First days here...

Antigua, Guatemala 

 Guatemala

 Before the details of our journey and first few days here we wanted to give you some information about Antigua and Constru Casa itself. Guatemala is the largest country in Central America with a land size of 42,043mi² and a population of 13,276,517. With over half of those living on less than a dollar a day. 

Location of Guatemala in the world

Guatemala 

We visited Guatemala in May 2010 with Global Service Learning at Nebraska Wesleyan University. We spent a week working with Constru Casa when our time was unexpectedly extended due to Tropical Storm Agatha. We both fell in love with the organization and the country (and maybe with each other a bit). We decided to try and come back after graduation. We both secured positions with Constru Casa as the Volunteer Coordinator (Kaycie) and the Project Reporter (Travis). Constru Casa is a non-profit organization that works in the surrounding towns of Antigua, Guatemala (the old capital of Guatemala). Below is a description from the website (www.construcasa.org).

“Guatemala is among the poorest countries of the Americas with more than half of its population living in poverty. Particularly acute is the problem of inadequate housing: a typical house is made of cornstalk walls, a dirt floor and a scrap material roof. Facilities for basic hygiene like clean water and bathrooms are most often non-existent. Constru Casa is a non-profit organization offering basic housing to families living in extreme poverty. Constru Casa always works in collaboration with local partner organizations to identify and select families of exceptional need. Beneficiary families participate in the construction of their home and also pay back one fourth of the total cost of their house over four years. Constru Casa collaborates with its partner organizations also in other construction projects and community service programs.”

Our Trip Here 

No we did not drive, but to give you an idea of how far it is. 

Just in case you wanted to drive...haha. 

We arrived in Guatemala City at about 7:20pm on Tuesday, November 1st. We were met by Jorge who squeezed all of our luggage into his little car and headed to Antigua through Guatemala City.Guatemala city is something else! It is a city of almost 3 million people. Even the short time we were there was enough to realize that it is a booming city complete with two-story Burger Kings and Lexus dealerships. If you changed the signs to English it could be Los Angeles. 

We arrived on a very special day in Guatemala—All Saints Day or Day of the Dead. We missed most of the celebrations, but were met by the traffic while we drove into Antigua. It is one of the largest celebrations for the culture, with small gifts for children, disguises, music, dancing and tons of food! We were even able to sample the food later on.

The drive from Guatemala City to Antigua...uphill the whole way! 

Antigua 

Around 9pm we arrived in Antigua with a little bit of fear, but much excitement. We met our family, the Morales Family very briefly and headed up to our room. It is a small but comfortable room (probably 12ft x 12ft). There are two brightly colored twin beds, a large armoire, and a chair. The night of our arrival we emptied our suitcases and got organized, not forgetting to skype with family! I think each of us fell asleep before our heads even hit the pillow. It had been a LONG day!

Our bedroom

The next morning we had eggs and fresh bread with crème cheese, followed by nice showers (almost warm). We got to know the family a little more also. Christopher and Nelly have three boys (22, 20, 16). Nelly’s father also lives in the house. Various other family members have visited often. The house is never quiet! We were also introduced to FuFu, one of the cats and warned about the other, Llamon. Apparently he had quite the temper…nothing we aren’t used to! (aka: McKenna). Much to Travis’s surprise we also have a pet turtle—Manuela who pops out of the plants when it gets warm.

Fufu on the roof.

Our terrace 

The stairs leading up to our bedroom. 

Photos of family and friends...we miss and love you all! 

After breakfast we had coffee with Carolina van Heerde. Caroline is the founder and “boss” of Constru Casa. She explained a little more about what we would be doing and helped us with a few logistical things. The rest of the day we shopped for necessities such as: phones, a few notebooks, things for our room, etc. For lunch we had a traditional Guatemalan dish for the Day of the Dead—a spicy baked chicken, with mini potatoes in rosemary, fresh tortillas, and a dish called fiembre. It was all great, but the fiembre was difficult to get used to. It was a salad of beets, peas, ham, sausage, and a few other unidentified foods.

Our second most expensive purchase in Guatemala ($5), but worth every penny!

Fiambre 

We also visited one of the most beautiful hotels in Antigua: Hotel de Santo Domingo. Below are the photos. 

Us at the hotel. 

Macaws in the hotel

Beautiful pool. 

Later that afternoon, we met the rest of the Constru Casa Team (Kristina, Ranfiel, Giovanni, Sophia, and Stefan) at Dona Luisa, a café near the central park. It was nice to meet them, but ahhh…the Spanish is taking a little while to get used to! We returned home to a dinner of toast and sopa de hongo (mushroom soup). Ha…for anyone that knows me, knows that I HATE mushrooms…but this was pretty good!

The next morning we had breakfast waiting for us—a HUGE plate of cantaloupe, watermelon and bananas…complete with fresh bread. We headed to the square to meet Kristina and two volunteers from Maine, Mac and Nancy. From the square we rode in the back of Ranfiel’s truck to San Mateo where Constru Casa is building a house for a family. We helped carry some blocks (a task very familiar to us) and took some pictures of the crew.

Mac and Nancy with the crew in San Mateo. 

In San Mateo we also visited La Semilla de Esperanza y Amor (The Seed of Hope and Love). This is a wonderful school that partners with Constru Casa. There was a computer lab, an art room, a cafeteria, a playground and even a small garden for the children. The director, Lisa, told us of all of the wonderful things that the school does and how Constru Casa has helped—with donating tables to the cafeteria so the children do not have to sit on the floor, the salary of a teacher, and many others! She spoke so highly of Constru Casa, we felt like it was such an honor to be a part of the organization. She school also makes sure that the children leave with practical work skills such as sewing and farming, which enables them to contribute to their families and the community as a whole. La Semilla also sponsors a women’s group that teaches women how to contribute to their families through skills such as sewing and baking deserts.

After San Mateo we headed to Constru Casa’s new office in San Pedro la Huertas. The ride down was beautiful!

View from the truck.

It is a green country!

Constru Casa's office is brand new yesterday! It is a beautiful new building with four offices, a dining/meeting area, a small kitchen and two large conference rooms. I will have more pictures soon. Here we visited some nearby houses and took some pictures. We are still learning about what our jobs will consist of, but are excited about what is to come!

Part of the new office. 

While at the office we went to visit some homes nearby and took pictures of them. 

View from a street near the office. 

A young boy standing proudly in front of his new house! 

A family that received the house.

Bedroom of a house. 

We are back home (Guatemala home) now. I promise the next posts will not be quite so long, but we wanted to give a lot of detail on the first few! Please enjoy our pictures and do not hesitate to email us if you have any questions. Kaycie.rupp@gmail.com and Travis.benesch@gmail.com.

We miss everyone in Nebraska and we love you all!

-Kaycie & Travis