2019: Day 5 - A Day in the Life

Our last day in Guatemala was one of ups and downs. A few of the group felt slightly under the weather, but everyone rallied to have a great last activity together which was cooking some authentic Guatemalan food together (shout out to Gio)! I, personally, met my sponsored family and had a wonderful experience interacting with the entire family.

We spent time learning how individual families use their talents to support their families. We split up into multiple groups. Juan Jose demonstrated his talents and artistry in jewelry, specifically silver-smithing (and some of us spent too much money). Worry dolls were made and all were impressed and de-stressed. 

A few went to a coffee farm and were amazed at how it is made. The passion Felix put into creating his art of coffee was great to see. We took a joy ride in the back of a truck (shout out to Ally) up the side of a mountain to pick some coffee beans (red ones only). To finish the coffee adventure, we saw the process.

Another group, went to see how clay turns into the national bird of Guatemala the Quetzal. The third group went to experience weaving. We also had the privilege to attend the blessing of the house with the family we had built the house throughout the week for. This was truly emotional and a gift for all of us. To top it off we felt a tremor and it shook our minds. 

Thanks Guatemala, we have had an amazing week!!

2019: Day 4 - Wakami

By Lori M.

Our schedule simply said “Visit to Wakami home.” 

I had no idea what was in store for me, emotionally. My group was accompanied by Isobel, who interpreted and shared the success story of the Wakami women. Our bus parked on the street and we walked through an unassuming narrow passage with tall, white-washed cinder block walls on either side. As we walked away from the busy street we stepped closer to the little oasis of Marla’s home. It would be impossible to not feel the calm and peace in this place. By the end of the visit I also felt empowerment which I won’t be able to describe in words. 

Marla met us in her sunny courtyard, and we were surrounded by her fellow Wakami “sisters.” At first they looked like ordinary, smiling Guatemalan women……wives, moms and grandmothers. Isobel interpreted and unfolded their stories. These “ordinary” women became truly extraordinary in my tearful eyes. The hopes and dreams identified by Marla, Enma, Yessica and others are not so different than my own. They desire education for their kids, a safe and healthy home, good food, and mostly, the ability to independently provide. Some of these women did not have the spousal support to contribute to their dreams. Instead of allowing life and circumstances to just happen, they courageously chose to take ownership of the future of their families.  

Wakami is an organization, started by women to empower other women. Their skill, craft or trade is made marketable worldwide through wakamiglobal.com.

2019: Day 4 - Common Hope

Today the Allina Team continued partnering with Common Hope through numerous projects. At the Common Hope campus, members of our team assisted in translating sponsorship letters, also updating the library – changing the room decoration from the solar system theme to a focus on reading, and scrubbing the soccer/basketball/pickleball court inside and out until it shone.

Today, the panels our teams built throughout the week were finally assembled into a house for a family in the San Juan neighborhood of Antigua.  With some luck, expert direction from L.J. and Michelle, and the skilled hands of Edwin and Reynoldo, we were able to transform the foundation laid earlier this week -- walls, rafters, a roof, windows, doors – into a house!  A life changing week both for the family, who will make this house their home, and for the Allina Health team who have had the opportunity to participate in this project. 

 

2019: Day 3 - Common Hope

Hola mis amigos!                                                                                                                             

It’s another perfect 75 degrees and sunny day in Antigua (sorry Minnesota). Team 2 has spent the last couple of days working hard on constructing a home in San Juan Del Obispo for a family of seven. The family’s monthly income is $195. They squat on their land, which is 10 x 10 meters and their current home is a block house with a ceramic brick floor. They purchase water and electricity from the land owner and have a flush type toilet and a gas stove for cooking. Their home is furnished with two beds, five stools, two tables and two dressers for the seven of them.

Before the family was granted a new house, they were required to work 100 hours helping on the grounds of Common Hope. Then that’s where our job came in. We started off the day yesterday on site at the new house by mixing concrete for the floor. After a little muscle work, a lot of sunscreen, and rationing our water because there were no available restrooms, we had ourselves a finished concrete floor! Step one done, BOOM!

Today’s construction work was just as satisfying as smoothing out a concrete floor. I understand now why they are called power tools, because after using a terrifying large drill I feel pretty empowered. This morning we constructed multiple panels that will make up the walls and doors of the new home. This afternoon we will deliver the panels to the house site and begin to see the home really come together.

It's an exciting process to work amongst some of the most fun, caring people of Allina Health and come together to create a new home for a family in need. I’m looking forward to some more hands on, gritty work and continuing to move the vision of Common Hope forward.

Day 3 for Team 2 for some also consisted of spending time in the daycare and library at Common Hope. The daycare experience involved spending time and playing with children of staff members of Common Hope. The daycare staff welcomed us with socks so we could get right down on the floor to play with 2-3 year olds. Even though there was a language barrier, it was clear the staff resolved a conflict between two toddler girls, over a doll, calmly yet with authority. One of the Allina Health team members responded quickly when a five-month old baby awoke crying. The soothing calmed the baby almost instantly. One of the highlights of the daycare experience was when a toddler finally decided to play catch.  Again it was apparent speaking the same language was not necessary to interact. The library involvement involved getting the library ready for the school year, so our craft skills were put to use decorating walls and ceiling. The library was transformed into a welcoming environment for Common Hope families.

2019: Day 3 - Wakami

Today we drove to the town of Magdalena Milpas Atlas to meet women in the Wakami community in this town.  The women in this community have created a business doing bead-work making bracelets which is helping to pull their families out of poverty. They were so proud to share what they had just designed and showed us clothes they had created and were featured in a large fashion show. The women were so kind-hearted and were willing to share their life stories with us. We all gathered around the tables, each person drew a picture of their hopes and dreams and then we all shared with the group.  The common theme with the women of Wakami was the dream of owning a home, having their children graduate from high school and having them grow up with a better life than they had.

We started a project that the other group will be finishing tomorrow – our Allina Health group and the Wakami women all pitched in and painted walls in the courtyard of the home of the leader where they meet. We ended our day with all of the women of the Wakami group holding a lighted votive candle and they shared what they were grateful for and presented the candle to each one of our group members. It was a great day and I think we all came back with great respect for and inspiration from these women.

2019: Day 2 – La Esquintla Hospital and Antigua

Team one loaded onto a bus for a one-hour drive visit a hospital in an area that previously didn’t have access to medical care. Today, the La Esquintla Hospital offers primarily maternity, neonatal, and pediatric intensive care. The hospital director gave us a tour and explained the advancements they have made over the years. The NICU was recently completed and was extremely impressive given the limited resources they have at their disposal. Before their facility existed, infant mortality was at 80 percent; with hard work and persistence they have decreased that significantly. Newly delivered babies and their moms are only allowed to be admitted for 12 hours post birth so the hospital has space for the influx of moms waiting their turn to give birth in a safe, supportive environment. After seeing the babies, children, and parents receiving care, it became obvious that this hospital is an oasis to a community that previously had to simply accept losing the fight to treatable and curable conditions. It was very apparent that everyone involved was committed to the continued improvement and advancement of the care they provide in the face of adversity.

For the remainder of the day, our team was given the opportunity to explore Antigua on their own. Some of the highlights were the chocolate shop, a Guatemalan jade museum, and a new brewery with a spectacular rooftop patio that offered breathtaking views of the city and surrounding volcanoes. The whole team ended the day meeting up for dinner at an Italian restaurant (yes, Italian food in Guatemala exists!) out in the city.

2019: Day 2 - Common Hope

By April Breidel and Nizhoni Walter

The Ah-Ha day. Our group started the day with home visits accompanying a Common Hope social worker on non-scheduled home visits with families affiliated with Common Hope. The visits were astounding. I think we all ended our day with a better understanding of the vast opportunities Common Hope provides.
 

We spent the first part of our day with a social worker with the Common Hope Foundation. She took us on the “chicken bus” to a town called San Juan Del Obispo. While she spoke very little English and we spoke very little Spanish we knew right away we would be great friends. On our first visit I was very humbled by the meager means the family had. Our first family was classified as a “Class A” family which according to the Foundation is a family of minor financial means, but also a family with other psychosocial issues. The father had epilepsy and the mother suffered from recurrent kidney stones. This family was originally an indigenous family from the West Highlands. They had recently moved from the West Highlands to the Antigua area to search for work and better circumstances. When we walked into the one bedroom home, we saw it consisted of three beds piled high with clothing, blankets and all of their other belongings; their youngest son was asleep on the piles of belongings. Beyond all of these circumstances I was most surprised by their openness, their family-centered focus, their willingness to be so open-hearted even in the presence of strangers. I have never seen a more gracious and humble family with such limited means. The social worker was so integrated into this family it was evident they trusted her and her advice, and they appreciated the resources available to them from the Common Hope Foundation.
 

The second half of the day was spent with Erin the Volunteer Experience Coordinator. We toured the Common Hope facility and it really solidified the philosophies of Common Hope. Thirty-three years ago, a Minnesota family wanted to come and help improve the situation of the families of the Antigua region. They wanted to dedicate the focus of Common Hope on education, health, social work and family focus.
 

Currently Common Hope services 3,100 families with a staff of 120 Guatemalan staff. In order to participate in the programs, families need to have a financial need and at least one school age child. Goals for the children enrolled include graduating, critical thinking and leadership. The school here follows the calendar year, January through October, so the students just started their school year.
 

By law children must attend school until they reach 6^th grade, and 99 percent of Common Hope kids finish 6^th grade. There are so many things Common Hope has to offer the children and their families in order for the children and future generations to succeed and lead the betterment of community. They offer nurturing parenting classes for parents, and youth programs like academic support for middle and high school students. They have a computer room with over a dozen computers to help with homework.

2019: Day 1 - Common Hope

Today, half of our group worked on the construction of the house we are building while here. This will be a two-room home for a family of seven. These are portable homes that can be moved if needed so they are built in panels on a concrete slab. We had the chance to work with power tools and, for many of us, we were able to learn new carpentry skills! What a fun experience this was.

We also had a chance to tour Common Hope, the sponsoring organization we are staying with, and learn about all the wonderful programs they are doing to help with education, healthcare, housing and so many of the many things that impact quality of life in Guatemala. This is great organization that helps break the cycle of poverty and provide families with the tools they need.

Finally, we went on ‘social visits’ with the social workers from Common Hope. This was a chance to meet with the families that are part of Common Hope and see their homes. The social workers ask about the health of the family, educational needs, assess housing and identify needed resources for the family when possible. It was so amazing to hear that the high school graduation rates are over three times the national average for the students who work with Common Hope.

It was a good day of work and bonding with these 24 Allina Health employees.  

2019: Day Trip to Lake Atitlan

Our first excursion was to Lake Atitlan, it was an amazing eye-opening experience. Our tour guide, Abraham, was very knowledgeable and proud of his Guatemalan heritage. He was eager to tell us about Guatemalan culture and history. Our journey started on the Pan American highway; you can take this highway all the way to United States. As we started getting closer you could see different types of indigenous people. In Guatemala, there are many different indigenous people who have different beliefs and ways of life. The way they dress can let you know what village or tribe they come from, their different type and class. Many indigenous people have very little education and work very hard for their families. We met one of these families…well actually a little girl named Sofia when we did a quick restroom break. She was at a small stop where her family sells paintings, and other small goods, snacks, and to use the restroom.

Once we got to Lake Atitlan, it was an amazing view. The story is there was a volcano that erupted and made a huge crater. There is a dark spot in the lake which is said to be an underground Mayan temple. It got covered and the lake was formed when there was a huge rain/monsoon. There are many different tribes that live around the lake. We visited Saint Peter, Saint Santiago, and Saint Juan. Each town is named after a saint and an indigenous name. We visited the co-op and learned how the women make their crafts such as weaving shawls, scarfs, bags, etc. They work so they can pay for their children’s schooling. Each town is like an Artisan town; there are painters, crafters, and many different clothing shops.

This was such an amazing tour to do with breathtaking views, and very fun boat ride (hang on tight). We saw many shops, and people, which was just a small part. There are many more towns around the lake, bring your walking shoes though as you climb up some steep hills.

2019: Day Trip to Iximche

A small group of us went to the ruins of the Mayan city of Iximche. After a bit of a bumpy ride in the van we disembarked and met our awesome tour guide Melvin. He gave us a quick tour of the newly updated museum. In the Mayan language Iximche translates to “corn tree” and we learned that corn is a highly revered crop in the Mayan culture. During our tour of the archeological site, Melvin regaled us with many interesting facts about the history of the area, the people and of Guatamela generally.

 

Iximche was once a very powerful Mayan kingdom ruled by four powerful families, controlling over 200,000 square kilometers of the surrounding countryside. There were several game courts for the Mayan ball game called xe’ Ryan’ kolaj. We were told this was a thriving metropolis until the Spanish arrived in around 1526. The city fell into disuse and was lost until Swedish archeologists rediscovered the site in the 1950’s.

 

One of the biggest highlights of the tour was the Mayan sacred ceremony. We were lucky enough to visit the site on the day of Q’anil 9 of the Mayan calendar. This is a day in which thanks is given for the corn harvest, and offerings are made in hopes of the bountiful future harvest. The scene was filled with beautiful colors and the air filled with fragrant incense. It was a very special event and we felt quite privileged to be able to observe.

 

We returned to Antigua for an afternoon perusing markets, and getting to know each other better. It was a great start to our week in Guatamela.

2019 Guatemala Experience trip

On Saturday, Jan. 26, a group of Allina Health employees embarked on a volunteer service tip to Guatemala. This is the sixth Allina Health coordinated trip to Guatemala through the Mission Matters Global Fund program. Guatemala is located in Central America with a population of about 15 million people. The Guatemalan culture is beautiful, with strong Mayan and Spanish influences.

 

During their time in Guatemala the group will participate in the following:

• Build a home for a family affiliated with Common Hope
• Walk alongside Common Hope social workers as they visit to families
• Give a makeover to a women’s house that is an entrepreneur through Wakami
• Visit and tour a public government-owned hospital
• Tours to learn about the Guatemala culture and explore the beautiful country.
• And more!

Check this blog during the week of Jan. 26 – Feb. 2 to read about the trip directly from the employees themselves.