Guatemala: An Easier Day

After working on the cement roof, it was a welcome reprieve to know that our next day would allow us to spend our mornings in the classrooms and nursery rooms. Here is a bit of an editorial - if you are traveling on a service trip to another country it really is incredibly wonderful to have even a small grasp of the language. It shows respect and honors the culture. It also is incredibly practical. I've spent the last year polishing up my Spanish and the studying helped. Hopefully by next year, my conversational abilities will have improved even more.

Here's what I sent to parents:

Subject: Machetes and Pick AxesWell, I believe today's subject caught your attention.
Yes, your teens used machetes today. And pick axes.  And no, they did not cause bodily harm to anyone.  Our afternoon was spent clearing the yard area of the classrooms that we helped roof yesterday (more on that below).  To remove the tall grasses and massive weeds, they gave us more formidable tools that what we would likely see lawn care professionals use Stateside.  They got the job done though.
The morning was spent in classrooms and nursery rooms.  The kids had a great time playing and learning with the children in the school and nursery. Many found that they had a better grasp of the language than they initially thought.
Now, I must confess, your kids are practicing jump rope routines while I am enjoying a reprieve with my feet up.  They are practicing routines and skits that will be part of the farewell assembly at the school tomorrow morning. The children will do a few more skits and such for us. In turn, we will show off our various skills and talents. As many of your teens competed in the Heartbeats jump rope group, they thought this would be fun for the kids to see. Thus we also had the adventure of stopping at a street side stall to buy rope. We plan on adding that to the donations to the school.

One downfall to the service trips is that they often aggravate my bad ankle. Ironically the first time I sprained it was on the first service trip I ever went on, an alternative spring break in college. It was also my first real leadership role in ministry. Two more sprains later, it periodically bugs me enough that I find myself  propping it up on a pillow with an ice pack (20 minutes on, 20 minutes off). Here too I find a few lessons. When I hit those moments when my ankle just won't let me do anything any more, it reminds me that I need to let myself be served and to do so with grace. That is not easy. After all, I see it as part of my mission and call to serve others. Letting others serve me just feels off. That's just my pride speaking. I need to listen to the humility coming from my left ankle more often.

Concrete, Concrete, Everywhere

Our day after orientation was a massive day of work. We were tasked with the construction of a concrete roof. It was quite the task to say the very least. Here's the email to the parents describing our day:

 I'll go into greater detail as to why our entire group has developed a lifelong aversion to concrete.  Yesterday we moved over 60 wheelbarrows of dirt, scores of barrow-fulls of stones, and countless bags of concrete mix.  Then we had to stir this immensely heavy mixture before gallons upon gallons of water were added and more mixing was required.
Once the mixture was created, we had to haul buckets of the wet concrete mix up a ladder to the roof. The empty buckets then had to be tossed down, caught, and put out to be reloaded.  After a few struggles to find a good system, the kids found a process that worked and they were able to get the classroom roof covered.  Of course we left the retreat center at 6 am so we could begin work by 7 am and did not return until nearly 6 pm.  However, you should be proud of the work that the teens did as it far exceeded the expectations of the school staff.
Needless to say, by the time we at dinner we were nearly falling asleep at the table.  Reflection was short and we shooed the kids to bed as early as possible.

It was wonderful to see the kids work so hard. What astounded me was the various individuals who trickled into the yard to assist. A woman, a parent of a student I believe, came to help. She was dressed as most were in the garbage dump community, worn shirt and shorts. Her shoes were simply the inexpensive flip flops that are seen for a dollar or two at supermarkets. She stood in the cement, hauling buckets and working harder than all the teens, chaperone, and myself. Periodically she would dip her feet in a bucket to wash the cement off as it would get very irritating. She chatted, smiled, and worked. In her was the face of God. 

Quote of the Day

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. - James Dent

May your lawn mower be broken. May the weather be warm. May the breeze blow gently. May you enjoy this summer day.

Guatemala: Orientation Day

To begin, here's the email sent to parents from Guatemala with a summary of our day:

After a great breakfast we were able to experience the formidable rush hour traffic that is apparently worse on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. I have no idea why those three days are the worst, but that is what we were told. We picked up two police officers from the city hall who escorted us all day before we headed to the school, Francisco Coll.  
As soon as we arrived the children had a wonderful variety show for us. A skit about life in the garbage dump community, tricks of coordination (somersaults, flips, hula hoops), indigenous dances, and indigenous music rounded out the morning.  Then we were walked through a few of the homes. Many of the residents were generous to not only open their homes to us, but to share their stories. The teens saw that entire families lived in spaces smaller than their bedrooms at home.  A family of seven counted themselves lucky to have the regular income of roughly $5 per day - a small fortune in Zone 7, the garbage dump area.
Once the home tours were completed, we were escorted to the nursery. The babies, age a few months to pre-school, were a great favorite with all the teens. We heard more stories of the creation of the nursery and school.  Then we were walked through the adjacent area of the recycling area.  This is nothing like what you might picture - it is filthy, chaotic, and the overwhelming stench of the garbage dump invades all your sense.
At that point we loaded back on our bus to drive to the cemetery. An odd destination, yes, but as it is on the cliff that gives you a bird's eye view of the garbage dump cavern, it was a good way for the teens to see the magnitude of the dump.
By this time we were all ready for lunch. Several of the kids helped Andres pick out the food that would make up our lunches for the week when we stopped at a supermarket. Then we went across the street to a park where we assembled our lunches of peanut butter sandwiches, chips, apples, cookies and iced tea. 
Our next stop was to return to the area of the garbage dump, this time to the Santa Maria center. There we heard stories from the Paso a Paso program. This is a scholarship program to help the children who finish at Francisco Coll continue on into high school and college. They offer tutoring and trade training. We also heard more about life in Guatemala City in general and the garbage dump community specifically.

As I knew what to expect from a previous trip three years ago, it was a day of memory and seeing what had changed. The nursery had been improved upon and the school was in need of more space. The people were still the most hospitable individuals I ever met. The smell still hit you like a physical force. The children still, like all children, want to sit next to the new people and yearn for their attention.

What was the most beautiful moment of the day was a conversation between one of our teens and the director of the Paso a Paso program. This teen had been adopted from Guatemala. The director asked about her background and over the course of a few minutes was in grateful tears not only that this teen's mother bravely gave her up, but that she was welcomed into a loving home and then felt called to return to offer what she could to her birth nation. The director, who struggles with the teens and young adults fighting for higher education as they emerge from the garbage dump, recognized and named the gifts of faith, education and the love of both the birth and adopted families. For those who witnessed the conversation it was stunningly beautiful.

Gratefully Home

Silence descended upon the blog while I was in Guatemala on our service trip with International Samaritan.

It was a challenging trip in many unexpected ways, yet immensely rewarding.  Over the coming days I will post what we did and my thoughts on the activities - they include a cement roof, machetes, nursery children, the garbage dump, and much more.

The trip gave me much to consider in how we determine who goes on a service trip, expectations of behavior, dealing with cliques, and other concerns that may be a growing trend in the teens.

As it stands, this is all for today, just a simple introduction. Watch tomorrow for a summary of our first day.

Here's a teaser - cement. Lots of it.

Sunday's Gospel

Here is a beautiful post that responds to the shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

Keeping It Together

I may have mentioned this. Once or twice. I am someone who loves organization. My dad is former military (over 20 years of service) and my mother has worked in finances for as long as I can remember. Organization is pretty much genetically ingrained in me.

However, there is a stereotype or perhaps an excuse regarding those in ministry to youth and young adults. We are not organized, we're creative. We're not organized, we're relevant. To quote my favorite half-giant, "Codswallop!"  If anything we need to be more organized. We face audiences that redefine procrastination, use of instantaneous communication, and parents that are raising the bar of helicopter parenting on a daily basis.

Do you have mechanisms in place to keep yourself organized? Do you know how you will communicate effectively and appropriately with those involved in your ministry? Do you keep accurate and accessible records?

A few of my tricks are these:

• Levenger's Circa Notebooks.  I adore these things. They allow me to take notes, reorganize the pages, and keep everything together if I am jumping from meeting to meeting until I can get them into the appropriate file folders in my office. I also use the junior size one as my "Book." The Book goes everywhere with me. Some of the pages are personal information - books to read, quotes I like, grocery lists. Some are notes on work - calendar of all youth and young adult events, leadership contacts, etc.
• Evernote. This is a blessing when it comes to digital organization. Check it out if you haven't already. Many youth ministry blogs have touted the uses and wonders of this program and app (plus the program is free though you can get an upgrade should you wish).
• A workable old-school filing system. Some things need hard copies. Your parish and diocese likely give you some of those stipulations. I also have the "If Jenn Gets Hit By A Bus" set of folders - basically the next week to two weeks of programs all set to go so that if I end up with both legs in traction or attacked by poisonous caterpillars, the show can go on without me.
• Email and texting mechanisms you can access from anywhere. Since our youth group is on Sunday, communicating changes (say cancellations due to snowstorms) can be challenging if I make the decision after our last morning Mass.  Using list servs, Google Groups, etc allow you to easily and effectively communicate via email. There are also some great new resources out there that will allow you to communicate via text message without forcing your poor little thumbs to scream out in rebellion.  I'm going to be giving Simply Youth Ministry Tools: Communicate a try. There are a few others out there. Plus these will allow you to send emails and text messages even when you're out of the country on a mission trip. Great to keep parents aware of your safety and the joy the teens are sharing.

Any tips you want to share?

Please note, these are my opinions and what I found useful. They are not an advertisement from any of the resources listed above.