It is early morning in Guatemala. I love watching and listenting to the morning activity from the veranda in Common Hope
I expected that we might be doing some relief work, but Common Hope is very protective of its volunteers! Our job will be to continue some of Common Hopes regular work while Common Hope staff are assessing the long term needs after the storm.
We will spend the weekend "hanging out" in Antigua, the city where Common Hope is located and Monday we will visit with families sponsored by members of our group. Tuesday and Wednesday all of us will be working on a construction site in San Rafael. Thursday we will help Common Hope honor staff and families. Friday is Father{s Day in Guatemala and Common Hope will be closed to encourage staff families to have time together, so our team gets an extra day to play!
At least, that{s the plan for the week! The group this year is a "put together group" of folks who were interested in coming to work with Common Hope but needed a team to go with. Gloria and Paula are from southern Minnesota and will be joining a group from their Catholic parish for work in San Lucas later next week. Suzie and Bill are from Chicago and brought their two granddaughters, Nikki and Megan. My sister, Meg and her son Jesse are with us, along with Jesse{s best friend Calder. Alex is with us as well.
So far, we{ve only seen one of the footprints Agatha left behind--there is still one place where not all the rocks from a slide have been removed from the road between Guatemala City and Antigua. But we{ve heard that there are still roads that are impassable because of mud and rock slides--that is one of the reasons we are staying in Antigua this weekend.
In the areas where there was the most damage, there are some diseases beginning to show up, some related to compromised sanitary conditions. Volunteeer work is limited in those areas. I{m sure we{ll hear and see more as the week unfolds.
Take care. We{ll keep you posted! Charlottte
No comments:
Post a Comment