ROAD WORK

Enter the Tractors!

Spirits have been high this week Pinalito; the tractor has arrived to level the road! Although no one owns a car, road access to Pinalito makes life a little easier for the villagers, and for my part, I am glad that a truck can get here in an emergency. The village men have been running around to fetch chickens, beans, and bananas to offer the lone worker in his John Deere hat, and with their machetes close at hand, they guard the machine at night. Everyone is amazed by its power! Even I, despite my familiarity with skyscrapers and steel, have just spent this Sunday afternoon watching the bulldozer demolish a hillside and an 80-foot pine tree in order to fill in the sunken road. The eastern highlands of Guatemala lag far behind the expressways of the U.S., but after watching the men struggle with shovels and hoes this month, the work of the one CATIPILLAR tractor is a relief.

While the village men strut beside the tractor with oil cans and wrenches, the women have been busily preparing for “The Quince”—Independence Day in Guatemala. The school was supposed to host a celebration last Friday afternoon, and whew! — For months everyone has been excited to eat sweets and dance! Sadly, no one raised money for the Marimba player and the school teacher canceled the plans. In one sense, I was relieved to bypass this “Independencia” celebration (I hear that things can get dangerous around here with such parties…Where there is a marimba, there are drunken men, and where there are men, there are machetes.) On the other hand, the women had sewn new dresses for the party, and everyone had their hopes up for a day of fun. It’s so sad that these people never get to CELEBRATE! How little living they do…

Everyone made the best of the situation, however. They seem to be so accustomed to disappointment. The women have spent the weekend making “tamales” over the fire; their laughter from the kitchens proves their light-hearted resilience.


The tamale process has been my official welcome into the Guatemalan kitchen—it takes a lot of work to heat banana leaves over the fire, chop the tomatoes and onions, shuck corn, boil masa and roll it all up into a steaming “burrito” I have only opted out on the killing of the pigs and chickens… the women double over in laughter when I run from the yard to avoid any headless squawking!

This week, I finally realized that my Spanish is improving, and I find myself joking and chattering on the floor with hens pecking at my feet. My heart lies with the women of this village…although they are timid, they are the communicators, and although they don’t always understand hygiene and nutrition, they are the caretakers. Whereas the men will often vandalize, drink and steal, the women remain in the background. They work their fingers to the bone, and yet their hands are always available to their children. (Here is a picture of me trying to “carry their load;” Can you imagine walking 3 miles with a 20-pound bundle of corn on your head?!)

On that note, I held the second “Women with Work” meeting, and even more have come to join our group. I want to give these women more ownership of their situations… more power to improve their lives. By giving them employment, I hope to strengthen their community. If given the opportunity; won’t they take action for their widows and orphans? Won’t they be interested in improving their children’s health? Still, as I mentioned in my previous blog, I am starting small. This week, we painted a building, bleached mildew, and talked about teeth brushing. Next week, Melanie, my co-missionary and partner in idealism, will take the reins and introduce some basic gardening. We have tomato, cucumber and onion seeds, and will fill several seed flats for the women to take home. The group expressed excitement over tomato and onion plants, but the fruit of this labor is weeks away. In Pinalito, the people rarely think about tomorrow… they need corn NOW, and their child needs shoes NOW. With that said, reality strikes at the end of the women’s meeting; teeth brushing is interesting, and the seeds may create hope, but the women are far more interested in the money they will earn from their work.

Now that the road is passable, the list of employment opportunities is growing, but quite honestly, I need money to make it happen. If anyone is interested… this is where I could use some support. $24 a month could employ 10 women. (One family will consume 30 pounds of corn in a week; 30 pounds of corn costs about $4.)

Thanks again for the emails, input and encouragement this week. I’ll be in touch soon!

Here are some pictures from the week. We had a bonfire, and the kids loved the marshmallows!