8:00 a.m:

We had a great breakfast at “home”, pineapple, strawberries, fresh tortillas (still warm, Maria ran up the street and got them) with frijoles negros (black beans), queso (cheese), and fresh avocado. Yum!!

We will be leaving shortly to volunteer at Mayan Families. Maria will be doing physicals on preschool children and perhaps senior citizens. I will be taking photos I think. We’ll see. As long as I don’t have to stand much, I’m up for whatever.

8:30 p.m. Maria and I met Samantha and Elissa at Mayan Families. We boarded a truck loaded with food and other supplies and headed to the preschool that Mayan Families supports in San Jorge. Maria volunteered to do physical exams for each child. I took photos that I will share with Mayan Families.

Open up and say, “Ahh…..”

Before leaving, I was given a booklet with photos of preschool children who needed sponsors. So many faces, how does one choose? Sharon (who founded Mayan Families along with her husband) encouraged me to consider sponsoring a boy named Anderson, who we were told, was from the family most desperately in need of assistance. Anderson’s father injured his arm and is unable to work. His mother makes beaded jewelry and other items, but does not earn enough to feed the family. I was relieved that they made it easy, and went off looking forward to meeting Anderson.

The first thing that struck me about the preschool was that there were twenty-nine students in the class with one teacher. There were ladies there that managed bathroom breaks, but the teacher does not have an actual assistant. It was dimly lit. These people never saw me before, but allowed me to enter and photograph their children. The teacher was smiling and actually seemed to enjoy her job. The children were calm and very well behaved. No screaming, no fighting. Their routine totally disrupted, they continued to behave really well. Imagine these things happening in the US!

The students were from indigenous families. Some spoke spanish, some spoke Kakchiquel. The teacher was fluent in both. None of them spoke English. The two people who accompanied us both spoke Spanish. One also spoke English, the other also spoke Kakchiquel. Perfect. In spite of being very poor, these children were clean and well groomed. Guess what else, none of them were overweight. I’m guessing they actually get exercise. What if American children worked and played instead of sitting around all day.

Not long after arriving, I met Anderson. I was excited to meet him. He was very nice. Very calm and compliant. Quite healthy too. When we finished with this class, we went upstairs. There we met Martin, a young man who is apparently malnourished, possibly with a parasite. Maria really thought he might be the one. As I pondered this, Martin kept smiling at me from across the room. He stole my heart. I looked at his form, his birthday is August 25, same birthday as my son, Steven. There, but for the grace of God go I. My little boy never had the concerns this young man has. He has tons of personality, a fun and lively kid. I decided not to sponsor Anderson, but chose Martin instead.

Before entering the preschool, we told Anderson’s mother we would return to speak with the father when we left the school. He was standing outside when we were leaving. We could have changed our minds, but I had the opportunity to see how a Mayan family really lives. I knew going in that would mean a commitment to help Anderson’s family as well. Ismael, Anderson’s father took us into their home and gave us the tour. They live in two rooms. No, not two bedrooms, two ROOMS. One is a bedroom with two beds for eight people. The other is a kitchen. As you see in the photos, life for them was difficult before Ismael found himself unable to work. He bravely admitted to a previous drinking problem that hurt his family. In addition to the recent problem with his arm that may take months to heal, he has appendicitis. They performed surgery to remove it, but were unable to do so because his appendix is attached to his liver and gall bladder. For now he has to wait. They are doing more tests, and may try again on December 18.  Maria and I agreed after hearing their story to buy them a water filter and food. That frees me from a long term commitment. It is possible that by the end of the year Anderson’s father may be back to work, so I am comfortable with that for now. I also plan to share their story with my Facebook friends, maybe someone else can sponsor Anderson or his sister. Anderson’s has five sisters, Eleda, age fifteen dropped out of school after 7th grade because they were unable to afford school supplies. Miriam, age 17, left home and got married because she was tired of starving. Then she got pregnant, had a baby and is still starving apparently. Not sure if she is back home with the others or not. Angelina is 11 years old, Aura is 9, Danira Estrella is 6 and Anderson is 5.

I am very grateful to be able to help, but so sad to know that some people have to live as they do. Our donation will mean they will not starve for a few weeks, and may possibly save Martin’s life, preventing him from being malnourished again since my support for him is long-term. Yet, it feels like picking up sand from the beach.

As I was photographing them and preparing to write their story, I was reminded of Gordon Parks and Flavio de Silva. I was doing something very similar, although on a much smaller scale. I found myself on the very of tears for so many reasons. When we went outside, the tears broke loose.

Sara from Mayan Families emailed me the link to sponsor Martin, so that is done. Here’s a photo of me and my apatronicado, Martin.

We had lunch at a lovely restaurant before heading home. What a culture clash!  I almost felt guilty eating it.

We were exhausted in every way after when we got home, and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

The neighbor’s rooster is making me crave fried chicken.