This is Only the Beginning...

After an early morning start (6 am) we ate a quick breakfast and hit the road for Pacaya Volcano. We were greeted by our guide, Felix, walking sticks, and started hiking the not so flat trail. It took us 1.5 hours to get to the top, with many stops on the way. Once we got to the mouth of the volcano, there was a shop that sold jewelry made with volcanic rock that supported the local communities. We also got to roast marshmallows in a hot spot of the volcano. The group then started the trek down Pacaya, which took us about an hour through the pouring rain.

After the volcano we went to the poor, urban village where some of our interpreters live and work, Villa Nueva. They showed us their facilities and a workshop, which is the place where many of our purchases were made; it supports the women's group of the mission. The mission is called City of Refuge which supports families in need within the community. They also have a chicken coop to help feed the refugees they support, and give them something to sell for the mission.


From Villa Nueva we went to a local cemetery. Here we learned that in Guatemala it is tradition to bury individuals above ground in mausoleum style graves. We also learned that for poor families who can only afford to purchase their loved ones a single grave, it is required they keep paying or their remains will be removed and put in a mass grave. While driving through the cemetery, we stopped at a location to look at the main dump in Guatemala, El Basurero. While approaching the location, we could already smell the odor of 24 football fields worth of trash, and see vultures overhead. Here, 4,000 people work daily between the hours of 6am-6pm. The workers are respected as much as the trash they sort through, but it is considered a good source of income for many without formal education. The average daily income is $3-$5.

We ended the day with pizza and cake to celebrate LEAH'S 50TH BIRTHDAY!! This has been an amazing and life changing week for us all. We are all inspired to do more, so this is only the beginning.

Meaghan Baker (student), Natalie Schultz (student), & Maura Valley (student)