Journey to Peace

Plea

2012-01-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry that I have been distant for a bit. Christmas travels and what not kept me away from the computer. However, I was told that my "net needs more information, please!" First of all, we have a house! Yet another thing that has been keeping me busy. We bought it 1 week ago and we're trying to turn it into a home before we move in. New floors, painting, but nothing too major. Hopefully we'll move in next week. I have many mixed feelings about moving there. In many ways I'm excited and ready to get back to some normalacy. The other side is that getting back to normal life will likely be more telling about how I'm really doing. This is definitely scarry for me. However, all in all, this is a praise and this needed to happen for us at some point.

In other news, last week I heard the plea that will probably be offered to the attacker. That was a really tough day for me. Plea's don't work quite the way I thought they did. My expectation with a plea was that he would simply be offered fewer years in prison than the amount he would receive in a trail. While this is true, the reason he receives fewer years is because the plea actually drops some of the charges against him. It's difficult to explain why this is so hard for me. It's not that I want him to be in prison longer, I don't care too much about the number of years, but I do want him to admit and be convicted of all the charges. It doesn't feel good to ask him to only admit to part of the truth. A friend of mine put it this way, "what they are asking him to admit to is not what actually happened.... it's dishonesty for convenience sake.... and not justice or grace." By erasing some of the charges, I feel in many ways like the legal system is not validating the horrific thing that happened to me. I guess that's what I really want.

I understand the benefits of a plea, and believe me, I would like as much as anyone for this to not go to trail. Sitting on the stand telling a court room what happened to me is not a comfortable thought. But yet, in some ways, significantly more healing than an offensive plea that doesn't seem to acknowledge the reality of the crime. This has been tough. Maybe it's time for us to back-off and let the system have their process. Jared wrote a letter to the prosecutor explaining our feelings and he said some things really well. This is one paragraph of his letter. "After the assault happened, we were constantly reassured by the Glendale PD that this case was a top priority. They had dozens of officers come right away to the house, dozens more canvassing the neighborhood, all the while checking in on us to see how we were doing. We really felt like they cared about us as individuals, and validated our emotions as victims. The legal process feels more distant- like this crime isn't about us, it's about what the State requires. Maybe we need to back out and let the State do what it's going to do, and make our statement at sentencing- I don't know. It feels really disempowering." After sending this we did receive a call and the prosecutor as well as the victims advocate would like to meet with us.

On to my song of the day. Many mennonite churches have been singing this song, "Peace Within Us" over the holiday season and I've found it to be a really touching song (only the first two links on the side bar are the song). It's been in and out of my head for weeks and it speaks to my desire for peace within me, over me, around me.

My Net

2011-12-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

How do people survive this when they don't have a support system? I can't imagine. Even more, it makes me sick to think of women who have had to go through this being told that they were to blame. Afraid to turn in their attackers, afraid to tell people of the wrong that had been done to them, or not being believed when they did. What is wrong with our world?

It makes me so sad to think that many victims of this kind of violence go through feelings of guilt and shame. I can't say enough about how far any of that is from my reality. I know that now we are coached to tell a victim that it's not their fault and I have heard that so much over the last 6 weeks. However, this was never a thought in my mind and when people tell me this, inside I just think, "well duh, of course it's not my fault." There is no scenario where something being done to you against your will could possibly be your fault.

I have been so taken care of and more importantly, loved. I'm so grateful, you have no idea. I have been given so many beautiful expressions of love from you all. Some of you have just the right words, some of you offer a comforting soup (or other delicious meal), many of you have shared with me your own pains and struggles, some have given care packages or flowers, one has created meaningful art. You all are amazing and you are my net. The net that catches us when we need catching.

My song for today is "Family" by Dar Williams. "You are my family." So much love from me to all of you :)

Q & A

2011-12-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

Many of you have asked for updates on things that I have written about so here we go.

Graham:
Graham is doing fine. We had two sessions with the child psychologist and both times he did well. We tried to trigger the trauma to see if there was anything there for him and nothing came up. We may meet again down the road when he is verbal, but for now there isn't much else we can do.

Regarding the "I like me" post:
I have now heard from enough friends who were shocked to read that I don't think of myself as an introspective person, that I was forced to reconsider my perception of myself. I dug into my memory bank, back to college days, and tried to remember how I would have described myself, and sure enough, I definitely would've called myself analytical and possibly introspective. So what has changed between then and now? Answer; the people I surround myself with. My dear friends here are some of the most deep and reflective friends I've ever had and I have been comparing myself to them. So, I guess the journey of self discovery is never ending. Thanks to good friends who help us know ourselves better :)

Housing:
We are currently living with my aunt and uncle and cousins who have so generously opened their home to us. Initially we moved in for safety and sanity while my attacker was still at large. Having the event 4 weeks behind us now we are feeling ready for our own space, however, we aren't quite sure where to go. Returning to our old place is not an option and buying a house just cannot move fast enough for us. So, if you are looking for ways to pray, pray for housing.

My song for today is "Sorrow," by Bad Religion. The chorus of this song has been playing in my head a lot over the last 4 weeks. I prefer the acoustic version, but listen to whatever you like. A bunch of our friends have a folk/bluegrass band and they play my favorite rendition of this song, but their CD has not made it into my hands yet.

Investigation

2011-12-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't told you all much of the case so far, largely because it was recommended that I not share the investigation details with people. However, today I was told that I was free to share, so here is what's been going on for the past 3 weeks.

November 7 - I was attacked. Our home became a crime scene. The K-9 unit was brought in, DNA and fingerprints were collected.
November 8 - The detective and case manager came to see me where we are staying.
November 9 - I went into the police office and made my full statement of what happened. We also did a sketch of the attacker and I looked through mug shots to see if I recognized anyone; I didn't.
November 10 - About 2 dozen police officers went door to door canvasing our neighborhood (8 blocks north, south, east and west) with my sketch.
November 14 - The detective came to our home with 6 more pictures. I wasn't expecting anything, but sure enough, there was a picture of him. I sat there shaking looking at his picture and the detective said, "I had a hunch it was him."
November 16 - Local TV stations ran the story and reported that he was 17 years old. They ran a picture of him requesting information on his whereabouts.
November 17 - He was found on a reservation near Tucson, AZ
November 18 - The detective was informed of the involved process of removing a native american from a reservation. An extradition hearing was set for December 1st.
November 20 - We met with a good friend and public defender who informed us of the process ahead of us.

TODAY:
Because he is native american and on the reservation, removing him is almost like removing someone from another country. The detective has been collecting infomation and warrants necessary to do this. He told me that there was even a Governor's Warrant (signed by the governor) requesting that he be removed from the reservation. The preliminary hearing was at 8:30 this morning. The judge told the attacker that all the paper work was there and that there really was not much point in having the hearing. He waived his rights to the hearing and went willingly with the detective. This afternoon he was checked into the local jail without bond. He was served a DNA warrant and that has now been collected. He will be tried as an adult. I should be contacted by the prosecutor in the next couple weeks.

Now that this is all in process I'm starting to deal with some tough questions about how involved I want to be and what I want for this person. Luckily, I'll have some time to think about it, these things never move too quickly. Sorry, no song today, all this info isn't very inspiring to me.

I like me

2011-11-19T22:38:00.000-08:00

Tuesday I started counseling. People have asked me if I was nervous or scared about this and while I'm not nervous about the counseling itself, I am nervous about what it will stir up inside me. I'm very comfortable with myself. Quite honestly, I like me. What if, through counseling, I start analyzing myself and realize that I don't like myself as much as I thought I did?

Henry Nouwen says, "You have been wounded in many ways. The more you open yourself to being healed, the more you will discover how deep your wounds are. You will be tempted to become discouraged, because under every wound you uncover you will find others. Your search for true healing will be a suffering search." This is exactly what I don't want to happen! I don't want to discover this sad, damaged version of myself. I am entering a process of much introspection and let's be honest, I'm just not very introspective. I happily float through life not thinking too hard or analytically about myself. Will this go away? Will I become someone I don't recognize or don't want to be?

I fully realize that being attacked will have lifelong impacts on me and that I have to find a way to integrate this into my story, but I just don't want it to turn me into someone different. Allowing change, in some ways, feels like I'm giving my attacker more of myself. I just want to be me.

My song for today may seem like a silly choice, but for some reason the line, "the rest is still unwritten" struck a cord with me. This is "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. It feels empowering and like I do have some control in my story of who I become.

Graham :)

2011-11-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

I thought I knew exactly what kind of parent I would be. I loved a lot of children before I had Graham and that somehow gave me this false idea that I knew what I was in for. Well I didn't, and it's nothing like I thought it would be, it's so much better. My life is filled with more joy and laughter than I ever could have imagined and he has made me a better person. I am less selfish, more patient, more loving. I so badly desire to be someone that he could admire.

There are also parts of being of parent that are not so great, mainly the land of worry. And now, more than ever before, I worry so much. No child should ever have to witness what he witnessed. I am so scared about how this will affect him. I can hear you all thinking and saying, "Traci he's so young, he'll be fine," and you're probably right, dear God I hope you're right. But that's not how a mother's mind works. Instead I spend my time reading articles by child psychologists, then watching and waiting for his signs of distress, wondering when he will start acting out. So far that hasn't happened. I've found him to be completely himself.

My good friend's mother is a child psychologist and tomorrow she is coming to do a little work with him in the space where I was attacked. Apparently it is important to create positive memories in a place where something so negative has happened. Jared and I will be working with him through this. This feels good. Traumatic events like this can impact a young child more than most people think. People keep telling me, "he'll never remember," and while I believe that's true, it doesn't mean it won't affect him. I'm so glad that someone agrees with me and thinks that it's important for him to be seen.

Jared and I have talked about how this could change our parenting. I already feel myself hovering and wanting Graham next to me all the time (even more than before). I guarantee you that on that list of what kind of parent I would be I wasn't worrying and hovering. Healthy or not, that's where I'm at.

My song for today is "I get to be the one" by JJ Heller. For now, I'm just so thankful that I get to be his mom, that I get to be here with him.

The Basics

2011-11-17T14:22:00.000-08:00

Where do you start with something so heavy? How do I begin to share with you the millions of thoughts that pass through my mind each day? I guess the easiest beginning for me is with the facts.

Last Monday afternoon my door bell rang. When I opened the door there was a young man who I had never seen before. He asked me for a drink of water. I shut the door, leaving him outside and went to find a cup of water that I could give him. I returned, giving him the water and trying to send him on his way. When I tried to shut the door he stopped it and forced his entrance into our home. He came in swinging. He beat me until I stopped fighting back at which point I was barely conscious. It then became clear why he was there. He beat and raped me for an hour and a half.

He ran out the back door when he heard our roomate arriving at home. I quickly locked the door behind him and went to find Graham who had been shut in the bathroom for an hour. I grabbed the phone on the way and called 911. Within a couple minutes I heard the sirens. Finally, it was over....or just beginning depending on how you look at it.

I was beaten quite badly. I was unrecognizable Monday evening, even to Jared. Almost all my wounds were to the head. However, the body is an amazing thing and mine seems to be healing quickly. The bruises are fading and the swelling is gone. I wish that my body could just take care of my emotional healing as well, but it's becoming painfully clear that I have some hard work and dark days ahead of me.

I am currently quite numb to everything. Some defense mechanism inside me turned off my emotions when he entered our home, and I haven't been able to feel since. I need to feel this. I have to feel this in order to heal.

My song choice for today is "Awake my Soul" by Mumford & Sons. My prayer is that my soul would awaken.

Home!

2009-07-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well despite the lack of entries on our blog, time continued on in Santiago. We had a wonderful goodbye party with all of our 'Atiteco' friends and co-workers, complete with a Pinata. (We bought it for the kids, but EVERYONE had a blast diving for candy!) We are now in Harrisonburg, staying with Jared's parents for a week before we go to Goshen, then PA, then back to Harrisonburg before moving out to Phoenix sometime in early August. We'll try to post some pictures later, and will probably keep using this blog to post updates about our lives in Arizona for the next year.

For now, we just want to say it feels good to be home! We have greatly appreciated your support and prayers throughout the year, and will be greatful for your continued thoughts as we transition back into life in the US, and a new place to call home.

Jared and Traci

Computer down

2009-05-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well folks, looks like round two of computer problems. . . this time it´s hardware. Too bad, because we were just about to get high speed internet at home!

Brief update from the internet cafe- Jared has been working in the ANADESA tree nursery filling plastic bags for coffee tree transplants. Also, on May 30 we´ll be getting a delivery of about 200 Macadamia nut trees for several communities on the outskirts of town. Google Valhalla Antigua for information about the macadamia nut farm and the many benefits of growing the trees.

Traci has still been working hard at the library, and leading an English club Saturday mornings. ´

We recently found out that we´ll be moving to Phoenix in August to manage a Mennonite Guest House there, and will be involved in an intentional Christian community for adults with developmental disabilities called Goldensun. Their website is www.goldensunonline.org if you want to check it out. Hopefully we´ll be able to put more pictures up sometime soon, but with our computer down it might be a while.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

We Have a Plan!

2009-05-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

These last 6 weeks have been some of the most stressful times in both of our lives, but now we are so happy to be able to say that we have a plan! We have been given the opportunity to manage a Mennonite Guest House in Phoenix Arizona. It all came together so wonderfully, and we feel that God has opened some doors for us after many disappointments. We are so glad to know what we’ll be doing after our return. The house is co-owned by MCC and Trinity Mennonite Church, where Traci did her Ministry Inquiry Program a few years ago. It was bought as a location to house the many MCC SOOP (Service Opportunities for Older People) volunteers who go to Arizona in the winter. We will work to keep it full the rest of the year as well. It is a large 7 bedroom house and is connected with a program nearby for disabled adults, where many of the SOOP volunteers work. The house was formerly named SOOP House, but is now going by the title Phoenix Mennonite Guest House. We are very excited about this opportunity! Jared will be taking a few classes at ASU as well. Having some certainty back in our lives feels really good, and I think we'll appreciate the remainder of our time here even more now that we don't have to worry about what comes next.

So here’s the plan for all who are interested.
July 4th – Jareds parents will meet us at the airport when we return from Guatemala. We will be in Harrisonburg until the 16th. In that time we will hang out with family and friends, get some needed new and clothes and haircuts, celebrate birthdays, maybe do a little work around our house and begin the packing process.
July 16th – Drive to Goshen to be with Traci’s family until the 27th. Don’t yet have any itinerary for that time, but I’m sure it will involve some days at Tonya and Jason’s pool.
July 27th – Drive to Lancaster. We have our re-entry retreat in Lancaster from July 3oth – August 2nd so we decided to go 3 days early and hang out with Jared’s extended family there.
August 2nd – Drive back to Harrisonburg
August 8th – Begin the Drive to Phoenix
August 11th – Arrive in Phoenix.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and encouragement through our uncertainty.

To make a long story short. . .

2009-04-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

The computer is fixed! I took the 2.5 hour bus ride to Mazatenango (again) and got the computer reformatted, and it appears to be running well now! The extended version of this story includes a night of no sleep prior to leaving, passing the time by catching a movie at the theatre that turned out to be the worst movie I'd ever seen- (yes, even worse than Open Water, and I was the ONLY one in the theatre), delays in the repairs that meant I had to stay overnight, staying in two different hotels (the first one was stifling hot, full of mosquitoes, and after 2.5 hours of laying in bed counting the passing seconds I got up and left) and then approximately 4 hours after checking in to the other hotel I got up and caught the 4AM bus to Santiago since I couldn't sleep anyway. To top it off I'm now battling a head cold and my sleep schedule is so thrown off I think the weekend is going to be a bust.
In more positive news, I caught a direct bus to Mazatenango and only paid 20, both unexpected joys. Tono, the computer repair guy was so incredibly nice! He let me play the Incredibles on Xbox while waiting for the computer, after I left the first hotel he let me back into the store where he was STILL working on the computer, even though they had been closed for hours, and after it was done he drove me around to 5 different hotels before we found a place with a vacancy. I invited him to come stay with us in Santiago if he wants to come out- I hope he takes me up on the offer!

Jared

Frustrations

2009-04-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

So the past week has had more than its share of above average annoyances. . .

First, I have a lot of pink clothes. Traci bought a lovely wraparound skirt in the market, soaked it in vinegar water for a day, washed it by itself, and threw it into the laundry a second time with our normal load. Turns out, wasn´t quite done bleeding. My jeans have some lovely shades of purple and pink- but they´re still wearable. Several shirts took on a distinctly pink hue, as did most of my boxers. Some of these shirts we soaked in water to prevent them from setting, and threw them in the wash again. Oddly enough, they came out clean- but several new shirts are now pink (and soaking in bleach water). Annoying yes, debilitating- nah.

Traci led her first English club on Friday! She was well prepared for the group of 10, ranging in age from 9-11. Well when 20 kids show up from ages 4-14, it kind of changes everything. . . She felt unprepared and was disappointed with how the class went. Having an evaluation right after class pointing out everything that didn´t go as planned certainly didn´t help anything either.

Finally, the thing weighing on my mind the most at this point (besides not having any idea what the future holds after July 4th): Our laptop has slowly been going senile. First in May we noticed that the drive for camera chips had stopped working. No big deal, we still have our cords. Then the volume display (you know, green letters and bars) stopped showing up on the screen. We can still adjust the volume, just can´t see it. Odd, perplexing, but no big deal. Then in one fell swoop, Itunes stopped working, and the internet won´t load e-mail. This has so far resulted in several long difficult phone calls with the internet company, countless restarts, reboots, uninstalling and reinstalling programs, and last night one of our housemates spent 30 minutes or more cleaning up the computer. It runs a lot faster- but still has all those same problems. I´m writing this from an internet cafe in town- and we´re both praying this problem gets fixed so we can keep e-mailing from home for the last few months. E-mail feels especially important now as we´re applying for jobs and trying to make our plans for next year.

Thoughts, prayers, and computer fixing suggestions are much appreciated!!

Jared

Semana Santa

2009-04-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

Holy week in Guatemala (and Central America in general) is a completely different experience than in the US. I think of easter baskets, egg coloring, and getting together with the family for lunch as my Easter tradition. Down here, this is the biggest holiday of the year. Nearly 80% of Guatemala city disappears- going to Antigua, the beaches, and staying with family in their hometowns.
Early in the week, Santiago started making preparations. They created pine covered trellises to line all the streets that the procession would follow. The mayan diety (or Catholic Saint depending on who you ask) Maximon, had a small parade on Wednesday, making a stop at the Municipal building before being 'hung' in his small chapel on the Catholic church plaza. Some say he represents Judas, hanging himself in shame of betraying Jesus. For others, this is his punishment for all the bad things he's done this year. Unlike other saints, people visit Maximon to curse other people in addition to the health and prosperity requests.

We went to Antigua with some friends and saw the incredible alfombras, artistic 'carpets' made out of colored sawdust, flowers, pine needles, and other natural items. There are so many processions in Antigua that these carpets are constantly being created, destroyed by the marching crowds, cleaned up and recreated.

The alfombras in Santiago didn't have as many flowers, pine needles, etc- but they made up for it in the sheer quantity created.

Elaborate processions with LARGE floats are carried from the church, around town, and back into the church. In Santiago the men wore their traditional garb, but in Antigua the streets were packed with men in purple.

The processions included reenactments, music, LOTS of incense, and the floats, which can weigh up to 3 tons. These guys carried the floats literally 50 blocks or more, switching off periodically. It caused us to reflect on how much we jump straight to the Resurrection, with it's chocolate, marshmallow bunnies and pretty pastel colors, glossing over the suffering, lamenting, and pain of the crucifixion. On the other hand, Easter Sunday felt really anti-climatic; people were mostly just traveling back from vacations, trying to get ready for work the next day. I think both cultures could stand to learn a little from each other about the meaning of this Holy Week.

We went to Casa Horeb, a Mennonite church in Guatemala city for Easter Sunday. The service started at 6AM and had a lot of special music, singing, and a sermon that was probably pretty good. (It's hard to listen and understand Spanish when you're so tired!) We did miss singing familiar songs- I couldn't get "Up from the grave he arose (he arose)" out of my head all morning. Instead of Easter Breads before the service, we had tamales afterwords, and didn't get back to the Mennonite guest house until 10:45. We had a chance to Skype with Jared's ENTIRE extended family that were all gathered together, and with Traci's family as well. It was a lot of fun to catch up, but made us homesick as well.

I know we always say this, but we plan to update the blog again soon. . .

I especially loved this alfombra, located inside one of the Catholic churches in Antigua that used mangoes, corn, peppers, carrots, watermelons and bottles of honey as part of the decor.

Connections

2009-03-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here is an overview of our life and work in Santiago. This will be in the April issue of Connections magazine. We wanted to share it with those of you who don't receive the magazine:

We live on the beautiful Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. The lake is the crater remains of a volcano many years ago that has now filled with water; three inactive volcano’s still stand at the shores. The region is very unique and has many indigenous small towns on the waters edge. Each of these towns is named after one of the apostles. The indigenous people of Mayan descent in these towns still wear traditional clothing and have many Mayan religious practices, even though they have been deeply influenced by Catholicism.

Together we are managing a nice guesthouse that is being leased to the local grassroots hospital. They have asked us to oversee this property and host the guests. This has involved fixing up the house, battling bed-bug outbreaks, meeting guests when they arrive and lots of cooking. Our Mennonite cookbooks Simply in Season and More With Less are a big hit here. The majority of the guests are hospital volunteers, including nurses, doctors and medical students. We have a wonderful place to live and enjoy sharing God’s love through hospitality with the people staying here.

Jared enjoys his work promoting water filters in the community. Until recently, diarrhea was the leading cause of death for children under five and this was largely attributed to drinking contaminated lake water. This involves education and follow-up with the families. He is also supplying wood stoves to replace open indoor fires that cause a multitude of respiratory and vision problems. Both these project are through a community development organization here in Santiago called ANADESA. Jared has built good friendships with the staff and families there.

Traci works at a children’s library with a mobile program that goes into the schools and shares story hours and tutors children. She also helps with tourist and educational groups by giving tours of the library and their services in the community. She has made friends with her co-workers and the children through her work and continues to improve her Spanish. Most mornings are spent with her good friend and tutor Victoria, and most afternoons she plays a game of basketball with the kids.

We feel so blessed to be here and are so grateful to many of you that have made it possible for us through your funding and prayers. We know that God is faithful and has brought us here with a purpose. We will be forever changed by our year with TranSend.

2009-03-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

I am loving my work at the library. I have gotten to know a lot of the kids at the school where we take educational story hours. The kids are really getting interested in reading and get excited each week to hear what books we are bringing. There are two questions that I am asked each time I’m there. The first thing they ask me is “do you color your hair?” I am usually surrounded by 5 or 6 little girls that are stroking my hair when that questions comes. My hair is hardly even blond, but in their world everyone is born with dark brown hair and it is unfathomable that I could naturally have this color of hair. I tell the girls that I don’t color my hair, but the next day the question comes again. I think that they are hoping I’m lying and that one of these days I’ll slip up and tell them that I actually do die my hair. The next thing they ask is, “Will you play basketball with us after school?” This has become quite the tradition! After school is over, we head out to the playground, which is actually just a big concrete slab. Playing basketball here takes a lot less skill than it does in the US. There are no basketball hoops, instead we aim for the wrought iron grates over the windows of the school building. In the picture below you can see the “hoops.” One team throws the ball at the left grate and the other team at the right grate. Not only are there no hoops, but there are no rules. Everyone travels like crazy and fouls each other constantly.

When I play with the girls they always make the teams with all the big girls (8 to 10 years old) together and all the little girls with me. Usually I let the big girls win, but then I start to feel bad for all the little girls that are always losing, so every once in a while my team wins. Last week when I was playing with the boys, there was one 10 year old who thought he was pretty awesome at basketball so he chose a 5 year old to be his teammate and took on me along with 2 other 8 years old. We taught him a lesson.

2009-02-18T15:36:00.001-08:00

It has been a busy 6 weeks since we last posted an entry on our Blog. Let me tell you about the excitement. In mid January my parents and my brother Troy were able to come down and spend 10 days with us. It was a wonderful time to travel and see some things in Guatemala that we haven’t seen yet as well as travel just across the border into Honduras to see the Copan Ruins. It was also a wonderful time to share with them about our time here. We’re so glad that most of our immediate family has been able to come see our lives here.

In January I also started spending the afternoons volunteering at a children’s library in town. It has been a wonderful addition to my experience here. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday a local woman and I take story hours to some of the rural schools around Santiago. Reading is not something that the Mayan’s do for pleasure, so the library is making efforts to get kids reading at a young age. On Wednesday and Friday afternoons I do random administrative tasks around the library and I especially enjoy when they put me to work doing crafty things for the bulletin boards or calendar. The director of the Library has also asked that I start teaching the local employee’s how to put a newsletter together. Within the first week that I was working at the Library kids in town started recognizing me and one little girl ran up to me in the street, gave me a hug, and said, “You’re Traci from the Library!” I am really glad to be more invested in the locals and learning more Spanish.

Last weekend we were so happy to spend time with the EMU cross-cultural. Jim and Ann Hershberger who are leading the group for the semester asked us to plan out a weekend for them here in Santiago. It also worked out very nicely that Loren and Pat Swartzenbruber were visiting the cross-cultural group on the very same weekend. It was nice to see them as well. We had the entire group of 30 over to our house for super on Saturday evening and with some help from a couple of our local friends we pulled off delicious meal. The next morning we joined the group for their worship service, which was particularly special to Jared and I. We loved being able to sing songs in English and open up a hymnal. It was all such a blessing.

That very afternoon we packed up our bags, because our visas were just about to expire. Many of you have been curious about our visas. We are actually here on 90-day tourist visas with an occasional extension from immigration or an occasional trip out of the country. Due to a Central American union formed a year and half ago, the only nearby countries that will stamp our passports as having left Guatemala are Belize and Mexico. We were shocked to learn this after our arrival. So, last week we took our first visa renewal trip. It is required that we spend 2 nights out of country in order to have Guatemala stamp our passports for another 90 days. We got on an overnight bus that took us nearly to the boarder of Guatemala and Belize, then we took a variety of shuttles from there. We managed to make it all the way to the coast and spent a few hours snorkeling on the barrier reef. It was awesome! We also made a quick stop at the Tikal Ruins on our way. Who knew it could be so much fun to be kicked out of the country! We also managed to convince a couple of our friends to join us for the trip.

Visit from the Sojoels

2008-12-31T10:55:00.000-08:00

Traci and I invited my old host family over for supper last night and had a blast! We had wanted to do this for quite some time, but it was too hard with a house full of volunteers. Including us and Matt, their current house guest who’s working at the hospital, there were 12 at the dinner table. The young boys were energetic and excited to be visiting for supper, and everyone was eager to try out our coconut curry, deviled eggs, pumpkin bread and monster cookies. We said a prayer before the meal, then they surprised us by singing a praise song in celebration of our gathering. Unlike what we often hear from town at night, it sounded wonderful. After the meal there was a lot of talking, sipping tea, and as always with this family- laughing. We invited them back during the day so they can swim and relax, and we look forward to more time together.

Family Christmas!

2008-12-30T12:55:00.000-08:00

Jared's family came down to visit from Dec 18-27th, and we PACKED their time full of fun stuff! Ron, Bonnie, Todd, Mandi, Kari and Jon were all able to make it, and we had so much fun showing them around the Lake, and doing a few other day trips as well. We spent time in Antigua and visited a coffee farm/museum there, visited Chichicastenango during a festival to the guy who brought Fireworks to the region,(a LOUD experience!), went to the zip-line in Santa Clara (same one we went to before, and this time the view was AMAZING!), spent a tiring day in Xocomil- ranked the #1 waterpark in the world in 2001, toured Santiago, ate a lot of meals Traci prepared, and played a lot of games. When they left the house seemed eerily quiet. Our jobs are on break for the holidays, and there aren't any hospital volunteers living in the house so we've been all alone in Las Milpas.
We are eagerly looking forward to the new year, and more projects coming up for both of us. Traci will be starting to help out at a traveling library for kids, doing story hours, and organization for the NGO that runs it. Jared's looking forward to helping ANADESA with more marketing, water filter distribution, and some environmental projects. We hope you all are enjoying this holiday season with your families as well!

Jared and Traci

Water Filters

2008-12-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I received an order of 200 water filters from Rotary International! These filters will be distributed through ANADESA to needy families in the community. We'll be keeping busy with seminars on use and care of the filters, and following up after several weeks, and again after several months. The hospital, and local public clinic will also be referring people to ANADESA to receive the filters. We've been using a filter here at the house for about 3 months now and it's all I drink so I can tell the people that I know it's safe. ANADESA will also be able to sell the replacement filters after 1 year, and can accept beadwork or cloth (which they then sell) as payment. I was told that the Rotary had not heard of an organization that accepted 'in kind' payments and they were anxious to see how it works.

Wood Stoves

2008-12-01T11:23:00.001-08:00

I can't say how happy I was to get dirty last week! Granted, I'm often coated in dust and don't get to shower every day, but this is different. Last week I helped make two stoves! Many of you may have heard my lecture on the importance of wood stoves- so here's the abridged version. Many people living in Panabaj (the community outside of Santiago) cook on open fires on a dirt floor. There is no ventilation, the space is crowded, and they can only cook one thing at a time. The lack of ventilation leads to chronic lung problems by age 30 for most of the women, who are constantly cooking for the family. Children often suffer burns from falling into the open fires or hot coals. The amount of wood required to fuel these fires is staggering: a 20 year old tree will be cut down to supply a family of 5 for 1 month according to the MCC country representative in Guatemala. The wood is expensive, and deforestation is one of the causes of the mudslide in 2005. The new stoves are vented, insulated, easy to make, and efficient. ANADESA is the local organization working with the community. In order to receive a stove, the family has to provide some sort of assistance to ANADESA, usually in the form of making fabric or crafts that can be sold. (We sent a bunch of beaded Christmas ornaments home from here) The money then offsets the cost of the stoves. Donations for projects like this can also be made directly, as was the case for these two. A company from Canada sent down a bunch of their employees to help carry the project through to the end, and they were thrilled. The families were too- despite the blank faces in their pictures. They were cracking up until I counted to three, then they got stoic, then cracked up again after I took the picture and showed it to them.

Shaken Up

2008-11-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

Today we went across the lake to Panajachel with several volunteer doctors, planning to get our Thanksgiving turkey, visit a recycling center, and be tourists for a bit. We got our turkey, acted like tourists, visited the (closed) recycling center and were eating lunch when we received a call that a boat sank close to Santiago and we need to get back pronto.
Over a thousand people travel by boat every day on the lake, and I had never heard of one sinking. The ride to Pana was actually pretty rough, and several of the doctors were worried but I thought this was normal, and nothing to be scared of. The ride back to Santiago was the tensest trip I’d ever taken. Every time we crested a wave and crashed into the next one we all held our breath. Traci and I were praying just about the whole way home, clinging to each other when the front of the boat would shake to one side or the other. We had a private boat for 5 of us, and we all had lifejackets so we were much safer than many of the other boats still out on the lake, but even so it was an anxious 30 minutes for us all.
By the time we made it back to Santiago, hundreds of people were crowding the boat dock, and the hospital. The doctors went right to work but Traci and I could only stand back and hear the bad news. All the details aren’t figured out yet, but it seems the boat was rather full and hit a wave that flooded in and sank the boat. There were three fatalities, including an elderly French man whose wife is now in stable condition in the capital.
Having this happen really shook everyone up here- it’s the first time a small public boat has ever sunk according to the hospital administrator. I think traveling in bad wind has been so routine it’s been taken for granted that nothing bad will ever happen. It’s terrifying to think that WE could have been in that boat coming home from Pana. We have recommitted ourselves to being safe here- which now means avoiding the lake on windy days.
Please keep the people that were on that boat, and their families in your prayers.

Weekend in Guatemala City

2008-11-17T17:21:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Traci and I were in Guatemala city to renew our Visas. We stayed at CASAS and really enjoyed connecting with the director and staff. I got sick as soon as we got to the city, it started with a runny nose and sore throat and progressed to a full blown cold, but it’s been good for us to be here away from the requests of the hospital and other volunteers. We actually have some space to ourselves here!
We went to the Mennonite church here and spent some time with the MCC country representatives before the service. They’ll be in Santiago next week working on a wood stove project with me and ANADESA, so we’re looking forward to hosting them a bit. The congregation was very welcoming- a lot of different people came up and thanked us for coming to church, and for taking a year away from home to serve. At the end of the service was a 20 minute play/musical put on by the kids that just finished Vacation Bible School. The families made all the costumes, and another Mennonite volunteer directed the program. As nice as it was to be in a Mennonite congregation, I think we both missed our home church, Community Mennonite, even more afterwards. It’s so difficult to really take in a sermon when it takes so much effort to just understand what’s being said.
Also here’s a little clip of the kids musical…..

A morning with the women in Panabaj

2008-11-07T07:47:00.000-08:00

Last week I received a call from an organization in a nearby town asking if I could arrange for a couple of the doctors from the hospital to come and speak to a group of women in Panabaj about contraception. Panabaj is known to be a quite poor community and it is also the area that was hit the hardest by the 2005 mudslide. So after asking around the hospital I found two of the volunteer doctors who were willing to spend the morning in Panabaj teaching these woman. We were all quite nervous about how it would be received, because the Panabaj community is largely Catholic and opposed to contraception. However, this is what the doctors were asked to speak about. After about 20 minutes into the meeting a little old Catholic lady stood up and to our surprise said, "I thank GOD that you women are hearing this!! When I was having children we didn't know about contraception, but we wish we had. It is embarrassing to have 10 kids!! You shouldn't be bringing more children into the world than you can provide for. Praise GOD that you women have the options that I didn't." We were all shocked. From that moment on everything changed. Suddenly it was okay for the women to act interested. They started asking questions and asking for prices. The meeting went an hour longer than it was scheduled because they were all so curious. It was a great morning and the director has asked for me to arrange for more doctors to come and this time he wants to advertise in town and try to get more people to come as well. I just hope that the little old lady comes and gives her speech again.

Zip Line

2008-10-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

We went on a little adventure across the lake where we found Central America's longest and highest zip line. It is 400 meters long and 200 meters high. We had a great time! The video is from a smaller line.

Rainy Season

2008-10-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

We are finally reaching the end of rainy season and we are quite excited about the "summer" season that is to begin any time. We have concluded that summer means something different here than it does in the states. They all call November, December and January "summer," but they also tell us that those are not the hottest months of the year. We think that the definition of summer is "the season that follows the rain." Regardless of whether it's hotter or colder we're just glad that the rain is about to stop.

Rainy season makes it quite difficult for doing laundry, but on the plus side we have been very lucky, because we arrived at our house in Guatemala to find the exact same whirlpool washing machine as we had at our house in Virginia! That was a pleasant surprise. However, I have yet to see a dryer here, and really there's no need for one, except in rainy season. Laundry becomes a race between me and the rain. I usually try to to put the wash in as soon as I wake up in the morning and hopefully it's on the line by 8 or 9. But, usually out of nowhere, on a perfectly sunny day it will instantly start to rain. As soon as I hear the first drop of rain I run outside, grab all our things and then hang them all over the living room. We only have one covered line and it is quite short. However, sometimes the rain beats me. More than a hand full of times we've been out at the market or at the hospital when the rain starts. This is never good. All of our things get completely soaked and the next day I start over again.

Sept 18th update

2008-09-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

So far Traci and I are glad that we were warned to ‘Prepare for failure’ numerous times in our training. We spent most of last two weeks trying to figure out how to get internet at our house. Sounds like something that should take about an hour or so, and a few phone calls right? First we had to sort out whether or not we had a phone line connected to the house. According to the owner of the house, there is a line connected. I even found the line coming into the house to verify that it truly does exist. Unfortunately, it appears that in the years since it’s been deactivated, they have disconnected it from the box nearby, and the box has subsequently been filled. Don’t ask me to explain how their system works because I’m not convinced they know either. In any event, in order to get a phone line run to the house, we’d have to find a box in town with a space in it, and run cables all the way out to the house, at an expense of approximately $100, and a 3 month wait, although we heard another $100 would speed the process up.
After finally discovering that the phone line was NOT the way to go, we began looking into internet via cell phone- like Verizon offers at home. We found a brochure, everything looked good and we hitched a ride to Guatemala city on Sunday the 14th, which begins the second leg of the internet saga.
Aclax is a minivan driver that the hospital uses to pick up volunteers from the airport. He’s a really easy guy to talk to, is used to broken Spanish, and was a joy to spend time with. We learned about some really interesting cultural beliefs/superstitions held in Santiago that we still don’t quite understand. There’s the ‘Mal de Ojo’- roughly equivalent to the Evil Eye, but there is a firmly held belief that someone giving you the evil eye can make you sick, hurt your crops, or do any number of bad things. Some people think they have a powerful evil eye, and one man was so convinced he might accidentally kill his newborn daughter with his evil eye that he didn’t look at her for 5 years. There was another story about a truck driver that refused to drive over the mountain because a rat crossed the road from the left to the right-surely a bad omen. Needless to say, because of all these beliefs we’re not familiar with there may be more difficulty in building relationships down here than we initially expected.
So on with the Guate city trip. . . we made a pit stop to fill up with gas and put more water in the radiator. The engine sits under the front passenger seat, so while Traci and I were in the back, they tilted the seat back and opened the radiator cap. Bad idea. Hot, oily, foul water started spraying everywhere- I was hit full force in the face before jumping out. Traci managed to avoid most of the spray and I was lucky not to have been burned, but the next hour in the van was a stinky one. Once we arrived in the city, we were dropped off at CASAS, where we dropped off a key we had accidentally taken a month earlier. We chatted a bit there, and began walking through town on a mission to find a Tigo office to get mobile internet. About 20 blocks from CASAS is a mall that has a Tigo office, so we started heading up that way- getting hungry, and a bit grumpy too. As we approached the mall, a Chilis restaurant sign caught our eye and we immediately gave in to the temptation of American cuisine. To be fair, we hadn’t really figured out how, or what to cook in Santiago, and we’ve both been a bit hungry for a few weeks. Let me just say that we were extremely satisfied after lunch.
Feeling much better, we continued on to the Tigo office only to discover it is CLOSED on Sundays. We had been told by a number of people that it would be open, but we shouldn’t have been too surprised. We’ve heard a number of very convincing people say things that turned out to be WAY off. Rather dejected, we started walking towards the Hiper Piaz- Guatemala’s version of Wal-Mart, which was coincidentally bought by Wal-Mart a few years ago. We had created a rather extensive list of things we needed for the house that cannot be found locally, at least not in the quality or quantity we’re looking for. Pots and pans had been a headache at our house- most of them rusty, crusty, or otherwise unappealing. (Washing dead spiders out of a skillet sort of turned me off of that skillet permanently) There were a number of other things on the list that are best bought in bulk, which is not an option locally. For example, vegetable oil is sold in 4, 10 or 16 ounce bottles in Santiago. We bought a gallon. My biggest problem with the small sizes is the waste it creates, which is especially a problem when there isn’t a good trash system.
To wrap this little story up, we spent about 7 hours in a van that day, shopped for about 3 (with an additional 1 hour spent sitting in some lawn chairs for sale in aisle 4), and then waited an hour for Aclax to pick us up, because he had been delayed coming to get us. In case you haven’t caught on- waiting is the name of the game down here. It’s not always so bad, but Sunday was about the worst we’d experienced so far. We slept well that night.
Monday the 15th was Independence Day. We were REALLY looking forward to this, because it meant the school bands would finally stop practicing all their music for the parade. For the last few weeks we’ve been hearing drums and trumpets nearly nonstop. We got up and walked in to town to see the parade, which consisted of all the schools, their bands, and some sort of theme from each one. Most of the kids wore the traditional clothes, some bands had uniforms, and others took on a theme of colonial clothing, nature, or something patriotic. I took a short video clip that I hope to put on our blog as soon as we really do get internet in the house. The whole town was there watching the parade, and it was also avocado day on the square- meaning thousands of avocados were being packed up for delivery to Guatemala City the next day. Check the blog for pictures too.
Tuesday we decided to go to the Tigo office in Panajachel- we were only told they had an office after Sunday’s failure. We showed up at the dock at 8:45, and were told the boat would leave for Pana at 9:15. By 9:30 we were getting antsy, at 10 we were really annoyed, and when we finally left at 10:15 we decided that this whole ‘Guatemalan time’ thing was pretty much crap. (I think we’re still trying to figure out this whole boat system too, because there have been others that are always on time.) The other annoyance with the boats is having to debate over the cost every time. They always try to charge more than it costs, and I have to tell them over and over that I know how much it costs, and don’t tell me the price of gas went up today. So we finally arrive in Panajachel and start looking for the Tigo office. The tuc-tuc driver starts going, and stops for directions, only to be told there is no Tigo office here, just a van that drives around a few days a week selling phones. Grrrr. We do find an office that can offer the mobile internet, but they can’t offer the contract with reduced rates, and I’d have to buy the modem too, instead of receiving it free. They also tell me that it doesn’t work in Santiago- which I know to be false because the Hospital has one that works quite well. After a call to the head office they tell me it’ll work, but I have to go to Guatemala city to set up the contract.
Friday morning at 5 I’m hopping in the van with Aclax again, with yet another attempt to get internet for the house. You may ask why we’re going through all this trouble, but let me assure you that it’s well worth the work! The hospital’s internet goes down frequently- (something to do with the city using too much electricity?) and carrying the laptop over there several times a day got old fast. At night it’s not entirely safe to walk around with expensive stuff either. We’ve missed our reporting deadline, and are failing at keeping our blog posted, and everyone e-mailed because of the current situation too. Keep me in your prayers Friday! I was just informed it may be a 5 hour process to get the contract work done. Yep-5 hours. I have NO IDEA what could possibly take 5 hours to get figured out, but that’s the plan. 7 hours in the van and 5 hours in the office tomorrow. Joy.

Now a bit of happy news! The new pots and pans have dramatically increased our desire to cook. We’ve been eating really well the past few days, have found a few wonderful women in the market we do our shopping with, and are enjoying the city more and more. We visited my old host family the other day and had fun with them. We have plans to learn how to make tortillas, black beans, and a few other dishes from them. We ate a few mangos yesterday from our tree, I’ve been making Limeaid non-stop, and the oranges may be ready soon as well. The avocado trees have thousands of tiny sprouts on them, and I’m hoping by December we’ll have more than we know what to do with. All the volunteers are out of the house now, so we’ve gotten to clean out the fridge, organize the shelves, clean out the bathroom, and set things up the way we want them. When the new volunteers arrive (first one comes in Friday) we’ll have a few new rules, and a good system to keep things organized.
We took a little trip to Panabaj yesterday, which is where the mudslide occurred, and I saw Diego, who is now 10 years old. I used to see him every day I walked to the hospital, and he lost all his family, and a lot of his friends in the mudslide. He’s in a new video the hospital made for their fundraising efforts, and is a really great kid in general. The video is on the Pueblo a Pueblo website (www.pueblopueblo.org) As for work, Traci is slowly taking over the volunteer coordinator responsibilities, and we’ve been trying hard to get the house in shape. The sustainable agriculture center told me about a project they’ve been working on to create a water supply for a small town near their place. The project hit a snag a while ago and they’re hoping I can help push it through with improved communication with the Oregon based Rotary Club they’ve been working with. I’ve also learned about a few past outreach projects the hospital started that I might be able to rekindle. Through several conversations I’ve come to think the wood stoves and water purifiers might be best distributed through the Hospital-which already has a network in the community, and a social worker that can help connect me to the families that need, or want it most. Though it’s taking longer than we hoped, I think we’re well on our way to making Santiago home.

We´ve arrived!

2008-08-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

So far so good! Traci and I got to Santiago after a pleasant day in Guatemala city. We met the MCC country reps, and 3 SALTers that will be in Guate for the year. Turns out one of them will be living in Santiago, and was THRILLED to find out she wouldn´t be alone here.
Our house is called Las Milpas, (spanish for The Milps). Just kidding, it´s a local word for cornfields, which we are surrounded by. It´s about a 200 yard walk down a trail off of a side road- lots of fun carrying our luggage! The house has beautiful gardens, fruit trees, and a pretty good view from our bedroom. There have been volunteers from the hospital living in the house for the past 3 years, but most only stayed for a month or two. This was painfully obvious when we arrived- there were a lot of random things broken, or in disrepair that nobody bothered to fix because they wouldn´t have to deal with it long. We´ve just been getting settled, making long lists of things to fix or buy, and walking around the city. It´s changed a lot in the past 3 years, but I´ve been able to reconnect with my old host family, and several other locals I learned to know well while I was here.
On Sunday Traci and I leave for Quetzaltenango (AKA Xela) to start our two weeks of intensive language study. We´ll be living in separate host families so Traci can really be pushed to learn, so please keep us in your prayers! It´s been very tiring to transition into speaking spanish all the time while working through our job descriptions, and taking care of the house. We should have better internet in the next two weeks, and will try to get some pictures up.

Guatemala!

2008-05-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

I know this website looks pretty dull now. . . but come back in a few months!
Traci and I are heading to Guatemala in mid August for a year of service through Virginia Mennonite Missions. We'll try to keep this website updated with journal entries and lots of pictures! We're also both on Facebook if you want to check us out there.