Guatemala: Dia Cuatro

On day 4, we were assigned to work on the stove project (yay!!).  We traveled to a neighboring village and were going to being building two families new stoves.  In Guatemala, the women wake up very early every morning to make 140 tortillas for the day for their families.  Oftentimes they makes these tortillas on an open fire, and without the proper ventilation within their homes they end up inhaled this harsh smoke.  This can lead to numerous respiratory problems after extended exposure.  In addition, these makeshift stoves are a fire hazard and threaten to burn down houses with every use.  The mission started the stove project to help relieve some of these problems for the hard-working people of Guatemala.

To build these stoves, we first began but sifted through some dirt and rocks to make concrete (this will not be the last time I make concrete by hand either...more to come in day 6!).  We proceeded to mix the cement mix and water in the newly formed pile of sifted dirt.  The cement was going between the cinder blocks that would become the new stove.  This was definitely a new and interesting experience!

The room in which we were constructing the stove was really small, so all 9 members of our group plus the long-term volunteer from the mission plus the two construction workers could not all be working at the same time.  In between cementing the cinder blocks, many children from the town were gathering to play with us. The little girls totally get a kick out of braiding our hair and singing the 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' in Spanish for us. It was a lovely break from the manual labor involved with building the stove.  Oh and the chicos were absolutely precious too :)

Photo Credit: Emily DeVore

On Tuesday I was struggling the most with understanding why I was in Guatemala and what the purpose of this trip was.  I knew that I was there to serve the people of Guatemala, but while I was struggling to mix the cement, I could not help but wonder that what I was doing was not really contributing anything at all.  I felt that the mission could employ their own workers to do a better, and more efficient job at building this stove than I could, an American from 2,500 miles away with no experience.  I felt a slight disconnect from my fellow volunteers and from the Guatemalans I was working with.  It left me with an uneasy feeling that I was not sure how to deal with.  I did not want to offend the people I was trying to serve, and that day I could not help but imagine that my presence there was just taking up space and getting in the way.  I was so grateful to have had a close to hash this all out with that day, and who was experiencing similar feelings.

This uneasiness quickly subsided after that day and I learned that I was in Guatemala on a service-immersion experience.  I was not simply there to be as productive as possible, to "fix" the most things, or to even help the most people.  I was meant to immerse myself in a different culture, learn to appreciate the variations, and embrace the people around me in a spirit of solidarity.  I found these feelings of doubt and uncertainty to lead me to an even more profound recognition of all that this trip offered me and for this reason I am glad that I experienced them. I gained a understanding that although there appear to be bumps along the road, it can truly lead to something even greater.

Today, a read a quote (actually from one of the girl I just talked about above!) that I think speaks volumes to the entire trip, but especially this day.

"I have no idea where this will lead us. But I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange."

So here's to the wonderful and strange places life leads us.
cheers.

AL.

P.S. I truly apologize for the rambly-ness of this post, too many thoughts to string together! Haha.