Proctor's summer service trip to Guatemala is nearing its midway point. Through every interaction between Proctor's students and the children of La Limonade, lives are being changed. Enjoy these student writings from Guatemala, and be sure to follow their blog for daily reflections!
Today, we went to the first school in La Limonada. When we arrived, we were embraced by all the students immediately which boosted our confidence for our first day. We taught four classes consisting of different age groups ranging from three to seven. As the day went on, we became more comfortable with the material we were talking about; we were astounded by how much love we were getting from the students. There were many laughs as our own Ben '19 was thought to be Justin Bieber, our girls were surrounded with students fascinated by their hair, and our whole group enjoyed teaching about nutrition and spending some amazing time with the students. We even sang happy birthday to one of the students and our very own Pierre who is now sixteen years old!
In between classes, we were able to visit a lovely shoemaking business which is owned by a man who turned his life around for the better. We were fascinated by the methods and the skill the workers had. The visit ended with a few of our own ordering pairs of shoes for themselves. Although there was some frustration with our lack of knowledge of the Spanish language, we were able to finish the day with smiles on our faces! We are very happy with the outcome of our first day! We look forward to the days coming and what Guatemala has in store for us!
~ Nikki '17 & Ben L. '19
On the second day of the Guatemala service trip, we visited the second school in the La Limonada slum. However, before leaving for the day, we had a small meeting about the lessons for the day. We made some decisions that improved our lesson plans and adjusted them to the age group. For example, the younger kids were more engaged when we sang songs about nutritious eating, and when we had a skits where we let them volunteer. For kids, they had learned more about healthy food; for ourselves, we started feeling more comfortable to talk with those kids in Spanish. After the morning classes, we went to see the houses of our sponsors, Cindy and Ángel. Spencer said, “It is really heartbreaking when I was in the Cindy’s house. I wish I could do more for her.” Kyle thought in the same way and expressed that, “I thought it was awesome how welcoming and open these families were to letting us into there lives even only for a few minutes. It also put our lives into a different perspective.” Seeing the situation that these people are in makes us very grateful for what we have. When school ended, we went to the super market where we bought a soccer ball and went to the park to play soccer. We ended the day very well by having delicious homemade tacos for dinner. Tomorrow we are going to explore the city more and visit the cemetery.
Pierre '18 and Miki '17
Day 3 started off with a late wake up of 7:45 and headed to meet Tita for a prayer walk. We walked for two hours, stopping in houses to pray for the people. One thing I noticed was that most people were affected by gun violence. After our walk, we ate lunch at a park and played soccer, Ben had some big saves in net, leading his team to victory! We drove around a little bit until we reached the cemetery. At the cemetery, a Guatemalan man named Teddy gave us a tour of the cemetery, teaching us about the four hidden wounds of Guatemala: social, political, racial, and religious injustice.
Eva '17 and Ben W. '19
