DeeDee and I have begun to realize that neither of us are great at remembering to blog. We are extremely focused on our work here and often forget about keeping everyone informed. Usually DeeDee is the one who writes (she's a much better writer than I), but today I would like to update you on our work in a few various categories. Our time seems to be moving quickly here; it's hard to believe that we are already in November and that our Christmas break is just around the corner. From a project stand point, there's a lot to get finished up in the next month before we head home for Christmas, but we have learned more than ever in our work here that we must take one day at a time - a good lesson for me!
As I said above, I am going to update you based on a few of our project objectives:
Secondary Schools: Secondary education is significantly lacking the the Valley de Ulpan. Rarely do young girls make it through primary school (6th grade), and when young boys finish up it is time to go looking for work. Many boys will travel with their fathers or friends to the Coban or to the Peten looking for work because there is no cash economy in the Valley (another issue in an of itself). Thus it has been extremely challenging to promote secondary education. We have been working for the past two months meeting, talking and promoting the establishment of Centros de Basicos (the first level of secondary school), but have not had much luck... somewhat discouraging to us, but part of the difficulty of the work we have embarked upon. We had a deadline of this past Monday to have a list of students (at least 25) to start a secondary schools. We had been meeting in every community, passing out flyers, revisiting the COCODES (the community development committees) in each community. But on Monday morning things changed a bit - we got a phone call from one of the community leaders. He informed us that he had a list of 27 students from his community who wanted to study. We were excited, but not convinced that we would actually get the list. That all changed when the COCODE president showed up at the Bodega Monday afternoon with the list and a letter from the community requesting the school. Kevin and I were in Coban at the time, but when we received phone call it brought tears to my eyes! Our efforts were paying off and God was working miracles. On Tuesday morning Roberto passed by the Bodega at 6:15am sitting on top of the camion (truck) and gave me two thumbs up as we headed into Coban to deliver the list and letter. It was a good day!!
Secaj Water Project: One of our main objectives is the development of water systems in each community. Every project is different and has its own challenges. One system we have been working with is in the community of Secaj. We have been working for a year and a half to obtain the right to use this source. The original owner passed away some time in the past and the ownership had been transferred to 7 siblings. In order to get the right of usage of the source, all 7 siblings have to agree. We have not had much luck in talking with anyone from this family, but that changed on Sunday. This past Sunday was Guatemala's presidential elections. Mid-morning, a group of men from Secaj were needing a ride to Carcha to vote (the truck is pretty popular around here). I was not able to take them all the way to Carcha, but I was able to take them about 30 min to Semesche. During this ride, I began chatting with the guy in the front seat. Come to find out, he was one of the 7 siblings and after a our ride we had decided to meet at the Bodega on Nov 18th, when he would return from Guatemala City, to discuss our next steps to talk with the rest of his siblings. We have found that simple rides in the truck are some of the best networking we have done in the Valley.
A Death Near Home: The entire time we have been working in the Valley we have heard about the high risk children have of not making it to their 5th birthday. This week, we experienced this first-hand. One of our technicians, Julio, received a phone called that one of his good friend's baby had passed away. It was their first baby and he was only 11 months old. We are not sure the cause of death, but it has been an eye opening experience to hear Julio talk about helping his friend build the baby's casket until 4 in the morning and then helping dig the grave. We have truly begun to experience how hard life really is for the people of the Valley.
Nov Team on their Way: We are excited that we have visitors from the States coming next week. There is a team of 10 coming to visit. There are about 6 people coming from Otter Creek and 4 engineering students. We will hopefully give an update on the work of the team in the next few weeks.
House Progression: We are still in the process of construction of 3 buildings. Two houses and 1 meeting room/kitchen. We are hopeful that the first home will have its roof and floor finished by the time the team comes next week! This would be a great for us as we continue the development of our infrastructure.
El trabajo de Dios: Some of our favorite times in the Valley right now are the times that we get to go hiking to different villages. During these times we get to talking with either Roberto or Julio about things other than just the project. Last week, DeeDee, Julio and I made a trip over to San Vicente II to see about the status of kids who wanted to study in secondary school. We walked a trail I had never been on before and as we descended into the valley we forged Rio Saquiquib (see pic below) in a place just up stream from where we plan to do a bridge project. As we were hiking up from this beautiful spot in the Valley, Julio said "este es el trabajo de Dios" (This is the work of God). Indeed he is correct - this is the work of God. And that is how we feel every day... we are thankful to be living in the midst of God's work.
It is so exciting to hear how God is working through you two. It's amazing how much you have accomplished in just a few short months!
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