Day 6, Rotarian Debra Des Vignes – The Final Day – 24/7
“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.”
Read more and Follow Debra through her journey, this week.
