My Guatemalan Journey: July 9 to 19, 2009

I was part of the Rainbow World Fund (RWF) 2009 journey to Guatemala. It was an amazing experience that changed my life. I want to take the opportunity to chronicle some of what I saw and felt there. This will just be a day by day run down of events, just a small taste of the actual reality. So here goes.

Day 1: I flew in with some of the other tour group members to Guatemala City, Guatemala. It was my first time in the country, and I had no real idea what to expect. Part of the commitment to being on this tour was for each tour group member to bring donated medical and school supplies, so I arrived with a hundred pounds of supplies in two duffle bags, a walker, and all my personal luggage in a carry-on bag and knap sack.

We were met at the Guatemala City airport by Jan, one of the two Catholic Sisters that serve as guides for RWF, and two vans with drivers. About an hour later, after collecting our bags and driving through the streets of the city, we arrived at the hotel, along with most of the our other fellow travelers. All our duffle bags were stored in one room, totaling over 2000 pounds of supplies. That was pretty much the day for us. I went to my room and went to bed.

Some of the supplies the our group brought down with them.

Day 2: We started off the day, after breakfast, meeting with Julia Esquivel, a native Guatemalan poet and activist who has had a history of putting herself in danger with the Guatemalan military government in her defense of the poor and oppressed. She lived in exile during some of the war years. She was quiet and soft-spoken, more interested in hearing us speak about our experiences rather than talking about her own. Her energy was amazing, many people were moved to tears as they shared why they choose to come on this journey.

After meeting with Julia, we piled into the vans and drove down the streets of Guatemala City to the city garbage dump. There may be attractive areas in the city, but I didn’t see any today. The neighborhoods we passed through seemed poor and squalid. We were met outside the dump by Fredy Maldonado, from Project Safe Passage. Fredy took us to a cemetery that overlooked the dump, so that we could have a good vantage point.

Cemetery overlooking the dump, with vultures flying overhead.

View of the city dump from the cemetery

Fredy explained how the poorest of the poor in the city survived by going to the dump every day, pulling out recyclable trash such as plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and cardboard, which they sold for pennies. In the course of doing this, they exposed themselves to all sorts of diseases and unsanitary conditions. Fredy talked with a smile, but the anger underneath was obvious.

After the cemetery, Fredy took us to a school built by Project Safe Passage just a few years ago in the heart of the slums next to the dump. It was a dramatic study in contrasts. The school was modern, clean, immaculately maintained, while surrounded by total poverty and squalor. The school was set up to educate the children of the neighboring slums, with the hope of giving them the opportunity to escape their poverty.

Hanley Denning, an American who was studying Spanish in Guatemala who happened to visit the dump before she was to return home to the United States, founded project Safe Passage about 11 years ago. She was so moved by what she saw that she decided to stay and start a school to serve the families who at that time lived in the dump. She started the school in a deserted ruin of a building with a few students. Now the school serves 600 students and families every day. I was in awe of how one determined person can be the catalyst for some much change. I was to see this “miracle” repeated throughout the trip. It remind me of that Margaret Mead quotation “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

A view of the slums from the school

A shot of the Project Safe Passage school

The school playground

Some of the children in the school

Project Safe Passage school grounds

Fredy Maldonado from Project Safe Passage talking to our group

Our next stop of the day was the Asociacion de Mujeres En Solidaridad (AMES) medical clinic for women. Medical facilities for the poor in Guatemala are scarce to begin with, and exceptionally scarce for poor women. This non-profit clinic is one of the few places in Guatemala City where poor women and their families can receive needed medical care. It is run by Rose Escobar, who took us on a tour of the clinic. The facilities were very basic, but prior to this facility, there was nothing available to the women. Rosa’s compassion and determination were palatable. More tears.

Our group in front of the AMES medical clinic for women

Our final stop of the day was at the National Network for Sexual Diversity, a center set up to address the issues of the LGBT community, such as HIV prevention, care for people with AIDS, drug and alcohol addiction problems in the LGBT community, outreach and education, and other important issues. It’s not hard to imagine the daunting challenges confronting this organization in a third-world, heavily Catholic country, but the spokespeople who talked to us seemed to take these problems in stride and be willing to confront them head on. It was very inspirational to hear them talk and to visit the center.

The headquarters for the National Network for Sexual Diversity (NNSD)

One of the NNSD head spokespersons

Inside NNSD