Fairtrade :)

I'm home! And exhausted :)  But all is well.

Kind of a cross-over post from the Dominican Republic, but most of the next couple posts might be a bit of a jumble anyways since I didn't get the chance to blog as things happened.

But anyways. Fairtrade. :)

If you've talked to me over the last couple months, you probably already know that I've recently become quite a fan of Fairtrade. It goes in the category of beautiful things that are and could be.






Here's a little video, which I love, cuz it captures much of the Guatemala that I know and love -- and which ties into much of what will be coming in the next couple posts - the context [aka heartbreaking reality] in which HOPE (and somewhat consequently, or parallel-y, I) finds its work among the indigenous (Mayan) populations of Guatemala. The video's a little long, but definitely worth your while if you find 10 minutes in your day. I really kinda personally really really hope you might find the time - this is "my reality", and why I hold the communities in Guatemala so dear to my heart.

BUT, why I've come to love Fairtrade so much is that it is a response to what "is" -- nonFairtrade... to bring about what could be. It makes what could be a reality - one coffee picker, one coffee farm, one community at a time. A remedy to a rather impersonal (and broken!) market system. For little more on our end than [a little loving concern] and an extra dollar here or there for a cup of coffee. A pretty happy price, I think, to get to be a part of turning the tide on non-Fairtrade (and maybe less detachedly... [unfair] [unjust] [poverty-creating] trade) which we've conveniently (un)labeled as "normal".


I'd informally chatted with our staff in the Dominican Republic about Fairtrade while doing project visits in the mountainous province of Ocoa where coffee is a big cash crop (crops for selling rather than consuming), especially when doing a visit of a latrine (toilets) project in communities of Haitian refugees, which mostly work as migrant workers on coffee farms. I'll post more about that later on my DR blog. Anyhow, I had learned that there was a man named Samuel who collected much of the coffee produced in Ocoa for processing/export - "Cafe Samir", it was called. I kind of turned my nose up at the idea cuz the owner was Swiss - why not a local Dominican? But, he supposedly had good rapport with the locals and our staff said he was a "good man". Hmm, interesting, I'll hafta get his contact details at some point before I leave. Crazily & conveniently enough, as we were stopped along a (small/little/"middle of nowhere in a mountainy community") road to say hello to a family...  none other than Samuel of Cafe Samir himself, came along the road at the end of a day's work and gifted me with both a business card and a pound of coffee.

Samuel, of Cafe Samir in Ocoa, Dominican Republic

I also shared a tuk-tuk in Guatemala on the way back to San Pedro with two chirpy, bubbly, animated women on their way to another town to sell their homemade-with-love chocolate, and they were so sweet and smiley and happy I couldn't not borrow some $ from Flory to buy a bar of their chocolatey goodness.

Janelle & Estrella... and their proudly home-made-with love chocolate bar that I brought home with me

I don't know if either of those are really "Fairtrade" by the standards and certifications of Canadian / International Fairtrade organizations, but I know at least personally that they bring about some smiles. :)

So, why this post now? Fairtrade has "nothing" directly to do with HOPE's projects and the other communities I've spent the last 2 weeks in.... but it all plays in together - redeeming the ugly and the broken, and creating beauty in its place. And who doesn't like coffee/chocolate? (well, I don't actually really drink coffee much but that's besides the point :) ). And that's what the next couple posts will be about - I'll be sharing a couple more stories on this blog, hopefully in the next couple days. BUT if you want to hear the stories (and the stories in between) from me someday...  let's have some (Fairtrade) coffee/chocolate and chat! :) I also brought some certified Fairtrade coffee from Guatemala home with me, so I won't be running out too quickly. :)

Ooh, and I also brought some corn flour home with me... if you're curious about the Guatemalan staple of handmade stove-top-grilled tortillas, I'd be happy to make you some. :)

Hasta pronto. :) (Til soon!)

Arco Iris

A beautiful Guatemalan painting of coffee pickers hand-painted by my friend Jose in San Pedro... which I bought & brought home with me...  and which I'll try to see if some ethically-minded coffee shops in Vancouver might like to have as well. :) 

"No hay directo"

In response to the poverty, injustice, oppression, and brokenness – as well as grace – that I’ve been a part of over the last week (which I will soon tell you about at greater length), and in faith and prayer that it might be multiplied, I gave away almost all the money I had left in the last town, leaving just enough (so I thought) to make it back to San Pedro and possible expenses over the last few days here and to make it back to Guatemala City to catch my flight home. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to factor in that I hadn’t yet paid for my $5/night room for the 4 nights I stayed in Comitancillo... and also the $15 of photos that I had gotten developed as a parting gift for a couple families in that town.

OOOPS. I mean well, but my memory sometimes fails me. :P But all the better for my faith. What is faith without risk? :)

I decided to take the earliest 5:30am bus out of the town, the only one in the day that skips one stop, direct to the next town I needed to get to, to catch 2 more buses. I figured I could probably save 5 Quetzales (~65 cents) that way. 

My intended 3-bus route didn’t quite pan out as planned. I also had been giving away the few bills I had left on the bus, as people with obvious physical deformities would come on at each stop (along with people selling snacks) asking for change. Unfortunately – though maybe quite fortunately for my faith – my quest to find the last bus which I thought would get met to San Pedro was met with “no hay directo” [there's no direct (bus to where I need to go)]. As was the next bus I got on after that one. As well as the next pick-up-truck I hopped into the back of. Each one would cost me another 5 to 15  quetzales. Yeeks. One last tuk-tuk ride finally got me home... with all of 14 quetzales (about $1.80) to my name.  

Thank you Jesus! 

It’s easy to be generous with much. A test of faith with little. Little or much, I have prayed that faith & generosity might be multiplied. And I trust that it will. 

Despite a couple calls to Royal Bank and multiple tries in various towns, my credit card is STILL failing to work in either bank machines or at the bank... but very much thankfully, I am home with my “family” here in San Pedro – a roof over my head and more than sufficient for every meal. Just no extra treats or internet cafes (luckily also, I’ve found that can sort of steal.. or um... make use of... a neighbouring hostel’s wifi from Flory’s rooftop).

Anyhow, I’m home! :) (in San Pedro) to spend a last couple days here in my paradise. And will soon write up a couple posts soon about the rest of the projects, and maybe about the last couple days I spent in the last town of Comitancillo.  I had actually written up a post titled “Tortillas, Eggs, and Birthday Cake” – the time I spent with a few struggling families there [thereby having nothing much more than tortillas and eggs for a few days], then an invitation to a lavish birthday party for one of their Spanish landlord’s granddaughter. A personal experience and take of the have’s and the have not’s. But I decided I don’t want to post it. Better, I think, to be moved by the beauty that is and that could be. 

So that is on its way. 

Til then. The destination’s only half the fun and faith as the journey. :)

Much love,

Arco Iris

Chicken bus rides (self portrait in the rear view mirror) :)

I rely on the goodwill of locals here to get me where I need to go – when buses leave, which one to take, when to get off, how to find the next one I need. Thankfully I’ve found a great deal of goodness in humanity in that respect. :)

"Chicken buses" - so named for getting so full it's like chickens in a cage - 6 to a row, and up to 10 or so if there are kids on parent's laps.

Snack service on the bus at every stop. (Having gotten food poisoning once before in Guatemala though, I don't take my chances en route)

I just really liked his shirt. :)

Waiting on a corner for the next bus that would come. A nice señor kept watch for me and flagged down running the bus I needed and got me on board.

 "Los Encuentros" - the last little bus change stop where I *thought* I would be catching the last bus I needed to get to San Pedro

Another bus later, the pick-up truck part of my journey home

Absolutely no complaints -- there may well be no better way to come round the road to Lake Atitlan :)

Volcan San Pedro in view

The tuk-tuk that finally got me home :) A story about these ladies I shared the tuk tuk with later.

 

!@#$%^*@!!#%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guatemala is SO beautiful.

And it is all at once, so, SO UGLY.

I’ll tell you more about the projects and communities I’ve been a part of here, later. It would be more constructive. Sometimes raw emotion is good too.  But mine at the moment might need to be tempered just a bit so I can actually put things a little more constructively.

Work has never been a 9-5 job for me. And that’s both a good thing and a good thing. [that wasn’t a typo]. And sometimes, work gets [extra] personal. And I think that’s about where it should always be.

A quote (from The Hole in our Gospel, by Richard Stearns):

- Sometimes I just want to ask God why He allows all the injustice and poverty in the world when he could DO something about it.

- Well, why don’t you?

- I’m afraid He’d ask me the same question.

I was re-introduced to the injustice and UGLINESS that is the reality of Guatemala today, which probably sunk in deep being quite familiar with Guatemala’s heinously ugly violent colonial genocidal history, and its not just lingering but reining legacy. It had “nothing” but EVERYTHING to do with an emergency relief project that HOPE had just begun for a community here in Quiche, Guatemala. 

A conversation that ended the day today as we hopped back into the truck to head home – or, at least, ended my end of it, after our project visit... my mind was spinning and I didn’t have much more to say and tuned out of the conversation the rest of the ride back. 

Me: What’s the opposite of “nice” in Spanish?

Jorge (the director of our local partner here): Feo (ugly)?

Me: WHY are the land-owners SO... UGLY????

Jorge and the rest of the team that is working with this community: [laughs] 

Me: And for WHAT?? They have nothing to gain or lose!!!

Jorge: Because they have power.

Me: Why are they so BAD... and so.... INHUMANE??? ....  Wait, are the land-owners indigenous (Mayan)?

Jorge: Of course not!

Me: I . am. SO. ANGRY.

Everyone laughs, understandingly, as I try to express my exploding frustrations in Spanish.
Jorge: “It’s our reality.”

I said yesterday, I don’t take the “privilege” to have been here lightly, or the responsibilities it comes with on the road ahead. I said it with a smile. Today, I say the same, but with fumes. Also with question marks. But in any case, that will necessarily be turned into something constructive.

If we are going to bring about the end of poverty, we are going to have to bring the creation of poverty to its knees. And tolerance of. Or indifference of. Anything short of hatred that sustains it.

A song, which often runs through my head: 

Let us see Your Kingdom come

To the poor and broken ones

Let us see a mighty flood

Of mercy, and justice, O Jesus

And not just to the poor and broken ones. To the rich and the powerful and the exploitative and the selfish and the apathetic and the UGLY.

And not just the wealthy Spanish land-owners in Guatemala, lest we think ourselves exempt.

To EACH OF OUR UGLY SELVES. 

 

Surprises :)

I LOVE this country. 

It’s full of surprises. The good ones. :) Last time I was here, in 2009, I was completely worn out, in every sense. I almost-sort-of dragged my feet to Guatemala to pick up some Spanish before returning home from a year in Central America. 

And had one of the most cherished times of my life here!

I love this country! I don’t know why. Well, San Pedro (where I learned Spanish)’s an absolute paradise, no qualms about that! But even the rest of the country, which is much more rugged in both landscape and just life... there’s a heartwarming/melting beauty to it that I can’t put my finger on. I was asking myself today on a long drive through the countryside why I “love” the Mayan culture here, if it’s just intriguing cuz it’s so colourful and unique and “authentic”. And I don’t know! Maybe it’s partly that my mirror little stature and darker skin and long black hair seems to quickly dissipate the distance between me and la gente (“the people”) here.... and maybe that I speak Spanish, so here more than anywhere else developing-country wise where I've spent time, there's leaps and bounds of relationships that were built to much greater extent than in other countries I've been where smiles and charades have been my main means of communication... maybe that learned my Spanish here, so their accent is conveniently “perfect” :) -- [perfectly comprehensible (except the words that I don’t know –and yes, there are still lots! – but at least I know exactly what I didn’t catch and can ask for it!)]... or maybe just that my time in Guatemala last time was just such a beautiful experience (though that doesn’t explain why it was so awesome last time!)... well, basically, I don’t know, but even where I’ve never been before, in a different province and region of the country, I just feel right at home. :)

Anyhow. On “authenticity”. I don’t know if that’s the draw of it (and I kind of roll my eyes at tourists who make great strides & pride try to “get off the beaten track”)... but all pride aside cuz that’s far from the point, today was a pretty special privilege that I definitely don’t take lightly. And makes me so very thankful to have taken a road less travelled, lonely as it’s been at time. It put me where I was today, and my heart smiles inside. I wish I could’ve brought a couple friends along so they could be part of it too!

Basically, I got plopped right in the middle of a very much "authentic" Mayan community in the rural, remote countryside of Guatemala. 

And I mean RIGHT in the middle.

The thing about work visits, you never know what to expect. And you more or less expect that, even if you don’t really think about it. What I WAS expecting from today, in visiting our clean drinking water project [capping mountain springs at their source where they are clean and piping them down to a village], was maybe seeing the concrete slab where the spring is capped, getting a walk-through of the technical structure, seeing some of the water points where families are able to access the clean water, and doing a couple interviews with beneficiary families. I had my staff survey questionnaire and a couple copies of beneficiary surveys in hand. And was just still mentally waking up for the day after an early morning and a bumpy 3.5 hour drive [beautiful, btw, will post pics later!] through the mountains to reach the village. 

What I didn’t expect, was walking into a community hall....

 FULL of community members – women in their beautiful dresses [typical to the region – every region, even just a half hour drive away sometimes, have their own unique typical dress – always a corte (fabric wrapped with a fabric belt) and a blouse, but you (“you” being Guatemalans!) can always tell pretty much exactly where someone is from the fabrics of their dress and the cut and decor of their blouses] and men in their checkered best. :)

I also didn’t expect to be walking past the gathering of community members...

... and being guided to centre stage up front.

and being a passed a mike to give a few words from HOPE and from Canada. :)

But buennnnno, I’ve given enough impromptu nice-to-meet you and thank-you speeches in project/beneficiary visit contexts that it doesn’t faze me too much. I also had happened to learn how to say my name “Xulq’ab” (“schulk [throat click] UP” :) ); in the local Mayan language here on the way up in the truck, as well as, “Good day; my name is Rainbow; I am happy to be here/to meet you; & thank you”. I also love languages and the immediate nearness it brings.  :)  So, I started off my little schpiel with that, which fetched a good laugh and a round of applause. :)  

What I didn’t expect, after I sat down...

... and listened as some of the women shared their stories (which as much as I wanted to share right now, will have to wait til tomorrow, or when I can... it’s getting pretty late here and I have another early and long day tomorrow) and some of the community members expressed their utmost gratitude on behalf of the whole community... was to be called to come up again.

And to be honoured with a beautiful gift, of their traditional dress.With which I was donned, then and there, on stage. :)

Surprise! :)

Giving a few more words :)

The photoshoot that ensued as each woman took turns having their photos taken with this visitor from Canada :)

(now I just have to figure out how to get it home, as I promised the community I would. It is huge / thick / weighs about 5 pounds -- and all I've got right now is a backpack and a duffle bag that is already stuffed chock full with gifts for friends in the next town I'll visit, which I'll get to by the local "chicken bus").

But it was pretty special. And I don’t take that lightly. Or the responsibilities it comes with on the road ahead. :)

Well, I’ve got a full day tomorrow, so I should end off here for now, but I’ll definitely share more about the actual project tomorrow if I can. I’ve come down with a bit of a cold, unfortunately, mostly just from lack of sleep in the last week and a half, which always gets me, so your prayers for my health would be welcome! :) 

Much love,

Rainbow

Arco Iris

Xulq’ab

:)

This little love of mine! :)

I was ~exhausted~. 14 hour day. I was planning to crawl straight into bed.

And then I called this little love of mine. :)

And I’m smiling so much from inside out that (a) my heart/face hurts haha, and (b) I’m going, like I'd wanted, to write up a blog about today’s adventures. But first, Belinda. :)

This is Belinda. She lives about 8 "chicken bus" hours away from San Pedro, and about 6 hours or so from where I am now in Quiche. I never finished my Guatemala blog from 2009... but here’s one of my only ever Facebook albums, of my time in Comitancillo, Guatemala, where I’ll be headed this weekend when I’m done with projects here.

Anyhow, I ~absolutely love~ this little girl. She is THE sweetest little girl to have ever graced the planet. And she absolutely has my heart on a string. :)  I’ll have to take a video of her when I get there, she has the cutest little squeaky Minnie Mouse voice and is the sweetest, most polite then-6-now-8-year-old you could ever meet. Her mom then worked 6am-10pm in a “comedor” (typical food restaurant), and she wasn’t allowed to wander the streets on her own, so she just obediently and contentedly stayed inside the little restaurant bouncing a little bouncy ball, smiling her melt-your-heart little smile, and asking if I wanted to play too. We played a lot. :)

I’ve talked to her a couple times since, and called a couple weeks ago to let her & her mom know I was coming to visit. And then I just called her now, now that I’m here and got a local sim card. It went something like this:

Me: Hi Belinda! How are you?

Belinda: Buenas noches Arco Iris! I feel.. so happy.. to hear your voice!

Me: Me too, nena (little girl)! And even more to see you soon! I’m in Guatemala now.

Belinda: I feel.. so.. happy... with joy!!

Me: Me too, nena! I’ll see you soon, ok?

Belinda: Ok, see you soon Arco Iris. You take care over there! I will be here waiting for you! I love you muuuuucho!

Me: I love you too Belinda! Mucho mucho muchiiiiiisimo! See you soon!

Belinda: Buennnnno (ok), see you soon! Adios!

(and then about 5 minutes of)

Adios Belinda!

Bye Bye!

Bye Bye Belinda!

Bye BYYYYYYYYYYYYYE!!!

Haha, Bye BYYYYYYYE Belinda!

Ciao Ciao!!! 

I absolutely love her. :)  :)  :)

I can't stop smiling. Haha. Ok. Anyways, I'm going to write up a little post about today. Hasta prontito! (Til very soon from now!)