Spring Break in Guatemala

The Manna Project Guatemala site enjoyed two groups of outstanding spring break volunteers this March from Vanderbilt University and the University of Georgia.

Vanderbilt arrived on March 1^st with 10 people ready to work. The group set out to construct (and re-construct in some places) a playground for the local pre-school in Chaquijyá. They arrived to the school bearing paint, shovels, and over a dozen tires. Throughout their week-long stay, they added a teeter-totter, a tire jungle-gym, two brand new swings, and layered the entire area with grass to protect any niños who might fall while playing. The Parent Committee of the school matched our efforts by joining us every day to guide and collaborate with Manna in the construction of the playground. Vanderbilt’s spring break also coincided with Carnaval, and the group was able to experience all Guatemalan Carnaval festivities – especially the use (or overuse, some might argue) of “pica pica”, paper confetti. Jack Suiter, the student leader of the group shared his thoughts on their week-long experience with Manna Project:

My time as a leader and participant during my time in Guatemala was as rewarding as it was challenging. I was pushed to extend myself to new customs, people and places, and enjoyed each minute doing so. Our leaders did an outstanding job in showing us as much of Guatemala as they could in a single week – I connected with parents and children at a local school, and learned to shower in a lake. I would not have wanted my spring break any different, and I hope to again connect with a new group of people soon, whether that be in Guatemala or any other place in this wonderful world of ours. – Jack Suiter

Peter Kim, a Vanderbilt freshman, composed a list of something he “learned” every day while on-site in Guatemala.

Eight things I learned in Guatemala (Peter Kim)

Day 1: Transportation in Guatemala for ten people is always cramped

Day 2: Always carry tissue around. ALWAYS

Day 3: Mayan herbs can cure just about any illness 

Day 4: Kids LOVE Carnaval

Day 5: The van from day one fits 27 people

Day 6: Nothing makes you more proud than finishing a playground for preschool kids

Day 7: Coconut water is the most refreshing drink when you are dehydrated

Day 8: A last game of Catch Phrase in the airport never hurts.

The completed playground

The University of Georgia and the Parent Committee of another local school collaborated to paint an entire elementary school a beautiful shade of blue. The group also gave six sessions of English classes to the students in the school. In between painting and teaching, the group played soccer and basketball with the students of the school. For Christine Lopez, a UGA freshman, this was her second time as a community volunteer in Guatemala. She shared her thoughts on her experience with Manna Project.

After visiting Guatemala in 2011, I was very excited to revisit it this spring break. Of course, I faced some nervousness as I boarded the plane because I hadn't traveled outside of the country in several years. However, landing in Guatemala felt like reuniting with an old friend. As an Early Childhood Education major, I was very excited to work in the local school. I enjoyed teaching English to a variety of age groups and working with the kids-- it was good practice for the future! However, I have to say the highlight of my trip was when I learned more about myself. Two important realizations came out of this trip: language and nature. I was afraid that I had lost much of my spanish since coming to college, but I was reassured in the Guatemalan environment that I was still able to communicate just fine with the locals. I also realized that I enjoy hiking! I didn't think I would like it, but I ended up loving climbing at the Reserve and Volcano Pacaya. One of the highlights of the trip that I've been happy to brag about to my friends was roasting marshmallows over recently erupted lava rocks. After this trip, I look forward to the next time I can visit Latin America!  -- Christine Lopez

The Committee and the UGA group in front of the newly painted school

Manna Project and the community of Chaquiyá in Guatemala are so thankful for the hard work of both of these fantastic volunteer groups that visited us over spring break! Do you want the chance to travel to a Manna Project site during a school break? Contact springbreak@mannaproject.org for more information.  

Worcester State University: MPIN

Each January, a team of occupational therapy students accompany Professor Jackie Brennan to the Manna Project site in Nicaragua. These Worcester State University students volunteer with a school for children with special needs, Tesoros de Dios, while also attending Manna programs while they are in Managua.

This year's group got a full picture of what Manna Project International does on site in Nicaragua. They helped kids get creative at Camp JAM, assisted the Program Directors on milk distribution day in Villa Guadalupe, and helped out at the new clinic in Cedro Galán.

Cedro Galán Clinic

Projects from Camp JAM

Tesoros de Dios

It was fantastic to have the WSU group onsite. Each of our three Manna Project sites is getting extremely pumped to have other amazing university groups join us for a week over spring break! We're looking forward to a fabulous March, and we cannot wait to welcome the WSU occupational therapy group back again next year.

Sochi 2014: Setting the Stage for International Peace

It's that time of the decade again -- the winter Olympic games debuted last Friday in Sochi, Russia. Although Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala will not be represented by winter athletes these 2014 games, citizens from all countries can reflect on the values for which the Olympics stand. The Olympic Truce was derived from the ancient Greek tradition of the ekecheiria in the eighth century BC "to encourage a peaceful environment and ensure safe passage, access and participation for athletes and relevant persons at the Games, thereby mobilizing the youth of the world to the cause of peace", explained the United Nations Organization of Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP). The UN Assembly has called on all member states to observe the Olympic Truce throughout the Sochi Winter Games.

Even if a country is not represented in the Winter Olympic Games this year, peace is an idea all countries can stand behind. In an effort to really promote international cooperation, as conflict has become a recurring theme in recent years in the international system, the International Olympic Committee aimed to make this a very memorable games, with input and support from many different countries.

The traditional torch relay, always an impressive feat, was the longest in history this year, both in distance and in time it took to complete. Carriers from 160 nations participated in the passing of the torch between October 7th and the Opening Ceremony. The torch even made its inaugural visit to the International Space Station! The tour took 123 days to complete, covering over 165,000 km. "I think the key phrase is international cooperation", responded astronaut Rick Mastracchio when asked about the significance of the torch making its way to the ISS. "Both the Olympics and the International Space Station are great examples of what folks can do when the countries get together and try to accomplish something", Mastracchio added.

The Winter Games are off to an impressive start, and although Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Ecuador will not be making an appearance these winter games, MPI is looking forward to cheering on Ecuador in the World Cup this coming summer.

Mannafit: a Vanderbilt Tradition

January may mean cold and snow for some, but for the MPI Vanderbilt chapter, it means the annual Mannafit event. There were over 300 attendees at this year's Mannafit to support all the MPI Vanderbilt chapter spring break groups that plan to spend their week off in March, supporting Manna Project and various other nonprofit organizations in Latin America. Vanderbilt has had a Manna chapter since the inception of the organization, and consistently sends a full group of spring break volunteers to each of Manna's three sites in Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Guatemala each March. On top of this, the Vanderbilt Chapter typically sends about 10 other groups of students to volunteer with like-minded organizations all over Latin America.

This year, 20 awesome items were auctioned off at Mannafit, such as Nashville Predators tickets and gift certificates to fabulous restaurants in Nashville, raising over $800 on the silent auction alone. We are super proud of our Vanderbilt Manna chapter and are so excited to see the excellent projects they complete during spring break!

To a smashing success! What an incredible tradition.

Read of the Week: Youth Data Sheet 2013

This "Read of the Week" delivers staggering statistics to show development across the globe. Fertility and childbearing are a common indicator of development, as the risk of maternal death and disability is much higher for adolescents than for mothers in their 20's. In addition, early childbearing can also limit women's opportunities.

Unsurprisingly, Adolescent Fertility Rates (AFR) are much higher in developing countries than they are in developed countries. This indicator measures the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15-19 all over the world, and the difference between developed and developing countries is astonishing. Most developing countries were given a rate of nearly 100, whereas, most developed countries possessed an AFR of less than 20. We decided to see where Nicaragua and Ecuador faired on this scale, and both countries come in high, with Nicaragua at 104, and Ecuador coming in at 80.

For more interesting comparisons of youth from all reaches of the world, check out this very interesting article published by the Population Reference Bureau.

"Thrift Shop" by MannaUGA

Big Manna on Campus is BACK.

That’s right – Manna is incredibly excited to showcase our chapters and the fabulous work they are doing, both here in the states and abroad on site! We will be updating this blog with examples of chapter awesomeness. If you host an event or your chapter volunteers for an amazing local cause, send us the deets! We would love to turn the spotlight on you and all you’re doing to make Manna all that it is!

Without further ado…here is what's happening in Athens, Georgia!

MannaUGA is off to a fantastic start this year. They are sending FOUR trips to Manna sites abroad this March. UGA chapter members will be spending their spring break at MPI sites in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Ecuador. They had so much interest, they are even sending an off site trip!

In addition to the wonderful international spring they’ve got planned, MannaUGA has been busy right here in Georgia. The chapter recently hosted an event on campus called the “Thrifting Extravaganza”. A local vintage store donated clothing and accessories to the UGA chapter to aid it in raising funds for their trips abroad. The event was a staggering success, raising funds for the on-site projects the chapter has committed its spring break to achieving. Its prime location on campus also spread the word about the work MannaUGA is doing in Athens!

 Macklemore would be so proud.

We are so excited for UGA to get to site this spring. We also know that other chapters are busy spreading the word about Manna on their university’s campus. We want to hear about it! Please email our US Coordinator, Taylor Brown, at taylor.brown@mannaproject.org.

MPI UGA Wraps Up for the Summer

As the school year comes to a close, our chapter activities are winding down for the year.  In this post, MPI UGA President Ian Jones gives his closing remarks for the year:

 

Greetings from Athens!

As the MannaUGA chapter wraps up our year here, I wanted to take a minute to let everyone know what we’ve been up to. This year has been a fantastic success for MannaUGA; we’ve worked really hard on the local and global fronts to expand our impact and really get the Manna name out there on campus. Internationally, we doubled our spring break involvement from one SB trip of 10 last year to two SB trips this spring—10 students to Ecuador and 10 to Guatemala. We now have established relationships in the communities surrounding all three Manna sites, which we hope to continue developing over the coming years. We also doubled our number of summer volunteers from last year. Here in Athens, we have been working on building a foundation from which to expand our local work, strengthening our partnerships with our flagship programs with the Athens Area Homeless Shelter and the Oasis Católico Santa Rafaela community center. With these two relationships strong, were hopeful that next year will see further growth on the local front.

Personally, I’m sad to be ending my term as a leader with MannaUGA. I was brought on board in the spring of 2009 when the chapter was being chartered, and served as the Communications Director for the 2009-2010 year. This past year, I was selected as the Executive Director. I’ve been on SB trips to the Nicaragua and Guatemala sites, and was also a summer vol in Nica in the summer of 2010. Manna has been become a huge part of my college career and will always hold a special place in my heart. I’ve made great friends, been through lots of stress, and had some crazy fun adventures, but most importantly I can leave my post at MannaUGA confident that I’ve made a difference. Along with two years of wonderful MannaUGA Exec members, I’ve been able to build something from nothing—we’ve filled a vacuum in the volunteer culture here at UGA and created a vehicle in which students can think global and act local, where we can strengthen our own community while working to strengthen others. I think that’s a pretty amazing thing.

Of course, this isn’t goodbye for good. I have another year at UGA before graduation, during which I’ll be creeping all over Exec meetings and happily watching the next crop of MannaUGA leaders continuing to build Manna up past what any of us could have imagined when we got started. I’ll probable weasel my way onto yet another SB trip, and, who knows, maybe I’ll find myself working with Manna after graduation.

But until then—

Much, much Manna love,

Ian
MannaUGA Executive Director, 2010-2011
www.mannauga.org

Sounds like MPI UGA had quite an amazing year!  We thank Ian and all of the other MPI UGA leaders and volunteers for all their hard work and dedication and wish them a great summer!

Time for a Celebration!

We all sincerely apologize for the delay in an update! We are just having entirely too much fun and haven’t had the down time.

You’ve read about the painting and the arranging, the teaching and the playing, but today our experience came to full fruition.

We began our day back at Central, this time experiencing the 3^rd grade and 6^th grade classes. I was particularly impressed with some of the 3^rd graders knowing their numbers in English. A nice girl named Lillian attempted to teach me how to make the throaty sound in Kaqchikel. With no time to play with our new friends at recess, we rushed up to Cooperativa for the opening ceremony of the new biblioteca we finished Tuesday.

The kids were ecstatic when we arrive. The picture frenzy and endless question began once again. The girls were definitely enjoying the “fotos locos” I asked them to take with me. It’s amazing to me how kids everywhere are so similar. The girls still pose the same way and the giggles sounds exactly the same. Boys, too; they would run up to poke a gringa then run away laughing as one of them took pictures on his camera phone…serious, a camera phone.

Our whole group was called up to the stage to begin the ceremony.

WOW.

We all were talking about how difficult it would be to describe the experience, but here’s to my attempt.

From the little Spanish I know, the director of the school made a touching speech of thanks about how invaluable our work had been for them. It was muy emocionada to hear how much they appreciated the project.  Next was a series of dances by a lot of the kids. Some traditional, and some…not so much. There were two groups who performed HIP HOP dances in our honor.  Snoopdog pumped some jams for their fly moves. I do believe break dancing occurred…

When the director Celso took the stage once again we though it was over. But he announced that the parents had gifts for us. Each of us was given a woven scarf made by the women of the families. It was the parents who bestowed this gift on us individually. I received mine from a woman who was absolutely beaming and once again expressed her thanks. This act of generosity was only countered by the meal of chicken, soup, and tomales they made for our lunch.

The PD’s later explained that everything about that ceremony was not usual. The dancing, the gift, and the meal of meat are all incredible honors. Every aspect of the ceremony evoked indescribable emotions and we are all so grateful.

Chaquiyja is not to be pitied or looked down upon as ‘undeveloped’. They are a community of kindness, selflessness, and hope. Someone in our group put it best when they said, “Things don’t make you happy, so we shouldn’t just be trying to give them things.” To be honest, I didn’t even think about how I was doing them a service. They needed a library and we were here to make it happen. But what they have given us is perspective. The genuine benevolence of the community at Chaquiyja is overwhelming.

With tears in our eyes, we all agreed that there couldn’t have been a better way to say goodbye to Chaquiyja and Cooperativa.

We finished our day relaxing and shopping in Pana and danced the night away. Half way through the week and we can’t imagine leaving this beautiful place.

Talks, Trucks, and Tortillas

Greetings from Hotamala! (Don’t worry; I really know it’s Guatemala..)

Today was a chill, relaxing day. I woke up to a sunny day and a beautiful view of Lake Atitlan. I am still amazed at how beautiful it is here. We enjoyed a delicious fresh fruit for breakfast. The peaches were my favorite, even though they look so different (here they are a dark, purplish color).

While we waited on two ladies to give us a tortilla-making lesson, I sunned out back with the rest of the group. It was great just basking there, chatting, and attempting to read my boring book for international affairs, A Nation of Enemies. It’s great that even though I’m on a service trip, I can still get some sun on spring break J Formal is next weekend..

While making our tortillas, we came up with a brilliant idea: we are going to start a new tortilla business venture in Athens and sell them on the street! Everyone will help make the corn tortillas except for Jessie; she will tend to the financial aspects of our business, since she dropped 4 or 5 tortillas on the ground!

We spent our afternoon in Pana; the ride down was quite exhilarating and almost like a roller coaster ride: we rode in the back of pickup truck that zoomed down the mountain towards the lake. The view was amazing! Pana was quite different from Sololá, where we have been for the past few days. It’s much more touristy and liberal but still fun, of course. There were more gringos than us, quite a few hippies actually. I bought a few souvenirs at the market, which I will refrain from describing considering who might be reading this blog..

We had an interesting discussion at a bar about sustainability and development in Guatemala. I enjoyed that I could contribute to the conversation after taking some international affairs classes. It still amazes me how happy and positive people here seem even after the war that only ended 15 years ago.

Now I am freshly showered (the warm water worked finally!) and we are about to play Catch Phrase. I can’t wait for what the rest of the trip brings!

Leaving Our Mark

“Abi Kelsey”, “Abi Anna”, “Abi Jesse”, “Abi Liz”… This is how we introduced ourselves to the 5^th grade class of Central using our only knowledge of Kaqchikel. From there, we separated into four groups to review color, numbers and food all in English. All the while, the rest of the group was working hard to finish up the library at the Primaria Cooperativa down the road.

This is Moses.  He is ten years old and is awesome. He’s in second grade, likes soccer and had great hula-hooping skills. He was one of many great kids we got to know today. All were super interactive, energetic and just overall loving towards us. Despite the occasional language barrier we seemed to get into long extensive conversations. Many of the girls could not understand why us 20 year old girls did not have “esposos,” or husbands.

The library looks fantastic. The two creative men of our group designed an artistic logo that will be forever displayed on the wall of this school. Now the children have new tables and chairs as well as new bookshelves to house the books that have been sitting in storage unused. We are looking forward to the big reveal on Thursday morning!

More tomorrow!

-UGA

MPI UGA in Guatemala: First Day Wrap-Up

It’s hard to believe that yesterday we were sitting at home, anxiously awaiting our trip, and wondering what we were going to encounter. Flash-forward to today and we can’t even imagine not being here. The past day has opened our eyes to such happiness, culture, poverty, and pride than we could have ever imagined. Last night we spent our time in the beautiful city of Antigua. The cobblestone streets and multicolored buildings are so hard to describe and must be seen first-hand to truly appreciate its beauty. We left Antigua early this morning for our 3-hour microbus ride to Sololá, an amazing lake town populated by indigenous people. We stopped at our hostel and were extremely surprised by the INCREDIBLE view out of our window. The town is situated next to the lake with pristine views of three volcanoes. 

After eating a fabulous breakfast of fresh fruit and pancakes cooked for us by the hostel, we headed out to town and then off to the Cooperativa school in Chaquijyá. We were greeted with open arms by the community and began lacquering the tables and chairs made especially for the library, cleaning and painting the walls of the library, and interacting with the amazing people that call Cooperativa their home. After a lunch packed by the hostel, we finished up our work for the day and walked around the town of Chaquijyá and had the opportunity to experience the reality of rural Guatemala. It was more than eye opening and truly an experience we will never forget. After climbing the hill back to the highway, we hopped into a crowded microbus- crowded is a complete understatement. In a bus for about 12 people, we piled in 28 people. It was cramped to say the least!

After a short ride, we stopped back in Sololá and walked around the town, grabbed some street food, and finally made it to the Manna house! Kat and Dana surprised us with a DELICIOUS blackberry and mango pie, and we all chatted and got to know each other better. We headed back to the hostel for a dinner of spinach and egg pie, sauced vegetables, and corn tortillas. We all caught up about the day and expressed our each individual views of Guatemala so far. Our journey has just begun, but from the mere day we have spent here, we know it will be life changing.

Peace, Love, and Manna

Ellie and Daniel

Wheels Up, Guate Bound

Hello families, friends, lovers, Romans, countrymen, and everyone else!

So I’m the first to kick off the blog. Here’s a little pre-trip ramble for your enjoyment:

I think it’s finally sinking in that this time tomorrow, we’ll be in Central America. Craziness! We can’t wait to get to Chaquijyá and get our hands dirty doing some good work, not to mention getting to run around Guatemala experiencing the culture and seeing everything that this beautiful country has to offer! Personally, as the University of Georgia chapter president, I’m really excited to be sending our first team to MPI-G so that we can begin to establish relationships with the community here in the same way that we were able to do in Nicaragua last year.

On our side of things, we’ve all been doing some research on Guatemala and its history, both political and cultural, which we’ll be discussing as a team during our trip down. Throughout the week, we’ll be updating the blog every night with what we’ve seen and done that day. It will of course be rife with ridiculous nicknames, sweet inside jokes, censored accounts of pillow talk, and hopefully some tasty personal epiphanies. Get excited.

Keep our team in your thoughts and prayers as we make our way down tomorrow!

Tears at the Airport

Hello Everyone, 

This is our last blog post!  We just want everyone to know how much our experience in Guatemala has meant to all of us.  It would be an understatement to say that this week was one of the best weeks of all of our entire lives.  The moment we landed in Nashville we received an email from Kat and Hudson that nearly brought everyone on the plane to tears.  It was so nice to hear about how much our work in Guatemala had made such an impact.

I think of the many aspects that we took from this trip some of the biggest things were that we can help make changes in communities no matter how small those changes they may be.  Although we were only in Guatemala for a week, we were able to see our immediate impact in the community through our trash can project.   I think one of the most rewarding experiences of the trip was the presentation to the community for our project; to see how appreciative the families were of our work was so meaningful.  To see women with their children sitting in the community room listening to what we had to say about our project meant so much. 

Another thing that I think that a lot of people took from the trip was how real poverty is.  We had multiple discussions throughout the week about Guatemalan culture and their economic situation.  I was astonished to learn that only about 15 years ago there was a civil war in Guatemala and that many of the older generations had lived through that time.  I was also intrigued to learn that the largest percentage of income coming into the country as “imports” came from money made by Guatemalans working in America that was sent home to their families.   To think that Guatemalan workers are willing to leave their families in their communities to be able to provide the best for their families is so meaningful.

As a team we were also able to see how deep poverty is and how you can’t “change the world” in a couple of days and not even in a couple of years.  It is the relationships you make with people and the little changes that you are able to make in a community that can make the most difference.  Through working with Kat and Hudson, we were able to see some of the struggles that they have gone through to be accepted by the community.  The relationships that we were able to make in just a week with the kids and the families in the community really were able to show us how important those relationships are in life.  It was so cool to hear all the kids at the school yelling “Utz, Utz, Utz” (which means “Good” in their native tribal language) for Hudson and “Katie” for Kate.  The teachers and students really have made such connections with Kat and Hudson and Manna’s impact in Guatemala can really been seen through their work.

I would like to close in saying that through this entire experience, the relationships and impact that we were able to make in the community and with each other was the most important thing we were able to take from this trip.  As cliché as it might be to say this, I know I am not the only one who thinks that this experience has been life changing.  We have seen how much of an impact we can have on a community and the ways in which our relationships can change people’s live.  We are all so grateful to have had the opportunity to go on this Manna Spring Break Trip and I think that our memories and relationships that have been made will stay with us forever. 

Manna Love Always,

Allie Voss and the A-Team

Last Day in Chaquijyá

Utz a wach, followers!!

We started the day at la escuela with Hudson and Kat teaching third through sixth grade students some English numbers and fruits; and in turn we learned a little K’aqchikel, the local dialect (hence our greeting).  After saying goodbye to our friends at the elementary school, we took a very scenic walk on the way back to Solola. Always looking forward to our crazy pickup truck rides into Panajachel, we took one into town to meet with Robin and Yolanda from Mayan Traditions.

There, we got to see Yolanda back-strap weave a beautiful design, and bought a few gifts for our loved ones from their showroom. We had such a good time in Pana that we decided to stay some extra time to walk around Calle Santander and work our bargaining skills. Also, we tried these amazing avocado popsicles dipped in chocolate; those will definitely try to be replicated in our Vanderbilt kitchens. Since we anticipated having beans and eggs for dinner we ate a lot of fun street snacks and fried chicken before dinner. We had a fun time using our new salsa dancing skills in downtown Pana at Rumba bar. Then we played a few rounds of quarenta, our new favorite card game, and went to bed (but not before our nightly pillow talks, duh).

We miss and love our parents and family!

Mannamor,

A-team

Duke Plants a Garden in Ecuador

After Duke's spring break group returned from Baños, we got our hands dirty with our partner organization, Fundación Añamisi.  Here to share is Mateen!

Slashing at the gnarled weeds, dodging the hundreds of bugs, and digging into the tough ground, we were fighting a battle in Fundación Añamisi's organic garden. In only three days, the garden would be completely planted, and we would have helped move Christian Añamisi's dream forward.  With his partner, Laura Araujo, Christian has been able to create an organic farming business (De la Mata a la Olla, roughly translated as “from the ground to the table”) through which local organic gardens are able to distribute their products to the people of Quito and its surrounding areas over the internet. They both also utilize the knowledge they have gained from this venture to teach other people in the area about organic farming through their organization.

When we arrived at the garden Wednesday morning we were greeted by Christian, Laura, and their two crazy dogs Lupita and Tommy. Christian gave us a quick overview of his projects and proudly showed us some of the many products he sells.   We were all amazed by how Christian and Laura were able to create such a sustainable organic farming business while also giving so much back to the community. It was surprising that organic products would be so popular, especially over the internet in a country where only small percentage of the population own computers. Our work over the week was to clear several plots of land, plant new crops, and harvest corn. When we first arrived, the garden was overrun with tangled weeds, grass, and hundreds (only a slight exaggeration) of spiders. With the guidance of Christian and Laura, we dug our tools into the ground.  Two days and several tarantula encounters later, we had finally conquered the garden. During the last week of work, we planted lettuce, beets, chard, Japanese lettuce and ahí (chili peppers), and it felt good to be able to see the product of all our hard work.

With the garden work finished, we had the opportunity to help Christian with the English class he teaches at the local university.  He had his students record videos with questions in English for us and we recorded answers.  We had so much fun with the videos we decided to send back our own questions for the students to answer.  My time at the garden was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and I hope I have the opportunity to help them more in the future.

The Duke crew in Añamisi's garden

Mateen and Kia working together!

Angela and Miranda listening to one of Christian's student's English questions

Aging chard in the beds we completed weeding!

Beds freshly planted with lettuce and chard

Vandy Spring Breakers Stay Busy in Guatemala

From catching aquarium fish barehanded to bartering in a local market, the third day of our Guatemalan adventure was filled with exciting new experiences.  The gang (not Tuktuks, Tyler) got off to somewhat of a sluggish start to the day as a couple people fell to Montezuma's revenge and the rest of us battled fatigue from hard work and play in the local village.  Upon arrival, David and Drew took a preemptive break at the neighborhood tienda while everyone else began work.

Once well rested, they caught up with the rest of the team to give a presentation to the local school PTA.  After playing with kids as we waited for our turn, Tyler, Alex, Ali, and Amanda outlined the logistics and long-term sustainable benefits of the community trash initiative.  Their Spanish was impeccable and the crowd was impressed by both their eloquence and their height.  David's photo slide show and smooth transitions, were equally impressive (Watch the presentation at the end of this post!).

 For the remainder of the morning, the gang taught third and sixth grade English classes before heading back to the hostel for lunch. Following lunch, Hudson, Amanda, Streeter, and Lia went to Pana (a nearby town situated on the lake, popular to backpackers and tourists) to meet with Mayan Traditions to pick out items to be sold in the Vanderbilt Bookstore in a fair trade initiative.  (Though Drew was eager to help, the girls decided that due to his lack of fashion sense it would be better if he sat this one out.)  At the hostel, the rest of the gang came to the realization that it was our last day before the other Manna group arrived and lamented that the week was moving too fast.  We then headed down to Pana in the back of a pick up truck and enjoyed the breathtaking views, fresh air, and John's heroic photo-shoot.   

David, Drew, Kat, Leigh, and Allie walked through the streets for an afternoon filled with shopping. The men and women reversed roles as David and Drew ravaged the shopping, buying belts, shirts, and baby shoes as the girls walked along and assisted with fashion advice.  With Waites doing the talking and Drew providing the silent but strong intimidation, the pair made quite a formidable bartering duo and made bargain after bargain.  Following the extensive shopping spree, the group reunited and relaxed at a local restaurant to discuss the cultural differences of poverty, the difficulties of community development, and the complications of defining happiness.  Afterwards, a friend of Hudson and Kat's offered to give us salsa-dancing lessons.  Despite extreme whiteness and stiff hips, the guys managed to keep up and the girls managed to remain patient.  Drew was voted Most Improved Dancer and had many convinced that he was actually of Latin descent.

After working up quite an appetite, the gang headed to a local steakhouse to have our first Guatemalan restaurant experience.  It turned out to be quite interesting.  Following our meal of burritos, pizza, and chicken cordon bleu (where was that for the scavenger hunt?) another group of students from the University of Vermont gathered around a fish tank where one girl was preparing to catch a large fish from the aquarium with her hands.  Our interest was obviously piqued but as we watched her melodramatic attempt, we decided that it was time to show Vermont how we do it down South.  Two minutes later, Streeter was standing victoriously over the tank with fish in hand, smiling proudly at the crowd as the restaurant waiters laughed at our antics. 

Tired from the day's activities, the whole group packed into another truck and began the ascent back to our hostel, loudly singing in merriment.  However, during the second verse of Justin Bieber's hit "Baby," our truck rolled to a stop.  Apparently the ancient truck couldn't quite handle the incline and we had to get out and push until it could get started again.  Despite the inconvenience, the A-Team spirits couldn't be dampened and soon were playing Guatemalan card games on the hostel balcony.  Tomorrow, the two Manna groups will be united and the outcome is sure to be epic.  Whether or not Guatemala is prepared for such a combination remains unknown.

Check out our trashcan project via David's awesome presentation:

MPIV Spring Breakers Hard at Work in Guatemala

Hola! Greetings from Guat!

Today started off with a bang again, as both Hos and Drew were awoken by their favorite canine companion in each of their beds. We had a great breakfast of curious, potentially vanilla flavored milk with frosted flakes—necessary sugar rush—with toast and our favorite watered down, pre-sweetened, albeit very tasty coffee, bright and early before we headed into the community. We got the privilege of witnessing the last day of the epic Carnival festival, which was highlighted by dancing to a 4-song playlist of Enrique, Pit Bull, and No Speak Americano, getting pelted by countless eggs filled with flour, confetti, and glitter, and the nugget party.

The one and only Lester.

If only y’all could have met Lester, our favorite little nugget of joy who sported sweet shades and rockin’ dance moves most of the day—aka Tyler’s little nug and my new “novio” (boyfriend…see, I’m catching on to this whole Spanish thing). Hudson and Kat judged a dance competition, costume contest, and pageant, in which we were all wildly entertained but mildly disappointed when our favorites, the melon girl and the “terrorist” didn’t take home the gold. The whole school loved the Carnival festivities, especially dousing us with the confetti and glitter, which are still in most of our hair, and chasing John up the basketball hoop.

In addition to the festival, we completed the spray paint work on our trash can project lining the main street, and filmed a video about our project starring our favorite 15-year-old third grader, Ramiro. The trash cans look awesome, and we were thrilled to see members of the community already throwing their trash into our new additions.

Chaquijyá's brand new trashcan

After we left the school, shortly after Hudson almost got run over by a truck while trying to take the group picture in front of one of the trash cans, we came back to the hostel to attempt to clean off the glitter and eat an awesome lunch. A little jam sesh took place on the balcony, and then we were off to town for our uber competitive scavenger hunt in the market. Once we were split into three teams, we were sent out into the market to take pictures of everything from the funniest American t-shirt being sported by a Guatemalan—with no chance that they understood the saying—to the grossest dried fish, to the best failed attempt at an American knock-off brand. Claws came out immediately as we embarked on this serious mission, relying on our groups’ Spanish skills, and often natural born schmoozing skills, to get the pictures we needed from the locals. Highlights of the scavenger hunt include: Yummy Donuts, “Pooo” backpacks, Hos eating a moderately large dried fish, balancing baskets on our heads, “Fist Pumping Politicians”, and the inspiration of Man taming Nature. Also, Amanda and I got attacked by a pack of local boys who pelted us with flour…thanks Hudson.

But in the end, it was my team, the Boisterous Assassins, being Amanda, Hos, Drew and myself that came out victorious as the Program Directors judged our photos. Honorable Mention goes to Tyler for being awkward and tall in each of his group’s pictures. Afterwards, we hung out on the balcony as the sun went down, discussed what we look for in fashion models and great hair, enjoyed a great spaghetti dinner full of nicknames, expertise, TLM’s, great stories and aggression, and then planned our day for tomorrow, including our presentation to the community on our project and our continued nugget party.

Fun fact: Tyler, the ultimate claustrophobe, got stuck in the tiny bathroom for a solid 20 minutes. Good times. Well it’s time for me to learn some traditional Guatemalan card games and continue our A-Team bonding. It’s been real, until tomorrow!

Adios, y’all! Lots of love, Streeter and the rest of the A-Team

Duke Spring Break in Baños

After a weekend on the beach in Montañita, Ashley, Jack, Sam, and I returned to the sierras Sunday night to meet our first two spring break groups.  While Ashley and Jack took the group from Vanderbilt University out to our partner organization, FEVI, in the valley north of us, Sam and I met up with our group of six from Duke University and brought them back to the valley with us.  Seeing as Monday and Tuesday were holidays in Ecuador celebrating Carnaval (what we know as Mardi Gras in the States), we took off for our overnight trip bright and early Monday morning, to Baños.  Here to give a snapshot of our time together is one of our spring breakers from Duke: Jake!


After a long and bumpy ride to Baños, we were welcomed with espuma (foam) and buckets of water by the locals.  It was Carnaval, and the festivities were wild; a major part of the celebrating involved spraying foam on everyone and everything.  Once I dried off, the town was amazing.  We checked into a hostel (which only cost $7.50 a night), and then decided to go repelling down 5 of the local waterfalls.  We had a blast – the experience was well worth the blisters and rope burns on our hands.  After we dried off (again), we caught a chivas (essentially a party bus) and went to party on top of a volcano.  The party consisted of fire-jugglers and comedy shows, but the real highlight of the night was the view.  We could see over all of Baños, and the mountain scenery was incredible.  When we returned to the town, we quickly learned that the celebrating during the day was nothing compared to the celebrating at night.  We all were so tired after the adventurous day that we turned in a little early so we would be ready for the next day’s events.  


We started the next day with a rooftop breakfast before renting bikes and embarking on a 27 kilometer ride to a huge waterfall (I know, there are a lot of waterfalls on this trip).  The ride was exciting for two reasons: the incredible views that we saw on our path and the water balloons that we had to dodge (the Carnival activities also included water balloon pelting).  About half way through the ride, we stopped to go on a one kilometer zip line (it was the longest zip line I have ever seen).  I can honestly say it was one of the coolest experiences of my life.  We finished the bike ride and snapped a few Kodak pictures of the waterfall before returning to our hostel and leaving Baños.  A few pointers for those of you planning on being in Baños for Carnaval: get the Mega Grill burger (it’s delicious) at the burger stand off the plaza, go zip lining (it’s exhilarating), and bring a bathing suit (it’s wet)!  

Baños!

A performer with fire on top of the volcano

Jake concentrating in preparation for a 1km zipline.

ZIPLINE!

MPI Vanderbilt Nicaragua Trip

Last week, our first group of spring break volunteers arrived from Vanderbilt University to work with Nicayuda painting a pre-school and to help out in all Manna’s programs. On Saturday, after a long day of traveling from Nashville, Tennessee, the 11 Vanderbilt girls were ready to take on Nicaragua. Group leaders Amanda and Zac met up with them at the airport and brought them back to the Manna house to settle in.

To truly understand the girls’ experience in Nicaragua from their own perspective, we asked them to write a reflection on the week.  The following is a guest blog from spring break volunteers Lexi Kaminer, Alyssa Cohen and Liza Warshaver, with pictures by Leslie Dawson.

When we first showed up, we weren’t sure what to expect from Nicaragua and the Manna community. After hearing our schedule we were so excited to see we would have the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture and help the local people. The first day we went to the pre-school in the Altagracia area. We were interested to learn that the government does not provide very much help for Nicaraguan pre-schools and for that reason we were glad to help repaint the entire school. After two days of hard work we were excited to have completed our painting, and it was such a rewarding experience to see the children’s reaction to their brand new school.

Vandy girls hard at work.



Some of the finished product.



Pre-school students in their freshly-painted school.

Another moving experience was our trip to La Chureca where we were able to walk around with the mothers in Manna’s Child Sponsorship program. During this visit we saw a different way of life and the power of strong bonds within a community.  We also saw the clinic that Manna sponsors and we were moved by how much it positively aids the children and their families.

Throughout the week we also had the chance to attend English classes, exercise classes, baseball practice, drumming, and the Feeding Program, all led by the talented and dedicated Manna Program Directors. We were so happy to see how much Manna does for the communities and how much the children appreciate their involvement.

To conclude our trip we had an amazing weekend excursion. During this trip we got to relax by Laguna de Apoyo, canopy through the trees near the Mombacho Volcano, and experience Granada, the oldest city in North America.

We in the Manna house thank the Vanderbilt team for their hard work, and we know Nicayuda and the pre-school in Altagracia share our gratitude.  Today, we'll be saying goodbye to the Vanderbilt girls and hello to a group from Worchester State University.  Look for an update about their work next week.  What a busy time of year!

Breaking Ground

Hello family, friends and followers!

Today is our second day in Guatemala! The day started off abruptly with Drew being woken up by a giant German shepherd licking his face, and it was all uphill from there.  The owners of the hostel served us a delicious breakfast of giant pancakes and some of the freshest fruit we have tasted in months. A few of the boys went to the community early with Hudson to meet the mayor and learn how to mix cement, and the rest of the group got a little more time to relax in the morning. On our way to the community, we were caught in a giant Carnival parade full of adorable little kids in costumes  (Pictures to come). There were a few scary masks, but most of the kids looked pretty cute. After making it to the community in a VERY full microbus (so full that a little man wearing a cowboy hat had to practically sit on John’s lap the entire way), we headed to the school to start our service for the day.

Our plan was to start installing trashcans all along a newly paved road that runs through the city in order to encourage throwing away trash rather than littering. The bottles will then be used in a new project the community is starting which will use them and the trash as building materials.  Before getting to the project, we played with the kids at the school during their recess. The kids were very excited to see us, and decided to show this by throwing glitter, confetti and eggshells at us in the spirit of the Carnival holiday. Things got a little awkward when a little girl poured glitter down Allie’s shirt and a boy brought out scissors to cut Amanda’s hair off, but a quick game of basketball and soccer smoothed things out.

 As the day went on, we made incredible progress installing the trashcans, and created a great stencil to decorate them tomorrow. As the boys were finishing up with some of the trashcans, the girls headed back to Sololá to run some errands, including getting all the fresh ingredients to make Guacamole from the market. We tried some delicious soy ice cream, and totally demolished the Guacamole once we made it back at the hostel. We are definitely not going hungry on this trip. The boys played a few games of soccer (which they want you all to know that they won) against the boys in the village, and then headed back to finish the Guac and take a nap. The hostel is cooking dinner for us—hope it's good! We are headed there now. Miss you all!

(PS. anything that may have concerned you in the last blog was a joke, we promise! Tyler thought it was funny. No gunshots or anything!)

Hasta luegooooooo,

The group!