On Monday we traveled from Coyolate to Santo Domingo , where I am living and working. Covenant Presbyterian Church has supported Juan Calvino Elementary School for six years, and has been coming to Guatemala to help with various projects for 10 years.
Our task this week was to prepare the school for the new school year, which started Monday, January 17th. Last year was the first year the school was in this particular building, and the group last year worked hard to paint every surface to ensure that it impressed parents and motivated kids. As we arrived at the school, we were met with another reminder of how different expectations were between the US and Guatemala . Most every wall was black with dirt and scribbling, evidence of lots of little hands and no cleaning at the end of the school year in October. For many who came last year, it was a bit unsettling to think about our hard work the year before, only to have to do it all over again.
However, something should be said about why this might be (and I can only speculate). First, as someone pointed out, most kids live in houses much dirtier than the school was. Whether it be lack of time/money to paint or having dirt floors, most houses, including where I live in, show years of grime on the walls. There is also a different conception of “school pride.” Many teachers here only teach for one or two years, and then move on, giving them little reason to feel connected to the school. Kids are often in school one year, and not the next, depending on their family’s finances. In addition, as I talked about before, there is a significant lack of concern about garbage.
That being said, we embarked on the project of washing, painting, and decorating the school. Here are some picture highlights…
Mario trying to avoid working…
Lots of scrubbing…
Hard-working painters…
Organizing school supplies for kids…
Escaping the heat to enjoy some watermelon…
Our very talented artists…
Mario giving his pastor workshop…
Ginger and Nancy helping with Sunday School…
An exciting trip to Pollo Campero, a KFC-like chain that is the obsession of every Guatemalan …
Eating delicious meals in Dina and Angel’s home…
The crush of (almost) every middle-aged American woman who’s come to Guatemala , who's named Edwin and is a pastor in the ocean village of Tecojate…
Jyl trying to train the roosters not to crow before 8:00am or after 8:15am . For those of you who haven’t heard my rants, roosters are probably the single thing I dislike most about Guatemala . They would hate for you to ever get some sleep, so they start crowing with gusto at about 9pm and abruptly stop at about 7am . Not to mention the random calls throughout the day…
After a long week of work, we hopped in the van to enjoy an afternoon in Antigua , which is the old capital of Central America , and a beautiful place to enjoy old architecture, good food, and overwhelming markets. After I spent the weekend there with Migde and his family (who live there), I returned in time for the start of school!
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