I think I understand the feeling writers, musicians, or artists get when something inspires them to create. When the urge comes, everything flows so easily.
My first post was a summary of my Central America G Adventures tour, which to be honest was more of a chore to write, rather than something that came naturally. I'm glad I did it though, as it will be great to read in the future. Plus I hope at least some of you enjoyed it! But tonight, I have a true urge to share my experience from this very evening. Before I start though, I will share a bit of background on the volunteer project and my experience so far.
A couple years ago I found an organization in Antigua, Guatemala, called Nuestros Ahijados. They work with the poorest of children and families, taking a holistic approach of providing not only education, but as well housing, medical/dental care, social work/psychological support etc. In addition, they have a children's hospital, homeless shelter, food bank and probably more that I don't even know about yet. I almost came to Guatemala at that time as the project really interested me, but I chose to go to India instead. Well this year I revisited the project again and decided to give it a try. I was most interested in doing outreach with the social workers as well as working in the homeless shelter. I applied, got cleared, and that was the plan; social work outreach and the homeless shelter. I was also told that given my social work skills, and depending on my Spanish level, I could perhaps get involved in other ways once there.
The first day of volunteering I thought I would get an orientation, but the staff were in meetings so instead I got a tour of Casa Jackson, the project's hospital for sick children. My guide, Gladys, suggested that I help out there until she was free that afternoon. Those of you who know me well could probably guess what I was thinking about that idea! So I bravely told her that I don't like kids, after which I am sure she thought I was a real piece of work! But she simply responded that I could clean or help out in the kitchen instead. Great.
It was a pretty simple "hospital" with 13 children, mostly infants to perhaps 3 years old. It was explained that most were there due to malnutrition, at times being due to the parents not being able to provide for them, and other times due to medical problems. Some had been there before with the same issues, some were healthy and ready to go home but the parents had not come back to get them, and others had parents there diligently caring for them. So it was a real mixed bag, but the commonality seemed to be the issue of malnutrition, and health/development issues as a result. We got to see all of the children, and the littlest ones, the sickest, looked much younger than they actually were. After the tour I left the children with the other volunteers and nurses, and was put to work washing down the kitchen cabinets, sweeping etc. I'm sure my Mother will laugh reading this part as she knows I hate cleaning...well that's what a stellar volunteer I am :) Although not a place I would be interested in volunteering, I think it was important to see the impact of the social issues here, poverty being a major one. The lady that I currently live with explained that the cost of living in Guatemala has gone up but the salaries have not, which has made life very expensive and difficult for Guatemalans. Milk in particular is very expensive as they don't produce much here. As a result parents can't afford to give it to their children which of course does not aid in their development. Especially in the poorer, rural areas, parents will give children rice instead of milk, which doesn't offer much for nutrition. Hence the need for Casa Jackson.
After a morning there, I went back to my homestay for lunch and then back again for my orientation. Well it turns out Gladys had a meeting in the afternoon as well so she asked me if I would mind doing some translating. "Padrinos" (meaning Godparent but for the project it means sponsor), had sent Xmas cards to the children they are sponsoring and they needed to be translated to Spanish so they could be read to the children. I'm not sure what Gladys was hearing from my Spanish but I certainly didn't feel confident enough to translate..who knows what those poor, innocent children would have been read if so! Instead I went through a big Fedex box of Xmas cards and made a list of the padrinos and children, and blocked out their addresses in the US (to prevent stalking I suppose). Flipping through the cards was interesting; the padrinos are clearly very religious people. Lots of religious themed cards and messages like "we're praying for you," "it's because of Jesus that there is Christmas" yada yada. One 74 year old man told his child about the poor Indian children living on reserves in the US and how they too get education provided. He asked his child to pray for them. Good Lord! These Americans are clearly generous to be sponsoring these children and they make many things possible for them and their families (free schooling, houses built, free medical care, food bank etc) but I couldn't help but think that these kids would have probably preferred getting a colourful, child oriented Xmas card rather than something my Grandma would have sent me. Anyway, it was an interesting side of the organization to see. So far it is looking like the project is pretty straight up. I have unfortunately been tainted from other volunteer experiences so am always on the lookout for fishy things. Hopefully I won't find anything of the sort this time.
Later in the day I finally got a tour around the project, which I have to admit based on what I just said, got me wondering a bit as the site is huge, and the buildings massive with incredibly landscaped grounds. There are vines growing on everything, fountains, lots of greenery..really beautiful. It was explained that because of the issues that many of the children face at home, that they want to give them an escape from that..and it truly is at that, as it's like a Garden of Eden.
The project has a medical clinic where involved families get to see a doctor for free. It is also open to non-participants for 15 quetzales ($2), half of what the public clinics cost and with probably half the wait time. There is also a dental clinic, a cold storage where they keep donations, and from which food hampers are given to the mothers every Friday.
The school is an elegant building with a big staircase and pillars. It's well maintained and nicely equipped with a library, as well as a computer lab which is new this year. It runs from kindergarten to grade 6 or 7 after which kids move on to another school or training. It was explained that the parents are given 150 quetzales ($19) for school supplies, uniforms etc at the beginning of the year and that they pay nothing for the children to attend. The education provided is also better than the public schools as apparently in Guatemala teachers often strike which leads to there being no school. Class sizes are also about 20, half of what the public schools have. If children finish school and go on to college, the project will pay for them, as long as they get good grades. The whole set up is very impressive.
I also got to see a little house on the premises, which is one of over 1000 houses that the project has built for families who prior to that lived in something much worse. To the average person the houses that they build would look like a small, blue shack but Gladys explained that to the families they work with, it is something huge. Many volunteer groups come from the US to build these houses which cost 3-5 thousand quetzales ($400-600) and can be built in 3 days if you can believe it. So great to see....
The following day the plan was for me to arrive at 8:00 a.m. in order to do outreach with the social workers for the morning. This would involve lots of walking and perhaps some local buses to reach some of the families. The purpose of the visits is to assess their needs, try and connect them to the project's programs (or outside resources/advocacy) and check on how things are going within the project. I was so pumped!!!
So the next day I arrived (first one there), and waited, and waited. Finally I found Gladys, who explained that the social workers had to clean their offices as well as do some paperwork and as a result they weren't going out on outreach that day. After my volunteer experiences in other countries I shouldn't have been surprised by this news, as that's just the way it is..it's a different world that you have to adjust to. I was still disappointed though, and yes I did have a Cuba Libre that afternoon instead of my usual coffee..so someone should probably get me some inf on AFM for me, haha! Gladys, I'm sure feeling bad, suggested that I could go to Casa Jackson again, but I was like "no gracias!" So we made a plan to meet the following day for an introduction to the homeless shelter. My fingers were crossed that things would improve.
The following evening I half expected Gladys to not show up at 6:00 p.m. to take me to the homeless shelter as planned. But thankfully she did. We arrived and I immediately loved it!
The shelter is in a strategic location next to the market, and is gated. Each person needs to be let in, after which it is padlocked. Inside there is one side for men, consisting of a shower room, toilets and washing area, followed by an open space where they sleep on mats. On the other side is the same set up for women and children but their sleeping area is closed off by a linked partition and tarps covering it for privacy. In the middle is an elevated area where the 2 staff work, and from which they can see what is going on. It is all concrete and so looks more prison-ish, but it is clean and pretty nice actually.
I was quickly given a key and showed the process for the people entering. Once we notice someone at the door, we greet them (here, you greet almost everyone with good morning, good afternoon or good evening (in Spanish of course). Apart from just letting them in we have to do a quick assessment of whether they have been drinking, as they can't be under the influence to stay. Most are regulars so the staff pretty much know who to watch out for, but I was told to keep my nose on alert, and to ask people, in a nice way of course, if they had been drinking. Right up my alley!!! So I manned the gate and let the crowd in, about 20 people (apparently some people come a bit later after they are done working i.e. street vendors).
After they get past the gate one of the staff pats them down and looks through their things. Anything resembling a weapon is taken from them and returned the next morning. One of the staff, Alex, explained that it is common for people to have knives for protection on the street, so they are often taking away various things. Once inside they have to bathe, and then they sit, chat and wait for dinner.
I observed and made small talk with some of the men, one of which who showed me a scar across most of his belly that he explained was from a machete attack. Yuck it looked awful. He was very friendly and remembered my name later so I suspect that he and I are going to have some more chats :)
Then Manuelito shuffled in; the tiniest old man of 75 years! I could smell alcohol right away as did Alex so he wasn't going to be able to stay. He and Alex clearly had a relationship and Alex was so good with him, getting him some juice boxes and joking with him for a bit. Manuelito didn't want to go though and so they literally had to push him out. Alex told me that he had been a soldier for a long time and that he often has flashbacks to that time. While we were standing there, trying to convince him to go, he did a soldier's salute more than once and used the word "commandante" (commander). It is no wonder he drinks as from what I am reading about the war here in Guatemala, it was brutal. So poor Manuelito went on his way, probably to sleep on the street.
The only woman, Maria, arrived early. She is a short, tiny woman of 57 years with short, dishevelled hair, and was wearing an "I love New York" t-shirt, long skirt and some jewelry that she had proudly found. Well I immediately loved her. She has such a sweet face, smiling up at you almost always and is simply a gentle soul. She arrived with 2 big garbage bags full of recyclables, which she collects and sells in order to survive. Doing so she earns about 35 quetzales per day (about $3). I found her somewhat difficult to understand as she is so soft spoken but I understood enough to share her story.
Maria's mother lived to be in her 80s but her father died of alcoholism. She has 3 siblings but doesn't have much to do with them. When her mother died I believe her sister took over the family house and wanted to charge Maria an exorbitant amount of money to rent it (1200 quetzales which is $150 and super expensive). She has one son in Antigua and 3 grandchildren but it doesn't sound like there is much of a connection there either. Alex explained that when the parents have issues they are often abandoned by their adult children. And Maria has her issues. She gets attacks which make her suddenly black out and fall. One day she fell on Alex! If she takes her medication, 3 pills a day, she does pretty well I think, but of course when you live on the street and are scrounging to survive, you can't always buy the medicine you need. I asked her if she ever sees a doctor and she told me no, that she just asks to God (the best way I can translate).
Maria came to Antigua about 22 years ago after discovering that her husband was involved with her cousin, who was pregnant. From what I could gather Maria was not able to have children at that time so the revelation was a double whammy for her. It was at that time that her attacks started, she feels as a result of the "colera" (anger, rage) from the situation. I'm not sure for how many years now, but Maria sleeps in the park on the nights that she cannot stay in the shelter (as it is only open 3 nights a week due to funding constraints). She said she is used to sleeping in the park now, but that she only sleeps for about 2-3 hours. Now I have to say, it is really cold right now..not anything like Canada, but for Guatemalans it has been particularly cold this season and some have been dying from being on the street overnight. Alex also told me that people aren't supposed to sleep in the park and that the police will hit or throw water on them if the mood strikes. I couldn't imagine her sleeping outside in what she was wearing and so asked her if she had gloves, or warmer clothes. She doesn't though and said that if she does get something warm people just rob her of it. The other day she went to sleep with a scarf and when she woke up it was gone. I have some mini gloves here and I will certainly give them to her. I just hope she can hold on to them.
It was really quite unreal how at peace Maria seemed with her existence, and how happy and appreciative she is of things like the shelter, the people who give her a little money on the street, or of the things she has found, like the necklaces around her neck. She and I are going to be fast friends and I already want to give her the world. There will always be some people that will make a mark on your heart. For those of you who have read my previous posts, Teo and Proscovia are examples of that, and on my very first day at the homeless shelter, my guess is that Maria is probably going to be another one :)
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