Guatemala Travelogue, December 2018

The two most amazing things of going to the village were walking 50 meters uphill on muddy rocks to get to the water tank that the neighboring municipality has built for the village

and the warmth with which Maya’s biological family greeted us.  Her biological sister and cousin held my hands the entire time (several hours) that I was in the village.  It was incredibly precious.

One more thing that took my breath away:

We took 7 of them out to lunch (4 kids laid down in the back of Ricardo’s station wagon).  Our daughter’s uncle told us at lunch that he is considering coming dangerously to the U.S. without documentation to escape the poverty and bring the family, too (later).  We strongly discouraged him, especially in this extremely tenuous political time.  I cried while telling them this, knowing what Trump has done to migrants seeking refuge.

Maya’s cousin, even ill with fever, came to me and asked in part Q’echqi’, part Spanish why I was crying.  I told her because I cared about her and her family.  I told Maya’s aunt and uncle, Lety and Alfonso (who have been so instrumental to the water project) that we consider them family.

And, I now know that I have to work overtime to get a branch of Sowing Opportunities established in Guatemala and to raise funds to get our project moving ever more quickly!  This put a fire under me.