On the last day before travel home, our group separated.

My husband John went on a personal errand, an adventure to meet up with an amigo we met in Guatemala two years ago.  Romeo Salazar used to work night reception for Hotel Casa Serena, an apart-hotel in Guatemala City.  When we were in Guatemala two years ago, we stayed at Hotel Casa Serena for a few nights so that we could tour the city and spend some time with Scott’s foster family.  The first night we were there (two years ago) we noticed a swelling and reaction on Sarah’s leg and feared that she had contracted a terrible disease or something.

Romeo helped us immensely during that trip, arranging to call his kids’ pediatrician for a suggestion, and then ultimately arranging for a mobile doctor and ambulance to make a “house call” at Casa Serena later in the evening.  Turns out that it was just a spider bite, and Sarah soon recovered.  But, after the doctor and paramedic left, Romeo helped us further by walking with John to the closest pharmacy (late at night when it is not as safe to be out on your own) and also walked with him to pick up food and drinks because we hadn’t eaten much all day.  You could tell he had a genuine interest, as he continued to ask about Sarah for the remainder of our stay and volunteered many times to go above and beyond to be of service to her, and us.

Well, we didn’t forget his kindness.  Over the course of the last couple of years we had intermittent correspondence with him via email.  He was downsized out of his job at Casa Serena and had been trying to get work.  Age discrimination is alive and well in Guatemala, and although he speaks English very well and has a strong work ethic, it was hard for him to find work and make ends meet.  When he found jobs that paid well and provided consistent income, he was frustrated to learn that his computer skills were insufficient.

John decided earlier this summer that we would buy Romeo a used laptop (with our personal funds, not money in the nonprofit account), deliver the laptop to him, and give him a little training.  So, on August the 15th, our last day before travel, John took a taxi to the city, laptop in hand, and spent the day with Romeo.  It has only been two weeks since that date, and lo and behold, Romeo has two jobs lined up (either which may lead to long-term work) and even has the opportunity to work remotely doing translation services using his new computer!  Romeo is like a kid on Christmas morning and we couldn’t be more delighted in the impact the gift is having in his life already!

While John was in Guatemala City with Romeo, our kids went with the rest of Trent’s family and our travel partner Cori Richardson on Elizabeth Bell’s Walking Tour of Antigua.  They got to experience a nearly three hour guided tour of buildings, churches, museums and a jade factory.

That left me and Trent.  The two of us tagged along with Leceta and Alex and Alfonso of OUR Guatemala: Travel with Purpose and visited with Nuevo Reto in Barcenas, Villa Nueva, Guatemala — not far from Guatemala City.

Nuevo Reto (which translates to “New Challenge” in Spanish) is a faith-based organization that provides safe housing, food, education, vocational skills, encouragement and love to abandoned or orphaned street children.  There are currently about 25 children between the ages of 5 and 20 that live there.  Nuevo Reto used to be classified by the Guatemalan government as an orphanage, and thus received a little funding not only from the government but also some international agencies that serve orphans globally.  However, when Pastor Jacob (the founder of Nuevo Reto) discovered that the government would force him to “kick out” kids once they turned 18, he withdrew, insisting that he’d rather lose funding than have to turn an 18 year old away that had nowhere else to go and insufficient life skills to make it on his own.

So, now Nuevo Reto is, in essence, a transitional home.  The kids that live there are involved with woodworking and sewing classes which enable them to provide beds for people in their community.  They also use their skills to make craft items to sell, as well as using some of their cooking skills to not only bake cookies they use as fundraisers but also to provide one meal weekly (on Wednesdays) to members of their community.  Our visit was on a Tuesday, but we got to play a part in one of their community meals!

Pastor Jacob has the assistance of his family.  Trent and I spoke to his daughter, Ada, at length that day.  Our visit that day was primarily a day of discovery.  Trent and I wanted to find out about the needs of the organization and gauge how well they took advantage of the support they were already receiving.  I took the opportunity to ask Ada about ways that Guatemala Service Projects might be able to help them in the future.

Her first two pieces of feedback were:

1)      A new oven so that we can bake more than eight cookies at a time.
2)      Some new tools for our workshop.

I told her that GSP’s mission statement aligns more with projects that are healthcare or education-based and that is when she told us about a 3rd area of interest… they would like a community library that the kids and others in the community could use.  It turns out that Nuevo Reto already owns a building that they could use to house the library, and she already has someone in mind that they would ask to be a “librarian”.

Last week, I followed up our visit via Facebook Messenger and asked them to provide an estimate for what it would cost to have the young men build library bookshelves in the shop (with lumber that we would purchase), acquire 200 used Spanish books (that we would buy in Guatemala in addition to the 300 we would commit to bringing from the US) and six bean bag chairs for initial library furniture (someplace comfy for kids and teens to read at the library).  I think having the young men take ownership of the project by building the bookshelves would add to the excitement and success.

Nuevo Reto acknowledged my request and said that they would begin to scope the project and then follow up with me once an estimate was available.

Assuming that this project is not priced out of this world, I’m thinking we will do this… we have a little experience in the library realm, given our project in Canton Rio Camanibal, and our board members are already in agreement!  It’s exciting to think that we will be able to start up a new community library, something that people of all ages will enjoy.  Ada shared with us that she has visions of book clubs, story time, and many activities that will replicate the experience she had in American libraries when she was a foreign exchange student here.  Her enthusiasm is admirable, and with her at the helm, I know this project would be a success!

Even Leceta commented that it would be a project that future teams led by OUR Guatemala could support.  That means additional growth or expansion at the library by working together!  Win-Win!!!

When we reassembled mid-afternoon, we enjoyed our last evening in Antigua with additional walks around town, a lovely pepian dinner at Hotel Los Pasos, and uncloudy views of Volcan de Agua (the Water Volcano, Antigua’s majestic view from the south side).

Good night from Antigua.  Thanks for following our 2017 trip to Guatemala!