Saturday Excursion to Guateque

1. Watching the World Cup live on the ol' chicken bus!

2. Teaching the Safe Passage teens how to play 'War'.

3. Watching the U.S. vs. Ghana World Cup game live.

Chicken Bus here we come!

We decided to take the chicken bus to San Antonio because it's only 20 minutes from Antigua and Esperanza will accompany us. The Cape chaperones consulted earlier in the week and decided that one has to experience a Central American chicken bus ride at least once in a lifetime. So, here we are, 23 of us, heading to the bus area.

Friday morning

Friday we started off with another 7 a.m. breakfast with fresh papaya, cantalope, watermelon, and pineapple, eggs, beans, fried plantains, bread, jam, cereal, granola, yogurt, juice, milk, Antiguan coffee. We met Esperanza, our guide to San Antonio, at 8 a.m., and headed towards the public bus area on foot.

Thursday photos- Projects, volcano, and dinner

Thursday, June 24, at Camino Seguro

Thursday was our last day at the Guatemala City Safe Passage project. Soy yo group spent the day at the Guarderia and Playground games was split between the two buildings, Guarderia and the Edificio. Cape students are pros now...they jump right in to interact with the Safe Passage students and their projects have been successful. Some frustrations along the way but we've been learning as we present the lesson to different groups and learn to adapt and change directions.

Today, Friday, we're off to a small village outside of Antigua to learn about life in a small Mayan town. It will be new for all of us and this trip is in lieu of the Pacaya Volcano excursion. Rachel, our team leader from Safe Passage, will go with us. Students will learn how to make tortillas, see a mock traditional Mayan wedding, a Quinceanera celebration, weaving and other traditional customs. Esperanza works at the front desk and after talking to her, she invited us to her village. Rachel says it's safe and Esperanza has taken other groups before. Her family still weaves in the traditional way and they sell their goods in the local markets. We'll have more to report after today. We'll leave at 8 a.m. and return by noon. Students have the rest of the day in Antigua. They are excited to explore Antigua, hit the markets for bargaining, and just relax a bit.

I'll load a few photos from yesterday. Playground games did Skit in a Bag with some Agatha / shelter victims during the afternoon. They laughed and were enamored of our students, especially the tall guys. It gave them a respite from a stressful time of living in temporary shelters until they can return to their homes in the Highlands.

Will save this post now and then upload photos in the next. Have to work quickly with internet connections! Also, excuse typos due to the speed with which we have to save messages.

Thursday volunteering, Team 2, Playground Games

Playing Dodge Ball with the Safe Passage teens!

Team 1- Helping with shelter victims

Photo by Mike T.
Team One was asked to help with families who are victims of Storm Agatha so they implemented their SOY YO book project with them. Various NGOs in Guatemala City have offered shelter and aid for families who lost everything in the mudslides and storm damage from Agatha. Safe Passage has invited families to use their facilities for showers, meals, and a quiet, safe place to rest during the day. Team 1 took photos of the families and children, printed them out, and then helped them as they decorated a book about themselves.