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Journey to Guatemala |
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By Sharon Bidwell and Anastasia Quirk
For 10 days in March, we began our Lenten journey with our brothers and sisters in Guatemala. Like most of life, the journey was filled with laughter and tears, tender moments and flashes of hurt and anger. While the depth and breadth of the experience is hard to capture in a few paragraphs, we want to share with you some of those moments. |
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Photo by Sharon Bidwell. |
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On our first full day in Zacapa, a rural, desert-like region northeast of Guatemala City, we visited the local garbage dump. Here dozens of children play, while mothers and fathers pick through other people’s trash, searching for glass or cardboard or anything that could be reused or sold for a few quetzals. Before going to the dump, we had prepared a simple lunch of bread spread with beans and cheese and a ration of vitamin-fortified rice milk to distribute. For some, this would be their only meal of the day.
We also brought clothes, balloons, and candy for the children. It’s impossible to describe the smell and the aridness of this landscape, but it is a visceral memory that will linger with us. |
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Detail from a mural by Bob Lockhart. |
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For the next five days, we traveled to Gualan to work on the foundation of a new nutrition center, to help construct two new classrooms at the local school, to paint inside and outside the existing classrooms, and to conduct dental and medical clinics. And while the work was satisfying—despite the heat—the real work was to be with the people of Gualan. The people of this region have seen war and conflict, and yet they have survived and continue to live in a place of great natural beauty that is pockmarked by great poverty. |
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Because our activities disrupted normal school functions, there were dozens and dozens of children whose laughter filled the air all day. As new bags of candy or bottles of bubbles would come out of our backpacks, children of all ages would cluster around. Like children everywhere, the desire for a treat often led to pushing and shouting, so we also worked as peacemakers and comforters of hurt feelings. We met mothers who would sit for hours watching us work, hoping that we had brought clothes and toys and shoes for them and their children. In the line waiting for the dental or medical clinic, we met men and women of great dignity who greeted us with handshakes and kisses on the cheek.
We made this journey with a group of students from Bellarmine University. The wisdom of these young adults also touched us. As one young man expressed it, “Going to Guatemala is like having your heart ripped out of your chest, and then having it given back to you ten times larger than it was before.” |
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