Emily Lai's Post-reflection: Guatemala

Emily: so this is it. the final post of our journey. i don’t know what it is about guatemala but i feel at home… especially with generación magníficat. although we’ve known each other for only six months, i feel like they are family. i’ve always wanted to be guatemalan! i am so glad to have joined the team this year. i’ve never seen a group of people so passionate about what they do than the group i got to work with.

although i had some weak points in this trip, i became stronger. as cliché as it sounds, every time i visit guatemala, it has made me become a better person. it made me establish connections with people in an untraditional matter… not through words but through smiles, laughter, heart.

as i’m back in the states, i can’t stop thinking about the “medicine kids”. no, it’s not a new band we made in guatemala. it’s the family we visited twice a day to give them their medicine due to their infections; fidelia, servianno, marianna, domingue, maynor. i miss them. i miss dreading the walk up the steep mountain but saying it’s okay because seeing their faces at the top of the mountain is totally worth it. although, they were never on top of the mountain, they would hear our car coming and rush down their to greet us. they were also good motivators because when i stopped to take a break, servianno and fidelia would always push me to finish… i mean, literally push my butt up the hill.

i also keep thinking about doña tonita. she is well over ninety years old with a mentally disabled daughter. her face lights up everytime we visit her. she explains that she has no visitors and the only thing that visits her is a couple of stray dogs. she calls them her “guests”. i’m hoping next time i arrive in guatemala, i could be her permanent guest! :) she just makes me smile.

we have a group chat called “unidos por sibinal”. UNITED. not just for sibinal, but for ourselves. for the world. for the people. for humanity. 

we emphasise the work we do as from our heart; no affiliations, no organisations, no religions… just simply from our soul. we encourage the families to work as a community in their neighbourhoods. when in actuality, we need to work as a community for the world. i hope you take these words and our experiences and share them with your friends, family, colleagues, strangers…etc, because we, as human beings, need to open up our hearts. be kind to one another. no matter what differences there are between us.

with much love and besos, 

emily.

p.s

as described by myself and the team, it’s hard to explain our experiences and emotions through writing. pictures and videos do speak a thousand words. although my media was limited on this trip, i was able to catch a couple key moments. once the team and i share them together, i will have a finalised product… but until then, enjoy! nos vemos.