Saying goodbye to the streets

So it's 1.39am here in Guatemala and I'm trying to stay awake so I can sleep away the 14hr bus journey tomorrow to Honduras! A great opportunity to reflect on my week in Guatemala City volunteering with Mi Arca. 

Its something you can't quite comprehend until you are there experiencing it, and when you do its a shock to the system. Good or bad? Both.

True Gratitude is something that seems to be becoming rarer these days- how much meaning is there behind 'Thanks' to the person serving you a coffee, or the person placing food in front of you at home? We all have gratitude for those things, but here the gratidue is different.The thanks of the people I've met on the streets this week is something inspiring. They have little or nothing, nothing physically at least. Gratitude and love though, they have in abundance. They have families, street families, not by blood but love. They look out for each other, cry for each other and work for each other. Even us, the street team, they look out for us. 

Today on the streets, a man didn't recognise the team, he started to get boisterous towards Duncan telling us to leave. What happened? The group of people who live on the centre parting of 5th Avenue, that Mi Arca work with, threatened to hurt him if he hurt us. US! They are grateful for the love Mi Arca show them and so protect us. That's an amazing feeling. 

Unfortunately, most of those on the streets have found a love for solvents also. They inhale the vapour of pure liquid alcohol to take away the pain of street living. They become intoxicated, unable to recognise cards of the same colour, compilate words and make sense of what's happening around them. 

On 5th avenue today, I watched one boy become intoxicated within 30minutes, not able to look straight or make sense of anything. All I could see was pain in his eyes until he fell in to a disturbed sleep from the solvent. He's around 12-14. His prospects of making it to 16-18 are rare- solvents and streets are all he knows, and all he will probably ever know. That's a bad shock- a sad, heart breaking shock. I cant put in to words on a blog what I felt, its something I'll never forget. 

The Terminal. A bustling mini-city in the city, a huge market selling pants to potatoes, Califlowers to chairs. Everything you need is probably there- being sold from brick buildings, tin shacks, wooden shacks. Walk through the main market area and there is something interesting on every corner. A huge proportion of trade in Guatemala city goes through 'La Terminal.' Lots of trade means lots of people, lots of people means people need somewhere to sleep...

...'The Grandmother'is the head lady of a HUGE family. She has something like 20 grandchildren, and her grandchildren have children. Some are as young as 16 with toddlers. They sell tomatoes and egg shells with confetti to make a living. They have a wooden stall probably the size 3×3m, where they probably sleep 10-15 people above. These kids are high risk, teenage pregnancy, low incomes and unstable living conditions. Mi Arca and the street team try to work with these families to give the kids an education or mentoring. To help expand their horizons beyond tomatoes. 

Its hard to imagine where exactly money goes to when you donate. Here I can see where. A local event near amersham for SKD raised around £150. That money is now being used to buy much needed textbooks for a school that is in La Terminal. Children attended school in the morning, learning to read, write and do basic maths. Its run by volunteers, so money raised by charities to buy resources is as valuable as silver for a silversmith. Actually, more valuable. So valuable, you can't put a price on it. To name one area. Mentoring programmes, familial support, schooling support are just a few other areas where money makes a difference. 

I could write so much about the project Mi Arca here, but I have an idea. Follow Mi Arca on Fb, look at their website, go to the Street Kids Direct website. All the information you need is there- even a page to donate to help make a difference :) I promise you it will. I've seen first hand what it can do!! 

Thanks for reading- enjoy that cup of coffee, and remember as you drink it, what others may be grateful for today in La Terminal, in the City, in GoGuatemala, in 5th Avenue, and all over the world!

Love. E 


http://www.miarca.org

http://www.streetkidsdirect.org.uk/index.php/how-we-help/project-partnerships#miarca

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=186782281375356

John 10:10

'Yo He Venido Para Que Tengan Vida! Y Para Que La Tengan En Abundancia' John 10:10

The motto of Mi Arca and the words I have on my street team T-shirt! The charity works with street children in the city of Guatemala and their families if they have them.

This week I am volunteering with them, going out on the streets and seeing projects they are partnered with.

On Monday, Duncan and I went to 'La Terminal' to meet many people that live and work there, and then to the local rubbish dump where we met mothers and grandmothers, of the children who work there and go to school, and who spend the day working there themselves. 

Yesterday I then returned with the designated street team Walter, Sandy and Frank to spend time with the same piople. We then also sent to see a group who have chosen to live in the centre divide of a street and don't want to leave. There the charity just work on building friendships with them and provide them with basic health care if needed. 

Our last visit yesterday was to a street where 12-15 young people sleep and live. However when we arrived there were only 4 guys, as it turned out that the police had visited that morning or night before and arrested a few of the boys for selling drugs and solvents. This was hard to see as they have formed a street family, and those still there were clearly distressed by the happenings. 

Tomorrow I return to the streets with the same team :)

End of Antigua and the Start of the City!

So Friday I said goodbye to Don Pedro Spanish school and my teacher Ceci after 2 1\2 weeks in Antigua and 3 weeks worth of Spanish! 
Having spent 4+ hours a day with the same people its hard to say bye, especially when you get on with them so well!  Though, it just adds another reason to my already long list of reasons to return! 

Then Saturday I said goodbye to the most hospitable and loving family that I was blessed to have been able to stay with! Now I have a family in Antigua which is a lovely thought! They had a cheeky 3yr old- who is on the road to become a mini superstar drummer- who was good fun to play games with and release my inner child! They also had a 13yr old daughter who was lovely and incredible at singing! I will surely be returning to see them again! 

I'm now staying in the volunteer house just outside of Guatemala city with Frank, a MiArca worker, and Serghio, who successfully left the streets in December and is making himself a better life here! 

I'll update about my time here in my next blog! 

E

 Ceci and I outside the church next school ft. Christy her sissy

 Frank (blue shirt), serghio and I after dinner at the house! 

Coffee Beans and Passion

Hola Chicos!

Sorry for my silence- I may have bitten my tongue when I said this place is laid back- I don't feel like I've sat down for days! That being said- the last week has been good fun! 

We visited a coffee plantation on Thursday and had the opportunity to walk through some of the plantation rows and walk on drying coffee 'beans.' That was kinda weird to think that in a few months someone would be drinking a cup of coffee with my footprint on!! Though don't panic Starbucks drinkers- you won't literally have my footprint on your coffee its all sanitary ;). Having been a barrista in a cafe for 3years it was interesting to finally learn what arrabica coffee was- when the coffee is grown in the shade. In this plantation they were shadowed by trees such as Banana trees! 

'Coffee should be black as night, strong as passion, sweet as love and hot as hell' -Jose Ricardo (Coffee Plantation Owner)

Talking of passion, on Saturday I travelled to GoGuatemala! Along with Duncan D (WOO!), to see the project street kids direct support there. Its a Saturday school for disadvantaged children living in the dangerous part of town. They provide activities such as sports and crafts, support in education helping with homework and providing extra classes, as well as worship and teachings. 
Pastor Alex, along with Duncan, have great passion for the project, and teaching the children that there is a wider world out there than just the 4 brick walls and tin roof they have for houses and crime as a friend. 
They, in turn, pass the passion on to the older students. And those students teach the younger ones.One such student was a young girl called Ninfa who was teaching a class of younger students. Students like herself provide the others with relatable role models, that they can aspire to be. Mi Arca are hoping to support Ninfa this year by putting her in a college in the City to continue her studies safely! 

I'll try update tomorrow of the last few days activities! 

E 

Volcano Mad

This place is amazing, for the tranquility and people. Nothing is rushed here, everyone meanders down the cobbled streets saying 'Hola' to everyone they pass! The gratitude the people have for the little they have is inspirational to say the least.

I'm in a homestay, with 3 other people who are all American- I've only met 3 people so far from England! Despite that, this is a home away from home! The family are friendly and amazing cooks- eggs, avococado, salsa, frijoles aka beans, bread, tortillas- I could go on but I won't or you'll be hungry! 

If lovely people and good food weren't enough, the view is like the icing on the cake! The house has a roof terrace, overlooking the whole of antigua and the most active volcano in the Americas (I hear) called 'Volcan de Fuego.' It billows smoke at least once everyday, potentially at least every hour or two. Today as I write this I have ash falling on my tablet as its super active! 

Yesterday we climbed another volcano called Pocaya- an active yet sleepy volcano, having last erupted in march of 2014. We didnt quite make it to the crater at the top as it was a day hike, but we did make it to the base of the lava field where flow stopped last year! There we TOASTED MARSHMALLOWS in the lava rock! 

This is a geographers heaven.If I didn't have a love for volcano's before- I do now!!

E 

 Volcan de Fuego billowing smoke! 

 Pocaya Volcano: where the lava flows stopped

 Toasting marshmallows in the Lava rock to make 'smores'!

Check in hell but feasting like a king!

You always hope that when you go to the airport,everything go smoothly..you check in, drop your bags go through security and then treat yourself to a bit of duty free, right?

That didn't seem to be the case yesterday though. First at check-in- it said I needed to find a virgin rep about my booking, ok- maybe I'm being upgraded! I could not have been further from the truth. I didn't have an esta, so couldn't fly to america- when I renewed my passport in Nov my last esta was cancelled along with the old passport- something I didn't realise. As someone said to me- the gods were on my side as we panick applied for an esta on a phone and got it by 10.45. 

Back to check in- it worked great! Then we tackled the never ending que of virgin/delta ques as its that time of year. Half way along the que, I look at my boarding pass and it says boarding at 11.10, i had ten minutes to get from bag drop,through security and get to the gate- oh good!! 

If I didn't have cholesterol or heart problems then- I probably do now because of the stress! 

Anyway- made It through after a lot of crying from the goodbyes to very loved ones, and ran to the gate.

Meeting a lovely south African/ american lady from Miami was great- she gave me a tip to get a taxi as its cheaper- at least i think that's what she said! I did anywayanyway as I didn't want to hang around after a 9hr flight!

Getting a cab to the hotel was great fun- I had a driver who liked Spanish guitar music (very fitting!) Who drove like a bit of a maniac but it got me there! There was a lovely little diner across the parking lot so I got some dinner there- and even got 10% off because I have a holiday inn card- result! 

After a great nights sleep in a king I'm now sitting at breakfast stuffing my face before transferring to the airport- gotta make the most of 'free' breakfast!

I'll update when I get to Guatemala! 

E