Thoughts on voluntary work

Time is whizzing by now that T and I have got into our voluntary work, and suddenly there aren't enough hours in the day to feed ourselves or wash our underwear!

Still, on Saturday we are going on 'holiday'. I know that this is pretty outrageous as we are already on holiday. But we need to cross some border or other and come back into Guatemala so that we can stay another 90 days on our tourist visas. Although Costa Rica is quite far away, we thought that while we are on the right side of the world, it would be a wonderful thing to do, so we have a flight on Sunday from Guatemala city to San Jose (do you know the way to San Jose, la la la la la la la la la), which will be exciting.

Less exciting is the prospect of another bus trip between here and Guate city, but there really is no other way of travelling anywhere!

And I've been offered a paid job for when I return, which is tempting and a bit confusing. The job is as a coordinator at the spanish school that I studied at. At the moment I'm working on setting up a charity, working for another charity called Mayalan, which works indigenous women on empowerment and participation issues, and when I come back from CR, I'll be teaching 2 days per week in a rural school - which I am actually terrified about. Like, I don't mind teaching kids and Guatemalan kids are lovelier than British ones. However, trying to do so with my pathetic Spanish will be ummm, interesting!

Had an interesting chat with one of my housemates last night. He is of the opinion that all of us gringos should get out of the country and stop doing voluntary work. He thinks that by staying and working on the millions of voluntary projects here we are just sticking patches on the problem that allows the corruption of the government and organisations of all shapes and sizes throughout the country to continue. That's a weird thought, that by coming here and trying to do something useful, you are actually facilitating the continuation of what is so wrong. In fact, the levels of corruption, and the complete lack of trust in the policital system has really shocked me. Even the small charities here in Xela, I've heard pretty depressing things about. My housemate thinks that if all the gringos with their do-good ideas got out of the country, then it would get to a point where the people wouldn't stand it anymore, and would overthrow the govt and try to end the corruption etc.

Is it possible? I don't know. And in the meantime, I don't think I could bear to see the people of this country get any poorer.

We reach Todos Santos, scene of the infamous annual horse race. The town is popular with tourists, as all of its inhabitants wear their traditional costumes all of the time. The men with red trousers, and wide brimmed straw hats adorned with coloured, beaded bands. The women wear the traditional guatemalan traje, with woven skirts and tunics over an embroidered blouse. 

A cemetary with fresh graves we passed on the second day of our walk. The graves are fresh because people killed in the massacre have recently been located and given a proper burial here. Visitors are asked to remove their hats as they walk past. 

On our third day hiking, we climbed to 3800m, the highest non-volcanic point in Central America. Whilst sitting on top, huddled against the wind, we listened to one of the villagers describe his experience of the civil war. 

On our second day of hiking we slog up to 3000m, feeling on top of the world. As we reach the summit we find a village settlement here. Many communities fled to such high and remote places during the civil war. 

The village school that provided our sleeping accommodation after our first day of trekking. We were treated to a traditional guatemalan meal (rice and black beans) with one of the local families before flopping, exhausted into bed. This village has no road access, and was like nothing I had ever seen before. 

Tiny dwelling miles from anywhere on our first day of hiking. I wonder if the family have ever left this place, and wonder what their lives must be like. 

Mayan religious site, Nebaj. The village is surrounded by these sites where people light candles and pray. There is a site for pregnant women to pray for the health of their child, a site for young people wanting to meet their husbands/wives, and this one, which is a general, good luck kind of site! 

Sunrise over Nebaj on the morning of our first day hiking. 

maize drying in the sun outside a house in Nebaj. Maize is an incredibly important food in Xela, and is used to make tortillas and tamilitas. These are made by cooking the corn in alkaline water to remove the skins, and then passing the corn through a mill. The result is a dough, which is either shaped into circles by hand to make tortillas, which are cooked on top of a griddle, or wrapped in a leaf and served as is. 

market scene, Nebaj 

The noisy melee of Quiche bus station. Quiche was one of the most hard hit during the massacres of the 80's. Now it's a bustling town. 

Xela, close to minerva bus station, with Santa Maria Volcano in the background 

Trekking around Todos Santos

Have just returned from a hike in the mountains around Todos Santos, home of the (in)famous annual horse race.

The trip was a real eye-opener as we passed through areas mired in history and heartbreak from the armed conflict here that took place in the 80s and 90s. Have some photos to upload too, so will write more soon.