Diane - 12/28/04

We got up early so that we could leave as close to 8:00 as possible. Mynor our van driver and Ruth were coming to pick us up. They had to leave Guatemala City at 5 to do this. We were going to meet Clemente at 9:00 and then go to Vasconsles to have the celebration for the cement floors. This is one of the projects that was done this year with the financial help of Global Village in Ill. They have been very kind to give the money from their store to projects that we and Mayan Hands work with in Guatemala. They have financed a group with roofs or stoves, this group with cement floors and plans are to do one more project of cement floors for some weavers. We are really grateful for them to do such an undertaking.

We said our good-byes to Jane, packed up the van, met Clemente at the crossroads and arrived at Vasconsles. We stopped at about 4 houses when we arrived to see the progress that they were making. About half of the houses were done but they wanted to do the celebration while we were down there. I have included lots of photos because I think they really tell the story better then I could.

Wall needing repair

Completed room

House being worked on

Completed house

Weaver in front of completed house

Family getting cement floors

Walking path

After seeing the houses we arrived at the celebration. There were plastic sacks sewn together between two of the houses to block the sun with balloons hanging and decorations. They had put pine needles all over the cement. This is such a pleasant thing and done at most celebrations. It smells so nice and clean and looks festive. When the celebration started there was the usual speeches by the president of the group, by Clemente and by me. They had the young women dance several dances and the young children did a dance with pom-poms and balloons, something to more modern music. Then we had games. I had never seen this before at a celebration so this was quite fun. Clemente said there are so many younger weavers that this is why there were games. I had been to this group for the first time about 6 years ago and they were such a sad group then. It is fun to see them a lot more happy and celebrating the fact that they have work and also have been able to make their homes better. I will explain the games when I do the photos. They even got all of us involved in the games.
After seeing the houses we arrived at the celebration. There were plastic sacks sewn together between two of the houses to block the sun with balloons hanging and decorations. They had put pine needles all over the cement. This is such a pleasant thing and done at most celebrations. It smells so nice and clean and looks festive. When the celebration started there was the usual speeches by the president of the group, by Clemente and by me. They had the young women dance several dances and the young children did a dance with pom-poms and balloons, something to more modern music. Then we had games. I had never seen this before at a celebration so this was quite fun. Clemente said there are so many younger weavers that this is why there were games. I had been to this group for the first time about 6 years ago and they were such a sad group then. It is fun to see them a lot more happy and celebrating the fact that they have work and also have been able to make their homes better. I will explain the games when I do the photos. They even got all of us involved in the games.

In the shoe game they took off their shoes, were blindfolded and then had to find their own shoes.

Miguel, Ana, Steph and Clemente did the egg game. This photo is after Miguel and Ana already broke theirs and were out of the game. They put on music and you had to dance with the spoon in your mouth with the egg on the end. Steph and Clemente really started rocking. Steph won the game.

Elders enjoying the games

They played this game where they had 2 rolls of toilet paper and they had to wrap the other women up. The first to do the 2 rolls won. I did find the toilet paper in the outdoor bathroom later on when I visited it.

This is a game they played with water and pop bottles. They couldn't use their hands, sipped water from a bucket and had to go and put it in the bottle. The first bottle filled was the winner. This is Isabel. She will be one of the scholarship women.

They had Ed and I do this game. It looks like we are wrestling. They put words on our back and the first one to find out what the word was, won the game. Ed said it first but it was the wrong word..so I won a nice box of cookies that I shared with everyone after lunch.

These young girls were dancing a traditional dance. You can see the plastic over our heads providing shade.

The young dancers changed their outfits and did this dance from Coban.

The children are dancing a fairly modern dance. They really tried their hardest. Clemente said everyone had really practiced alot to put on this nice celebration.

Cutting the ribbon for the celebration of the cement floors

One of the projects that Sharing the Dream is going to do this year is to look for scholarships for some of the young weavers going to high school. Mayan Hands works with 15 groups and we are going to provide scholarships to 1 person from each group. It is very hard for these young women to weave and go to school. Most of them have to provide for themselves. Since they live at home, they have to travel to school, usually at least an hour and a half bus ride away. This is the greatest cost for them, plus when you are in high school you must go to a private school because the government schools are only through the 6th grade. It is quite an endeavor for these young women. The young girls will pay 25% of their cost. We will be looking for sponsors and I think the other 75% will be about $525.00. So..if anyone is interested let me know. The sponsor will get reports, photos of their sponsorship girl and letters. They start school in January so we need to get going on this. I think we have about 2. So..we need another 13. Sharing the Dream will begin footing the bill until we can find sponsors. These young women need to be starting school.
After the games at the celebration we ate. As usual a very good meal. We then said our good-byes and left for Guatemala City. We arrived back in Guatemala City about 3. We then packed the suitcases to come back. All of the family except Seth and I were leaving on the 29th. BJ and Seth returned from their trip to the caves about 5:30.

Ed receiving a gift from the women. It was fun to have him there. He has helped so much with Sharing the Dream over the years that it was good to have him there for a celebration.

Miguel wanted his photo taken with this little girl. As you can see, she did not think it was too big of a thrill.

Steph giving out gifts for the women. We always try and give gifts when we go to the celebrations. It is usually a candle and a holder. This was part of the luggage we hauled down.

The women with their gifts. We always try and wrap them in shiny paper or bags.

Eating lunch

Ed, Miguel and I left about 7 to go and see our friend Brenda. Brenda is the founder of Mayan Hands and has gotten to be a cherished friend. She got to know Miguel when we were trying to adopt him and they have really bonded. Brenda would go and see Miguel when we were at the town orphanage before he came up here. They have communicated quite a bit every since. Brenda has 3 daughters and 2 of them were there. They are quite the women. Susie is getting her PHD in Anthropology and Dora has just returned from Italy after being there for 2 years studying art. They live most of the time in New York. We had a nice evening discussing politics (both US and Guatemalan). Dora is applying to graduate schools and one of them is the University of Iowa. It would be fun to have her close
After our nice visit we went back to the office. I had caught a cold and was looking forward to having a bit of a rest after the family left.
Diane

go to December 29 Journal Entry

Wall needing repair	Completed room

House being worked on	Completed house

Weaver in front of completed house	Family getting cement floors

Walking path
After seeing the houses we arrived at the celebration. There were plastic sacks sewn together between two of the houses to block the sun with balloons hanging and decorations. They had put pine needles all over the cement. This is such a pleasant thing and done at most celebrations. It smells so nice and clean and looks festive. When the celebration started there was the usual speeches by the president of the group, by Clemente and by me. They had the young women dance several dances and the young children did a dance with pom-poms and balloons, something to more modern music. Then we had games. I had never seen this before at a celebration so this was quite fun. Clemente said there are so many younger weavers that this is why there were games. I had been to this group for the first time about 6 years ago and they were such a sad group then. It is fun to see them a lot more happy and celebrating the fact that they have work and also have been able to make their homes better. I will explain the games when I do the photos. They even got all of us involved in the games. After seeing the houses we arrived at the celebration. There were plastic sacks sewn together between two of the houses to block the sun with balloons hanging and decorations. They had put pine needles all over the cement. This is such a pleasant thing and done at most celebrations. It smells so nice and clean and looks festive. When the celebration started there was the usual speeches by the president of the group, by Clemente and by me. They had the young women dance several dances and the young children did a dance with pom-poms and balloons, something to more modern music. Then we had games. I had never seen this before at a celebration so this was quite fun. Clemente said there are so many younger weavers that this is why there were games. I had been to this group for the first time about 6 years ago and they were such a sad group then. It is fun to see them a lot more happy and celebrating the fact that they have work and also have been able to make their homes better. I will explain the games when I do the photos. They even got all of us involved in the games.

In the shoe game they took off their shoes, were blindfolded and then had to find their own shoes.	Miguel, Ana, Steph and Clemente did the egg game. This photo is after Miguel and Ana already broke theirs and were out of the game. They put on music and you had to dance with the spoon in your mouth with the egg on the end. Steph and Clemente really started rocking. Steph won the game.

Elders enjoying the games	They played this game where they had 2 rolls of toilet paper and they had to wrap the other women up. The first to do the 2 rolls won. I did find the toilet paper in the outdoor bathroom later on when I visited it.

This is a game they played with water and pop bottles. They couldn't use their hands, sipped water from a bucket and had to go and put it in the bottle. The first bottle filled was the winner. This is Isabel. She will be one of the scholarship women.	They had Ed and I do this game. It looks like we are wrestling. They put words on our back and the first one to find out what the word was, won the game. Ed said it first but it was the wrong word..so I won a nice box of cookies that I shared with everyone after lunch.

These young girls were dancing a traditional dance. You can see the plastic over our heads providing shade.	The young dancers changed their outfits and did this dance from Coban.

The children are dancing a fairly modern dance. They really tried their hardest. Clemente said everyone had really practiced alot to put on this nice celebration.	Cutting the ribbon for the celebration of the cement floors
One of the projects that Sharing the Dream is going to do this year is to look for scholarships for some of the young weavers going to high school. Mayan Hands works with 15 groups and we are going to provide scholarships to 1 person from each group. It is very hard for these young women to weave and go to school. Most of them have to provide for themselves. Since they live at home, they have to travel to school, usually at least an hour and a half bus ride away. This is the greatest cost for them, plus when you are in high school you must go to a private school because the government schools are only through the 6th grade. It is quite an endeavor for these young women. The young girls will pay 25% of their cost. We will be looking for sponsors and I think the other 75% will be about $525.00. So..if anyone is interested let me know. The sponsor will get reports, photos of their sponsorship girl and letters. They start school in January so we need to get going on this. I think we have about 2. So..we need another 13. Sharing the Dream will begin footing the bill until we can find sponsors. These young women need to be starting school. After the games at the celebration we ate. As usual a very good meal. We then said our good-byes and left for Guatemala City. We arrived back in Guatemala City about 3. We then packed the suitcases to come back. All of the family except Seth and I were leaving on the 29th. BJ and Seth returned from their trip to the caves about 5:30.
Ed receiving a gift from the women. It was fun to have him there. He has helped so much with Sharing the Dream over the years that it was good to have him there for a celebration.	Miguel wanted his photo taken with this little girl. As you can see, she did not think it was too big of a thrill.

Steph giving out gifts for the women. We always try and give gifts when we go to the celebrations. It is usually a candle and a holder. This was part of the luggage we hauled down.	The women with their gifts. We always try and wrap them in shiny paper or bags.

Eating lunch
Ed, Miguel and I left about 7 to go and see our friend Brenda. Brenda is the founder of Mayan Hands and has gotten to be a cherished friend. She got to know Miguel when we were trying to adopt him and they have really bonded. Brenda would go and see Miguel when we were at the town orphanage before he came up here. They have communicated quite a bit every since. Brenda has 3 daughters and 2 of them were there. They are quite the women. Susie is getting her PHD in Anthropology and Dora has just returned from Italy after being there for 2 years studying art. They live most of the time in New York. We had a nice evening discussing politics (both US and Guatemalan). Dora is applying to graduate schools and one of them is the University of Iowa. It would be fun to have her close After our nice visit we went back to the office. I had caught a cold and was looking forward to having a bit of a rest after the family left. Diane