Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Li Ch'utam's Feeling the Love in Guatemala

Caleb and I give a huge thank you to all of our friends and family who have supported us from around the world and right here in Guatemala. There are so many great groups of people working towards positive growth in education and human equality. Our Guatemalan friends at Campus Tec are working on an amazing Tech Camp to connect innovative youth leaders from the city and the pueblo in order to collaborate on common issues and solutions. We would love to send a team of talented, motivated youth from Nueva Mercedes to meet with some very interesting, dynamic folks during what could be a life changing experience. This exposure to technology will probably add to their growing interest in the computers and cameras we’ve used with the kids to explore media and computer literacy. They come to the house a few days a week in the afternoons to tinker with the tech stuff and lounge on the sofa picking books from the library. God Bless the Marist Brothers of Guatemala City who were so kind to us and donated books, soccer balls, and toys during our last trip to Guatemala City. Thanks to Br. Rene Roy from Central Catholic High School for putting us in touch with his friends around the world! We’d love to send some photos and stories by the kids to some students studying Spanish at Central Catholic.

It was a big past week for Li Ch’utam as we had 2 more volunteers visiting the project and lending a hand. Eric Johnston from Northeastern University came down for his Spring Break to take the whirlwind tour of Guatemala’s beautiful landscapes, cultures, and of course magical pueblos like Nueva Mercedes!  Picking up Eric in the City, we stayed the night with our friends at the QuetzalRoo Hostel for trekkers on a social mission. To celebrate our progress over the last few months we had a great big barbecue on the roof of the hostel and exchanged stories and project details with the visitors from all over the world. We met professional photographer Florian Luxenberger (Flo) and we all decided it’d be best if he spent a week with us helping out with Li Ch’utam’s multimedia projects. On the road we have met great people like Flo and the crew from the QuetzalRoo; Guatemala seems to be brimming with young, motivated do gooders from around the world. If we can link the international entrepreneurs with the innovative local leaders there is great potential in Guatemala for large scale social change.  We have 4 months left before we have to leave this beautiful place and I know by then the project will be in strong Mayan hands… not mine.  Help us encourage young, motivated youth to pursue their education by staying in touch with the projects in the Polochic, consider working for Li Ch’utam, or by joining endeavors of your own.