San Miguel Milpas Alpas by Allison Johnson

Today we distributed 542 bags of school supplies and uniforms for children in San Miguel.  Most of the children were in school during the morning hours of the festival-like event, so their moms or other family members came to the pickup location. It was so rewarding to interact with these families and see the gratitude in their faces.

Entrance to the gymnasium 

The distribution took place in a large gymnasium and we formed a bucket brigade to unload several pallets of supplies that were sent down on a container ship after a school supply drive in Minnesota last October. There were balloons and decorations, a PA system for announcements and prayers before the distribution started, and also a lot of really wonderful things being said about us. No one was translating for us, but we could all see how reverent and thankful the families were.

The author with some of the bags. 

We checked in about 200 families using a barcode system -- we scanned the Common Hope ID card, validated the ID number, then matched the number with a voucher for whatever grade school supplies were being picked up for all the kids in that family. The person picking up the supplies signed the voucher and then went to the various stations around the gym where they would trade the voucher for school supplies or uniforms. I connected with over 89 sets of eyes, greeting every one with, “Hola, buenos dias!” and then, "Firma aqui, por favor". I also noticed how important the id cards were to the Guatemalan people.  I saw brand new cards and some worn out since the bearer had been a Common Hope affiliate for years. Throughout the day we saw the intense need for resources, but also saw how thankful everyone was. There is deep gratitude from Guatemalans for everything they have.

Following the school supply distribution, we walked across the street to the San Miguel health center, where the local Common Hope volunteers made very moving statements of thanks for what we did that morning. They also talked about how through our supporting of Common Hope, some other important dreams are being realized. Aurora, a health promoter in San Miguel, told us how she is graduating from high school this year, 29 years after she dropped out of school because he parents couldn't afford it.  She wanted to become a nurse, but due to her age she can't follow this path. Instead, she’s decided to become a psychologist because there is such a need for this service in her community.  She told us we would be in her prayers until God comes for her. A truly moving moment… the words of these women from such a humble place with so few resources and their recognition that their only gift to us could be their prayers and good graces. Really touching.

There is intense poverty in San Miguel, with running water only being available for two hours every six or seven days (the water is shared with other mountain villages, so the access is rotated). Residents have to collect all the water they will use for the next week during those hours in large basins.  Whatever they will need for drinking, bathing and other needs must be met with this supply. For this reason, it's very difficult to bathe because there just isn't enough water. They also have very little access to the internet – there were two internet cafes, but one has since closed. So, while many residents have cell phones, there is only one place in town to get online. Most of the town works in carpentry or agriculture, and we got to see two local businesses up close. The first was a small carpentry shop, run by a self-taught man with eight children who were excited to help out in the shop after their homework was finished. The other was a green bean sorting facility, with maybe twenty workers sorting beans and snapping the ends off of them. Their small children ran around while the women worked. They earn 30 quetzals (about $4.30) for each hundred pounds of beans they sort. The facility supervisor chided Alma (the local Common Hope volunteer who helped organize the school supply distribution) that no one was working today – they’d all gone down to the gym to pick up school supplies.

Alma, our guide, at the facility used for 1st-3rd grades and junior high.

Finally we walked through various schools in the area and got to see the facility used for pre-k/k, and then another building that is 1st -3rd grades in the morning and junior high in the afternoon. In Guatemala the school day is just five hours long and includes breaks for meals and snacks, so the time spent learning is very short.  Students wear uniforms of long pants and shirts with sweater vests as uniforms all school year (January to October).  We're in jeans and t-shirts and it’s warm, so I can't imagine wearing such a uniform while trying to pay attention and learn in school.