Day 4 - Wakami

After a late night fun game of “Monopoly Deal”, we woke up early. All of us were ready to go at 7:25 a.m. but we ended up starting our day at our usual Guatemala time. It was a beautiful day, a bit colder (in the 50s J) than usual, but it warmed up as the day progressed. Our host, Isabella, was very polite and energetic. On our drive to Wakami, she explained what the organization stood for and that they are in the “businesses of empowering women”. This includes making high quality bracelets, eco-friendly wooden products, education and promoting entrepreneurship in women.

As soon as we reached our destination, we got a very warm welcome by our host Thelma. The day started with drawing our individual dreams on a piece of paper and sharing it with the rest of the group, which included the locals as well. It was amazing to hear the dreams of the locals and to learn how passionate they were about achieving their dreams. This included, becoming a nurse, having a house with red apple trees and making sure that their kids went to school.

Today’s project included painting window trims and doors and assembling furniture. We had a lot of laughs and collaboration with the locals who were sweet and were always making sure that we had everything we needed. We had a quick break at around 11:30 a.m. when Thelma brought us some amazing homemade chicken chuchitos and hot hibiscus tea. She mentioned to us that during their initial training phase, all the women go through multiple rejections by the quality team before their first product gets approved. This is done to ensure that Wakami stands out from the other local groups by creating “very high quality” products. The locals presented us with their handmade bag and bracelets and explained to us the meaning behind their various types of bracelets. At the end of our day, they took us to a local restaurant for a wonderful meal and we ended our visit on a beautiful note. 
 
-Narayana