Reflecting: UNITY

How do we begin to sum up an experience that has taught us and touched so much?
We’ve walked a road in which we’ve learned about war and violence, oppression from government past and present, class disparity and social rejection, of natural disaster, and disease. But we’ve also walked a road that has shown us the magnitude of simple joys, hospitality, the resilience of people through faith and hope, and of God’s goodness and beauty that refuses to be ever completely extinguished.

I struggle most with knowing how to conclude. I speak for all of us when I say that we want to give you this package bursting with all we’ve learned and all the ways we’ve changed and want other to change. But how to present this package to you. What’s next?

I don’t have a concise answer to follow here. Don’t get your hopes up.
I’ve chosen one single simple verse from psalm 133 which says:

1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity!

Unity. Unity. I seems so simple. But it means so much or would mean so much for people in Guatemala and for our own lives here.

To live in unity means, to have peace and respect for others, to share equally so that divisions aren’t made, to be in community and love with one another. What would our cultural landscapes in Guatamala and here in Canada look like, if people lived in genuine unity?

As a group anxious to move forward with what we’ve learned, we ask you to join with us in critiquing our lives to determine ways in which we don’t live in unity with others. Whether this be the way we treat people next door, or from different social status or how our actions and lifestyle choices impact those further away from us, in places like central America.

Reflecting on the trip: LIBERATION

So, towards the end of our trip in Guate, we had the opportunity to climb a volcano. We hiked over rivers, through forest, past wild bulls and up extremely steep slopes. It was a really big hike and by the time we reached the top we were exhausted. It was really draining but when we finally got there we were rewarded by a breathtaking view of Guatemala, Mexico and beyond. The air was clear and you could see forever.

In Guatemala, there is a lot of poverty and unfortunate communities. Every day the people there have to put forth an effort to survive. To work for the necessities needed to live, the basics. This is something that we, the middle class of North America would find extremely stressful if we had to worry about: whether we would have enough food for our family all week, or whether the rain that occurs there every day would continue non-stop and cause a mudslide. These are things they have to be concerned about. Here at home, we don't have these things to worry about. We stress over things like money, and clothes. Or what school we're going to go to, or our car insurance. All these material things. We don't need a lot of these things or else we really don't need to worry about them. Our society is based on outward appearance and material possessions. We are constantly bombarded by the media and other consuming messages. We are brainwashed to think so many things about ourselves and each other that aren't right. We are practically strangled by our culture.

I think that this is part of the reason why people are so much more open to the concept of God and Christianity in Guatemala. Because we worry about such material things, it goes to show how much we have and how little we have to worry about. We are SO blessed. But because of this, we feel less inclined to rely on God because we don't think we have to. It was so much easier to decipher right from wrong in Guatemala. People in Guatemala are so focussed on the truth and what needs to be done. How we need to change to change the world. One of the major quotes we went by on our trip was one we learned even before we went. We liked to think of it as our theme quote, kind of what our goal was. It went like this,

"If you've come here to help me, then you're wasting your time. But if you've come here because your liberation is tied to mine, then walk alongside me."

Isn't that what it's all about? If your liberation is tied to mine, then walk alongside me. This quote recognizes that each society struggles with and suffers from different afflictions. Guatemalans may be poor materially, but we here in North American are poor spiritually and suffer from this.

In John 14, Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life." Freedom is truth. And truth is Jesus. Doesn't the bible say that the 'truth will set you free?' I think it will. Jesus wants us to work together for truth, so that we can be free and in relationship with him. In Guatemala seeking truth means working against injustices in their country. Here in North America, we suffer from our lifestyles of overconsumption and reliance on money. It leads us into to loneliness, damaged relationships, depression, unsatisfication. . So maybe here as Canadians, searching for truth is eliminating the unnecessary material desires that lead us away from true fulfilment. We can only get true fulfillment through Jesus.

Just like climbing that mountain was exhausting, wearisome, and a test of our endurance, so is this climb towards freedom. Even when you can't see the top, and the path ahead looks way too steep to carry on, once we get to the top, everything will be clear to us, just as the top of the volcano was. The way of Jesus is so clear, and that is what we are searching for. Juan-Pablo, and incredible man working with MCC reminded us of something that day. God has made us so that we can do this. He told us that he has created us to have strength like Samson, courage like David, wisdom like Solomon, and humility like David. And with characteristics like these, I think we can find Truth.

- Sarah Steiner

Host Families

The most memorable part of our trip was staying with host families in Panabaj (near Lake Atitlan) and in San Marcos. We never ceased to be astounded by the hospitality, generousity, and openess in which they received us.

Hey Everyone

Today we sadly had our last spanish lessons. so we all said our last good byes to our teachers. After that we headed off to San Antonio Agua Caliente. There we had a cross cultural experience with a Mayan family. We had lunch with them, a wedding style feast and got to try our hand at tortilla's making. After lunch, Ellen and Joel had a pretty exciting experience, they got married mayan style, we all got to dress up in traditional mayan out fits and experianced the wedding of joel and ellen. we got taught a dance and learned about all the component of what the women would wear in the wedding ceremony. At this place we were also able to see parrots and a lemur. We also got to eat a ton of chocolate covered fruit which was delicious! It was a lot of fun to create realtionships with this close family.

We are going out for a traditional Guatemalan meal now,
Caleb

DAY 15

Today we started off as usual, with our Spanish lessons. Everyone is improving.
This morning we were joined by Rafael, a Mennonite pastor. He spoke to us about how Mennonites got to Guatemala. We learned that the Catholic church and State had a really strong relationship from 1482-1882. Then different churches were invited by the president. The Mennonite church was first introduced in 1970, long after the Protestants, Pentecostals and Methodists. After a terrible earthquake in 1976 a missionary founded 22 Mennonite churches by hiring Pentecostal priests. Then, because these churches did not share the Anabaptist theology, funding was cut off and the number of churches went down to 6. Eventually, the Mennonite church did establish itself in Guatemala. Today, Mennonites are still a very small percentage of the non-Catholic population.
For lunch, we drove to a community centre and ate with a class of adorable Guatemalan children. We sat with them at their little tables on their little stools. Caleb and Jess seem to have the strongest connection to the children we meet. During our meal they introduced themselves and sang nursery rhymes. After we visited the other parts of the centre. They had a bakery and to support their programs we bought some pastries for 0.65Q (about 9 cents) each. The women at the centre are also responsible for many of the Guatemalan crafts we see at Ten Thousand Villages. We saw the room full of sewing machines and materials. Some of us purchased their beautiful, creative, and hand-made crafts.
The rest of the afternoon was for us to enjoy! It was actually a little weird not having something planned until supper.
After dinner we had some "individual time" to reflect on something that has impacted us. We shared our thoughts and discussed those important moments.
We are leaving CASAS tomorrow and need to pack so...
Good night.

Trevor POGUE, and Tanya Ayala

Hello family and friends!
We are back in Guatemala City now after a fun weekend in Chichicastenango!
It was a 3ish hour drive through mountains over the edge of ravines and quite the trip. !! We visited a women's cooperative called Ruth and Naomi and were treated to a delicious second lunch made by some hospitable women. They told us about their project and showed us all their beautiful creations, which many of us decided to buy. They also had very cute children who enjoyed taking pictures of us and playing with our hair elastics etc. We also visited some ruins called Iximche I believe which were really interesting!
But Since Joel is talking more about our chi chi weekend, let me tell you about CASAS!
CASAS is so far a really great place to be. There are many ¨mission¨groups here from the states that stay at CASAS and they are very interesting. We also have really neat speakers most days at CASAS and are learning a lot of interesting things, including spanish! Our group is divided up into a couple classes and I think we are all really happy for the chance to learn more of this language.! After our week in El Salvador at the forum, I know we all wished we could speak Spanish a lot better since we were quite handicapped in those regards. So we really apprecitate our spanish teachers and the useful lessons they are teaching us .
Last week we had 2 really interesting speakers. One of them was named Hector. He was a VERY intriguing speaker who began his speech by forcing us all to introduce ourselves in Spanish. We all laughed as we struggled . .. this is another reason why spanish classes are handy..! Hector spoke to us about the history of Guatemala and the leaders and his experience in it. He was very optimistic and hopeful, which was nice because we are learning so much information that is often sad and depressing. But he pressed how WE are the change that will happen and change the future and that it is in the hands of these next generations. Anyways, he was a great speaker.
Another speaker that we also had was a professor from the Guatemalan univeristy at a Ph d level. im sorry I can´t remember his name! He talked to us about the Mayan history of Guatemala and was very intelligible. He had a lot of information about all the different Indigineous groups and it was neat to hear about. Guatemala´s history is very interesting, thats for sure.
This morning after Spanish we went to an organization that was of the families whose members had been separated. It was called GAM. It was sad to hear about all the people they work with. They are trying to connect children from aunts, uncles, parents and other relatives that they gor separated from during the violence. Its really neat that they are trying hard to reunite people when it is a bit of a risky business for them! After that we went to a park where there was a huge map of Guatemala´s terrain. It was awesome and a really friendly guide helped to answer any of our questions.
During the evenings we have been watching videos having to do with peace or violence or a totally random one that CASAS has lying around. ha ha. Either that or having latin dances with Nataly, Melany and Pablo who go to one of the Mennonite chruches here in Guate. city.
We are having a great time and really looking forward to leaving the city and going out to the country. Thanks for your prayers and thinking about us!
Sarah :)

Today we visited a cultural anthropology lab which exhumes bodies of those that died during the massacres in the time of violence. Families who lost someone approach this organization hoping to find the remains and have a proper burial. Here they are funded by the european government to dig up the bones of family members who were killed in genocides and masacrars. By digging up these bodies, the people of Guatemala are able to prove that these events did occur, and fight for their right to justice. Our group was esspecially intrigued by this event because it made the history and stories we have been hearing so much more real. We felt so privelaged to be able to walk through the lab and stand right in front of the bodies they were investigating. Jennifer, the anthropologist taught us that you can identify so much just by looking at the bones. We were able to take a look at a 30-40 year 0ld man, who had been shot through the head and burried deep in the ground by the army. Often times family members would flee from the military and hide in the mountains, if they would die of starvation in the mountains the family members would quickly bury them in the night and keep on running. Their are many families now who remember where they were burried and want to dig them up to give them a proper burrial.
When viewing the bones of a child it really hit me. The spine vertibraies were about the size of a nickle, and the ribs were as small as twigs you would see on trees. I couldnt belive that any human being could kill something so small and new to this world. Never should a child ever deserve to die. Seeing this made me feel sick to my stomach. It clicked in that they were people and not numbers, I was able to relate to them, they had families and friends just like us. These children played hopscotch and catch just like us.
Jennifer says right now they are on a very low rate of digging bodies because of past financial issues, 1-2 per week. The Guatemalan government does not support investigations of these masacars financially or otherwise. Jennifer also says that when there is enough funding from outside sources , they can have up to 10 exhumations or projects at once.
Although seeing this was difficult emotionally, we found that we are so greatful for this learning experience because so many people back home are unaware of these events. Through these experiences we are able to see that we are brothers and sisters with those who have suffered, and although we seem so distant and far away, we are very connected. In this way, we have discovered that apathy is no longer an option.
Ellen Reesor

Chichicostenago

Yesterday morning, we woke up high in the mountains in the town of Chichi. After slipping on our crumpled dress shirts, after a very early wake up. we struggled out of bed and headed into the city centre for catholic mass. At the church there were many different rituals being performed that would not be found at a mennonite church. Apparently a lot of their rituals were rooted in the local indigenous culture. One example of these rituals visible in the Catholic church was the men who stood at the front of the church. In the traditional Mayan village these men would have been the Elders. Another difference was that instead of playing an organ all the music was traditional Mayan music with an instrument that sounded a lot like a xylophone. Also the service was in both Spanish and Quechi (the traditional language of the Mayans).

After mass we went to the infamous Chichicostenango market. It was absolutely insane, if you even glanced at something a vendor would start shouting random prices at you or even begin chasing after you while shouting things like "THIS IS BUSINESS!". At first a lot of us were kind of reluctant to bargain but when we realized they were way overcharging us we really started bargaining and made some really good deals. Thankfully I didn't keep any money in my pockets because if I had it would have certaintly been stolen because at every busy section (which was pretty much everywhere) I felt people feeling my pockets to see if there was any money in them. One thing that was very hard for many of us were the kids that would continue to follow us everywhere begging us to buy something from them or even if they had nothing to sell they would ask us for money. At the end of our market buying most of us ended up with some pretty cool purchases but also some stupid ones just because we got so into the bargaining.

After these past few weeks there are many things that I have discovered about the Guatemalan culture. I'd love if our Canadian way of life could incorporate more of the friendliness, and openness that I have expereinced here. I am really looking forward to the places we will be visiting after CASAS such as climbing the highest volcano in all of Latin America!


Hasta Luego!
Joel

Contrast tour

Greetings to all!
Yesterday our group had the opportunity to visit the city dump. The dump was basically a once beautiful ravine filled almost to the top with garbage. The smell was overwhelming and there were vultures swarming everywhere. The most shocking thing were the throngs of people digging through the garbage, trying to find something valuable to sell so that they could survive. We were told that people once lived practically in the dump and that children too took part in this money making scheme. This is illegal now but we wondered where those people went and what those children are up to now. It was an emotional visit.
After we had the oppotunity to visit the dump we went to a huge mall. The idea was to show us the huge contrast between the social classes here. Coming directly from the dump where there was suffering all around us to something so North American and consumeristic was shocking. The mall was the biggest one that I had ever seen, more clean and proper than the ones at home. The stores were air conditioned and smelled too clean and new. I felt overwhelmed and kind of panicky to be in such a huge snobby place when we had just come from a place where people had nothing. It was hard for us to see such differences and to make sense of them. I think that this tour was a good learning opportunity for all of us and helped us to get a better view of the social situation here.
Christine

Hector CastaÑeda

Hola!
I (jess) am going to be writing about this past Wednesday when Hector Castaneda gave us a lecture (i use this word lightly) about the history of Guatemala.
Up until this point we have been hearing about really heavy topics, which i know is really important when we are learning about a new culture, but it can be very overwhelming at times. Hector has a sense of humour. When he walked into the room he immediatly began talking to us in only Spanish, which was a little scary but he was funny about it.
Hector spoke to us about the history of Guatemala in a very easy to understand way. He explained things bluntly and to the point, and i was actually sad when it was over. I hope when i get to university theres speakers like Hector.
i have at least two pages of notes that i could talk about but heres the jist of it... Gutemalteca (guatemalan) people who are not rich have been taken advantage of for a very long time and have not been treated the way humans should be treated. its very angrifying actually. But im so glad that i get to learn about this.
We also started spanish classes on wednesday and as usual for me, the first day was confusing and hectic, but i enjoy classes now. i think im better at spanish for the 2 days that ive been learning than the 2 years of german ive been taking. but im not sure hehe.
After our spanish classes we (finally) went into guatemala city near the palace and churches and got to know the city a little bit. It is a really nice city with beautiful people.
Im so glad that i applied for this trip. No regrets. I reccomend that you all try out Guatemala at some point in your life.
Adios for now,
jess.

Casas Activities

We started Spanish lessons today and I think everyone is very excited to learn a new language. After spending time at the youth forum and using our few spanish phrases, we re anxious to know more. My class includes Joel, Cass, Trevor and myself. The group is split into different classes based on levels. There are the intermediate crew which include Sarah, Christine and Kathryn as well as the super advanced which is only Tanya!

Now that we ve been to both El Salvador and Guatemala I ve noticed many differences between these countries. Even the weather. The difference in weather from El Salvador to Guatemala is extreme. In El Salvador it didn t rain, but in Guatemala rain is pouring down hard... All the time! The rain hasnt stopped our spirits from being high. We are all bonding very well and are becomign a mini family. I think is important since we have been and are going to be going trhough alot together.

The youth forum in El Salvador was an important time for our group. It was really touchign to meet the youth here who are all so hungyr for social change. You can tell it is in their blood and always on their minds. Despite the tragic stories their families have endured they arent stopped from having fun and partying and dancing. I have to say, for being a bunch of gringos we danced alright. I should especially give a shout out to Caleb who impressed alot of Latino girls.

Anyways my time is kind of ticking on the internet so I hope thigns are well in Canada

Olivia Golding

Back in Guat!

Buenos Tardes!

I´m posting this message from a little internet cafe blarring some sorta Spanish music as the enlace crew are taking in the sites of Guat city,zone one. The city is divided into zones based on the date they were built. After yesterday´s day long van ride back from El Salvador (filled with much singing,laughter and intense heat) we are excited to begun plunging into the culture of Guatemala.

This morning we learned about the history of this city from an incredibly passionate university proff and then spent an hour or so in our first Spanish clases. Divided into 4 groups we sat in little rooms with teachers who only spoke Spanish and were pretty happy to realise that we´ve already picked up a few words and phrases over the last week. THere is no better motivation for learning a language than to spend 5 days tryign to communicate with others through charades and translators. After the lessons we loaded back into our van that many of the students now call home and headed here to zone one.We are spending this afternoon walking around the oldest part of this city and observing the differences betwn guat and el slavador. Its raining buckets outside and we all feel like quite the tourists decked out in our brightly coloured rain coats and newly purchased umbrellas... funny how the warning that it would rain even though it was sunny outside this morning didn´t seem possible until a giant black cloud rolled in as soon as we had to get out of our van.

I have so much more to write but times up and I need to run back out into the rain to meet up with the others before we tour the palace belonging to one of the dictators of guat city built during the 1940´s. We are learning so much and look forward to sharing everything with you once the internet is back up at Semilla! The rest of this week will be spent in Spanish classes, and learning tours, focusing on the disparity of the riche and poor...something that we are starting to see more and more of as the palm trees and colonial style building fade into the background and we start to see the life of this city. This weekend we will be heading to Chichi, where we will be visiting a market place, spending time with some local famillies and to the excitement of all...checking out those myan ruins we keep hearing about.

In short...we´re having an amazing time and can´t wait to share our experiences with all of you..

adios!

El Salvador

Hola!

We want to start by saying sorry to all of those who have been religiously checking this blog hoping for new posts and information. Tuesday afternoon we headed to El Salvador and haven´t had internet available. We hope to have posts more frequently but are learning that nothing is quite certain!

The group had an incredible experience in El Salvador. We headed straight from Guate city on Wed morning to ANADES a development centre just outside of the capital city San Salvador. Here we had a fabulous meal of tradition pupuas and spent the night. THe following morning we moved around the city learning about the liberation theory and the inspirational life of OScar Romero who was archbishop of El Salvador during the war and who stood up for the poor and victimized. His words ¨Even if I die i will reserect for my people¨ are very true as his life continues to be inspiration for people today.

We moved on that afternoon to the Youth Forum. Here we spent four days with youth from all over central america- honduras, costa rica, guatemala, nicaragua. The group spent those days in seminars learning about the current issues faced by central american youth such as - ramifications of injust trade agreements, HIV aids, wealth disparity, north american capitalism. The second part of the weekend was dedicated to talking about actions and next steps to transform central american society.

The group took in much information during those days. Our eyes were opened wide to the impact consequences of north american decisions, governmental and individual, on the lives of central americans. Perhaps most positively impacting was the ability to gain perspecitive - to be able to look at the world without the blinders of North American society. In a debriefing session afterwards the group coined the phrase - apathay is no longer an option. It was truly an inspiring and motivating time to reflect on social justice and the need for action.

Not only did the group learn loads during our time at the forum - we had a lot of fun! We made lots of friends despite our little spanish, played sports, hiked a mountain, and danced to some tradition al salvadorean music. The general concensus of the group was that they loved the time at the forum and think the enlace group should go every year!

If you havent received an email from your participant - dont fear! We really havent hadchance at email. Everyone is doing happy and well. Illness has been minimal. Hopefully all will get a chance at internet connection soon!

Much love,
the enlace group

The Arrival!!

After a sending ceremony we embarked on our adventure. At least thats when it started to feel like leaving for Guatemala was real. We piled into the vans and headed to Kat´s house ' right near the airport. We were all too excited to sleep and stayed up past midnight chatting and giggling. That would have been all wee and good if our flight wasnt leaving at 6 am. After a hurried breakfast we discovered that one of our group members didnt have their passport! Luckily our group has wonderful parents and after a hurried transaction at the airport everyone was set to go.
Our flight on American airlines to Miami was rather uneventful. We had a three hour lay over in which I learned to play the popular Mennonite game dutch blitz.
I was so excited when our second flight touched down in Guatemala city. The first glimpse of the mountains was very beautiful. The drive to SEMILLA was eye opening. The things I couldnt get over was policemen and security officers carrying around guns.
We were all happy to get to SEMILLA. It is just beautiful here!

After a long and very needed nights sleep we are just about ready to leave for EL Salvador.

We´ll have more posts soon!

Cass Bangay

We're almost off!

With only two weeks remaining before we leave – the anticipation in the group is high!
Plans are all set and soon we’ll be headed to Pearson International to begin this adventure.

Our schedule for the next 5 weeks looks something like this;

Week 1: Arrival and travel to El Salvador for International Youth Forum
Week 2: Spend time with CASAS in Guatemala city
Week 3 -5: Travel to rural communities of San Marcos participating in work projects, educational meetings, living with families, and getting involved with recreational activities; hiking, volcanoe climbing, and swimming.

What a blessing it is to be able to travel; exploring, learning, and meeting new people.
Keep checking in at this blog in order to share this experience with us. We hope to keep it as updated as possible while we’re away.