Retalhuleu

After a rather long ride, we were warmly greeted by Clemencia of the Retalhuleu Rotary Club. We were checked into our accommodations for the first evening and allowed to relax for a little while. We were then treated to a wonderful dinner with members of the Retalhuleu Rotary Club.

The next day, Sunday morning, we arose early to be transported to new accommodations that would house us until Wednesday. We are in a wonderful resort. This is an amazing place - filled with peacocks and parrots. All employers contribute 1% of their payroll to this non-profit organization. There are several resorts throughout Guatemala - each one offering different amenities. The employees are then able to attend any of these resorts they like. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and then had a relaxing day at the water park and the theme park. This is like a miniature Disney. However, it is much cleaner and less crowded. Unfortunately, it is my turn to be hit with stomach issues. I struggled through the morning at the water park. I had bread and water for lunch before asking to go to the hotel. We had been unable to check in an earlier but fortunately it was late enough. I collapsed on my bed while the rest of the teams enjoyed the lovely theme park. I had another dinner of bread and chamomile tea (a natural remedy for bad stomachs). Back to bed - I hope tomorrow will be better!

Well - it is another morning of bread and chamomile tea for me! Today we visited Mayan and Olnex Ruins. The Ruins at Tak Alik Ab Aj were wonderful. They were pre-classic and middle-classic. The site is still being uncovered. Of course Laura was in her glory! I was struggling and hoping the bathrooms weren´t too far away!

After the ruins we visited the government offices. There was a large fire there that destroyed much of the building. The Rotary Club helped to raise the necessary funds to rebuild the offices. The completion date is supposed to be March 2009.

It is about 5 p.m. and I am happy to be going back to the hotel. I have been struggling a little with my stomach all day and appreciate the opportunity to rest a little more.

Panajachel - We packed alot into this day!!

We all met early for the boat ride across Lake Atitlan to San Lucas to see some projects.

We hopped into the Tuk Tuks to get to the first project. K’aslem Mandala Environmental Education Youth Leadership Program encourages Mayan youth to create environmentally friendly gardens that will help to sustain the community. They teach them Permaculture. Permaculture is a planting method that is in harmony with the local environment and allows for equal distribution of the produce to all persons. They use all organic methods. We helped by planting a couple of trees.

Dawn & Laura planting a tree

We then visited a large school. Rotary had contributed water filters so the children had clean water to drink.

We next visited a very small school in a small village where the El Calde of the village was also the founder of the school and the principal of the school. The one building we saw was for kinder and first grade. They had another building that housed second and third grades but the El Calde paid for that rent himself. The government agreed to pay to build a new school if they could find land suitable for it.

The El Calde and a teacher

Our next stop was at a small production facility. This is such a worthwhile venture. Esperanza, who has been our guide all day and has her hand in all of these projects, has worked with approximately 26 women to get them established as a co-operative. They make a variety of jams, honeys, and sauces. They then bottle and label them for sale. The facility has been USDA approved. This is a huge accomplishment for these women and will go a long way to give them and their families a better future.




Our day is now half over and we are heading back across the lake for a quick lunch before we move on to visit with Sharon and see some of her projects. Sharon is Australian. She lives in Panajachel with her 2 adopted daughters and she contributes alot to the community. Among her list of endeavors are a clinic to spay and neuter dogs, a project to educate men and women about birth control so they can space their children for better health, providing water filters to homes, sponsoring children for school, providing efficient stoves, and the list continues.

Ceramic Water Filters

At Sharon´s we saw the 3 efficient stoves they provide. These are very important because the smoke and particulate matter are greatly reduced. This will improve the health of the families that receive these stoves. The cost of these stoves is approximately $150 - $160 per stove.

WOW - what a busy day. I am so amazed at how many wonderful projects are being done by people that aren´t even formally a Rotary Club yet.

Iximche Ruins to Panajachel

We left Guatemala City for Panajachel. Along the way we made a brief stop at the ruins of La Ciudad de Iximche. It was a small site but had several nice structures. Iximche was the capital of a Mayan community in the late 1400's. There is a small museum on site that features many artifacts found on site.













We left the ruins and continued on to Panajachel. This small town is located on Lake Atitlan and boasts views of 3 volcanoes. The views and the sunset explain why there are so many tourists located in Panajachel. The town is very nice with the exception of the vendors that follow you around pushing their wares on the tourists. The usual "no, gracias" did not dissuade them. Try to walk away and they follow you - even into a restaurant or store. It really is a shame that I didn't want what they were selling because the further I walked the more the prices were lowered.

Upon our arrival in Panajachel we were met by Freddy. Unfortunately, Panajachel does not have a Rotary Club. Freddy is 1 of several people trying to form the Rotary Club in Panajachel. They have a club to sponsor them but still have to get the required 20 members to gain club status. Several of the "club" members brought us out for a typical Guatemalan dinner of Pepian de Pollo. This is a wonderful chicken and vegetable stew. Several members will be taking us around to see projects they are working on. Not having formal club status has not stopped these people from providing Service Above Self.

Guatemala City

It was another beautiful day in Guatemala City. It appears we have finally left the rain and cold behind. We met up with Gloria from Fundacion Ayudame a Vivir and started our day by visiting the National Pediatric Oncology Unit. It is very sad that children have to be stricken with cancer, however, this wonderful facility makes the treatment a little easier. There are many issues that surround the illness of a child in Guatemala. The child most likely doesn't receive regular medical care and therefore the cancer is discovered very late. The parents may be unable to take the time to get the treatment for the child because they have to take care of the other children at home. This hospital not only treats the child's cancer but also provides some services for the family. They teach the family about nutrition, they provide shelter at the hospital for the family, they provide transportation for the family, they have spiritual and psychologial support for the family, and many other services. The hospital is almost finished with a new wing for the children. The blood drawing area is designed to look like a barn to encourage the children to want to enter. The new wing is very inviting. We left alot of candy for the staff to pass out to the children that are able to have candy.

We left the hospital for the meeting of the Club Rotario de la Ciudad de Guatemala. This is the oldest Rotary club in Guatemala City. There are over 50 members. Since it is so close to Valentine's Day, the spouses of the members were also invited to the meeting. It was a packed house! We set up to give our presentations in our very bad Spanish and we were asked to keep our presentation brief because the club had a very big agenda. It is difficult for us to alter our presentations "on the fly" because our Spanish is rather poor. However, we managed to cut down the time of our presentations and speak Spanish rather well. Except for Angela who referred to her boyfriend (novio) as her girlfriend (novia). The Spanish language has a lot of words that alter slightly if it is male or female. This is very difficult to get used to. Many times when people are speaking Spanish I cannot distinguish if they have used an 'o' or an 'a' at the end of the word denoting male or female. However, their more discerning ear can obviously detect the difference. The bad thing is we didn't know why they were laughing. There was a very nice picture of Angela's boyfriend. It was later that someone told us about the mistake. I had made a similar mistake and made reference to my "wife" at a dinner last week. I guess we all have to be a little more careful.

After our wonderful lunch and quick presentations Mike and Laura left to visit a children's museum in a Walmart??? We will have to get an update from them later.

Angela and I accompanied Isabela to a home provided by Fundaninas. This is a wonderful program that provides shelter, food, support, and education for girls that otherwise would be abused and/or abandoned and living on the streets. The home we went to visit has approximately 27 girls residing there ranging in age from 4 years old to 18 years old. The girls are not only taught the necessary skills to live independently when they reach the age of 18 but they are also given the skills to support themselves. Some go on to become nurses, accountants, and hair dressers. Still others may become chefs. Fundaninas becomes the guardians for these girls and provides them with clothing, food, medical care, and school - in some cases private school. It is not just routine medical exams and care that is provided. While there we met a young child that has a very serious kidney disease and Fundaninas pays for all of her treatments including dialysis. We saw another girl with braces on her teeth. The girls were very well behaved and very sweet. The older girls wanted to know if we were married, what we liked to do, what our favorite musicians were, and what our favorite colours were. The younger girls admired our hair and eyes. They wanted us to take their pictures and then they wanted to look at them. They also liked looking at the pictures of my dogs. They grouped together and sang several songs for us. Even when we passed out candy to them they were very respectful. They thanked us. Nobody tried to grab for multiple bags or claim they hadn't gotten a bag. Angela and I received many hugs and kisses. It was a heartwarming experience.

Angela and I ended our day with a wonderful dinner with our host and hostess. They have made our stay in Guatemala City most enjoyable. I will be sorry when we have to leave tomorrow morning.

Guatemala City

We awoke to a beautiful day in Guatemala City. Our group was led by Andres of the Metropoli Guatemala Rotary Club. He drove us to Amatitlan where we met up with Angela, the wife of another Rotarian.





We toured Andre's steel fabrication plant. It is a family owned business that has been in operation for 50 years. He and his brother now own the plant.













We had a wonderful lunch of typical Guatemalan food. This explains why my clothes no longer fit!









We left Amatitlan and headed back to Guatemala City and the traffic. Once there Angela gave us a driving tour of the City before heading over to the City Planner's office. Oliver Hartleben gave a presentation so we could see the plans they have for Guatemala City.


We then went for a tour of the Universidad Francisco Marroquin. It is a beautiful, small, private university. Luis Figueroa gave us an inside look at the history of the school and the wonderful private collection of books and maps in the library. WOW - they had books from the 1700's. It was a wonderful collection.







We ended this very busy day by attending the meeting for the Metropoli Guatemala Rotary Club. They are a small club with 18 Rotarians. Everyone welcomed us very warmly and appreciated our presentation - even if our Spanish wasn't great.

Fun in the Sun - Puerto San Jose

We traveled by bus from Chiquimula to Guatemala City. It was an interesting bus ride. We all felt as though we were risking life and limb. The bus driver seemed unconcerned with the sharp turns and the high speeds at which the bus was travelling. We were tossed around the bus like little rag dolls. Whenever the bus stopped to pick up or drop off passengers, vendors would enter the bus selling food and beverages. It was a very interesting bus ride.

But three hours later we arrived in Guatemala City where we were warmly greeted by Roberto Fuentes and Adrien Caceres. They had been warned of the large amount of luggage with which we traveled so they brought large vehicles. We went to Roberto's house where his wife prepared us a wonderful lunch. We then met up with the GSE team from District 5080.

The two teams then traveled to Puerto San Jose for a weekend at the beach. It was our first planned beach time that we actually saw the sun. Yes - I said SUN!! The beach was wonderful. There was black volcano sand, blue water, white waves and SUN. Of course this now means that I have red legs. On Sunday evening we traveled back to Guatemala City - and the cold weather - where we enjoyed another wonderful mean prepared by Roberto's wife. The food is wonderful and I may never leave.

A Blustery Day in Chiquimula

Our day started with a visit to Reyitas de Luz, a school for special needs children. Special needs children in Quatemala include children with physical or mental disabilities. The school has about 36 students. They have to turn children away since they are at capacity. Disabled children attend school until they are 21 years old. They are never mainstreamed into standard schools.



The Chiquimula de la Sierra Rotary Club partnered with the Modesta (California) Rotary Club to provide a shower for the school. Unfortunately, there are times during the day when special needs children may need to have a shower and change of clothes. Before this shower was constructed the children would have to be washed outside with cold water from a hose. It was very embarrassing for the children.


In Guatemala the government doesn't contribute anything to schools for special needs children except for the standard salary for teachers.


After handing out several bags of candy to the children at the school we went to Lorena's house for a typical Guatemalan breakfast. It was que rica (very delicious), except that Angela and I mistook the salt for sugar and ruined our coffee.

After breakfast we met up with the Modesta Rotary Club and traveled to The Basilica de Esquipulas where the the Black Christ is located. Many people in Latin America make the pilgrimage to see the Black Christ. It is believed that people are cured when they pray to the Black Christ.










We left The Basilica for Convento Franciscano Belen. It was built in preparation for a visit by Mother Theresa of Calcutta shortly before her death. There is currently 1 priest that resides there.








We enjoyed a dinner of pupesa de queso and pupesa de chicharron with the Chiquimula and Modesta Rotary Clubs.


We leave early tomorrow morning for Guatemala City and Puerto San Jose.