Happy, healthy and not a key-stroke second to spare. We’re off to build a house for Habitat for Humanity. We’ll be living with Fijian familes in a village that has no electricity (let alone a dial up!). Offline ’till Sydney. (But with hundreds of pictures to come!)
Okay, the combination of working at the project *turns knob two turns to the right*, working at the bar *turns knob two turns left*, Spanish classes *turns knob right again*, the gym *turns knob left half turn* and a social life *centers knob and jiggles lock*….
….has left me exhausted and with no time to blog.
*kicks unopened locker-of-life*
So instead I will take this time to share with you the 857 pictures I have taken of the children at the project I am working at, Proyecto Camino Seguro (“Safe Passage”). And although these galleries are full of pint-sized smiles, do not be misled. For although the children are safe, fed and full of fun within the walls of the projects, the reality is that they live in the dump. The reality is that food, clothes, education and attention are not rights or givens, but something they have to fight for, every single day.
Outside the project:
  
  
  
  
Inside the project:
  
  
  
 
To see ALL the pictures, click here.
ALL the activities we do with the children, taking them to the zoo, having pool parties, giving them Christmas presents, providing meals, buying their school text books and uniforms — are ALL paid for by sponsors. In addition to the project sponsors, we have a one-to-one child sponsorship program. About 50% of our kids have a “padrino” or “madrina” abroad who makes monthly donations to pay for that child’s expenses. Some kids have active sponsors who send them letters and gifts. I’ve seen kids cry upon receipt of these items, and I’ve helped the kids make dozens of hand made thank you cards and pen-pal letters.
I know. I too have seen pictures so similar to the ones above on those TV commercials that made me cringe in disbelieving horror. But I always thought….”now who really knows where that money is going?” and proceeded on to HBO or MTV. I’m not gonna beg or make a guilt play, but if anyone out there in reader-land has been looking for the opportunity to help out a TRULY trustworthy project, this is it. Whether it be in the form of actual volunteering, donations of ANYTHING (books, clothing, food), individual child sponsorship or making any kind of monetary donation, I am here to give you my Girl Scouts honor *5-yr pin and all* that your money, time and/or donations will make a real difference in the lives of the children pictured above. Not only can I give you my word, but picture-proof. If you want to sponsor a field trip for all the children to go to the beach (to the movies, to the zoo, to the dentist, to Disneyland)… we can make it happen…and I can take a hundred pictures to share and show the smiles you’ve sponsored. If you want to sponsor an individual child, I can personally chose one for you and take a picture of the two of us and send it via email.
If you (or your parents, school, company or church) would like to help out in any manner or have any ideas that you’d like to discuss, please email me! Write to me at solbeam@solbeam.com. We are an American non-profit, and ALL donations ARE tax-deductible. More information on how to sponsor Safe Passage can be found on the website at: www.safepassage.org
Okay! Enough out of me on that! I took the next two weekends off from work to travel over the long-weekends, but it means I’m working double-time on the weekdays, so I might be a bit quiet this week, but back in full-reporting action very soon!
And this is an essay I wrote a couple weeks ago about some of my experiences working for the project (…decided that I should actually post it on solbeam.com for safety-sake and reasons previously mentioned):
*****
I Have Lice
I work as a volunteer in Guatemala City with the children of a community of families who live in the city dump. It sounds impressive, eh? People are always fascinated when they I tell them what I do and they often go into an extensive session of questioning regarding the the who`s, what`s, where`s and when`s of my work.
I usually launch into my automated responses:
What: “Camino Seguro is a school on the premises of Guatemala´s city Dump yard dedicated to educating and entertaining the children of families who work scavenging through trash during the day. The objective is to keep the kids off the streets and in a safe and providing environment.”
Who: “260 children in the project ages 3 thru about 14.”
Where: “In the city dumpster in Guatemala City.”
When: “The project is about two years old. I`ve been there for three months and have at least three months left.”
Rather dry responses, eh? Add a beer or a sunrise and you`ll get the REAL story on my experiences. Of course the REAL story can`t be summed up in pretty paragraphs with topic and main sentence. The REAL story is more of a continuous realization expressed in random observations from my daily experiences…. So without further respect to my 16 years of English classes, I will try to find and read the pulse on the heart of some of my experiences working at this project.
At the end of each month we hold a meeting for the parents of all the children in the project. The parents meet with social workers and staff, and the children get their hair washed and combed for lice by the volunteers. Now I remember the occasional outbreak of lice back in my own grade-school-glory-days, but I had never know lice intimately as I know them now. Armed with a rubber glove and a comb that could split spider webs, I part the hair and watch them scurry. And oh yes; They DO scurry. I smile at my soapy client and brace myself for a good half hour battle in the ring with the lice *ding, ding*. After three months at the project, I know the majority of these kids by name and heart. I also know that in all the hair yanking, pulling and untangling of the day, not a single tear will be shed by one child. Why? These children work in the dump. They scavenge as part of daily life. They know how to put up a fight for something they need…..which happens to be everything. They won`t cry because no one has ever come running to coo and appease their pleas. They won`t cry because they have been conditioned to endure pain without a whimper. They won`t cry, because crying doesn`t get you anywhere in the dump. Being tough does.
Today we held a Christmas party for all 260 children. A project sponsor supplied the money for the volunteers to buy and wrap 260 gifts. We sang, we salsa-ed, we ate tamales (a special treat from the regular meals the project provides). A few presents were stolen and Santa got a bit beat up, but the madness was a complete success. Children lucky enough to have active sponsors (we have an ongoing 1-1 child sponsorship program) opened gifts and make thank you cards. One child cried from pure joy when he received a gift of a flashlight and a pocket tool from his sponsor. Have you ever seen a child cry in joy from receiving a gift?
Right before the party began, a few blocks away, on the playground where we take the children daily, a woman was raped and set on fire. The fire trucks and ambulances were still there when we arrived at the school. I was told that many of the children witnessed the burning. It`s confusing sometimes. Inside the doors of the school, the children are safe, they are fed, and they are allowed to play. We paint volcanos, sing about worms, make paper-mache pigs, play hand games, do homework and have bean-sack races. I`m often so busy having a good time, that I forget what the other option is for these kids. But then I look down and see a child with shoes with no socks, and rubber heels worn though to the bare skin. I ask him where the shoes are that the project gave him last week and he tells me they`re at home. But a social worker nods her head at me with sad eyes and tells me that his mother sold them for money to buy alcohol. So what IS the other option to passing time in the project? The other option is usually a mixture of scavenging the dump for recyclables, caring for younger siblings, selling candies/trinkets in the street, or following big brother`s gang and glue sniffing example. The options are ugly.
On the way to the project each day, we pass a half dozen “fathers” slumped in doorways, covered in flies, passed-out, with a bottle of cheap liquor or glue rolled off in the corner, as guilty as a gun in the bushes at a scene of a crime. On the way to the project each day, I wonder which one of these beautiful children that is now painting a paper mache pig pink, under my supervision, will in a few years be slumped in this same doorway. It`s a terrible thought that puts a lump in my throat that I never seem to be able to swallow.
The founder of the project, Hanley Denning, is probably the most devoted and diligent person I`ve come across in my life. I want to use the word “crazy” to describe her day and night dedication to the project. I`ve never, in three months, heard her speak on any subject that isn`t project-related. The Antigua office of the project is actually located in her house, which perfectly symbolizes how her life is consumed with her “work.” But how could it NOT? How could you NOT go “crazy” working from 5am to 10pm, 7 days a week, when you knew that your work meant the difference between 260 happy, fed, shoed and safe children – and 260 garbage-scavenging and glue-sniffing children? Hanley scares me. She scares me because she shows me the power and potential of what one human being can do. She scares me because she shows me the potential of what each one of us could do. She scares me because she shows me what I could do, if I were brave and selfless enough.
So I have lice. Apparently, wrestling, holding and hugging children with lice has it`s consequences. Apparently, having lice, is not the worst of everyones` problems. And, apparently, the project has given me that perspective. And for that revelation, my experience at the project has been one of the most valuable in my life.
*****
I`m a terrible friend to post this picture of my fellow long-term volunteer friends…
….but how could I resist!?
I`ve been busy spinning the turn-tables from being a “Community Developer” to an active “Community Member” on a wicked little traveler community site called WorldSurface.com. Entered a contest by submitting a few contributions including an essay describing some of my experiences at the Project entitled: I Have Lice. Does that explain the picture? You see…the running percentage of long-term volunteers who have at one point or other, found a “friend” in their hair, is an astonishing 100%. Needle-less to say, the shower ledge in the volunteer house is overflowing with lice-murdering concoctions.
So….um…*cough* *cough*…..feel free to read the essay *cough* ….and vote for me to become one of their “Global Reporters” (travelers who document their adventures on the site *and partly on their tab*). How freaking fantastic would that be?! (Although I think I`ve entered way too late in the game to stand a chance…)
*grabs her bow and shoots the moon*
*****
While picking up my clean clothes yesterday, the laundry woman asked me, “You work with the children in the dump don`t you?” I said, “Yes. How did you know that?”. “I saw your picture in the newspaper. And the caption below said that you worked with the poor children in the city.” she replied.
News *literally* to me. I tried to find the picture, but she said it ran a few weeks ago so I guess I completely missed my five minutes of fame. BUT, I got a discount on my laundry. *Yes!*
Okay….got a date with “Bruce” for a ride to Xela (Quetzaltenago) in 10 mintues.
And we`re off to Mexico!
*does a little jiggy*
*****
Well….. after seven months of *relatively* off-line-life, I´ve learned that you certainly can´t take the web outta me.
Two months at the project and I´ve managed to slyly weave the wide web into the world of the Dump. What does that mean? Take a look through the LCD screen of my digicam and see…
Bienvenidos a Proyecto Camino Seguro´s New Online PhotoAlbums
My mom, who has dedicated her entire life to teaching children (mother, teacher, school principal) sent me an email with only the following comment: “They`re getting to you, aren`t they? The kids.”
Let`s think about that question….
This weekend as I strolled into one of my local hang-and-drink-beer-outs, I spied a friend amongst a group of people I didn`t know. Upon catching his eye, it was not ´till after I had my tongue out, my eyes sqeezed shut tight, and my thumbs sticking out of my ears with my fingers waving wildly, did I realize I had adopted a new, um….”manner” of greeting my friends at social activities. After the strange looks (and introductions), I tried to explain myself….”I`m sorry…you see, I`ve been spending all my time with 8 year-olds and….”
Yesterday, while trying to simultaneously play hacky-sack and a game of head-ball, a received a kid-to-the-eye *kinda like a punch-to-the-head, but with a kid to my eye*. And guess what I have to show for it! My VERY first black eye! I wear my shiner with pride, and my fabricated tales of domestic abuse, roommate fights and brawl breakups has so far prompted at least one, “I´ll kill the person who did this to you!”. Good fun.
Kids are incredible. They jump up and down when they are excited and tell you to your face when you suck. When they feel the urge to stand on their head, they stand on their head. When they hear music, they move their bodies. When they need to pick their nose, they dig away. Their emotions are so true. Their curiosity so wide. Their energy so unrelenting. Their concentration so intense. Their feelings so severe. Their imagination so unlimited. Their wrists so small that I may hold them both together with one hand to effortlessly administer tickle-torture. But really….THIS is company I sincerely enjoy. People who say and do what they want and need, when they need and want it. Each day I find myself modeling more THEIR role. And more than these lessons, of clear communication and the practice of immagination, have they stepped up the chalk board and taught me…
So, YES, Mom, as much as I STILL hate to admit it when you`re right, the kids ARE — socially, physically, psychologically, and what ever other “ally”s out there applicable — definitely getting to me.
*****
In the Zing Crash of May 2001, I somehow managed to transfer my albums to Fotki.com and completely forgot to update the link on the site. So here are the updated photogallery links:
Fotki.com Albums — (24 Albums, 1000+ Pictures) Including Brazil, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru and Europe
ImageStation.com Albums — (9 Albums, 200 Pictures) Including Guatemala, Belize & Honduras
*****
Speaking of crashes, the weekend resort job died upon impact with my old bartending boss´s comment, “Hey. You´re not gonna work for Cesar Robles are you? He´s the biggest crook in Guatemala! They put warnings in travels guides about that guy. They post flyers around Antigua with his picture warning travelers of doing business with him. Stay as far away from him as possible!”
*throws the job into the “Knew-it-was-Too-Good-To-Be-True” pile*
*****
We have a guest doctor this month doing consultations for the kids and families in the project. (Ah! Found the correct link for info. on the project: SafePassage.com.) I´m assisting him by taking all the weight, height measurements and giving vision tests.
“Puedes mostrarme, con tus manos, en que direccion esta la letra E?”
This whole teacher/volunteer/nurse role is…well, what is it? Let´s just say the grave for that 100k Marketing/Business education keeps getting deeper. Product management, product placement, product timelines, product awareness…product production….blah, blah, blah. The realization is quietly settling in that I want my vocation, my business, my “product” — to have a height, weight and a score on a vision test.
*****
aka “The Playground”
Case of insomnia? Dr. Sol says, once a day, take 200 attention deprived kids and apply eight hours of airplane-riding, tickle-torturing, teeter-tottering, under-dogging, cart-wheeling, follow-the-leadering, futbol-playing, jungle-gyming, tag-chasing, food-distributing, discipline-giving, face-washing, flower-picking, hat-chasing, bathroom-breaking, piggyback-riding, and animal-impersonating…and call me in the morning. If you can.
The above mentioned regime is guaranteed to give you 8-12 hours of solid, snore-worthy sleep. (That kind where you wake up in the same position that you collapsed into the bed in….hopefully, at least, sans shoes.)
Although the sleep is sound and dreams deep, mine are also filled with the echos of…
Seño! Seño! Traigome! (Carry me!)
Seño! Seño Da me vueltos! (Spin me!)
Seño! Seño Baño! (Bathroom!)
Seño! Seño! Que significa, “banging on the bathroom door?”
(The requests to translate Shaggy songs NEVER end.)
I´m not complaining. This is awesome. Kids are freaking great! If you have a couple of them around within borrowing distance, I HIGHLY recommend taking them out for a spin in the ol` imagination.
*dusts off her own imagination*
I didn`t realize how rusty this thing got after forgetting it out in the rain of adulterated society for ten years. I´ve suddenly rememberd how GOOD it feels to pop balloons, tie shoe laces together underneath desks, dump water over peoples heads, scream at the top of your lungs, laugh till you cry from tickling, and to get dirty…and I mean REALLY dirty. Grass stains, marker tattoos, caked dirt under the finger nails, and the best dirt of all….the permanent kind….cuts and bruises. My new navel ring is the only part of me not so happy with the new work-out routine. But bah. It´ll heal, *along with the rest of my new punctures*.
*yawns and looks at watch*
So yeah…it´s about my bedtime. But Friday`s my day off, and my day ON, to catch up on some of those adventures that occurred in those three weeks where I went missing in between Utila and my return to Antigua. These adventures include: “Sol Gets Electrocuted”, “Sol´s Alcohol “Snorkel” Test”, and “Sol Skies Down a Volcano”.
*picks dirt out from under her fingernails and laughs*
While I don´t believe in fate, I also don`t believe in coincidences. And yesterday was poetic proof that “when you really want something, the entire universe conspires to help you achieve it.”
Yesterday morning, I hadn´t a clue as to where the next six months of my life would take me. Four hours later, I collapsed onto a bench in the central park with a cheek-ta-cheek grin in astonishment of the fact that my entire life had fallen into perfect place in the same amount of time it took for me to have my laundry done.
Monday will mark day one of a six month commitment I´ve made to a volunteer program called Camino Seguro or “Safe Passage”. Click on the link for a bit more detail, but in a peanut shell, it´s a school on the premises of Guatemala´s city dump yard dedicated to educating and entertaining the children of families (who “work” scavenging through trash) during the day, to keep the kids off the streets and in a safe and providing environment. I move into the “Volunteer House” (here in Antigua) in a few hours.
One of the first questions they asked me was…”Hey, do you know anything about web pages or digital cameras? We´ve had one for weeks that no one knows how to work….”
*grins*
On the weekends I´ll be working at Guatemala´s most exclusive resort, hosting the richest of Guatemala`s rich, including ex-presidents and other hoity-toity big names. The resort is on the beach and I (along with four other awesome people I recruited for the job whom I “coincidentally” just met) get picked up on Saturday morning and dropped off back in Antigua Sunday night. The pay is excellent (according to Guate standards), the work shifts short (only four hours per day) and the weekend is all food & board inclusive. I shouldn`t have to draw again from my savings account for the next six months, which essentially means, I´ve just extended my travels another half year.
I´ll be dancing in the worlds of Guatemala`s poorest-of-the-poor and richest-of-the-rich, both, in the same week. Crazy, huh?
And speaking of dancing, someone sent me this quote yesterday that I´m thinking of having tattooed on my back…*that`s a joke Mom and Dad*
Those who can not hear the music, think the dancer is mad!
I love it!
Okay…I´ve got some unpacking to do!
*dances off*