Here is a country school house in rural Guatemala. We journeyed into the country to visit 4 poor communities. In fact, the majority of people in Guatemala are extremely poor and live in conditions similar to those described in this post. We had two wonderful travel companions, Adolfo and Milton, who knew just what to say when we didn't know what questions to ask. The primary motivation for this trip was to view the work of a local organization called Vid y Pompanos, which means "Vine and Branches." We met many village residents and saw their houses, churches, farms, and schools.

Apparently these villages receive zero aid from the government. The work of Vid y Pompanos includes helping communities effectively support themselves. For example, the local presbyterian church wants to build terraces on church property so the soil nutrients will not be washed away by the rain. This will produce better crops and, in time, hopefully the use of terraces will be adopted by the rest of the community. Another agricultural aid is to encourage farmers to diversify their crops so they have income throughout the year.

Vid y Pompanos also works to better educate communities. They pay for teachers to come and teach adults how to read. Most of the people do not know how to read or even know the alphabet. The pressure to work, rather than go to school, is very strong. Many of the people do not realize that receiving an education can be beneficial to their situation. Part of our job while visiting the schools was to encourage the people that learning to read is a worthwhile endeavor.

Fortunately, the people seemed to have enough food. However, that was about all they had. They were extremely poor. Their houses were shacks, made from wood or metal scraps with mud floors. Many had no electricity or running water. Some had no shoes. And yet, the people we met were all in good spirits and quite generous. We were given refreshments (limeaid and bananas) at many of our stops. We were also given gifts of fruit to bring home. Of course we did not want to take anything from them, yet what could we do except graciously and humbly accept their gifts.

To get to these villages, we drove on extremely bumpy, one-lane country roads deep into the jungle. It was hot, buggy, and also very beautiful. In the first community we took a hike to view their crops. We hiked on a mountain slope thick with vegetation. We were told there were tigers on the opposite side of the ravine. We passed the local women bathing and doing laundry in the mountain stream. Our local guide carried a machete. Then we were attacked by biting ants. We pulled down Charles pants to pick them off one by one. Sarah was also bitten multiple times. Who knew one could be so grateful for underwear!

We spent the night with a "rich" family. They had running water and an extra cement block building for us to sleep in. Their bathroom was an outhouse made simply of opaque plastic wrapped around thin tree trunks stuck into the ground.

When we arrived home we were hot, filthy, and exhausted. But, what an experience!