I want to spend my reflection tonight talking about the mindset behind sustainability that is adopted here in Guatemala. This mindset, to me, is one that is prevalent in nearly every aspect of life. Rather than reacting to the wasteful actions they participate in, like we do in the US, Guatemalans take a proactive approach to sustainability. They use everything that they can, and what they don't use today, they save for tomorrow so that it can be used then. They also take advantage of natural resources made available to them, even if doing so is not easy. More than anything, though, they go about their lives with an understanding that in order to benefit from the earth, they have to be good to it. This mindset, I hope, is one that I can carry across the Gulf with me and share with my peers in sustainability efforts back home.
I have a couple examples that I think support my belief in this Guatemalan mindset in sustainability that I'd like to share.
The first comes in the form of the sisters at the convent where we stayed. These sisters were not only extremely welcoming when inviting us into their place of residence and worship, but also spent the time and energy to provide us with excellent home-cooked meals. Varied in flavor and always delicious, these meals at face value appeared to be unique and freshly prepared on a daily basis. After spending some time with the sisters, however, I realized that many of the ingredients that were used to prepare lunch, for example, where actually leftover ingredients from breakfast that had never made it to somebody's plate. I asked a sister to confirm my suspicions and she explained to me that this practice was central to their style of living—if beans weren't eaten with toast in the morning, then they would be mixed with chicken and rice in the afternoon to create a new dish. She also emphasized to me that whatever a Guatemalan took on their plate, they intended to eat. From a young age, kids are taught that they must eat as much with their stomachs as they do with their eyes while putting the food on their plate, and quickly learn that moderation when eating is important. Thus, in a very complete and holistic way, eating in Guatemala is a waste-intolerant action. This is especially impressive when considering that one of the main reasons why adoption of sustainable practices is not prevalent in the United States is because such adoption can sometimes make life a bit more strenuous or challenging. In other words, people in America often refuse to engage in actions they know will benefit the environment simply because they must go out of their way to do so. This difficult hurdle to jump is one that the sisters leaped over. Simply incorporating food from the previous meal into the next may even be easier, rather than harder, to accomplish, and only takes the additional work of preparing a home-cooked meal in the kitchen. Of course, for Americans this means less eating out, but in the long term, this is beneficial for the maintenance of a stable and sustainable health level, too. I was readily impressed by this simple, yet brilliant innovation and how it is such a common thread in Guatemalan culture.
The prevalence of the practice can be seen in other facets of daily life as well. Florencio and the other men from the village in which we worked to build the house today were very cognizant of the extra supplies they ended the day with today, and helped us to carry back these supplies to his house so that they could be used on the next day or perhaps even in a future project. Even if it was just scrap wood, we carried everything we could back to the house so that it could be reused for a new purpose. Florencio mentioned specifically that a great deal of the left over wood that could not be used for the beams of the house would be transformed into ladders or perhaps pavers with which to even out concrete. Again, an idea so simple but one that was so imbued into the Guatemalan mindset impressed me greatly.
In addition to not wasting what they have, the people here also maximize what they can produce by taking the initiative to utilize their resources—even if doing so is not easy. On the many mountains we passed today, there were countless farms, stitched together in a fabric that sewed the mountains’ sides with crops. Even on slopes that tilted seventy or seventy-five degrees, corn, wheat and countless other crops were grown and harvested. This was not only remarkable because of the technical innovation necessary to do this, but also because of the drive that fueled this work. For the Guatemalan farmers we met, just because it was hard to do something did not make it unworthy of doing. In fact, the very idea that something was hard was the reason that it was worthwhile. One man that I spoke to said that he felt an extra special satisfaction in reaping good harvests from the steepest of his fields. With each good harvest, he feels proud to have been able to do well with the difficult circumstances in order to make the most for his family. This sentiment is one that falls in line with a culture of reuse seamlessly, and only further exemplifies how central to life sustainability is here in Guatemala.
I have a couple examples that I think support my belief in this Guatemalan mindset in sustainability that I'd like to share.
The first comes in the form of the sisters at the convent where we stayed. These sisters were not only extremely welcoming when inviting us into their place of residence and worship, but also spent the time and energy to provide us with excellent home-cooked meals. Varied in flavor and always delicious, these meals at face value appeared to be unique and freshly prepared on a daily basis. After spending some time with the sisters, however, I realized that many of the ingredients that were used to prepare lunch, for example, where actually leftover ingredients from breakfast that had never made it to somebody's plate. I asked a sister to confirm my suspicions and she explained to me that this practice was central to their style of living—if beans weren't eaten with toast in the morning, then they would be mixed with chicken and rice in the afternoon to create a new dish. She also emphasized to me that whatever a Guatemalan took on their plate, they intended to eat. From a young age, kids are taught that they must eat as much with their stomachs as they do with their eyes while putting the food on their plate, and quickly learn that moderation when eating is important. Thus, in a very complete and holistic way, eating in Guatemala is a waste-intolerant action. This is especially impressive when considering that one of the main reasons why adoption of sustainable practices is not prevalent in the United States is because such adoption can sometimes make life a bit more strenuous or challenging. In other words, people in America often refuse to engage in actions they know will benefit the environment simply because they must go out of their way to do so. This difficult hurdle to jump is one that the sisters leaped over. Simply incorporating food from the previous meal into the next may even be easier, rather than harder, to accomplish, and only takes the additional work of preparing a home-cooked meal in the kitchen. Of course, for Americans this means less eating out, but in the long term, this is beneficial for the maintenance of a stable and sustainable health level, too. I was readily impressed by this simple, yet brilliant innovation and how it is such a common thread in Guatemalan culture.
The prevalence of the practice can be seen in other facets of daily life as well. Florencio and the other men from the village in which we worked to build the house today were very cognizant of the extra supplies they ended the day with today, and helped us to carry back these supplies to his house so that they could be used on the next day or perhaps even in a future project. Even if it was just scrap wood, we carried everything we could back to the house so that it could be reused for a new purpose. Florencio mentioned specifically that a great deal of the left over wood that could not be used for the beams of the house would be transformed into ladders or perhaps pavers with which to even out concrete. Again, an idea so simple but one that was so imbued into the Guatemalan mindset impressed me greatly.
In addition to not wasting what they have, the people here also maximize what they can produce by taking the initiative to utilize their resources—even if doing so is not easy. On the many mountains we passed today, there were countless farms, stitched together in a fabric that sewed the mountains’ sides with crops. Even on slopes that tilted seventy or seventy-five degrees, corn, wheat and countless other crops were grown and harvested. This was not only remarkable because of the technical innovation necessary to do this, but also because of the drive that fueled this work. For the Guatemalan farmers we met, just because it was hard to do something did not make it unworthy of doing. In fact, the very idea that something was hard was the reason that it was worthwhile. One man that I spoke to said that he felt an extra special satisfaction in reaping good harvests from the steepest of his fields. With each good harvest, he feels proud to have been able to do well with the difficult circumstances in order to make the most for his family. This sentiment is one that falls in line with a culture of reuse seamlessly, and only further exemplifies how central to life sustainability is here in Guatemala.