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| The group in front of the hotel Kakchiquel |
Hola! Mollie here. This statement may
be repetitive but what a day!
Day 3 of our trip started out with
breakfast at 7am once again. We've all been working very hard and
sleeping like a rock- although some of us are plagued with a rooster
within earshot that likes to start its day at 2am.
Today we took a 30 minute boat ride
across Lake Atitlan to San Pedro, setting up shop in a local school.
We brought lab equipment to test 10 children's feces for parasites,
only 5 of which were able to provide their poo, and all tested
negative. Those not helping in the lab were able to play with some
kids during recess while waiting for our second project of the day.
10 families were scheduled to bring in
their filter systems to upgrade the filter. The World Health
Organization recommends 3 liters a day per person and the ceramic
filters were not quite up to par, filtering around 19 liters every 12
hours. The families all brought in their 2 bucket systems and we
replaced their top bucket with the new filter which supplies 15
liters every 45 minutes- an amazing improvement that goes beyond the
WHO recommendation!
We only had a half-day of volunteer
work scheduled and so after we completed these two projects our team
split up for the afternoon. Professor Jeff Smith mentioned a
religious ceremony taking place in Santiago and 6 of us decided to go
see it, the other 7 returning to Panajachel to continue exploring the
markets or take a quick nap.
I went with the group to Santiago
and it was a truly an incredible experience. To be brief (and maybe
we can elaborate on it later, it's nearing 11:30pm and we have
another early morning tomorrow), we visited the shrine to Maximon
(also called San Simon)- considered the patron saint of sinners. He
is a mixture of a traditional Mayan god, a Spanish conquistador,
apostles Peter and Simon, archangel San Miguel, and Judas Iscariot.
Maximon has become Guatemala's most popular saint, often petitioned
for assistance in curing diseases, blessing crops, removing curses,
winning lawsuits, and divining for the future. Today we witnessed a
blessing for protection for two women who were actually Americans but
spoke fluent Spanish and Mayan so we are assuming they have lived
here for some time. The shrine travels to different homes every month
and during the last 3 days of the holy week Maximon is paraded in the
Catholic church's square. On Good Friday the festivities start at 3pm
and last until 9am the next day with lots of rum drinking.
After our mini tour of Santiago we
casually made our way back to the boat while shopping for souvenirs
and taking in sights of a new city. The team rejoined at the hotel
for dinner and shared our afternoon events and then spent our last
evening in Panajachel with more exploring and a few drinks.
Life
is good and we are excited for tomorrow! Eye exams and Mayan ruins
await us tomorrow and we are eager to make the most of our last day
in Guatemala.
Hasta mañana!
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| The crew heading to San Pedro |
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| Fecal Smears in the San Pedro elementary school |
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| Assembling water filters |
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| Playing with the children |
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| MIchael and his friends |
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| A local woman and her new, efficient filters |
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| Add caption |
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| Working on the filters |
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| A small group in Santiago de Atitlán |
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| Sam Simón |
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| Our tour guide in Santiago de Atitlán |
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| Watching a beautiful weaver |
