KSC group builds houses, friendships in Guatemala
Staff commentary: 18 Keene State students and staff prove that a foreign language is no barrier to helping those in need
JJ PRIOR
Managing Editor
(More photos to come)
You've probably never thought twice about flushing your toilet paper. A cold shower is likely a rare inconvenience and a new soccer ball is as close as a five-minute, $10 trip to Target. Such are the standards of everyday living we so often take for granted in the U.S.
I had the opportunity to see for myself what life is like in a third-world country early this past January when, along with 17 others from Keene State College, I traveled to Guatemala to participate in Habitat for Humanity's Global Village program. Our objectives were simple: The group would work on the construction of two houses for families in need while experiencing the lifestyle and culture in a developing country. We did all that and more.
The 2007 trip was KSC's sixth, and the fourth to the town of Rabinal, located in the mountainous Baja Verapez region of central Guatemala. Every year, about 18 people from the KSC community are selected to participate in the 10-day trip. In 2007, the trip was comprised of three KSC staff leaders, two student leaders who had participated in the 2006 trip, and 13 student participants, two of whom were fluent Spanish speakers.
According to Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, local operations began in 1979 following a major earthquake. In the time since, Habitat volunteers have built over 20,000 houses in the country. Relying on donations and primarily volunteer labor, Habitat provides low-cost, quality houses with no-interest mortgages. Families in Guatemala pay an average US$38 per month over five to eight years, which helps finance new building projects.
After having our passports stamped and collecting our baggage our group exited the airport and faced a crowd of hundreds of Guatemalan people waiting to meet arriving passengers. Like most of us, junior Amy Patryn immediately noticed one of the most striking physical differences about the people.
"Everyone is really short," said Patryn. "And Rideout was a giant." Indeed, at "six-three and a half," senior Michael Rideout had quite a bit of height over most Guatemalan adults. He would later find himself "Gigante Miguel" by the local children.
Trip co-leader Kelly Mullane, a junior, recognized our Habitat representative Yohanna Ovalle from the crowd and greeted her with a hug. The group piled into two large vans as the drivers, who spoke no English, climbed atop to secure our luggage to the roof racks. As we drove through Guatemala City, people outside seemed to reflect our gaze of wonder as, in all likeliness, we were quite a sight.
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Traffic was busy in this city whose metropolitan area is home to about 5 million people, and although it is the largest and most developed city in the country, pollution was noticeable. Most vehicles use diesel fuel, at about US$2.45 per gallon, and at times our vans would be stuck behind buses belching black exhaust.
Many pickup trucks or other vehicles would have people casually riding atop, holding on to steel bars intended just for carrying passengers. The people were friendly and waved, especially children who giggled when they received a wave back.
"The people were just so nice. I don't think I expected them to be as happy and open as they were," said senior Elizabeth Raynes.
Although the first stop on the trip was a mere 40 miles away on a map, the ride by van took about six hours. The highways that traversed the Guatemalan countryside hid none of the mountains' character and had many sharp curves, climbs and drops that made a long and tiring but nonetheless interesting ride.
Returning trip members joked that the group would have to get used to the time difference. While Guatemala does fall in the Central Time Zone, the concept instead revolved around the basic fact that things would just take longer in general.
"Dinner at 6:30 means we would start eating at seven," said sophomore Adolfo Ramirez, one of the fluent Spanish-speaking team members. "There is a difference between our time compared to 'Guatemalan time.'"
The first two full days were spent in the city of Panajachel, on the shore of Lake Atitlán and under the looming triple-peaks of dormant volcanoes San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán. Though not the most common tourist destination, Panajachel had many merchants who would follow the group as we moved, persistently showing off finely woven scarves or colorful beaded jewelry.
Young children, dressed in traditional clothing, were often the ones selling goods and placed the various items on us before bargaining a price. One old woman handed off a small handcrafted item and declared the last person to touch it would be cursed if he or she did not give in to buying it from her. Often the price for a handcrafted item from one of these vendors would convert to only a few dollars, although it was clear that something of similar craftsmanship would sell for much, much more in the U.S.
1/400 at f/4, ISO 100, 10mm
1/400 at f/4, ISO 100, 10mm
The time spent in Panajachel was a good introduction to life in Guatemala, but the group saw true culture in Rabinal, where all the work would be done.
Juan Toj, the president of the local Habitat affiliate, welcomed our Global Village team to Rabinal with a dinner and festive ceremony. His six-year-old daughter Marli, dressed in bright traditional clothes, presented each of the team members with an orange, the fruit for which the area is best known. It was then, with the translating assistance of Ramirez and senior Brianne Ito, that the families for whom we would be building were introduced.
One house would become the home of Marcella Ramirez, a local "American clothing" store, and her two daughters.
The other house had a more personal aspect to the construction. The mason in charge of its construction would, upon completion, move his own family of seven in.
"Rufino...was such a hard worker and was so thankful that we were all there," said senior Kassie Dupre. "He loves his family and that made me happy to see. He even tried to learn some English. I thought that was neat."
The living conditions we faced at our hotel were tolerable, though each team member seemed to have his or her own take.
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"The biggest challenge for me was the presence of large spiders and cockroaches in my hotel room," said sophomore Katelin Tolman. "I was expecting poverty, but I was not expecting to see some of the basic structures missing from the towns. In Rabinal there was not a sewage system." To prevent clogs, toilet paper had to be thrown away rather than flushed.
Our group was warned in advance that not all food we would encounter would agree completely with our stomachs. I discovered this firsthand late that first night, but after taking a day to recover I was right back in the game.
The rest of the group found the two worksites as little more than shallow holes in the ground, each in the shape of what would eventually be a solid foundation. No electricity was used in the building process, so concrete was mixed by hand with shovels.
Water for mixing the concrete was drawn by rope and five-gallon bucket from an open-top well adjacent to one worksite.
"I felt pretty badass getting water out of that well," said Mullane. "[It] sounds so stupid, but that was some heavy water!"
To reach the other worksite, water was siphoned through a hose and across a dirt road about 300 feet away.
While Ito and Ramirez worked hard to translate instructions whenever possible, the other group members did their best to communicate with the masons and apprentices with simple phrases and pointing.
Like most of the group members, Dupre took advantage of the unique linguistic experience. "Two of the boys in one of the families worked on the site with us every day and they taught me some Spanish and I taught them some English. It was a great experience."
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In addition to mixing concrete, team members formed frames of reinforcing bar, around which the concrete would be poured to complete the foundation. While some of the team members are members of the KSC chapter of Habitat, many had no previous building experience.
"I have never built a house before," said senior Caitlin Baum. "Learning how to cement bricks or put rebar together was challenging and scary at first but after a while I was able to do it."
While the mason at each worksite was building from the same standard blueprint supplied by Habitat, each had his own way of building. And since everything was done by hand, the team had to make the most of the strength in its numbers. To pour concrete into the foundation forms, team members at one worksite took turns shoveling the heavy gray muck into buckets, and passed the buckets down a line until they reached their destination.
"My favorite part was the bucket brigade," said Patryn. "We really worked as a team and had to pay attention. It was also the most physical work we did, and it felt good to be tired at the end of the day from working so hard."
"It worked amazing," said senior Carla Lessig. "They taught the other site how well it worked, and it made a huge difference.
1/800 at f/2.8, ISO 100, 105mm
On Sunday the masons took a well-deserved day off, and our group spent the morning at the local preschool that Marli attends. Team members stripped the walls of the signs and moved bookcases and chairs to the center of one large classroom and began applying a new coat of paint. Marli excitedly helped mix and apply the paint, carelessly covering herself in the process. Some of the teachers and the principal even joined us in working. For the size of the room, we marveled at how quickly we finished. Our group then presented a collection of school supplies we had brought to the principal.
At most days' ends, our group would return to the hotel seeking relaxation and a shower. Warm showers were few and far between, as hot water is achieved through unreliable electrical heating units contained within the showerheads.
"The first two minutes of each shower were usually kinda warm," said junior Katelyn Sullivan, who as a returning student trip leader knew what she was in for. "If it was warm it wasn't powerful, but who cares-you are in Guatemala. Showers aren't that important."
Like many on the trip, Ramirez saw the showers as just another indicator of the kind of lifestyle in the area.
"That taught me what their culture is really like," he said. "By taking a cold shower I felt that I was living the reality that poor people were living over there."
Unlike years past, few children gathered around the worksites to watch the Global Village team at work.
"That's the biggest difference this year," said Mike Ward, administrative assistant to the Young Student Center and a trip leader. "Usually there's anywhere from 20 to 150 kids. On another trip a school got out and they all came to the site. They'd yell at you in English or try and get you to say things in English. Then they'd practice it."
However, children who lived in the area of the group's hotel would come to play soccer or Frisbee every night. The kids loved having their pictures taken, especially if they could see the instant result on a digital camera screen.
Playing with local children was a highlight for many of the group members.
"As soon as we got back from a day of working, they would be waiting outside the gates waiting to play with us," said Lessig. "They absolutely loved us, and desired the attention. Even though I was extremely exhausted from the work, there was no possible way to say no to them."
On the last day of work, the families presented the each group member with a small ceramic gift during a closing ceremony.
"I love the pots we received as gifts from the families," said junior Allie Warren. "That was so sweet."
"To realize that these families who had little disposable income would be so generous was very moving," said Ward.
The trip's end came quickly but the impact of the work will continue on as two families in a small town in Guatemala turn their new houses into homes, and the team members remember the people and experiences they encountered.
"We may have been 18 different people, but we had one common goal that brought us together and we didn't let anything stop us from achieving the goal," said Sullivan. "I'm proud of every person on the team, because each one of us stepped outside our comfort zone and really learned from the trip."
JJ prior is a junior majoring in social science. In Guatemala, children call him JotaJota.