Guatemala Photo Of The Day – We’re Not Here To Talk, We’re Here To Pump You Up
At first glance, it looks like El Abuelo is flexing to show off his muscles for the camera.
He’s actually inspecting a piece of wood for the house. He did his part to help out with the house. El Abuelo is actually holding a piece of wood he just debarked with a machete.
This picture was taken at the end of the day after he spent most of the day working in the fields outside of Xenacoj.
We may not have been able to communicate verbally, but he certainly flexed his muscles and made a huge impression on me. This photo reminds me that faith is about words, but it’s also about actions. We must be willing to dive in with both feet and live our faith out loud.
To borrow some words of wisdom from my favorite SNL body builders, Hans and Franz; “We’re not here to talk. We’re here to pump you up!”
The Guatemala Photo Of The Day posts are designed to help me remember my time in Guatemala, and I hope they will also help pump you up to take action and something bigger.
Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Picking Up The Pieces
Nothing goes to waste in Guatemala. (At least, this was my observation.)
Building Betty’s house required us to use a machete to shave off the layer of bark on each piece of wood used for the walls. As we did this, we left a mess of wood chips and bark fragments on the group in Betty’s “yard.”
At the end of our first day of work, Betty and Jose took time to clean up the bark which they gathered in bags to be used later for cooking.
In the United States, many of us would have simply thrown away these pieces of wood. We live in a consumable, disposable culture unlike our ancestors and unlike those in Xenacoj who live frugally in an effort to make ends meet.
Going to Guatemala reminded our family again and again of the blessings we have, and it reminded us to be wise in how we use these blessings.
Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Developing A Better System
As we finish the first side wall, you can see that we started to develop a better system for constructing a wall that will keep out the rain.
By the picture, you can see that Leanne and Isaac advanced in their construction skills as the week went along. We learned to overlap the boards from the bottom up, and we learned to do one section at a time (between two vertical posts) instead of trying to span multiple sections at the same time. This meant more cutting, but It came together a lot easier.
As I look at the picture, I’m reminded that there are many different ways to build a house. The first summer I went to Guatemala, I helped build a house through Casas por Cristo. Their construction methods were more exact, and they were more expensive. It took a while for me to adjust to the simpler, less exact methods we used on the two homes we built this year.
As we worked on the two houses this past summer, I began to understand these new methods, and I began to dream of fine tuning this process to keep the cost down, to speed up the construction time, and to make it easier to build more homes for widows and their families.
Guatemala Photo Of The Day – You’re Messing Up My Playroom
I’m not exactly sure what Rosita was thinking when this picture was taken. I see toys laying on the edge of this open area where we intruded for a few days as we built her new home. I’m sure we disrupted her routine, her space, and her world. I’m guessing this was her “playroom” just outside the kitchen, and we were messing things up.
Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Roof Rider
If there was such a thing as roof surfing, this is what it would probably look like.
Watching from below, it was at this point I realized I just how thankful I was to have a couple of locals working with us on Betty’s house.
My new Guatemalan friend navigated the roof construction with the greatest of ease. I’m sure I could have helped, but the construction time would have been much longer. At nearly six feet six inches tall, my high center of gravity and huge clumsy factor are detrimental to working high up in the air.
It may not look like it now, but the roof is coming together. It will product Betty and her family from the seasonal rain showers that come during the rainy season. It will also provide shade which will keep her house cooler in the warmer days.
Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Something Is Not Right
At first look, the house seems to be coming together. The roof is taking shape, and the back wall is going up.
Look a little closer.
There is something wrong here.
There are major gaps in the wall. This can’t be right. We kept thinking this as we thought we were following the instruction of German. We kept going until we thought we had finished the wall. Shortly after this picture was taken, we took a break for lunch. At lunch, I remember voicing my concern about the gaps in the wall to German and Dave Sgro.
If I remember correctly, we kept going later in the day on the other walls, but we changed our approach, we started overlapping the wood as we build from the bottom up. The next day, we made a decision to tear down the back wall and start over. As you will see in upcoming photos, the back wall changed and became a better barrier for the family against the weather and against potential peepers.
The mistakes we made on this first wall became a catalyst for building better walls on this house and the other house we built while we were in Guatemala.
Recognizing our mistakes is not easy. We want to be right, and we want to be right the first time. Sometimes though, we make mistakes, and we have to take corrective action to make things right. The sooner we deal with our missteps, the sooner we can make things right.
When I look at this wall, I see the opportunity for redemption even when we don’t get it right at first.
Guatemala Photo Of The Day – Wardrobe Change
As we built her house, we quickly learned that Rosita was the Princess of the Wardrobe Change. If you look back a few days ago, you’ll see that Rosita was wearing something different. This picture was taken a short time later on the same day.
Rosita is wearing a more traditional Guatemalan outfit in this picture. The beautiful colors woven throughout the blouse and skirt match the beautiful little girl who watched us build her house.
(I think she’s eating a banana in this picture, but she might also be eating a tortilla. Either food is a possibility in Guatemala.)
Guatemala Photo Of The Day – When You Have To Go, You Have To Go
Jose waits patiently outside the door which leads to the only bathroom on the property shared my his family and a few other family units.
The bathroom situation is kind of interesting in Xenacoj. There is a sewer system of sorts which runs underneath the concrete streets of the village. The system in unable to process toilet paper. After taking care of your business (if you know what I’m talking about), you put your waste paper in a trash can beside the toilet. Then you can flush the toilet.
Isaac had to use the facilities while he we were working. When he went into the bathroom, he immediately came out a little confused. There wasn’t any toilet paper in the bathroom. We asked Betty, and she sent one of her boys to a local tienda (convenience store) to pick up some toilet paper. This was clearly a luxury for this family (and for most in the village). We came to realize the magazine laying on the back of the toilet paper doubled as reading material and toilet paper.
Guatemala taught us many lessons. One of the lessons which was repeated over and over again was how wealthy we are as Americans. As Jose looks at us with hesitation, he is soaking it in and learning along the way. What he may not realize is that we are soaking it all in and learning too.
Guatemala Photo Of The Day – El Abuelo
What do you see when you look at this picture?
I see unbelievable wisdom. I see extraordinary patience. I see a man whose faith has been weathered by a challenging life. I see the face of a man who has experiences we could never imagine. I see struggle. I see pain. I see hard work and determination. And I see a man who is dedicated to his family.
This is a man we came to know as El Abuelo.
Abuelo means Grandpa in Spanish, and he is the grandfather who lives in the first house we built this summer in Guatemala.
El Abuelo works hard in the fields surrounding the village of Xenacoj. He works hard all day for a small amount of pay (probably $10 a day) in the hopes of providing for his family. El Abuelo is 72 years old. His wife is no longer living, but he takes care of his daughter (Betty) and his five grandchildren (Marcos, Wendy, Jose, Fernando, and Rosita).
While we were building the house, El Abuelo lent a helping hand scraping bark off the wooden planks used to panel the side of the house. He helped hold pies of wood as we hand-sawed pieces to length. He also looked on providing supervision and ideas for improving the construction of the house.
Every once in a while, he could be found sitting in the shade smiling at our team and admiring the progress of the construction. When we moved the family into the house, he tearfully hugged me in an expression of gratitude for providing a home for his family.
This is a face I will not forget. When we return to Xenacoj, I look forward to sitting down with El Abuelo.
My Daily 5:15 Reminder
The alarm on my Timex Ironman wrist watch goes off every day at 5:15 PM. Many times this happens when I’m on my way home from work or when I should be packing up my desk at the end of the work day. Sometimes it happens on the weekends when I should be finishing up projects in the yard or when I’m simply relaxing with a good book.
The alarm has been going off every day since the middle of July last summer. Every time I hear the alarm I think of a place and a people I know and love. The place is Santo Domingo Xenacoj in the country of Guatemala, and the people are the many I have connected with the past three summers when I visited Xenacoj. It’s also the people I have yet to meet.
Last summer while our family was in Xenacoj, my daughter, Hannah, was trying to keep up her cross-country training schedule despite being thousands of miles from her teammates and familiar running trails. Understanding Hannah may not be safe running by herself on the streets of Xenacoj, I agreed to get up early with her to complete these training runs before our days started. This meant waking up before everyone else – at 5:15 AM.
We nearly missed the first day of running, because I didn’t hear my alarm. Thankfully, my body clock woke me up, and we were on our way for a run up and down the streets of Xenacoj.
During our morning workouts, we saw sites and sounds that most late risers miss.
We saw ladies cleaning the streets – sweeping up dirt and debris and shoveling trash into wheel barrels When they finished one section of road, they would move a little further down the road until they reached another area needing attention.
We saw men who worked in the fields coming out of their homes with a long-handled mattock over their shoulders. These men work from sun up to sun down caring for local farm lands owned by more wealthy people. The faces of these men were wrinkled from the sun. This is the life they have come to know. It’s the way they live. It’s the way their families’ have lived for generations.
We saw store owners slowly emerging to open the doors on their shops. In Xenacoj, it seems like there is a tienda (a convenience store) at every corner.
We saw other townspeople waking up and getting ready for their day ahead. Most people visiting Xenacoj would miss this experience, but our morning workouts gave us a different perspective.
Everyone looked at Hannah and me a little strangely as we ran by them in the streets. We waved and said “Buenos Dias.” And we were typically returned with a wave and “Bueno.” or “Dias.”
The morning workouts in Xenacoj gave Hannah and I a chance to connect. She’s a faster runner than I am now, but she had to run at my pace to help us stay together. Initially, there were very few words exchanged as we were both waking up. As we moved into the middle of our workouts, we shared reflections on the events from the day before, on the upcoming cross-country season, and of our hopes for Xenacoj. The last bit of our workouts again became quiet as I was out of breath and Hannah was preparing for the next part of the day.
When we arrived back at our home in Xenacoj, we assimilated ourselves back into our team as we prepared for our day. These early morning moments with Hannah on the streets of Xenacoj were a special part of my time in Xenacoj.
At 5:15 the evening after our first run, my alarm went off, and I realized I had set my alarm for PM instead of AM. I haven’t changed the alarm since this first day in Xenacoj last summer. Call me crazy, but I like the daily reminder that comes at 5:15 PM to beckon me back to a time and a place I want to hold onto forever.
What are you doing at 5:15 PM every day?
Consider setting your alarm for 5:15 PM as a reminder to pray for the people of Xenacoj.
If you are looking for more ways to help out in Xenacoj, we are currently raising funds to provide a new van for GO! Ministries (an organization serving the people in and around Xenacoj). Click here for more information.