My Guatemalan Family

Way overdue here, given that it’s been a week since the group left – story of my life.  So without further ado, meet my Guatemalan family – the Martinez Guerras!

Ismael and Orfelinda are the local directors for Sew Hope.  As I’ve mentioned on a few previous occasions, they work tirelessly for the organization and for the people in the communities we serve.  They are by no means well-off, but they give time, money, and energy selflessly.  Their dedication is seemingly limitless and without them we wouldn’t be able to accomplish even half the work that we do.  We take for granted that we can arrive for a trip and have clinics full of patients, supplies ready, etc., but this week I’ve seen a glimpse of the hours of behind the scenes work that occur! 

 

They have three sons and baby Anita.  The oldest son, Hansel (17), is at a boarding school studying agriculture near Poptun.  We had the chance to visit with him for a little while when we were staying down there the third week.  I also took the opportunity to tell them of the story of Hansel and Gretel, which they found amusing (I hadn’t really realized how disturbing it is until I started telling them…).  The next, Jessi (15), is actually currently living with a family in Toledo and going to high school at St. John’s.  He wants to be a pediatrician, and I’ve promised to return to Toledo with a few of his favorite Guatemalan things and to try to cook him a Guatemalan meal! The youngest, Franklin (14), is the last one at home.  I’ve been so impressed with how helpful he is with everything here, how independent he is as Sew Hope stuff continually keeps his parents away from home, and how encouraging he is in the opportunities his brothers currently have.  The current family battle is that he’s pushing for a motorcycle, and his parents are less than thrilled about that idea…

Please excuse the bad quality - this is a pic of a pic.  Top to bottom: Franklin, Jessi, Ismael, Hansel, Orfe, and Anita.

When I arrived here at the end of January, I didn’t have a firm plan what I would do for the week between when the first group left and when the second started arriving.  I had ideas of traveling to a neighboring country like Belize, spending some time in southern Guatemala, or finding some other adventure.  I decided it was something I could figure out once I was here.  However, after the first week Orfe suggested I should stay here and live and work with them for the week.  At first, I only intended to pass a few days with them so as not to impose, but they incorporated me so hospitably into their house that it seemed almost like it would be an insult to leave.  In fact, a couple days ago I had them drop me in Flores for the day so I could get some work done and have better internet access and they seemed worried I wouldn’t return! 

So, I’ve spent the last week having the most wonderful, authentic Guatemalan experience I could imagine, while also learning a lot about the “on the ground” work of Sew Hope and helping prepare for the upcoming trip.  We’ve visited communities to deliver Kids Against Hunger food (kidsagainsthunger.org, sewhope.org/kah) and met with two new communities to start the program.  In one of the new communities, about 100 women and children showed up to learn about the program. 

 

A leadership group has made all of the preparations to have the food prepared two days a week for all of the children 2-9 years old and the pregnant women in the community.  Malnutrition is a huge issue here, but it takes dedication from a community to make programs like this work.

Many of the communities we visited are ones we served as a part of the cervical cancer screening project, so I had women coming up to me with hugs as if I were an old friend!  I got to check in on one old woman that received a LEEP last week – she’s doing well, very thankful, and hopefully cured.  She told me that she believes that if we hadn’t had that clinic, she probably wouldn’t have gotten another pap smear in her life and definitely wouldn’t have gotten treatment.  She added, “I’m still old, but at least I won’t die of that!”  I never thought I’d have such follow up with women in Guatemala!  Next Monday and Tuesday our clinic next week will be in this community, so I’m looking forward to returning!

 

I also had a chance to visit with the adorable Que’chi girl that befriended me in clinic two weeks ago – turns out her mom is the Kids Against Hunger coordinator in Cartucho.  We stopped by to drop off boxes of food yesterday and she insisted on us staying for a snack of corn on the cob (elote) and a sweet corn soup called atol de elote! 

A fraction of Orfe's family visiting at the clinic in Santa Ana, where the majority of them live.

Six of the eighteen grandchildren Orfe's mom has!

The time here with the family has been wonderful.  They’ve taken me to the market, out to eat, to a nephew’s birthday party, and on their daily work projects.  Their extended family has been equally welcoming!  I’ve spent time at both Orfe and Ismael’s mom’s houses and visited with the majority of Orfe’s 7 siblings!  Before we left, two of Orfe’s siblings (Danilo and Gilma) came to Flores to spend the evening with me and Puja. 

Me, Danilo, Gilma, and Puja

We were pretty anxious at first, because we’d only briefly met them and would be expected to speak only in Spanish, but the night was easily one of my favorite of the trip.  I’ve seen them both a few times since then and hopefully a few more before I leave – I think we’re also going to Danilo’s soccer game on Sunday, which should be an experience! 

 

Gilma’s son, Francisco, may be the cutest child I’ve ever encountered – just look at that smile!  He’s a bit of a trouble maker, but know’s how to play it.  The first time we met him, he wooed me and Puja with hugs and kisses on the cheek!  He can’t seem to remember my name (in fact, everyone have great difficulty with it) so he just calls me “Doctora.”  And by that I mean he yells across the clinic, backyard, or house “Doctora!” when he wants me to come play with him or pay attention to what he’s doing.  I, clearly, find it endearing. 

 

 

 

Of course, the week has also afforded me lots of quality time with baby Anita.  She’s started eating solid baby food and or just as adorable as ever. 

I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can from Orfe in the kitchen – carne asada, chirmol (like salsa), fried platanos, fajitas, caldo de res (beef stew), and hopefully empanadas today.  I find myself getting accustomed to the typical meals here.  The ingredients aren’t that different from what you’d find in the US, but the composition of meals is.  Typically breakfast is eggs, black beans, queso fresco, and whatever may be left from the night before; dinner often pretty similar.  Lunch is when the real effort of making a big meal occurs.  Every meal is accompanied by fresh tortillas.  I’m planning to make chocolate chip cookies today, although it required quite a bit of effort to find the incomplete set of ingredients I managed yesterday.  There are so many things here that are completely different than what we would expect – I think a lot has to do with differences between foods here and in Mexico.  An enchilada is a hard, flat tostada shell with a topping of chopped beets and cheese.  A quesadilla is a type of cake you eat with coffee.  Seriously.  A few days ago we stopped by a panaderia and asked for a quesadilla.  This is what we were given, and it wasn’t a mistake:

Everything this week has been in Spanish – except when we Skyped with their son Jessi in Toledo and I insisted he speak to me in English!  I always considered Ismael’s English to be better than my Spanish, but this week he has only spoken to me in Spanish.  Orfe and Franklin only speak Spanish, as do their extended families.  We’ve had everyday conversations as well as much more serious talks completely in Spanish, and I finally feel like I’m fully participating, not just getting by.  I’m doing my best to expand my vocabulary daily, and Orfe is a wonderfully patient teacher. 

All in all, this week has been rewarding, enriching, and restorative, and I’ve already been asked multiple times when I’ll be returning.  Looks like I have a family that will be waiting with open arms.  Who wants to come to Guatemala with me?!