I have now become quite spoiled by the natural beauty which Guatemala presents on a daily basis. The gently rolling hills that seem to fuse together like the waves of the sea are a sight to behold, especially as the early morning fog fades the boundary between heaven and earth. From green to yellow, and from maroon to gold, the land has held onto my eyes with a captivating and ongoing intensity. But today, all of my dreams as to the beauty that Guatemala could offer were surpassed. Traveling into the mountains on a mission to build chicken coops in a mountain village, our team slowly ascended into higher land which afforded us a view that almost defied reality. | |
By the time we reached our destination, we were already 7,500 feet above sea level and surrounded by cold mountain air that our shorts-clad bodies were not prepared for. A small outcropping of houses and farms lined the dirt and gravel road up to the village in which we would be working, and stray dogs chased our van as we slowly made the trek upwards. On the sides of the mountain--up to the very peaks--farms were patched together in a jigsaw of maize, lettuce, and beans, in addition to dozens of other crops which my suburban upbringing did not prepare me to identify. The dizzying heights and incredibly steep angles as which these farms were placed mystified me. All the same, I was ready to get to work on the construction of the chicken coops, as was the rest of the team.
The group divided into halves to avoid a "too many cooks in the kitchen/too many chickens in the chicken house" dilemma and then each half set about building the first of the two chicken houses we would be constructing that day. With some wood, nails, a hammer, and tin, we erected a dream chicken abode within a matter of hours. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of the families who owned the chickens. Whether it was the husband of the family hammering in nails right alongside us or the wife sweeping up the escaped dust for the concrete mix that lined the floor of the coops, every member of the family was helping. Even the children assisted by carrying buckets of water to wherever they needed to go. The dynamic we established between our student team members and the local families was an interesting one from which I think a great deal can be learned. In essence, the relationship was the epitome of a reciprocal experience. On the one hand, we were assisting the families with the construction of their chicken coops, something that obviously helped them with the completion of these coops in a more timely manner. On the other hand, there would be no possible way for us to have constructed these coops had we not been informed of how to do so by the families. In other words, each party needed the other in order to maximize their overall success. This kind of relationship was something that I focused on in my Honors Proposal, and seeing it in a first-person scenario was really impactful. I was able to realize in a very real-world scenario how important it is to have a mutual respect and understanding shared between working parties in order to develop a more effective solution to any problem.
The group divided into halves to avoid a "too many cooks in the kitchen/too many chickens in the chicken house" dilemma and then each half set about building the first of the two chicken houses we would be constructing that day. With some wood, nails, a hammer, and tin, we erected a dream chicken abode within a matter of hours. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of the families who owned the chickens. Whether it was the husband of the family hammering in nails right alongside us or the wife sweeping up the escaped dust for the concrete mix that lined the floor of the coops, every member of the family was helping. Even the children assisted by carrying buckets of water to wherever they needed to go. The dynamic we established between our student team members and the local families was an interesting one from which I think a great deal can be learned. In essence, the relationship was the epitome of a reciprocal experience. On the one hand, we were assisting the families with the construction of their chicken coops, something that obviously helped them with the completion of these coops in a more timely manner. On the other hand, there would be no possible way for us to have constructed these coops had we not been informed of how to do so by the families. In other words, each party needed the other in order to maximize their overall success. This kind of relationship was something that I focused on in my Honors Proposal, and seeing it in a first-person scenario was really impactful. I was able to realize in a very real-world scenario how important it is to have a mutual respect and understanding shared between working parties in order to develop a more effective solution to any problem.
Any respect that any of my peers or I showed to our Guatemalan counterparts paled in comparison to the good will that they showed us. After we had finished our work on the chicken coops and prior to heading back to the convent, the families with whom we had been working all morning decided to cook us lunch and feed us with the meat of cows which they had raised themselves. This was a step and a half above what was expected on our parts. Of course we had made a small contribution, but by no means was it substantial. The families could have built the same chicken coops without us; it would have just taken them a little bit longer to do so. The fact that they were willing to feed us--which is in and of itself an important symbol of respect in Latin American countries--shows the incredible level of graciousness and respect they had for the effort that we put forth. This unexpected surprise was truly something that lifted my spirits and made me feel special today, and I am very grateful for it. Truly, I have felt that I have made a difference, even if it was small, and that is something to be proud of.