Here are the our new volunteers' impressions of the first week.
A First Week in Polochic, by Patrick
My first full week of life at Lich'utam has
just come to an end. And finished in style I might add. I'm the only male in
the house, living with three girls from different parts of Europe. “So lucky”
you might be thinking, and you might be right, but our notions of lucky might
be slightly different!
As the only male I get my own bedroom, while
the three girls share one large bedroom. For me that's pretty darn
lucky.
At the end of last week, at the beginning of
October, we all met each other over the space of three to four days. This was a
nice touch; to start volunteering with people at the same time, to share the
same experiences and to be able to talk about all the novel things as they
occur to all of us, at the same time.
This week we spent our mornings in the
classroom, acting as assistants to the teachers, or in my case, a very old
student. I found my thirty one years of life experience close to useless when
Anna, my teacher, started teaching in the indigenous language Quich'i. Even as
she taught in Spanish, I noticed many of the fourth graders in my class spoke
and wrote better Spanish than me. However in Maths, I excelled, I was able to
move around the class, supporting the students with their maths formulas, equations,
multiplications and fractions. Maths in my class has become the universal
language.
Our school provides education for children from
kindergarten to sixth grade. I'm helping the fourth graders. Fourth grade is a
mix of ages. There are ten year olds and there are fifteen year olds. Many
students struggle with literacy and are easily distracted in the classroom. The
result is a classroom of students of different ages. In one case, a gentle
fifteen year old boy has been passed out by his younger brother who is now
thirteen and a grade above. I hope the elder passes his exams this week.
After school, we rest, cook lunch and return to
the kids in the afternoon. They are always very happy to see us. We plan on
doing activities with them to reinforce their literacy and maths, computer
skills and personal growth. It should be an interesting, challenging but very
positive summer.
To top of the first week, we four visited one
of the Lich'utam founder's family members. We stayed on his farm for some rest
and relaxation and saw the beauty of Polochic from the air. Soaring up into the
sky in his two person flying trike was a treat I won't soon forget.
My New Far Away Home, by Anne
Stunning landscapes, swarms of
mosquitoes and of mischievous kids – little rascals – that is how I got to know Nueva Mercedes
during my first days.
In order to gain new experiences,
open my mind and see more of the world after finishing my studies, I left good
old Germany for faraway Guatemala. I spend my first month in Antigua, a
beautiful historical colonial city, to improve my very basic Spanish skills before I started my
volunteership. In week four I had to say “¡Hasta la vista,
Antigua!” and “¡Hola, Nueva Mercedes!”. Together
with Katerina, Georgia and Patrick, my new house-mates and co-volunteers, we
set off on the long journey crossing the whole of Guatemala to reach the little
village. After a typical Guatemalan bus ride (a lot of fun for me!) through
small streets, overfilled cars and many shaking bodies, the tropical heat and a
stunning mountain landscape welcomed us – the motto here is “Natur Pur”.
Our first stop before we saw our new house was the colourful Teleman market in
order to refill the empty fridge at home and provide for our survival in the
first week there. An inviting wooden hut will be our home for the next months
to come. Spiders, lizards and toads received us in a friendly manner – although it takes some time to get used to. But
in contrast to my worst fears, up until now I´ve only seen snakes and scorpions
just from afar – and let´s hope it will stay that way! The following day, we went on the first visit to our new
workplace – the Nueva Mercedes primary school. Hundreds of big, dark round eyes
stared at us accompanied by countless “¿Cómo te
llamas?“ and “¡Bonito tu pelo!“.
A very particular welcome indeed.
Soon, the first encounters, a few
games and conversations with the kids made it clear to me that there is
potential here. And hopefully we can help to foster this potential at least in
some of the kids. Unfortunately it is not always that easy. The Guatemalan way
of life in many aspects is incomparable to the German or European one.
Especially regarding education there is so much to be done. Poverty and
complicated living conditions don´t make it any easier. But some motivated and
engaged people, who I have had the privilege to get to know during this short
time fill me with hope. Hope, that it is possible to make a difference if we
work together – not only here in Guatemala but globally. And even if it´s not
feasible here “die Welt einzureißen” (to change the world), I am still
happy for every single smile I can bring to people´s faces. That´s why I am
really looking forward to the next five months that I will be here.
Guatemala, here I am – show me what
you´ve got!
Georgia's first impressions:
Strongest first impression: the kids! Those
little faces that took them about 2 minutes to get to know us and since then
they did not hesitate at all to call our names and ask us to play with them.
Even though the conditions at school are not easy, everyone is trying their
best with the resources they have; the teachers, the kids, and us. And of
course, it is worth it since you see after a while some results of your work.
For example, at times, during our afternoon activities in the primary school, a
few distracted kids, not interested in the ongoing group activity, ask for our
help in doing their homework. I remember one kid who, the first time I asked
him to write down what the teacher was saying, didn’t like it and made fun of
it. However, after the third day he was already used to my presence and he
started asking me to approve what he had written. Another example is that a few
of them after finishing their exercise come to me before and after they show it
to their teacher in order to get a big “¡Perfecto!” o “¡Muy bien!”. They really
seem to enjoy that moment judging by their big “¡Gracías!” smiles.
In general, I have really enjoyed my first
days in Nueva Mercedes and even though it is sad that the school year is over
in the second week of October, I am
looking forward to starting our projects and morning activities with the kids.
Hopefully, there are going to be many of them. This is why we tried our best to
get their attention, make them like our activities so that they are motivated
to keep on coming to our extracurricular educational afternoon sessions where
we make them discover the world!
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