“It doesn’t take long in Guatemala to know the papaya stand owner by name, to taste the chocolate water in your sleep, to have tired hands and an achy back. You move along to the beat of the city and you adjust in the poverty stricken villages. In a single day you meet a coffee farmer and a Jade miner and they both welcome you into their home as a best friend would. Together we communicate in broken words. “Okay, okay,” he says. “Si, si,” I say. You worry about asking if they have a baño (bathroom). Am I prepared to walk for miles? The return home isn’t easy. It never is. On the flight back excitement to see family is overpowered by tears of what I have just left behind. I have left behind work that still needs to be done. There is a green plastic bucket that needs to be filled with coffee beans. There are nails on walls of the home that still need to be hammered, and I forgot to hug the Jade Miner. I forgot to tell him that his hard work and his profits will help send his kids to school. I can’t make that promise because I know that he is unselfish. He shares his profits with others because he wants to benefit his entire community. He sees the bigger picture. They all do here. The return home to 24/7; those days are never easy. The mind races, faces slide in and out, conversations surface. It was in Central America where the coffee farmer in the fields taught me to be less rigid with my time. And savor coffee. I mean really let the scent of the beans linger. The Jade miner taught me to stay in the present and keep a razor-sharp focus. The construction crew taught me to hammer away. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. Our sponsor daughter. Her dreams. My dreams. They intersect. They did along that dusty gravel road in San Rafael. Remember that road with no pavement or water for miles. Do you remember? When I give here I see the change almost immediately. Find your reason. Stop and talk about it. I worry we are all just shuffling through this life.”
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(EXCERPT) “When you walk into Francisco’s tiny front yard you are in a mini-jungle where gorgeous tropical flowers cascade from garden beds crafted from small boulders of unprocessed jade. You are not stuck by the overwhelming amount of trees, plants, and priceless Jade he owns, but his warm brown eyes and calm demeanor. He’s soft spoken, but you cling to each word like a ballad in a beautiful Christmas quartet. His words linger and bounce off plants and in the end you are left with a feeling of calm. I feel both lucky and under dressed in his presence. Francisco is first man to discover Jade in Guatemala. He stands about 6 feet tall with a slight slouch. A slouch, perhaps given, during his search for Jade in the mountains during the past 44 years. He was featured in a 1987 edition of The National Geographic.”
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(EXCERPT) “Timoteo’s hands are worn thin. His calluses show years of hard work. He reeks of coffee. The coffee farmer led us up to his piece of land on a plantation. To get there we walked one hour up a steep and treacherous mountain at a 75 degree incline. His land sits atop San Miguel Escobar and up the mountain we passed families of farmers. Kids tend the farms as young as three. Guatemalans value family and community and it shows during harvest season. Red beans are for picking and under the hot sun we walked from plant to plant plucking beans. Timoteo is a farmer with As Green As It Gets.“
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(EXCERPT) “You know you have arrived in San Rafael when the pavement ends. Located 45 minutes north of Antigua, San Rafael is one of the poorest communities that Common Hope serves and is completely indigenous. People here speak Kekchi instead of Spanish. It is where I met our sponsor daughter (Simon’s sister) Marisela who is 7 years old. She loves to draw. Brenda, our case worker, was my translator. She is one of three case workers in the area responsible for 80 families.”
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(EXCERPT) “Everyone should have an opportunity for running water and electricity but water is a luxury in San Miguel Escobar. It’s where I met a family of eleven who walk at least one mile for water. The family is affiliated through Common Hope and their small home is made of concrete slabs. They have two small rooms and no bathroom or water. A family typically works 250-300 sweat equity hours doing landscaping, cleaning or cooking at the Common Hope site to receive their home. Forty to fifty volunteers help with the build. That is what brings me back here each year.”
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(EXCERPT) “I am remembering how to find my way again. Four years ago I was terribly lost when I stumbled off an American Airlines flight close to midnight drunk on rum and coke and lost in pretentiousness. With no cell service, internet or knowledge of the native tongue, I felt conspicuously powerless. I found the van that took me away up the mountain and back down again to Antigua, Guatemala. A two-week volunteer experience would later impact every decision I make today.”
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