Franco: What a day of full of wonderful moments. Yes, it was long and exhausting but what we experienced today made everything worthwhile. Below, you will get to experience our trip up the mountains to Sibinal. You will see us making connections with other human beings just like us of which we knew nothing about until today.
I'm in admiration of our ProjectHELLO team members as we have come together and created memories with people here in Guatemala difficult to convey via text. Our team has transitioned from talking the talk, to actually taking action and making a difference in the world. Enjoy the following pictures and team bloggs below.
Emily: after the delay, we are finally in Sibinal! before i get to our experiences here so far, i would like to write about our christmas for guatemalan children in tecpan. With the donations from the purchases of Olivia's Christmas cards, we were able to provide colouring books, toys, shoes, clothing, and dulce (candy) to the people in tecpan. I do want to point out that we didn't stop by any communities and simply drove on the road while THOUSANDS of children wave and hope for a gift from a passerby on the street. at first, we were hesitant as we had to leave really early and didn't think there were going to be kids outside waiting before 08:00. However, there were two boys that we saw and they were quite excited to see us. We handed them gifts, talked to them, and had to be on our way. One mile passed, two miles, three miles... no more children. Until suddenly there were a group of kids on the side of the road. We stopped and tried to give out gifts quickly, but by the time i looked up, there were HUNDREDS of kids running towards our van. Writing about the experience simply doesn't do it justice, but that moment will hold a special place in my heart.
We get to Sibinal and had the chance to meet the team and get to know them. They sang for us and in return, we sang "La Camisa Negra" and "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Hold your horses guys, Americas Got Talent will be calling soon. We mapped out our plan for the next five days. There's a lot of work to be done but i'm super excited! Tomorrow, we are laying down concrete and visiting families. Soon after, we will be getting ready for the Christmas in Guatemala event that we raised over $3000! Food and gifts will be provided for over 600 families!
It's getting pretty late and i need to hit the hay so i can be well rested tomorrow. buenas noches. besos, emily.
Shirley: Here it is. Today was a day I was looking forward to. The reason for this is because we were traveling to Sibinal to where we would meet the members of Group Magnificat, which we have been working with for the past few months, but first let me start off by talking about the van ride up mountain.. let me tell you a story! It was just like the first time, very exhausting because of all the bumps and bad roads but also the curves and very steep hills. Man I even got a stomach ache that lasted pretty much all trip and it sucked. But I'm here, which is all the matters!
We also got to meet the rest of group here in Sibinal and I just thought it was so welcoming. They really made us feel at home. We discussed the plans ahead and I can't wait to get started tomorrow bright and early! That's all for today, see you all tomorrow! Buenas noches! Me
Olivia: Today's theme for me was clouds, in both the literal and figurative versions. The first clouds of the day were ones of sadness and confusion. Other than traveling from Guatemala City to Sibinal, today's mission was to deliver little gifts to children waiting alongside the roadways waving and hoping that people like us will stop. We ended up handing out our gifts in a little neighborhood on some steep slopes next to the highway. What started with a handful of children ended up being long lines of children and mothers waiting to receive a small Christmas gift. One of the things I was in charge of handing out were small fleece blankets. We only had 15 to 20 blankets and they were clearly one of the most sought after items we had. But we only had a few - not nearly enough for all the mothers with small children bundled up with whatever they had. How do you decide which beautiful little child with chapped cheeks and a runny nose gets a blanket? What do you say to the all the moms who didn't get to us soon enough, but need that blanket just as much? Hence the first cloud of sadness and confusion. However, the joy and excitement on the faces of the children who scoop the sweet treats or the coloring books or the blankets from our hands makes those clouds of sadness and confusion a little less heavy. We couldn't to something for everyone, but I think we made the day of quite a few little someones and I think that counts for something.
After handing out a majority of our little Christmas gifts, we continued on our way to Sibinal. As we climbed higher and higher into the mountains, the clouds in the sky seemed to become that much more beautiful, big and alive. I swear we could have reached out and grabbed them if we wanted. Guatemala, particularly the mountainous area around Sibinal, is beautiful! I'm simply in awe of the all the people and the nature that I've seen in just one short day. These were just two moments of a really incredible day for me that I wanted to share. Thanks for reading.
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