Reflections on the June Trip to Panyebar

Leanne, Allie, and I just returned two nights ago from Guatemala, tired but still filled with joy from the trip. At a personal level, the trip had so many facets to it that it may take a couple of weeks to digest the experience. For many of us, part of the trip was simply a reunion of InterVarsity buddies from UC Davis, and all the work and logistics that we had to plough through didn't seem to diminish the fun we had serving and laughing together (as always). Everybody was mad at Naka for looking the same as when we were in college 20 years ago.

On top of the reunion aspect, we purchased and installed basetball hoops, backboards, and posts to hold them up, chipping holes out of the concrete court some other people in the group had poured two years before. We financed a new bathroom for the students, and helped to get the contruction going (although it seemed to progress even faster after most of us left--the Guatemalans know how to build a solid outdoor baño without any help from Norteamericanos.) But it made us feel better to try to help, and to see Troy and Jim sweat just like the old days made it worth the experience alone.

The Guatemalan kids had a blast with the lanyards and other crafts that Jodie and others brought, and Jocelyn was amazing in integrating the Guatemalan and American kids in what was probably more than 1000 games of "duck-duck-goose." Although the wiffle bats lasted only about 45 minutes before they disappeared into the village, Robb's basketball camp was amazing. What might have been surprising was the raw basetball talent that already existed in the village, but building the court and having the camp unleashed an a pent-up enthusiasm for hoops that almost caught us off-guard. Supposedly the school lost the last game they played 98-2 (ouch), but we can better things to come.

One of the best moments for me was when Ron and Jim installed one of the new high-tech Onil stoves in a woman's house near the school. We went back the next week, and she was cooking tortillas on it, said she really liked it, and her house was free of smoke.

The public health class was another highlight that some people missed becuase they had to leave the week before. We invited 100 families to attend, and about 80 came--a higher take-up rate than we could have expected. The women learned about how diseases spread though villages, about hygene, breast-feeding, and the importance of proper nutrition. We gave away some prizes each day by lottery, and on the last day, gave away a stove, which Keith and Malinda will have to install later. The USF graduate students are carrying out a comprehensive census and survey of the entire village that will be finished by this August. From this survey we should have a better idea of the kinds of things we can do with the school and the village in the future.

We also had some productive conversations with Max, the principal of the school and with some of the teachers. There had been some problems in getting our donations through Proyecto Fe, through Emilio, and to the teachers in the past few months. We decided to start a new system in which Proyecto Fe will send a set amount at the end of each month to Pam Chevalier (the local missionary who works with PF). She will then give the money to Francisco, one of the teachers and the school accountant, who will then obtain receipts from the teachers and take pdf's of the receipts and e-mail them back to PF, to Pete (our new treasurer--congratulations), and to Pam.

We would very much like to give them at least a small raise now, with the prospects of another raise for the new school year in January if some incentives are met (specifically, an enrollment of at least 70 students), and if some new people who went on the trip would be willing to sponsor the school for even $25-50 a month, that would give us the financial room to increase the pay of the teachers by 10% or so over the next year.

Thanks for a fantastic time and a great experience. Leanne and I really felt the Lord was closely with us on the trip, keeping us safe in the heavy rains, and (most of us) from "Atitlan''s revenge".

Yours in Him,

BW