Meeting Benjamin
May 8
Sunrise in Guatemala was around 5:30. I was up and out of the hotel around then to explore the town and do some photography before breakfast. The town was very quiet and there weren’t too many people or vehicles around.
At one point, I saw a young lady working to get a snack shop ready for the day’s business. She was wearing traditional clothing, and I thought how she would make for a good portrait. I would have liked to get your picture but lacked the courage to approach her to ask. A few minutes later, I saw a man sweeping the gutter in the street. I thought to myself that if I was in the US and working on one of my 100 street portrait challenges, I would have definitely approached this man. Lacking courage to do so, I just walked on by. About 100 yards passed him, though, I felt a nudging to go back and ask if I could take his picture. In an effort to be open to where God wants to lead me, I turned back and approached the man. In what is likely horribly pronounced Spanish, I said hello and asked for a photo. He seemed perplexed as to whether I wanted to take his picture or have him take my picture. Through hand gestures, I was able to communicate that I wanted his picture. After getting his picture, I gave him my name and asked him what his was. He is Rolando. In very broken English, he asked me how long I was in Antigua and if I wanted to do a volcano tour, as he is a tour guide for hikes up one of the local volcanoes. I enjoyed this interaction with one of the local residents.
The experience with Rolando encouraged me to look for other people to get their portraits. This morning, I was also able to meet Fredy and Carlos.
At one point, I saw a young lady working to get a snack shop ready for the day’s business. She was wearing traditional clothing, and I thought how she would make for a good portrait. I would have liked to get your picture but lacked the courage to approach her to ask. A few minutes later, I saw a man sweeping the gutter in the street. I thought to myself that if I was in the US and working on one of my 100 street portrait challenges, I would have definitely approached this man. Lacking courage to do so, I just walked on by. About 100 yards passed him, though, I felt a nudging to go back and ask if I could take his picture. In an effort to be open to where God wants to lead me, I turned back and approached the man. In what is likely horribly pronounced Spanish, I said hello and asked for a photo. He seemed perplexed as to whether I wanted to take his picture or have him take my picture. Through hand gestures, I was able to communicate that I wanted his picture. After getting his picture, I gave him my name and asked him what his was. He is Rolando. In very broken English, he asked me how long I was in Antigua and if I wanted to do a volcano tour, as he is a tour guide for hikes up one of the local volcanoes. I enjoyed this interaction with one of the local residents.
The experience with Rolando encouraged me to look for other people to get their portraits. This morning, I was also able to meet Fredy and Carlos.
I have added some photos from my early morning photo walk.
At breakfast today, the waiter informed us that the restaurant was offering two choices of meals – an American breakfast or a Guatemalan breakfast. I thought to myself at that moment that the waiter didn’t have to explain the difference between the two. I was going to try the Guatemalan breakfast regardless. When I travel to a new place, I am always looking to experience their culture, foods, traditions, etc. As the saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” As it turns out, the Guatemalan breakfast wasn’t that different. It consisted of eggs, fried bananas, sausage, and black beans.
After breakfast, the entire team took a shuttle ride to San Lucas to tour the CoEd headquarters, which was about half an hour away. Once at the headquarters, Joe Berninger, founder of CoEd, gave us a some background information on the organization. We then broke into 4 separate groups to learn some more in-depth information on the 4 main programs the organization sponsors: Computers, Spark, Textbooks, and Rise Scholarship. Each program was presented by CoEd staff members who work in that particular program. The presenters exhibited a high degree of professionalism as well as enthusiasm for their program.
After breakfast, the entire team took a shuttle ride to San Lucas to tour the CoEd headquarters, which was about half an hour away. Once at the headquarters, Joe Berninger, founder of CoEd, gave us a some background information on the organization. We then broke into 4 separate groups to learn some more in-depth information on the 4 main programs the organization sponsors: Computers, Spark, Textbooks, and Rise Scholarship. Each program was presented by CoEd staff members who work in that particular program. The presenters exhibited a high degree of professionalism as well as enthusiasm for their program.
Computers:
CoEd works with schools throughout Guatemala to set up computer centers in the schools. These centers allow students to learn computer skills that they can use in school and in work. Students have to pay a small monthly fee for access to the computer centers. The schools then save these fees to pay for new equipment when required. As such, once CoEd sets up the computer center, it becomes self-sufficient and sustainable.
Spark Program:
The Spark Program is CoEd’s literacy program. Through Spark, CoEd provides books to schools to encourage students to develop literacy skills, The Spark Program also provides teachers training on how to teach literacy as well as resources that they can use in the classroom. This program focuses on students in the 4th – 6th grade. CoEd creates much of the resources and training in-house. One of the neat activities promoted through the Spark Program encourages students to write and illustrate their own books.
Textbook Program:
The Textbook Program was the first program established by CoEd. This program provides formal textbooks to schools for students to use. Like the Computer Program, this program requires a small monthly fee from the students. These fees then are used to sustain the program.
Rise Program:
This program focuses on students between 7th and 12th grade. The Guatemalan government pays for tuition for all students up through 6th grade. To allow students to stay in school, the Rise Program provides 6 years of tuition through graduation from high school. The program also provides youth and leadership development training as well as social support. As part of the leadership development training, Rise students are required to design and execute two community service projects a year. When setting up this Go Trip, Crossroads specifically asked that the week’s activities focus mostly on the Rise Program. Part of the Go Trip focused on helping the students complete their service projects.
At one point in the morning, we passed by a courtyard where there was about a dozen Rise students. Upon seeing us, they spontaneously erupted into an energetic greeting to us. It was neat to see how excited they were to see us.
After the tour, the focus shifted to doing service. Two-thirds of the group broke off to go help at two Rise student service projects. These service projects focused on helping two families with house maintenance projects. The rest of the team, including Mary Beth and I, were assigned to work at the CoEd headquarters.
For our service project we were supporting the Spark program. We were helping to pack books that would be donated to schools throughout Guatemala. Each Go Trip volunteer was paired with a Rise student. Each grade was receiving 8 different books. As a volunteer/student pair, we would pack the current number of each book in a plastic bag and prepared the bags to be delivered to the various schools.
I was paired with a student by the name of Benjamin. Throughout the morning, we had some basic conversation (favorite food, color, hobbies, etc). Benjamin knew a little bit of English and I knew virtually no Spanish. I relied on Google Translate and others interpreting for me. It was a little awkward at first but over time the conversation began to feel comfortable.
CoEd works with schools throughout Guatemala to set up computer centers in the schools. These centers allow students to learn computer skills that they can use in school and in work. Students have to pay a small monthly fee for access to the computer centers. The schools then save these fees to pay for new equipment when required. As such, once CoEd sets up the computer center, it becomes self-sufficient and sustainable.
Spark Program:
The Spark Program is CoEd’s literacy program. Through Spark, CoEd provides books to schools to encourage students to develop literacy skills, The Spark Program also provides teachers training on how to teach literacy as well as resources that they can use in the classroom. This program focuses on students in the 4th – 6th grade. CoEd creates much of the resources and training in-house. One of the neat activities promoted through the Spark Program encourages students to write and illustrate their own books.
Textbook Program:
The Textbook Program was the first program established by CoEd. This program provides formal textbooks to schools for students to use. Like the Computer Program, this program requires a small monthly fee from the students. These fees then are used to sustain the program.
Rise Program:
This program focuses on students between 7th and 12th grade. The Guatemalan government pays for tuition for all students up through 6th grade. To allow students to stay in school, the Rise Program provides 6 years of tuition through graduation from high school. The program also provides youth and leadership development training as well as social support. As part of the leadership development training, Rise students are required to design and execute two community service projects a year. When setting up this Go Trip, Crossroads specifically asked that the week’s activities focus mostly on the Rise Program. Part of the Go Trip focused on helping the students complete their service projects.
At one point in the morning, we passed by a courtyard where there was about a dozen Rise students. Upon seeing us, they spontaneously erupted into an energetic greeting to us. It was neat to see how excited they were to see us.
After the tour, the focus shifted to doing service. Two-thirds of the group broke off to go help at two Rise student service projects. These service projects focused on helping two families with house maintenance projects. The rest of the team, including Mary Beth and I, were assigned to work at the CoEd headquarters.
For our service project we were supporting the Spark program. We were helping to pack books that would be donated to schools throughout Guatemala. Each Go Trip volunteer was paired with a Rise student. Each grade was receiving 8 different books. As a volunteer/student pair, we would pack the current number of each book in a plastic bag and prepared the bags to be delivered to the various schools.
I was paired with a student by the name of Benjamin. Throughout the morning, we had some basic conversation (favorite food, color, hobbies, etc). Benjamin knew a little bit of English and I knew virtually no Spanish. I relied on Google Translate and others interpreting for me. It was a little awkward at first but over time the conversation began to feel comfortable.
For lunch we had boxed lunches. At first, all the Rise students sat together at the end of a long row of tables. One member of the Go Team got them to spread out so that the volunteers could sit with them and talk with them.
The first part of the lunch was very awkward, with somewhat limited conversation. I started using Google Translate more, and a CoEd staff member sat with us acting as a translator as needed. At that point, the conversation started to flow more easily. Early on, the questions were fairly simple, and I tried to pronounce the words in Spanish. As the conversation progressed, the questions and answers got longer, and I would simply show the translated sentence on my phone to Benjamin, and he would type his response into my phone to show me.
Through our discussion, I learned that Benjamin is 18 and will be graduating high school in November. (In Guatemala, the school year runs from February to November). After graduation his goal is to work to save up money so that he can go to college to study accounting.
I had posed the question to Benjamin whether Guatemala uses coins as part of their currency. I hadn’t seen any yet, and prices in the stores had been in whole Quetzales, so I was curious if coins were not commonly used. Benjamin said yes, then got up and walked over to his backpack, returning with several coins to show me. A bit later, he slid the coins across the table to me, indicating that he was giving them to me. On my phone he typed “For memories”.
The first part of the lunch was very awkward, with somewhat limited conversation. I started using Google Translate more, and a CoEd staff member sat with us acting as a translator as needed. At that point, the conversation started to flow more easily. Early on, the questions were fairly simple, and I tried to pronounce the words in Spanish. As the conversation progressed, the questions and answers got longer, and I would simply show the translated sentence on my phone to Benjamin, and he would type his response into my phone to show me.
Through our discussion, I learned that Benjamin is 18 and will be graduating high school in November. (In Guatemala, the school year runs from February to November). After graduation his goal is to work to save up money so that he can go to college to study accounting.
I had posed the question to Benjamin whether Guatemala uses coins as part of their currency. I hadn’t seen any yet, and prices in the stores had been in whole Quetzales, so I was curious if coins were not commonly used. Benjamin said yes, then got up and walked over to his backpack, returning with several coins to show me. A bit later, he slid the coins across the table to me, indicating that he was giving them to me. On my phone he typed “For memories”.
Mary Beth and I got our pictures taken with the students we were working with throughout the day. I then offered to get pictures of the rest of the team with their students. I have to admit that I was feeling a bit inadequate for the task. One of the members of our team, David, is a professional photographer, and his work is absolutely amazing. I was feeling my shortcomings. I had to remind myself not to compare myself to others and to be thankful for the passions and skills that God has given me in photography. After the photos we said our goodbyes, then headed back to the hotel.
We had some time before dinner, so while Mary Beth rested in the hotel, I went out to explore the city.
For dinner we walked into town to a local restaurant. The restaurant has a small outdoor courtyard where we were seated. After dinner we had another short worship session back at the hotel. Afterwards, Mary Beth was interested in getting some ice cream, but all the ice cream shops were closed for the night.
THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY
Someday when I die and get to see Jesus face to face in heaven, there are some questions that linger in the recesses of my mind that I would like to ask Him. On the short list is one from today. I would love to know what impact I had on Benjamin today by opening myself up and reaching out to him to build a conversation. It was hard for me to consistently reach out to him across the language barrier to build a connection. He definitely got more comfortable with me as the day progressed. Was the day just a short, fun encounter with a stranger, or did the experience have a more meaningful impact? This side of heaven I will never know.
Each morning we are presented with a daily challenge. Today’s challenge focused on humility. The challenge was to identify a situation where we had to do something that we did not want to do, and then humbly submit to the person who had leadership over you.
For me, I didn’t have any issues with following the leadership of others in the service project, but there was one time when I had to embrace a situation that I didn’t necessarily like. At lunch, we were given way more time than was needed to eat lunch. The goal was to allow the Go Trip volunteers and the Rise students to interact in conversation. For me it started out as very awkward and it was very challenging for me to make conversation. I was ready for lunch to be done for us to get back to work. But trusting the process I leaned into the challenge and put my energy into the conversation. By the end we had a pretty good conversation going (with the liberal use of Google Translate). In the end it was truly a blessing to me.
THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY
Someday when I die and get to see Jesus face to face in heaven, there are some questions that linger in the recesses of my mind that I would like to ask Him. On the short list is one from today. I would love to know what impact I had on Benjamin today by opening myself up and reaching out to him to build a conversation. It was hard for me to consistently reach out to him across the language barrier to build a connection. He definitely got more comfortable with me as the day progressed. Was the day just a short, fun encounter with a stranger, or did the experience have a more meaningful impact? This side of heaven I will never know.
Each morning we are presented with a daily challenge. Today’s challenge focused on humility. The challenge was to identify a situation where we had to do something that we did not want to do, and then humbly submit to the person who had leadership over you.
For me, I didn’t have any issues with following the leadership of others in the service project, but there was one time when I had to embrace a situation that I didn’t necessarily like. At lunch, we were given way more time than was needed to eat lunch. The goal was to allow the Go Trip volunteers and the Rise students to interact in conversation. For me it started out as very awkward and it was very challenging for me to make conversation. I was ready for lunch to be done for us to get back to work. But trusting the process I leaned into the challenge and put my energy into the conversation. By the end we had a pretty good conversation going (with the liberal use of Google Translate). In the end it was truly a blessing to me.