Guatemala update

Yesterday I got an email from the lady in charge of the group that's going to Guatemala. Can I just say I am SO excited?? For those of you who may be somewhat clueless about this, I am going with a group of 25 people to Guatemala for a week and a half in July (47 days to be precise). We're working at an orphanage, as well as doing a little sight seeing. The email I got yesterday listed all the projects we will be working on and we just had to let her know what we would like to do. Here's an excerpt from the email describing what we will be doing:

"PROJECTS:
1. Organizing the bodega (supply house) and the children's supplies: The bodega currently has many boxes of supplies that are not shelved and many of the things that are shelved are not well organized. You would be organizing the bodega according to Vicki's instructions, doing an inventory of what each child has and needs and then supplying what they need from the bodega. The bodega is about a block from the orphanage. We will need about 4-5 people for this project.

2. Rocking the babies/little children: This project is pretty tough duty! Vicki has a woman who comes in a couple of times a week to rock the children but, of course, with children who have been severely abused and neglected, the kids never seems to get enough cuddling. We just bought 2 comfortable new rocking chairs for this project. It could be interspersed with working at the bodega since they are so close together. One of the rocking chairs will be used by my sister Nancy who recently recovered from cancer. Her doctor told her she could go with us if she doesn't tire herself out. So, when Vicki mentioned this project, Nancy jumped at it -- well, she didn't really jump because she doesn't have that much energy most days, but she was excited. So, we will need another woman who can do some baby rocking.

3. Building and installing shelving in the rented facility where the orphanage is now, building tables for various uses and building garden boxes on the land where the new orphanage is being built: The rented facility where the children are right now has little if any shelving for individual children. Those who work on this project would be making the shelving and installing it in the orphanage so the people working in the bodega can organize the supplies needed for each child. When the shelving is done, these people would go out to the land where the new facility is being built and building large garden boxes.

4. Clearing and planting the land at the site of the new orphanage: The land in at least one of the flat areas of the site was cleared at one time so doesn't have thick foliage, but some weeds and grasses have grown back so those need to be cleared. Also, you will be doing some planting in the cleared areas. The site of the new orphanage is about 25 min from the hotel. For those who are going to be doing this work, it is absolutely necessary that you wear tennis-type or athletic shoes, longer socks and long pants in case you disturb an ant nest. The ants aren't poisonous (unless you are extremely allergic to bee or insect bites or get stung many, many times) but they can sting so it's just a precaution. This is "informed consent," as my lawyer husband would say.

5. Working on the second building of the new orphanage facility: This project will be directed by the Guatemalan contractor as well as a contractor from our group, David Anderson. The directors plan for one of the buildings to be built when we get there and for us to work on the second building. Sometimes, things don't go quite a planned in Guatemala. You'll see that when we get there. So, you just have to take whatever the situation is and go from there."

And my favorite:
"Lunch will be brought to the various work sites. At the new building site the Mayan grandmother who sold the land to the orphanage has a little store directly across the street. She is ageless, toothless and pretty savy. She already has plans for her nephew to have an additional stand set up by her store for selling things. Waters will be available to you from us, but she and her nephew will also be selling waters, snacks and sodas all day. If you buy sodas from her, either get them in plastic bottles or drink them right there in her little store or she will charge you for the glass bottle as well as the soda in it."

I told her I would like to do the first two things (can't get much better than organizing stuff and rocking babies!) and I was the first one to reply (the benefits of working in an office with a computer) so I will get to do what I want.

By the way, I set up a group on Facebook called Guatemala Orphanage Donations. Check it out if you are interested in donating anything for me to take down with me. If you haven't joined the world of Facebookers and are still interested, let me know and I can send a list of things the orphanage needs.