Celebrity Hobos

GREG:

From San Pedro we took a bus with a couple of fellow Brits, James and Sarah, to Chichicastenango where the Sunday market was in full flow. Get past the initial excitement of such a rich tapestry of new sensual experiences, and the market was a prime example of some of the abject poverty that plagues the majority of the populus. One of the hardest things to take was the sight of little girls no older than 6 or 7 offering us homemade nicnacs that not even the most dedicated of hourders could possibly find a place for. As Mark observed it was glorified begging.

The past few days had frustrated me. An uncomfortable feeling churning away in the pit of my stomach that progressively grew as our travels continued. No, I hadnt eaten a bad taco, it was a frustration born of realisation - a realisation that there was no quick fix to the very real problems that faced the country we had very quickly fallen in love with. The potential exists for a reasonably successful economy. The natural resources are there, yet because of a minute (and I mean minute) group of greedy, power hungry elitists, life is a constant struggle for many Guatemalans. Race is one of the big issues. Over 70% of the population are Mayan, yet there is not one Mayan representative in a government made up solely of Latinos. There is much contempt held for the Mayan people by those in power, demonstrated by a story we heard about the Mayor of San Pedro, who had been refused entry to the Marriott Hotel in Guatemala City for an important conference, as he was wearing traditional Mayan attire. Such is the isolation of the people from their so called leaders. The problems the country faces may be solved by a sense of moral and social duty but alas, greed had prevailed amd it was up to non-governmental organizations such as Plan to compensate for this most grotesque of sins.

MARK:

We were greeted in Coban by 4 Plan representatives and were happy to throw our bikes in the back of the pickup to drive to the school, as the 8km ride we had 'calculated' turned out to be 85km, the last 17 of which was on a tiny dirt road. Candelaria Yalicar school was truly off the beaten track. Although unsure of what to expect, and prepared to visit a empty school as we had been informed that the pupils were on holiday, Greg and I were clearly excited as we approached the village. What awaited us was beyond our wildest dreams - the school grounds were teeming with children but also grown men and women, summoned as was the village custom, by the majestic call of a conch shell. (We later discovered that the man with the shell was named Don Juan, former mayor and respected elder, who honoured us by allowing us to make our own stuttering, clumsy attempts at conch-blowing.) I simply did not believe that the gathering could be for our arrival, but we were introduced to the headteacher and community officials and ushered to a seat at the front of the crowd. Among several speeches was one delivered in Spanish by yours truly, as you can imagine one of the oratory performances of all time. Fortunately the majority of the crowd speak a regional Mayan language other than Spanish, so they may not have spotted every mistake. Then the musical numbers started, and following a rousing song from a group of 4 year olds, there were calls for the foreigners to sing. How could we refuse? For some reason 'Stand By Me' popped into my head, so Greg went for the bassline while I launched into the vocals. Singing quality? 3/10. Comedy value of 2 gringos hopping around like fools? Priceless. Although the less said about our 'In the jungle, the mighty jungle' encore the better...

It was truly amazing to be welcomed in such a manner, and to see the entire community gather together was humbling. However, the best part about the day was seeing a group of people, from the village and from Plan, who cared about education and had clear, passionate ideas about how to improve things. Some of the money raised through our trip will build 2 new classrooms, which will be used for teaching children aged 12 and over. At present, in this region of Guatemala, only 19 of 600 schools provide education past the age of 12. With the new improvements, Candelaria Yalicar will become the 20th. If school ends at 12, how can a child become empowered to make a choice regarding their future? How can they even know that they have a choice?

GREG:

The focus of our thoughts became fixated upon our visit to the school, as our impending arrival drew ever closer. We were excited to finally observe first hand, what the considerable amount of money raised would contribute towards and we were not disappointed. Despite being informed that the school was on vacation for the next month, what greeted us upon our arrival was far from the empty institute we had expected. The whole village of Candelaria had gathered on the school grounds to greet us!

It amused me how for the past 3 and a half months we had been nothing more than glorified hobos and yet suddenly, we were being held in esteem, and treated like celebrities. I enjoy a small ego massage as much as the next guy but this was something else - a situation in which I felt distinctly uncomfortable. However as the morning unfolded with speeches by the heads of the village, singing and dancing from some of the kids (the dance, performed by 2 girls was more of a side to side shuffle, reminiscent of the embarrassed bopping I used to do at the start of school discos before I'd warmed up and started busting out some of my trademark moves), and a performance by Mark and I that made the ladies swoon, the formal nature of the event had all but disappeared.

We were able to interview some of the children, who had been selected by their peers to be representatives of the school, and spoke to us ingenuously about their aspirations for the future; aspirations that seemed to have been instilled by some of the excellent projects already undertaken by Plan over the past few years. This wasn't a bunch of Americans or British people coming in and imposing their views, it was Guatemalans helping their own people get a decent crack at life - an opportunity to fulfill potential that would otherwise fallen by the wayside. Every child deserves, at the very least, a basic education so that they are in a position to make their own choices, and not be destined to fill potholes or beg from rich tourists for the rest of their lives.

As for the school improvements, they are in the latter stages of planning and should begin in January, exciting additions to a classroom that holds 80 children at once (and I remember the uproar from parents when there were 30 kids in my class at primary school!).

We would like to thank everybody who has taken the time to donate to this cause, and to those who have yet to contribute, I hope that our account of this incredible experience will encourage you to do so. Plan International is doing an absolutely fantastuc job in this community and many more like it and we are honoured to be part of such an important organisation.

Miles travelled - 3,616. Next stop San Jose!