and cement blocks.  Before lunch we got a chance to buy wooden spoons from the project and got to speak with Torribio one last time, a real great person to speak with.  After lunch we met Don Manuel who was a coffee farmer and he explained to us the process behind growing coffee, it was a very informative talk.  After speaking with Don Manuel we went to the house of the Chumil family (Joel's family and I unfortunately was not able to meet with Joel at El Tinajon back in Chicago).  Meeting the family was the highlight of the day fr me and I'm sure many others.  I felt so welcomed and right at home with all the joking, laughing and the different emotions from happy to sad and back to happy again.  I love how I was feeling at home with a family that I didn't know and sense of family and unity is what I love most about Guate.  Also I was able to relate with the Chomil family in how they explained that it was very hard to have Joel live so far away and not be able to see him for long periods of time and this has been something I've seen with my mother who is the only one in her family to live in the Staes and it has been hard for her especially during emergencies.  I wish we had more time here in San Lucas.  I've really come to love it in the short while and I'm going to miss it.  Now its time to go back and apply the lessons I've learned here in Guate during the last two weeks.  Luckily I still have a week left in the capital but time flies but hopefully I'll return next year for a longer period of time.

Sunday, May 17 -- by Chris

What a day.  I am writing this rather exhausted...but a good exhausted.  We covered a lot of ground today, and I feel a certain sense of excitement about the coming days.  We began the day a bit earlier than the others, as we prepared to go to mass which began at 7:30 a.m. It was another gorgeous day here in Guatemala and there was not much (if any) rain.  The mass was a beautiful service and the connection that Father Greg has with the people in San Lucas Toliman is very apparent.  Incense seems to be used more often in these services (or at least in San Lucas) than back in the States.  The church was packed and we were also joined by the Rice (University) group.  Afterwards we went over a la biblioteca for breakfast (eggs, frijoles, and pancakes!) - our best breakfast and meal in San Lucas Toliman.  On a positive sidenote, the kitten that fell yesterday was reunited with her mom and seems to be doing well.  We then had some time to bid farewell to San Lucas - some of us went to the market, others took a stroll to the lake.  It was kind of surreal, because we were getting into a groove, if you will, there.  Last night we were graciously welcomed into the Chumil Coz household and many, if not all, of us were beginning to feel at home.  Now we are packing our things and moving on.  It was hard saying bye to our friends that we had quickly and briefly made in San Lucas - the Rice group, Ft. Greg, and the workers at the parish-just to name a few.  It was especially difficult to leave the kids we had met-Josue, Suri, Wille, and Luis.  I can't imagine how many visitors at the parish have come and gone in their lives.  That can't be easy and is unfortunately one of those negative side effects of short-term mission trips.  We finally said our good-byes and embarked for our next destination: Antigua.  I slept for most of the ride, but I was again reminded of the natural beauty present in Guatemala.  Unfortunately, driving through some of the very small villages, I was also reminded of the crippling poverty that is found all over this country (not that it wasn't already apparent in San Lucas).  Eventually we arrived in Antigua during the middle of the afternoon and settled into our new residence, Lazos Fuertes.  We had some free time to roam the city a bit, take in the sights, and do some shopping if we so desired.  Antigua is a very, very different city than San Lucas...as was said by everyone, it is much more overrun by tourists.  There are very few indigenous people living here and the majority of Guatemalans are wealthier ladinos living here.  Personally, I fell into a bit of a comfort zone with the tourists, the restaurants, and the shopping.  If I hadn't known any better, it would have been a vacation.  But, thankfully, leave it to the ABI program (and possibly some other directional forces not always recognized in our physical lives), we were brought back to reality over dinner.  We ate at a rather authentic Guatemalan restaurant...and the food was excellent.  Our company was even better.  We met with Max and Lucrecia, a Guatemalan couple who spent time in Chicago during la violencia and then returned to Guatemala around 1998.  Lucrecia works for Catholic Relief Services and Max is a political analyst.  They were both able to give us a great perspective on current political issues in Guate.  Max spoke of two Guatemalas: the poor indigenous Guatemala and the rich, primarily ladino (although there are some rich indgenous people, too) Guatemala.  The conflict between the two was very present during la guerra and it is again culminating now while we are here.  There were peaceful protests in Guatemala City today and again tomorrow, over the claim that the president is responsible for the death of a wealthy, well-known and respected lawyer.  The outcome is rather serious and has the potential to affect not only Guatemala, but other countries in the Americas.  It was great to get Max's perspective on the situation and he really helped us to understand the political environment of Guatemala.  We thanked Max and Lucrecia greatly and we left somewhat charged and motivated to continue to learn about social justice and human rights in Guatemala's political context.  We returned to our hotel for a great discussion led by Cassie and Allen which focused a lot on the dichotomy between Antigua and San Lucas Toliman.  I have written a good amount, so I am now going to retire to prepare for tomorrow's 5:15 wake-up.  Hasta el proximo tiempo.  Buenas noches.

Monday, May 18

Creo que it was a pretty good thing that Dan was on wake-up duty today because I am not much of a morning person.  5:30, really?!  A shower was required for me to be able to keep my eyes open for the fantastic breakfast.  After being over-served plantains, I moseyed to the van to anticipate the nausea that was about to overtake my existence.  Dan read me the article that I had been reminded (and reminded others) to read for many days.  It was hard to focus on what he was saying but he continued on, as a good friend, reading to those who can't read (me).  We arrived at the Forensic Anthropological Foundation of Guatemala where we met in the board room for our first briefing in what would be a long day of briefings.  We learned that their purpose was not to discover who caused their death but how their death was caused.  The FAFG systematically tries to identify/match bodies with relatives.  The bodies are exhumed from mass cementaries and mass graves that were left years ago without being identified.  Seeing the boxes laid out on the examination tables was initially fascinating, that was until we got to the bones of the 3-6 year old girl.  Things became real.   In 2005, documents were discovered that were described as to have never existed.  Warehouses full of discarded police documents that contained orders of executions and mass murders were amongst the piles and piles of files and logs.  We observed some really important work which is actually gathering evidence against the National Police at the time of war, who have historically had impuity.  The war was not just 30 years ago.  It wasn't that long ago and thepeople who made these orders are still alive.  After four yeras all of the documents have still not been processed.  It really speaks to the difficulty of getting funding and dangers of working against the perpetrators.

Tuesday, May 19 -- by Jocelyn

Today we finally got to sleep in.  We needed to be checked out of the hotel by 11:00 - we could explore until 12:30.  After eating lunch at a local restaurant where we ordered tons of food for little money, we went back to the hotel, loaded the van, and took off to Guatemala City.  We arrived at Casa San José with about 20 minutes to spare until our next meeting at the Scalabrini Migrant House.  Once at the Migrant House Carlos gave us a tour of a building that's been a safe shelter for migrants for over a decade.  Poverty, we learned, is the main reason why so many fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters decide to risk their lives in order to have the possibility of obtaining a job in a foreign country that could provide for their family.  While many do not help migrants, this house offers them a bed, clothes, shoes, and food, helping them on their journey.  We first met Father Abraham, who had actually lived in Chicago for five years.  After Carlos' presentation, Father Abraham brought us eggs, beans and bananas so we could make our dinner.  We met four migrants; one woman, three men.  One of the migrants had been deported back to Guatemala after already reaching San Diego.  After dinner and learning that Patrick had been a quite interesting graduate student, we said a prayer with the travelers. 

It takes a lot of desperation to leave your family.  It takes so much bravery and internal power to step into a world you don't know.  I hope that the woman and those three men, along with everyone searching for a better life get what they dream of, a job, a place to live in the U.S. or whever they want to go.

Reflection in Alana, Cassia and Paul's room - I hope no one forgets about May 19, 2009

Wednesday, May 20

We had a few hours in the morning before our flight departing Guate, so we fit in a meeting at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights office.  Several in the group had prepared for the meeting Tuesday night and had questions ready.  The man we met with, originally from Costa Rica, was very gracious with us and gave us an hour for conversation.  It was a great meeting and good way to end our time in Guatemala. 

We leave with hearts happy at all the life, friendship, joy and perserverance that we have encountered, yet hearts heavy at all the injustice in the world.  Above all, we leave grateful for the time spent in Guatemala and inspired by the beautiful people we met to do the work to build a just and peaceful world.  ¡Adelante!