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February 21 Day 6 Rereading through my journal entries, I realize how incomplete they are and that I am only able to capture a small portion of what we have seen and experienced. With a few exceptions of familiar chain restaurants in Guatemala City, everything else including the vast variety in terrains is different. The poverty and substandard housing continues to sadden me and it is everywhere. We have found the people to be very serene, gracious and always willing to share their smiles. Today, we left in the van for a 3 night stay in Santiago. Our first stop was at UPAVIM which stands for “united for a better living” and is a successful, well managed cooperative in a very poor part of Guatemala City. They have developed several branches in UPAVIM to employ many people and provide much needed services. They include a bakery, nursery, primary school, crafts, clinic and pharmacy. We watched some of the women using sewing machines to make crafts. This group started with 6 women and now they have 70. After our tour of the building and the programs, we were served a delicious lunch. We have been honored over and over with fabulous hospitality. Everywhere we go they always express deep gratitude for our visits. We were told today it was safe for us to take a walk through the neighborhood to see the river because a few weeks ago the police came and shot several of the gang members and some innocent people who were on the street. |