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Trips 3
Guatemala
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Hello Everyone!
Here is the first part of my report on
my recent mission trip to
Guatemala. This
portion of the report will deal with the Ministry portion of the trip. The second part will talk
about the non-ministry activities.
A team of 10 of us from
the local Baptist Association went
to Guatemala
for one week – Oct. 11-18, to do home construction, to work in a
children’s malnutrition center, and to do backyard kids clubs. We worked with local
missionaries who coordinated the work.
I think they might have been a little concerned when they
got the preliminary information about us. Our
ages were 75, 75, 70, 66, 64, 63, 55, 53, 46, and 24. But
we accomplished a lot. It
was a very successful trip.
We flew from Orlando to Miami
to Guatemala City. Our home base was Antigua ,
Guatemala , a relatively prosperous and beautiful city. We worked in much poorer
areas near Antigua. Antigua
is about a mile in elevation and is surrounded by volcanoes – at least
one of which is active.
Initially, we were to have
built a house for a family
whose rental house had burned the week before.
The mayor of the town of Pastores had requested the
missionary’s help in rebuilding it. When
we went to the site on Monday morning, we had about a half-mile hike up
a very steep grade. It
was tiring just to walk up it. All
materials would have to be hand carried up to the site – concrete,
rock, sand, water, lumber, siding, concrete blocks, etc. It seemed like a near
impossible task for us. After
we got to the top, we got word that the owner of the land had changed
her mind and decided not to allow us to build on it.
(I felt like sending her flowers J). The mayor had another family
who needed a home; so, we built one for them.
The second home site was only about 250
feet from the street. We
had to carry all of the
materials from the highway, but that seemed easy compared to the other
site. We cleared off the site
the first day. The land was
only about 25 feet x 25 feet (6m x 6m). The
house was 16 x 16 (5m x 5m), which seems very small, but it was the
nicest house in the neighborhood when it was finished.
The second day we dug and poured the footer. The third day we put up all walls
and the roof. The
concrete floor was poured the fourth day. All
concrete was had mixed with shovels and hoes, and wheel borrowed to the
site. The lady who
was the new owner was moved to tears as we presented it to her.
Four of us worked on the
construction team, along with
some guys the mayor provided to work with us.
The other six members of our team worked in a children’s
malnutrition center, plus help two afternoon kids clubs – VBS type
activities.
The malnutrition center
was built by a Lions Club in
Guatemala many years ago and had 200 children at the center. Now, because of a lack of
money, it only has about 35 children. Some
Guatemalan families are not able to feed all of their children and
literally quit feeding one or more of them.
Some of them die; others are fortunate enough to be taken
to a facility such as a hospital or this malnutrition center. The center keeps them on an
average of about 10-11 months, and the families take them back,
sometimes leaving another child in their place. They
were almost out of food. We
bought about $400 worth of food and baby formula.
The children there are babies through 8 years old. The staff does all that it
can for the children, but their time and resources are very limited. Lice and scabies were common
among the children. Our team
members did a variety of things, including changing babies, cleaning
them, buying medicine for them, playing with them, loving them, helping
with the laundry, etc.
On Tuesday and Thursday
afternoons, they went to other
locations to conduct kids clubs. On
Tuesday, they had about 55 kids attend. On
Thursday, there were only 5 kids there when it was time to start, but
eventually, 127 kids showed up, along with about 30 moms. They all got to have a lot
of fun, and heard a clear presentation of the Gospel.
It
was a successful trip, and we plan to have more in the
future.
Cathedral in Antigua with Volcano in
background.
Street
scene in surrounding town.
Steep grade up to the initial
site.
Looking
back down from initial
home site
Local muddy roads - our van got
stuck..
Local
municipal laundry.
Walking to the second home site, 250 feet
from
road.
Bamboo and corrugated metal
walls - typical.
Cooking stove. Some just cook on the
ground.
Vacant lot - about 25 ft x
25 feet.
Foundation poured on the second
day.
Walls built and put up the
third day.
Future owner, Rosaria,
watching.
Walls going up. 3rd day.
Roof joists in place. 3rd
day.
Our entire team with
new owner and one of her children.
Kids at the malnutrition
center.
Joy helping the kids get
dressed.
75-year old Horace with
child.
Team members with kids. (2 are missionary kids).
Wood cook stove in the
center.
Nursery area.
One of the
babies.
Street scene going to Thursday kids club.
5 kids at the start of kids
club.
75-year old Lois
helping at kids club.
127 kids at the end of kids
club.
Street scene - horse and
cows.
Email Jim Durham and perhaps go with him
on one of his
excursions.
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Thanks