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One of the homes had been
cleared out
to make room for all of us to fit in. Our group from Sharing
the Dream sat
on one side, and the Mayan Hands women sat on the other. We
began our
introductions. We had to have two translators as the women
spoke K’aqchiquel. It was a long process but well worth the time.
Then the women began to introduce themselves and tell their
stories. They
were all very thankful for what Sharing the Dream does for
them. They said
it allows them to take care of their families and have their
children go to
school. Then, we began to ask them some of our questions. The
topic turned
to their medical care. It was extremely interesting for most of
us to find
out that most of these women had never been to see a doctor in
their entire
lives. They didn’t really trust doctors. Their children,
however, did have a
few immunizations when they were born. The women had some
personal questions
to ask the doctor of the group, Vicki, so everyone else went to
sit
outside.After they were finished, we thanked them once again
for welcoming
us into their homes and sharing with us, and said goodbye.
We didn’t have to drive very long until we arrived at
Panajachel. It is a
really beautiful place that sits along the mountainside
overlooking Lake Atitlan. We arrived at Mayan Traditions, which is a different
organization
than Mayan Hands. However, they have some of the same general
ideas like
Fair Trade and helping children stay in school. The woman who
coordinated
Mayan Traditions has this beautiful building with a nice
kitchen, a big
table, and a bathroom. They also had very nice bungalows, each
with their
own bathrooms and showers.
A woman named Marcelle, who is originally from Australia, met
us here. She
is the volunteer coordinator, among other things, for Mayan
Traditions.
After we ate our late lunch, we went to the main streets of
Panajachel.
Before we went to the market where you can barter, we went to
the Mayan
Traditions store. They had some absolutely beautiful products
that are all
fair trade items. Many of us made quite a few purchases. Then,
we walked a
few blocks further down the street to exchange our US dollars
for Quetzals.
The exchange rate right now is about 7.5 Quetzals for 1 dollar.
For about an
hour we shopped for souvenirs to bring home to our friends and
family to try
to share our experiences with them. I don’t think any
souvenir could
accomplish this, but it is worth a try! It was hard for many of
us to say no
when small children came up and asked us to buy their products.
We went back to our accommodations, had our suppers, and got
ready for our
reflections. During our reflections, Diane read us a passage
from a book
called In the Marketplace. It was about a woman whose life was,
and depended
upon, the marketplace. It talked about how the richer people
and the
government believed that they people who sold at the
marketplace simply
littered the streets. But, they had no money, and they needed
to sell things
to survive. It made me think about all those people that we had
seen in the
marketplace earlier that day whom we had simply walked by. For
the rest of
the trip, we decided as a group that we would try to see the
person and
their struggles, instead of simply a salesperson who won’t
stop following
us. It was a very interesting and eye-opening story for me to
hear.
After reflections we went to bed, very excited for what the
rest of our trip
would hold.
Diane’s note: I think Alexa did a wonderful job
highlighting the day.
The Guatemalan Group
go to June 20
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