All Fired Up

You know the Pat Benatar song, All Fired Up? Well that's how I feel right now!!

I'm going to get right into the story. Hopefully writing about it will be cathartic because I'm pretty angry right now. 

It was a cold day here..I'm sure Winnipeggers are scoffing at that, particularly because a friend posted it was -29 there this morning. But it's almost December and December/January are the coldest months here. It was cloudy and windy all day and so I just knew it was going to be busy at the shelter, because for Guatemalans, especially those who have to sleep on the street, it is COLD! Being the lame Canadian that I am, I got the ol' goose down jacket on and the knee high boots in order to stay warm, buuuut did draw the line when it came to the mini gloves. I thought that might be going a bit overboard in some people's eyes.

As I suspected, it was busy, and people were showing up in big groups which made it hard for me to do my usual sobriety checks. Shortly after we opened a family of 5 showed up with the parents being in their early 30s probably, 3 kids (about 12, 5 and under 2), and with big burlap sacks full of things, I'm not sure of what. The father explained that they had come from Quiche (an indigenous area about 4.5 hours by bus) that day to work in the coffee fields. But after coming all that way they had learnt that there was no work yet, and so had no place to stay. The mother was in her traditional short sleeved dress with no sweater. The only one who had a jacket was the little girl who was under 5 and carrying a brand new teddy bear. She seemed thrilled with it and was carrying it tight. Such a cutie. 

Now even though my nose is out of practice, I could tell while talking to the father that he had been drinking. He admitted it, but minimized the amount he had drank I'm sure. I had been talking to them alone so at this point called Alex over to weigh in on the situation, as technically allowing the father in would be against the rules. But because he was with his children Alex agreed that they could stay. They were grateful for that decision and began hauling the heavy bags inside. The little girl even tried to carry one, which was so not going to happen, but it sure was sweet to see her try. 

As they came in we explained that the women and children stayed on one side while the men stayed on the other; which meant that the father would be separated from his wife and children. He was immediately distressed by this and didn't want to leave them. Thelma tried to explain the rules as well but the father still wouldn't separate from the rest and so they retreated back to the entrance to sit on their bags and wait for dinner. 

A short while later, just prior to getting ready to serve dinner, Thelma must have directed them to their separate areas. The father was clearly still not on board with the plan and followed his wife and children to the women's side. We stood and talked to him, reassuring him that it was safe, the staff were always up above watching everyone and that his family would be okay without him. He told me that his family were his responsibility and pointed out that the youngest one, who was fussing a bit, didn't want him to go. The couple then started to talk in their language and before long, started to leave! I couldn't believe it honestly. They lugged all of their bags back out and slowly made their way back to the gate, with barely anything on, nothing to eat, and with 3 children, to sleep on the street on a very cold night. And for no good reason. I was soooo irate!!!

Being that I typically man the gate I had to let them out, and did so begrudgingly. I honestly couldn't help myself from saying something to the "father," who was clearly more under the influence than we had originally thought. Once they were on the other side of the gate I said to him that despite telling me that he was responsible for his family, it sure wasn't responsible of him that his children were going to sleep in the street (I was pretty impressed that my Spanish came through for me on this occasion I have to say!). But away they went and I was left vibrating...

We then went on with our usual duties, and like the night before we had many more people than usual. Thankfully it was a Panza Verde night (the hoity toity restaurant that donates a meal every Wednesday) so everyone had an awesome traditional meal along with tortillas that I went and bought. I'm sure the ladies sitting outside selling tortillas that night were pretty happy with that 80 tortilla order! Pretty sure it meant an early night home for her which is nice.

Anyway, after dinner, a group of people came to the gate advocating for the family to be let in. At this point we could see them across the street lying on a raised cement area amongst their big bags. These people must have seen the family there, gone to talk to them and been given a different explanation of the situation. Thelma explained that the family was in fact welcome; however the father had refused to sleep apart from the rest which was a shelter rule. She also told them that the mother could have stayed alone with the children but had chosen not to. They accepted that and left. It was at this point that we realized that the father was no longer there, and not with his wife and children that he was so concerned about. Instead, there was no doubt that he had gone to the cantina to drink. 

Honestly, I was so angry that I wanted to physically hurt him. How he could do that to his children; little kids that would now have to sleep out in the cold, without proper clothing and in a very unsafe area to be at night as it's frequented by users. And for the mother to not be able to make the decision to protect her children from this, especially after her husband had left them to go drinking. How sad...

I was right fired up and knowing how the child protection system works here because of Kenia's situation, raised the idea of calling the PGN (Child \Protection), or the police to come. Our hope was that someone with authority could talk to the mother and direct her to come to the shelter with the children, or risk having them taken away. After some difficulties finding numbers Alex was able to speak with the police and they said they would come. 

I left awhile later and as I did, passed by the sleeping family. It bothered me so much. It was about 14 degrees by this point and windy...chilly that's for sure. As I walked a little further down the street I knew there were cantinas there, and couldn't help but try and look inside to see whether the father was there. I'm sure he was in one of them as I figured he probably wouldn't go far. You know, given how responsible he is and all. But I would have had to actually go inside to have seen him if he was there, and I knew that wasn't a good idea. So I continued walking, hoping that the police would arrive soon and at least get the mother and kids inside. Hoping as well that the father would return to find them gone, and spend the night worrying about them. Now I'm sure some of you are thinking that this isn't very karuna-like of me..but honestly all I can think about are those kids. I sure hope that teddy bear keeps the little girl warm :( 

The mom and kids on their cement bed for the night 

Guatemalan Reunions Day 2

I'd been looking forward to my walk to the shelter today because to get there I have to walk down a long road next to the market where the chicken buses line up. Once you reach the buses it's chaos with the ayudantes (bus guys) yelling out the names of their routes trying to get passengers. I love hearing "GUATE, GUATE, GUATE, GUATE!!!" The area just has so much character.

Even though I walked the same route 3 days a week for 5 months never once accepting an offer to get on a bus, it never failed, the ayudantes would still try and lure me on as if I was their most important customer. My favourite ayudante, Vicente, would even go as far as to try and tug at my arm to come. That was only when he had been drinking though. Wouldn't we all love a job where we could get drunk and still get paid...

There was no Vicente today unfortunately, but the usual chicken bus chaos and the auctioneer type yelling did not disappoint. I was the first "employee" to arrive at the shelter (a tad eager perhaps), so had to wait patiently. Alex arrived first and it was awesome to see him again. He is just the nicest guy you'll ever meet. So inside we went and well, it was like I had been there only yesterday. Nothing had changed and if felt like home. 

Alex and I caught up for a bit until the clanking of the gate started, meaning that people were there waiting. I grabbed "my keys" and skipped off, excited to see who was there. Thelma arrived next and after that the flow of people never stopped..

There were many new people today that I didn't know, including two boys Juan Carlos (12) and Luis Miguel (10). They are little guys though and sure look a lot younger than that. The story is that they came from Huehuetenango, very far away, to work as shoe shiners. I cannot believe that their families let them come on their own. I have to think that they must be in desperate times. The thought of these little boys sleeping on the street when the shelter isn't open scares me. 

Probably the best reunion of the night was with my not so secret admirer, Demetrio. I gave him the gears for not sending a limo to the airport as he had promised the last time I was here. Always a good sport he went along with it telling me that he would have if he had known when I was arriving :) You see, apparently I am the Queen of Canada (La Reina de Canada) and so naturally I deserve a limo, which he being the big shot that he is, was going to send for me. Yah, well, poor ol' Demetrio is still riding his jalopy of a  bike so I pretty much have to give up on that pipe dream. But, then again a Queen can always dream...

Mi limosina :)

On a more somber note, I found out that Demetrio has been drinking a lot in recent months and is now living on the street. Not one to ever minimize his drinking, when I asked him about it he matter of factly confirmed that he had been drinking 7-8 litres of beer a night. Yes, litres, and still riding that bicycle afterwards..sheesh. He denied that he was sleeping on the street though, which I suspect wasn't the truth, but I can imagine that this would be hard to admit if in fact it's true. 

He went on to tell me that he had quit 7 days earlier, and that he had been in withdrawal for a tough 3 days. I can only imagine how that was after drinking so much on a daily basis. But he was looking and feeling good and was determined to keep trying. This isn't his first attempt at sobriety, and the mother of his son has lost faith in him as a result. He decided not to tell her this time he said. He thinks it's better that he does it for himself this time rather that telling her anything and having her get her hopes up again.

The interesting thing about Demetrio is that despite how hard core of a drinker he is, he is a super hard worker. Every day he works long hours gardening, doing yard work, painting etc. He has 30 plus clients in the  towns around Antigua, and rides his bike to each and every one of his jobs, which in itself is a workout! I don't know how he does it, but he loves it and clearly takes pride in his abilities and work ethic. 

I sure hope that me leaving in 15 days doesn't send him back to the bottle (and I'm being serious). The big joke already is that my last departure was what sent him back to the cantina! Apparently he has counting the days until my arrival. Cute...well what is clear, is that while I am here, I can bet that he will be making an extra effort to stay sober just so he can get through those shelter gates :)

Demetrio and his Queen :)

  

Guatemalan Reunions-Day 1

It was my first day in Antigua and I walked out of the hotel grinning from ear to ear. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the view of the volcanoes was clear, clear, clear. I felt like the luckiest gringa in the world!

I was dying to have a traditional Guatemalan breakfast (because it comes with beans..and I loooove beans!!), and a coffee too as it's hard to find bad coffee here.

As I walked I was scanning, looking for people that I knew. I was so excited! It wasn't long before I saw my paper lady; a stout grandmotherly looking woman who always wears a frilly apron. I was actually surprised that she remembered me, as we really hadn't chatted very much. "Triste" she responded (meaning sad), when I asked her how she was. And now folks, I hate to start off with a sad story, but here we go...

Blanca (I finally learnt her name) went on to tell me that her 22 year old son had died 2 days before. He had drank a lot she said, and he had died as a result leaving behind 3 children (7, 5, and 3). Even worse was that the children's mother had been killed 3 months earlier. She explained that the children's parents had been separated and that the mother had gone to work in a brothel type place. It was there that she had been killed. And now with the death of her son as well, that left her to raise the children.

I expressed surprise that she was working after such a recent loss to which she explained that she not only had to work to pay for her son's funeral, but to provide for her grandchildren as well. She said that she also wanted to have a mass for her son, but didn't have the 100 quetzales to pay for it. She asked if I could help her. I was kind of caught off guard by the whole thing, so after empathizing with her, I bought a paper and told her that I would see her later.



El desayuno con pelos (the breakfast with hairs) :(

I went off to have the breakfast that I had been looking forward to, and to read my favourite smut paper. As per usual the first half was all about accidents and various types of killings...you know, the type of breakfast stories that start your day off great!

The locals hate this paper because of all of its death stories, but I'm still drawn to it..surprise surprise. I suppose I'm also drawn to hair in my food, as I found not only one, but two hairs in my breakfast.Yuck! But whatever, I wasn't going to let it ruin my day...

I sat there and thought about Blanca and her situation, and I knew that I had to give her the money. How could I not? So later as I passed by, I handed her the 100Q and went on my way..

Now to digress a bit from my first day..I later told Blanca's story to my Spanish teacher Janeth, and was happy to hear her say that she believed her. Apart from Janeth feeling that it was too elaborate to be made up, she said that this kind of story wasn't all that uncommon in Guatemala unfortunately.

Buuuut, since then I am sorry to say that we have both changed our opinion. I say this because Blanca has not been dressed in black in the days since as is custom here, and as well, she looks a little too cheery to be in mourning.

So although the $13 certainly won't break the bank, her "truco" (trick/sham) has left a bad taste in my mouth. Let's just say that Blanca will be selling one less paper from now on.

Now back to my day. After breakfast I sat in the park for quite awhile, reading my death stories, listening to the traditional marimba music, and just watching people. Tons of people were in town from Guatemala City for the weekend and it was a festival-like atmosphere. It was lovely..

 

Then I caught sight of Maria Esperanza!! Busy at work as usual picking through the garbage can. Attached is a picture I took of her in action. I let her do her thing but later in the day went to talk to her as she sat having a rest. I was so excited to talk to her! Although she said she knew who I was, I'm pretty sure she didn't. I didn't take it personal though given her countless hits to the head. It's no wonder the poor woman has memory issues.

In true Maria form, when I asked her how she was, she responded "aqui luchando" (here fighting). How appropriate. We talked for the longest time, longer than ever before. Although a tad dirty, I could tell that she was well. That infamous smile of hers came out often and she even swayed to the marimba music as it played. She proudly told me that she could dance to all types of music..she's just so cute :)

Nothing has changed...Maria continues to survive by collecting and selling recyclables. Four to five times a week she lugs her many garbage bags on a bus and travels to a nearby town to sell her loot. She tells me that each time she makes about 30-35 quetzales ($4-5). So in a month we're talking about $70. I suspect it's less though as I doubt she has enough to sell that many times a week.

She talked a lot about her faith during this conversation, and about how she prays to God for support. When she finds money on the ground she believes that God has left it for her. Faith can sure be a powerful means of comfort and support to people who really need it. It keeps Maria going thankfully..

Random strangers also continue to help her. I saw it firsthand as we were talking and a group of Guatemalans stopped and offered her their leftover nachos. She graciously accepted. I would say that her being so visible works in her favour, as I think a lot of people know her situation and want to help her. I love that..

After entertaining some locals with our conversation (as I'm sure they couldn't figure out why a gringa would be chatting with a "Bag Lady"), I left, reminding Maria that the shelter would be open the following day and that I would see her then. Then from across the park I sat and watched her sitting amongst her bags and enjoying her lunch :)

Later as I was strolling around, so happy to be back, I ran into one of my favourites, Manolo, the subject of the blog post "A Good News Story" and they guy whose in-laws hate him. I've been in touch with him the most out of all of my shelter friends as he's on Facebook. So he had been awaiting my arrival and it was a lovely reunion..

I quickly turned into a disapproving momma though when he told me that he had been drinking that day. It was obvious as his eyes were red and he didn't look like himself. He told me that he had been doing well in the drinking department but at times the blues got the best of him.

The good news is that Manolo still has his rented room, and the job at the church cafe. Turns out that he is one of a few homeless people selected every few months to work at the cafe in exchange for room and board. If they do well, within a few months they move on to other work opportunities arranged through connections that the foreigners who run the mission have. What's great as well is that the cafe is actually open for Antigua's homeless. A few afternoons a week they can come by for a coffee, snack and a rest.

Manolo is clearly eating better but isn't thrilled with the consequence; a few extra pounds :) He's also dressing pretty nice these days, no longer having to throw his clothes out every few days. He's talking to his dad again too which is a good sign, and overall seems to be on the right track.

Sadly his buddy Walter (the guy that I wrote about who was going to school), is not doing so well. He's inhaling pain thinner now (which he was never into before), is reportedly very thin and was recently in a fight resulting in close to 20 stitches to his eye. Sadly I will likely not see him this time as a result, as he won't be allowed in the shelter in his state. It's very sad.

That evening I found my favourite pupusa lady at La Merced church which every Sunday is filled with food stalls and people. I often ate dinner there on Sundays as this lady's pupusas (which are like a pancake and grilled with fillings like cheese, beans etc. inside) are soooo good, and are a super cheap meal to boot. The Ukrainian in me loves that combination!

It was dark by the time I headed back to my hotel and it had been a full day but I couldn't help but walk along the buildings in Parque Central to see who was sleeping there. I was lucky enough to find one of my favourites from the shelter, Manuelito, a little elderly man full of wrinkles, almost Japanese looking and so cute. He was sitting along the wall, with the cardboard behind his back that he would be sleeping on later. Like Maria earlier that day, he too was eating from a takeout container that someone had given him. His dinner was pizza which he seemed to be enjoying. As we talked about the shelter, the things that he said were just so sweet I wish you could have heard him. He said that he liked the shelter very much; the shower, the food, and the warm place to sleep. It was so obvious how grateful he is to be able to stay there. Awww :)

I kept walking, past Maria, who was awake but lying on her cardboard covered in a blanket. Then a little farther I found Johnathan, the banana carrying guy who I have written about. It was so great to see him! Apart from a new haircut not much else is new with him. He continues to carry his bananas, now everyday, and seems to be in good spirits.

And that was my day..so great, and only the first! Tomorrow is my first day back at the shelter...and I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

One last thing..have you liked my Facebook page "Karuna in Guatemala" yet? You will find more pictures of the homeless shelter in Antigua, Guatemala, and the people that stay there..as well as lots more!