Did my title confuse you? Well, it was meant to be a little confusing. On Sunday, November 16th a group of teachers and myself went to Zona 3 in Guatemala City and volunteered ourselves for hard, back breaking labor. Zona 3 is a very rough part of Guatemala City. It is right next to the city dump, actually the houses in the neighborhood where we were working are right on top of the old landfill. Calling them houses is not exactly the right word, they are more are less shacks. The majority of these houses have dirt floors. Through Vida Joven (young life) we laid concrete floors in two homes (these homes were carefully selected based on need and other factors).
Clara, the owner of one of the homes.
Kelly, one of the teachers at CAG
It was a wonderful experience. While we were working the neighbors cooked us food, gave us cold bottles of water, and helped out. My favorite part was all the little kids who didn't have shovels so they used their hands to scoop up the rocks. It costs approximately $150 to lay these concrete floors, pennies when you consider how valuable this is to these families. Living on a dirt floor above a landfill, in a country with vicious rainy seasons is not exactly healthy or easy. We paid for these two floors with money we raised from last year's Teacher Talent Show.
Whenever I volunteer in a place like Zona 3 I always hear so many stories of hope and despair. Here is one that I heard this weekend,
Feto, helped us the entire time we were working. He worked harder than all of us. Feto lives in this neighborhood. He is a very special man who has been faced with many obstacles. At a young age he joined a gang (very common in this zone), was into drugs etc... While he was in the gang everyone in the gang was killed. After that he decided the gang life was not for him, which is not an easy thing to decide in this neighborhood. He decided to go to school. Feto just finished his first year of law school, it is taking him a lot longer than most but he is determined. Since he quit the gang he has had a very difficult time in his community. He repeatedly hears comments such as; grow up, just get a job in the dump, your never going to make it. How hard to hear such negativity when you are doing something to better yourselves and those around you. But Feto has hope and was inspired through Vida Joven (young life).
Feto, working hard while we sit back and watch
I have put a few photos on here but there are so many good photos. If you want to view the rest just go to picassa
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