Escuela Kemna'oj, floor pour and more!!!

 

What a day!! We had such a great day I don't know where to begin....so I will start at the beginning. On the fourth day of the building process the only thing that needs to be done is the pouring of the floor in the house. Since this is a short day FHTH's always takes the volunteers to visit the school. The name of the school is Kemna'oj which means "weaving minds, weaving knowledge" in the kechiquel language. This is the language that the Mayan Indians speak and Santa Maria de Jesus is a Mayan village. The Mayan culture has a very rich history. The Maya are more then 50% of the population in Guatemala. Weaving is one of the outstanding Mayan crafts and is exhibited throughout the community especially in the women's clothing.  One of the things I love so much is the color, the beautiful bright colors that are every where you look when you visit Santa Maria de Jesus. There is also a very deep sense of family here, and sadly extreme poverty.

 

 

We brought the children apples and banana bread.

We arrive at the school and the children are already in class. The principle likes to take a few minutes to explain the mission of the school and the issues they face every day. These children are from extremely poor families, and that always presents many problems with the children.  The majority of these children's parents do not have an education and so they are unable to help their children with their home work. There are very dedicated teachers at the school, and they face these challenges every day with dedication and kindness towards these beautiful children. The children love when the volunteers come to visit. They love to be picked up and they enjoy playing with you.  It is no secret when you see these children that they thrive at this school.

Beautiful!!!

 

 

 

 

Laura Nelson, Volunteer

 

Brittany

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every child that attends this school receives breakfast and lunch, something they may not have at their homes, and most likely if they do, it will not be a nutritiously healthy meal.
We hope that these children will continue with us through the 6th grade and then go onto the next level of school. We can only hope and pray that education remains a part of their lives. Some of the effects of poverty include children needing to go to work, and Mothers needing the children at home to help them with the younger children in the family. It is a sad fact of life in Guatemala that most children do not make it to the 6th grade. There is no question that education can break the chain of poverty. This is a daily challenge that we find worth fighting.
After we left the school, which by the way is located in a rented space that is much to small we traveled to the construction site of the new building which we hope will be completed for the 2013 school year.  Joe Collins, Executive Director and Founder of FHTH's explains exactly what the school will look like when it is completed. Larger classrooms, offices for doctor and dentist visits, psychologist office, grey water system, 15000 gallon water cistern. Water is a huge problem in Santa Maria, there are long periods of time when the people have no water, we hope to help with that. There are many more great features of the school.  You can read more about it on the FHTH's website.  http://fromhousestohomes.org/EscuelaKemnaojdeSantaMariadeJesus.html

After we left the school we travel to our work sites to pour the floor.  Just one task to day towards the completion of the home, however it is a somewhat heavy task. To pour the floor you need 5 bags of concrete, 4 wheelbarrows of stone, and sand.  As we make our way up the mountain to the location children are gathered along the hill saying, "Hola, dulce por favor."  Hello, sweets please. I have made it a habit to give them some sort of sweet treat as I leave every afternoon, I remind them that I will have "dulces en la tarde"  " Sweets in the afternoon."  I don't know if that is proper Spanish, but its the best I got. These kids are always dirty, with tattered clothes, yet they have huge smiles.

"Dulces, por favor?"



We arrive at the work site and get right to work. We are greeted with grateful smiles. The children are always happy to see the volunteers, as are their parents, but I think the kids like the "company," if you will. I am not quite sure that these kids see much more then this mountain most days of their lives. There are many people in Santa Maris that have never been off this mountain. Very sad in the sense that there is a whole world out there that they have never explored. Who knows though, this may be all they need. I don't like to make a habit of putting my gringo thoughts into their minds.

So we start shoveling as our workers prepare the top of the house for the roof whcih will be added tomorrow as we paint. A constant thought is that this is our 4th day, I hate how fast it goes. I love it here so much...did I say that once or twice before:) We do still take our lunch break, which becomes a time of reminisce and laughter.  For some reason when you make this trip there are so many funny things. Our group is great!!  We have had lunch and dinner together every day since we arrived and it has been nothing short of a great time. This is the Nelson's first trip so it is interesting to hear their perception of their experience.  They have confirmed it is hard work, yet they have enjoyed all of it.



You can't even see the bottom

I know that I have mentioned the hill we climb every day to work, but lt me share this with you. Last Friday, before we arrive, the block, approximately 700 per house, which means for this location, 2100 block, cement, stones, and sand are dropped as close to the house as possible. It is the families responsibilitiy to get it to the work site. So think about this...these families carried 2100 block, all the cement and multiple wheelbarrrows of stone and sand up that mountain....you know the one that I said we had trouble walking  everyday. Yes, they did that in 2 days preparing for our arrival.  So ask yourself, if you found a perfect location to build a home in the USA, on a mountain which most likely you would have chosen for the view, and the builder asked you to carry the building supplies to the top of the mountain,  what would you say to himyour answer without being there.

 

 

 I decided to take a walk when I was done with my lunch. I stumbled on a 4 children having some fun. Three were in a wheelbarrow and the the 4th was puching it. They were holding one of the big beach balls that The Dickerson family had brouth them. The girl pushing them was puching down that hill as fast as she could, occasionally sh would crash and the kids would laugh themselves silly and then they would continue on.  So funny...they were having the time of their life!! Wheelbarrow and a beach ball.....who knew...right?

Back to work.  First is to mix the sand and cement together..this is tough and it takes 5 of us to do it. It has to be thoroughly mixed or it won't be "concreta."  When everything is prepared we start the bucket brigade to pour the concrete. Spackle buckets filled with concrete.....heavy to say teh elast. Everybosy has a job, there are thse mixing the concrete, shoveling it into buckets, and the ones that hand it off to each other and the pour in the house while Juan smoothes out into a floor. We do a darn good job, however occasionally a strong Guatemalan worker will jump in to mis more cement quickly. These men build these house about 50 weeks a year, they asre "strong as bull," and never do you hear them complain or criticize about your technique. If somethin isnt right they very gently correct you. They are wonderful men...I will save that story for another day.  We finish the floor and we are done for today.



Edgar puts the finishing touches on the floor.

All 3 houses complete the floor and have enough concrete to put a little step in front of the house. They are really looking like a home.  Tomorrow we paint....the families have chosen great colors for their individual homes. 

The other day Oscar came to me and sais he has prepared a surprise for Joe back at the school today. He wants to express his thanks to Joe for all he has done for the Guatemalan people. Joe of course knows nothing about this, and we laugh because both Oscar and I know that he does not like fanfare. Instead of heading back to the hotel we go back to teh school and join all the volunteers and workers and wait for Joe and Oscar to arrive. When they arrive and Joe walks through the door he gets a big hand of applause from everyone. Joe replies, "Who am I going to fire tomorrow."  No surprise to me, but the reality is I believe that he appreciates the gesture. Oscar speaks in english and Gabby the clinic administrator translates for all the Guatemalan people.  They express their deep gratitude for all Joe has done. Oscar has had a beautiful plaque made for Joe. Joe then speaks and expresses his gratitude for Oscar, the teachers, and all the workers including Saul and Carmen who work in the office, and of course the volunteers. Joe makes a point to say he could do none of this without Oscar, something he says often. It was a very nice moment. It was very typical Guatemalan, low key and with grandeur. That is one of the things I like about it here, they do not require grand celebrations to  express their gratitude. Just simple and to the point.  The teachers had made a beautiful poster and had some of the children put their hand prints on it with a message to Joe. Of course all the messages are in Spanish so Joe will never know what they say unless he goes on google translate...which is never accurate with translation...lolol. There is one thing we know for sure, these children feel that Joe is their hero. They adore him as evidenced when ever he enters the school they run to him and hug him. They think he is all that and to them he is. He has given them the gift of caring...they truly know that he cares about them and what happens to them in their future. They know for sure, that he will do anything for them, and that is a fact!

After work and a quick icy cold shower we ladies go do some shopping for our familes. Housewarming gifts and an incredibly funny and large pinata.  We get brooms, water buckets, clothespins, towels and some toys for the kids. It is really fun to bring gifts to the families for their new homes.

Dinner and some yoga and it is off to bed.....oh and let me not forget that Sharon and Morgan decided to scare the dickens out of me by sticking the angry bird pinata through my window.