Sunday in Guatemala

Today was our final full day in Parramos Guatemala.  Before breakfast we headed to the market square to spend our last Qs. Suzanne bought and wore an authentic Guatemala woven shirt and belt, which certainly turned local heads.  Juli learned to balance bags of sugar and strawberries on her head. We were delighted to witness a parade sponsored by a local high school and health department that promoted vaccines for children.

It was an extremely emotional day for us as we moved the furniture into the “Build a Home” and “Adopt a Home”.  Loading a wardrobe, hutch, bedsprings, mattresses, benches and table into a flat board truck.  Tim and Brian rode in the back of the truck ensuring that the furniture didn’t topple over. The family, consisting of Mom (Maria), Dad (Fillip), sons (Hector 11, Esvin 10, Miqueas 2), and daughter (Alba 6), was overjoyed by the Greenbank team’s generosity. Special thanks to all our back home sponsors.

The family also received bedding, pots and pans, and dishes. We gave each family member a bag of new clothes. You should have seen their eyes bulge out of their heads.  As we left we lit firecrackers to  honour and celebrate their new home and belongings. Angela and Suzanne took mom to the local clinic, which was the back of an ambulance, and discovered together that mom was three months pregnant.

From the “Build a Home” project, we boarded the “Loving Arms” van and headed to Chitaburuy for a picnic prepared by a local family, which was a traditional Guatemala meal. I wish we could spell and pronounce the foods we ate. It was delicious. Some of the team poured a little too much hot sauce into the soup, which cause the locals to chuckle. Chickens and dogs wandered the area. 

We led the kids and their parents in crafts, games, paintings, colouring, Canadian tattoos, and the popular piñata full of hard candy.  The kids taught us how to operate a spinning top.  It is a lot harder to operate than it looked. We ended our picnic with firecrackers to celebrate the event. What an experience for the family. Laughing and smiling are universal regardless if you speak Spanish or English. Thank you to all the beautiful women in Chitaburuy who hosted and made us such a great authentic meal.

Once back to our guest house we met more families that will have special places in our hearts.

The evening dinner was in Antigua at a Canadian owed “Sunshine Grill” restaurant to celebrate and bring closure to our ten days with Loving Arm’s director, Linda, and local coordinator, Alicia and family. After pizza and wings we ended up back at the guest house to debrief the day.

Our work here wouldn’t be possible with out the direction of Linda and Loving Arms and the local support Alicia and her team provides to the Mission Teams that come to work here in this part of Guatemala.  We have been so fortunate to have met and had the pleasure to work with passionate people who inspire servant leadership in others.  The work of this organization and the dedication of the members is truly a blessing to this world.

Tomorrow we head to the Guatemala City airport at 9:30 am, catch our flight at 1:00 to El Salvador, then leave for Toronto at 2:50p.m.  We are expected to arrive in Toronto at 9:55 pm.  We are looking forward to getting back to our own beds. We are signing off for now after such a life changing experience.

Brian Jones, Juli Conard

Saturday in Guatemala

The day today started early with excitement for our “free-day” activity.  After a pancake breakfast we headed to Antigua to Filadelfia Coffee Plantation where the team split in two and one group went to experience the Guatemalan Canopy Tour and the other group to a history tour of the Coffee Plantation.

The zip line group travelled 20 minutes by truck to the top of the mountain (8000feet elevation), where we had a phenomenal view of two volcanoes – one active and one inactive.  It was a spectacular view!  The journey to the top of the mountain was filled with anticipation and nerves … Juli quickly earned the nickname “Pollo” (which means chicken) by all of the tour guides. 

We did 9 zip lines down the mountain, each one getting longer, and higher as we went.  The longest zip line was 1700feet…about 4 scream breaths long!  It was an incredible rush, with lots of laughs with the tour guides, and views that were out of this world! 

We were so concerned with safety on the zip line that we didn’t consider that the hike might be dangerous.  After Dianne did a tuck and roll down the path and took out a fencepost, we decided that we should “watch your step!”  Laughs all around, Dianne is okay, just limping around with a bummed ankle, knee, elbow, arm and hand.  No Problemo!

The Filadelphia Coffee Plantation was 600 acres, and owed 4^th generation in the same family.  Some interesting facts that we learned are:

• ·      152 beans to make 1 cup of coffee
• ·      from picking to packaging is a 6 week process
• ·      every plant is grafted by 3 women because they have a higher alkaline pH than men (grafting success rate is better for women)
• ·      the lowest quality of beans are used for instant coffee
• ·      beans are hand picked individually and sorted into 3 grades
• ·      the medium sized beans produce the best coffee

We ended our tour with the best coffee in the entire world and we will never look at coffee the same way again.

We then travelled up another mountain to the Mountain Restraunt that overlooks Antigua and the beautiful panoramic volcano view.  We invited Carlos and Cecii (our interpreters) to join us for lunch.  We enjoyed traditional Guatemalan dishes, good laughs and great company.  It was an experience unto itself.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing Antigua, enjoying the markets, bartering, appreciating the arts and crafts of the locals.  It was quite a hustle and bustle of activity and we all appreciated to see a different way of life in Guatemala (other than what we have been seeing). 

We quickly learned that Suzanne and Brian could not be left alone in the market, as they had a hard time saying no…they quickly ran out of Quetzales.  At one point Suzanne had a riot around her as she was waving her last 3 Q’s and the women were jumping all over each other – she grabbed a “hand-woven” scarf  and had to duck and run!  Brian filled his backpack with goodies and then some!  Cecelia welcomed us to her home for a tour, and then took us to a barista where they roast their own coffee and make coffee flavored chocolate…here we all purchased coffee to bring home.  We also witnessed the Miss Guatemala Pageant and it was also “Our Lady of Aparecida” where there were bands and celebrations happening in the city streets.  We have yet to figure out what “Our Lady of Aparecida” actually is.

We came home to a wonderful dinner that Carmen prepared for us.  We are all exhausted and ready for bed – tomorrow is a BUSY day!  Stay tuned – and thanks for reading!

Juli Conard-Myers, Brian Jones 

Friday in Guatemala

Our morning routine has not changed – laundry, walks, computer time, a great breakfast.  All teams had a quick get away for their projects because of Guatemala time.

On our way to the Teacher Workshop we packed 18 people in the van, which didn’t beat our record of 22 people in the van, on the way to the Training Centre to begin our day.

Twenty-five teachers and principals experienced a TRIBES overview workshop lead by Brian and Peggy.  The participants learned interactive teaching strategies that can be duplicated in their classroom.  The Guatemalan teachers represented the following villages: Paraxaj, Chitaburuy, Parrojas, and Parramos.  

All the teachers and principals appreciated the strategies and activities that moved the group through inclusion, influence, and community. Thanks to the CentreSource TRIBES for donating the Spanish TRIBES books, and the DDSB Leadership Department (Gayle Anniss) for preparing the workshop material.  These teachers are highly valued and are making a difference in the lives of the Guatemalan children. The educators were excited to learn new strategies that build community inclusion and improve student achievement. We couldn’t have been successful without our Spanish translators.

The build a home team of Tim, Doug, Suzanne, Angela and Garry went to Corrales to paint the house.  The owner wanted bright blue for the bottom half of the walls, door and window.  The top half of the walls were turquoise green.

Angel, our mason/carpenter stretched 1 gallon of paint to three gallons by adding gasoline to the paint.  Tim, Suzanne and Angela had new brushes and did the fine work while Garry had a stucco ceiling roller and Doug had a regular roller.

The stucco roller could suck up enough gasoline/paint to do half a panel if Garry rolled quickly and Doug followed to catch the running paint.  By the time one wall was done Garry looked like a green speckled gnome.  Fortunately, no smokers walked by.  The second half of the house went the same except the children were now helping to paint.  Part way around the house a little girl noticed that Garry had missed some spots and proceeded to smudge blue on his cheeks, nose, forehead, and chin – it went well with the green.  At the end there was no paint left and no gasoline for clean-up.  While waiting for our pick-up an impromptu game of soccer began.

Two girls and one boy with torn pants and bare feet and one green/blue-faced goalie took on one clean painter, the homeowner and his two sons.  We left a grateful family, uncle and grandfather with many of their blessings and a warm feeling (which wasn’t from the paint fumes).

During the afternoon Suzanne and Peggy worked with 4 ladies from Paraxaj refining their sewing techniques and learning some short cuts to complete projects which they plan to sell at markets.  They went home with some finished projects and some new tools and were so grateful for all the assistance.

The property project made great progress by the end of the day.  The morning started with Dianne and Kelly completing the drywall with the electrical boxes now installed and some more framing in prep for the afternoon.  In the afternoon Brain and Garry joined the team and worked steady.  Kelly and Gary completed the framing of the last wall, which took a lot of engineering and planning.  Brian and Dianne completed the drywall which also had the electrical boxes installed.

Suzanne gave a fifteen min lesson to Angel (the carpenter/mason) on drywall mudding and he did a fantastic job moving the project forward in the background.


Brian has just confessed the funniest thing to the group as I am typing this blog.  There was quite a period of time that we were looking for the second exacto knife.  Brian, as time passed, had convinced himself that he had drywalled the knife into the wall.  Unknown to Dianne he was looking in the wall and often asking “have you found it yet” with the answer always no.  In the end the knife was found on a table that had been tucked away in the newly created hallway.  All was well and not until now did we know anything about it.  At the end of the day everyone was extremely pleased with a job well done at the property.

The last group in the afternoon visited an elders center.  The average age of the attendees was around 65.  We received a big welcome with hugs and prayers from the men and ladies.  We played BINGO with these people and had a blast.  Tim called out the numbers in Spanish while Doug wrote it down on a white board.  Angela and Juli were at the tables helping the people.  After about 10 numbers one gentlemen called BINGO and was rewarded with a couple candies.  The distribution of these candies heightened the competitiveness of the game.  This is also when we realized that 2 people were blind and needed help to place their numbers.  Soon after another lady got a BINGO but instead of yelling BINGO she yelled GRINGO for us Canadians.  Everybody had a great laugh at this.  Tim had trouble pronouncing “G” in Spanish so he continued to pull non G numbers.  After a while there were no BINGO’s therefore G’s needed to be called.  Angela and Juli started feeding Tim numbers that were required to get some BINGO’s and although fixed it was great fun for all.  After BINGO, the team handed out sweaters as well as hygiene packs to everybody.

This again had hugs and prayers being delivered to the team.  This was a great experience and very rewarding for all.

After this we had another great dinner which was comprised of spaghetti and a salad.

Earlier in the day the team learnt that it was Angela’s 40th birthday and in Guatemala when you want to celebrate you set off firecrackers on the street.  This is usually done at 5am or 6am however we did it at 7pm in the dark.  The team bought the firecrackers to enable this moment.  The first set was 3ft long and the second set was 15ft.  Tim was responsible for lighting the firecrackers and we were warned that as soon as you light the firecrackers you have to run.  Tim didn’t know which end to light so he asked the 5yr neighbor.  Unfortunately the neighbor mentioned the wrong end which resulted in a huge explosion as Tim lit it which was suppose to be the finale.  Shrapnel went flying everywhere however everybody was safe.  Next we unraveled the 15ft of firecrackers and placed it on the street.  Tim tried to light the correct end however it didn’t work therefore he tried to light the incorrect end.  When he attempted our house mom ran back into the kitchen in fear of her life.  Tim then reached out to a local with the lighter and had him set it off.  What a blast full of risk and laughs.  Happy Birthday Angela at the risk of the others.  We plan to do this again at the picnic that will take place on Sunday.  All in all a great day was had by all and an abundance of prayers were delivered and received.

Tim Myers, Peggy Hunter, Garry Hunter, Brian Jones, Dianne Pelletier

Thursday in Guatemala

Today started with the anticipation of a dry day and we decided to do some laundry.  This was on the wash board out back and the clothesline strung in our back yard.  This mornings washers were Dianne, Garry, Juli and Kelly - a group effort.  

Some small groups then went for a walk in the town and all unexpectedly arrived together in the Hardware Store.  Here with our excellent command of the Spanish language we tried to buy a drywall dimpler for the property project!  After several sad tries to explain our request Tim showed a picture of the tool on his phone.  At this point it was confirmed they had no such item. It was decided pliers and a Philips screw driver as plan B.

When we returned a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit and eggs was on the table and we share in our morning devotional.

A team of 4 went to discover the village of La Hermita, where there is no school, but an active community, as word of mouth travelled the children came in droves to participate in our games and crafts.  

The Alpha Y Omega Church had a dirt floor, with cinderblock pews, but was a large enough area for Brian to do parachute games with the kids.  Unfortunately this resulted in a “dust bowl” but the kids loved every minute of it!  Suzanne, Angela and Juli taught the children and mothers how to make friendship bracelets – the children all loved the craft and one woman Rosa showed us how she makes the traditional woven friendship bracelets.  

She was kind enough to make each of us one and we made one for her in return – “friends for life.”   This was a community with much need, we met a little girl no more than 3 who is taking treatments for Lukemia, and another little 3 year old boy Juanito whose mother recently passed away.  He had a heartbreaking story but a smile that would melt any heart. 

  We offered goody bags for each child and they were so excited to each receive such a gift.

The property project (Kelly and Dianne) was off to a great start with the discovery of a four leaf clover near the entrance.  

By the end of the morning two walls were framed and dry walled   Alicia (Guatemalan Liason) was happy to return with a drywall gun to make the project easier. 

Dry wall is not something that most people have seen in this area so this was a difficult purchase that required a trip to a near by town and five stores before one was found.  

In the afternoon a 16ft wall was framed and the lower half was dry walled.  Alicia spent the afternoon with the property group offering great humor and lots of teasing.  It was a successful day and the electrician is scheduled to arrive at 5am tomorrow morning so the walls can be completed tomorrow. 

The lunch of the day consisted of hamburgers.  The burgers were great except for Tim’s as he forgot to add the burger.  This was a great demonstration of his building skills as pointed out by Kelly.

Upon arriving in Parraxaj, Suzanne and Angela were dropped off at the local school.  They then walked to the home of one of the local women where they were helping 5 women refine their sewing skills and marketing to encourage self-sustainability.  The sewing machine was in the bedroom of one of the local ladies.  In all, there were 10 women, 6 children and a dog in the room.  Suzanne began to help fine-tune their craft through an interpreter.  Once the rains came, the sound of the raindrops on the tin roof made it difficult to hear, but they persevered.  The women were very gracious and grateful for the help.  They were happy to know they were going to see them the following day to continue with their work. 

The build a home project started with walls being carried to the cement pad and then individually put up 1 by 1.  Tim hammered the nails through the boards into the cement and once that was done Garry would drill holes for lag bolts to attach the 2 walls together. 

Peggy followed up with the bolt insertion while Doug applied the nuts and washers.  We got to the last wall and Peggy then asked Doug if he preferred to apply the nuts and bolts from the left or the right.  Unfortunately her wording was “Doug how do you prefer to screw?"  Once the walls were up it was time to do the roof supports.  The homeowner unfortunately couldn’t reach the roof therefore he used a wooden crate plus a cinder block plus a pail to get enough height.  Definitely not the safest approach, but without a ladder, what do you do?

In the afternoon the team was driven back out to Corrales to work on the project however was driven by the homeowner and the community van.  Once at the project home the group mounted the door, the window and the roof.

Unfortunately the door fell and split one of the side boards.  Brian and Tim had to rebuild the door which was the formation of the CF Alliance.  Eventually the door was built again and hinges were applied.  The hinges were applied with screws however the screwdriver wasn’t good enough therefore they were hammered into place.  Peggy and Doug built the window and applied the hinges as well.

Lastly we spent 20 minutes with the family fitting them with shoes and came back to a lovely dinner.
This consisted of pollo (Chicken) some local squash, beans, carrots and corn.  A great meal after a hard days work.  We are now convening and in tears of laughter, and sharing emotional stories after our meal to right this blog.  Our day wrapped up with one word from each of us:  Fantasitc, Emotional, Unforgettable, Humorous, Exciting, Amazing, Fulfillment, Challenging, CF'ism-Mania, Joyous.

Dianne Pelletier, Tim Myers, Suzanne Lee, Juli Conard-Myers