The morning took us to the school in Tzanchaj which is almost completed.  We were so glad to find that the school and all of the children had been spared from the mudslides. However, 27 of the 90 families involved in the school lost relatives or homes. Although the parent group is very proud of the school, their first concern was for the needs of the community. Thank goodness for Diana, Chonita’s niece, who translated for us. She speaks Tz’utijil, Spanish, and English so she was able to eliminate one step of the usual process because she could speak in Tz’utijil to the men and English to us.

School at Tzanchaj

Sharing the Dream helped the parent group become a parent organization and purchased the land for the school.  The government has provided the materials and some labor for this project.  The rest of the labor has been provided by the parents so after a full workweek, the men and children work at the school.  The result is impressive.  Pending any unforeseen circumstances, the children should be able to begin their new school year in the new school in January.

Chonita, Domingo, Dolores, and the children went with us to a lovely restaurant in San Lucas Toliman.  This provided a needed break from the stress of the past few weeks for the family.  From there we went to visit the spoon group.  It was fun to meet the makers of the beautiful spoons we sell in the store and find out how the sales have helped their families. This community was not affected by the mudslide disaster so our visit was lighter than other visits.

Spoon group

We hurried back to meet with the school parent group again.  We had asked them to find out more about the needs of the school families affected by the mudslides.  The group had been able to contact some of the affected families but is unsure about how to help the families.  For those families whose homes are still standing, the government has said it will help clean the homes but the people are concerned about moving back into homes that could be hit by mudslides again.  However, the families do not have other land to build on.  For now, it seems we need to wait to see what the government is able to do.

Sunday, October 23

Chonita and her sisters preparing elder packages

Once a month, Chonita has about 50 elders come to her home for a package of corn, rice, beans, coffee, and other staples. The packages are financed by sponsorships in the elder project.  In the early morning we helped Chonita and her sisters put this month’s packages together. Later in the day, the elders gathered in Chonita’s courtyard.  Both she and one of the men gave blessings and then all the elders joined together in their own separate prayers.  Many of the elders had family members waiting to help them take their packages home, but several needed assistance carrying their 25-pound bag. Peggy, Vikki, Seth, and others helped carry the packages to the elder’s homes.  However, we were unable to carry the bags on our heads as some of the elders did.  It was heartwarming to see how grateful they were for the food.  We had heard previously that some of the elders had been killed in the mudslide, but thankfully that wasn´t true. Three of them however, lost everything that they own.

Elder with her food package

While we were waiting for the elders to arrive, we accompanied Chonita to Panabaj to see the place where the worst of the mudslides had occurred.  Although the area was quarantined, Chonita urged us to follow her into the area where so many had lost family and homes.  Holes where rescuers had searched for bodies, parts of destroyed homes, and mud many feet up the side of existing homes brought home to us the reality of the disaster.

Diego Santiago, a scholarship student, in front of his home destroyed by the mudslides

The afternoon consisted of a visit to the internet café, purchasing wood products from Humberto, and stroll though the market area devoid of tourists.  On our stroll we met Amanda, a Peace Corps volunteer who works with ADISA, and arranged a visit with the directors.  ADISA is an organization whose goal is to help disabled children and adults become productive and respected members of the community.  Their organization also relies heavily on volunteers.  We discussed the possibility of a sponsorship program with them.

Our final meeting of the day was with Domingo, talking about what Sharing the Dream can do to help the beaders and scholarship students affected by the disaster.  Domingo is very concerned about the beaders whom he employs.  The beaders live both in Pachichaj and Panabaj.  Again we’re waiting on the government to determine what assistance they will provide in Panabaj.  However, the government has said that in Pachcichaj it will only provide a wall at the upper end of the valley to help stop another mudslide.  Because the morale of the Pachichaj beaders is so low, Domingo wants to do something to give these women hope. Engineers have suggested building on top of the existing homes rather than cleaning the mud out so we discussed with Domingo the possibility of helping with the construction of homes for these beaders.  We are going over all the information we have gathered from all the different sources and put together a priority list of needs for many of the families.  We will try and do this in the next few days and send it out.

A note from Diane….

The visit to Santiago Atitilan was heartbreaking as well as heartwarming.  Sunday morning Domingo showed me photos he had taken of the first day or so after the disaster.  Delores, Domingo´s wife, was with me as he was showing them.  As I saw the early photos of the disaster tears were running down my face.  Domingo and Delores were crying and told me some of the things that had gone on during the first days and how everyone was running and trying to find relatives and friends.  It was heartwarming to see how the community had come together and provided so much assistance.  People who had little provided for those who lost everything.