Part of my duties here with MPI is to post on their blog once a week. I was particularly fond of my post this week so I've decided to repost it. I apologize if any of my readers feel slighted by the lack of original material today. =P I'm aiming to post again tomorrow morning with a more thorough update on what's happened since my last post.
As I sit down to write this, I've just eaten a delicious bowl of pasta after arriving home from our second Salsa lesson. According to our teacher, we're all progressing nicely, having reviewed everything we learned last week while adding the "dile que no" to our repertoire. Hopefully by the end of our stint here we'll be fluent in Spanish AND Salsa.
Besides tonight's Salsa lesson, things have been pretty low-key since our return from San Pedro this weekend. Yesterday we finished up presentations about the bottle-stuffing competition we're having between classes in Central. The kids generally seemed to have a healthy amount of enthusiasm, however the fifth graders couldn't contain themselves and began beating each other with the bottles we brought for them to stuff. After threatening to remove them from the competition, they regained some semblance of composure. Hopefully that translates into lots of stuffed bottles, which will in turn translate into more classrooms for the school.
Today, since health classes have finished for the rest of my time here, I spent the day around the house doing a lot of extremely fascinating reading. Yesterday I grabbed Buried Secrets off the communal shelf and have since commenced devouring it. I'm a little over halfway through its 280 pages and am totally loving it. It was written by Victoria Sanford, an extremely accomplished anthropologist who focuses her work in Latin America. The book is about her experience working on exhumations of clandestine graves that were the result of massacres during the Guatemalan civil war. Part of her work was doing actual excavation but she mostly conducted antemortem interviews, giving survivors and family members a chance to share their stories while contributing to the exhumation process. Portions of the book are the testimonies she bore witness to, while the rest of it is the history of the civil war. She was able to compose both the testimonies and existing record in addition to an explanation of how genocide is defined in the international arena and her argument as to why the massacres that occurred during the war should be classified as genocide.
It's heartbreaking to read of the torture sustained by the Mayan people during the war but I can see the extreme value of investigating the war in this way. Sanford has given the Maya a voice and is refusing to let them be silenced despite the efforts of Guatemalan and US officials to discredit their testimonies. In one chapter, she focuses on the experience of women, citing Rigoberta Menchu and Deanna Ortiz as examples of women who spoke out about the violence they experienced and met with attempts of defamation. In Menchu's case, army officials claimed that her story was false and that those killed in her village were only eliminated because they were collaborating with the guerrilla and threatened violence. Ortiz was a nun who was kidnapped and tortured for months and after her release, one US official tried to argue that she was lying about the torture she had endured and stated that the doctor's examination happened too far after the fact to be able to confirm that her scars were a result of torture. It was later revealed that the doctor's report was dated only a week after Ortiz's release.
It's disappointing to think of members of our own political body trying to cover up such serious human rights violations. But this book is making me think critically about the importance of giving a voice to the wounded. It's invaluable to examine history from multiple perspectives and we do populations like the Maya a disservice when we fail to seek their side of the story. As she spoke to her village on the 20th anniversary of the massacre, the granddaughter of a victim told her people, "Nunca más." I hope that as Guatemala continues to work through the aftermath of its civil war, this will be our wish, too; not just for Guatemala, but wherever basic human rights are being stolen.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
para informarles de mi viaje hasta ahora.
hola, amigos!
i finally have a definitive answer as to what i'll be doing while i'm here: i am now an english teacher. the permanent team here teaches english classes at the elementary school in chaquiyla, a rural community about 20 minutes outside solola where we live. in addition to english, there are monthly health/personal hygiene classes that i'm also involved with as well as a bottle stuffing competition that began today. stuffing bottles with inorganic trash produces ecoblocks which can be used to build the foundations of buildings. it's an awesome alternative to the other two options (burning or burying trash) and gives us an opportunity to teach the kids about the importance of caring for the environment. once the school has about 13,000 stuffed bottles, they'll be able to use them to build an addition to the school. the class that produces the most bottles during our three-week competition gets to design and paint a mural that will hang in the new classrooms.
today was my first full day of teaching--i observed on tuesday and classes were cancelled on wednesday (something that happens a lot...for no obvious reason). i taught two sections of health and the 6th grade english class i'll work with wednesdays and thursdays. in health, we explained hiene (personal hygiene) to the kids, specifically dental hygiene and hand-washing. to demonstrate the spread of germs, we passed around pens covered in glitter then asked the kids to look at their hands. everyone's hands had glitter on them just like everyone's hands have germs on them when we all touch the same things without washing our hands. it seemed to be an effective exercise and offered a visual representation of what's really happening at the microscopic level.
we teach at two schools here: central y cooperativa. there are four total in the community and mpi has interest in expanding eventually but they really want to establish their existing programs and figure out how sustainable they are first. all the english classes are taught at central (except for teacher's english) and health is taught in both schools. i started my day at central and finished with a health class at cooperativa. there's a marked difference in the behavior of the kids at both schools. the children at central seem to care much less about their education and will often talk or walk around during class. at cooperativa they're remarkably well behaved and get really excited about learning. i asked one of the long-term team members what she would attribute the difference to and she feels the teachers at cooperativa have struck a good balance between being authoritative and being too strict, allowing them to earn the respect of their students and to encourage enthusiasm in the classroom. since the students from both schools live in the same community, it really is surprising how different they are. the hope is that as mpi continues to work with central, interest will improve but it's impossible to say what exactly needs to happen for that to be the case.
my time here so far has been absolutely phenomenal. since classes go from 8am to noon, we have plenty of time to spend making friends and immersing ourselves in guatemalan culture. we live in solola, the capital of the state/province/larger entity that's also called solola. the community we work in is also in solola proper and the city we relax in, panajachel (affectionately known as pana), is also included in solola. pana is much more touristy than the other cities we've seen and is a hotspot for backpackers especially. that's where you'll find the best souvenirs and lots of awesome restaurants and coffee shops. on our first full day here, we did a scavenger hunt through pana to get the lay of the land. the finish line was a coffee shop owned by an ex-pat named mike, an awesome christian guy who loves Lord and has been selling coffee in pana for 11 years, raising money and slowly building the youth hostel of his dreams. his goal is to create a space where backpackers and other travelers can go to feel at home while away from home. on monday, some of us went out to mike's house and helped him install a cover over an exposed pipe. his passion was intoxicating and extremely inspiring. i'll be posting pictures of his place once i get back to the states.
our scavenger hunt ended in a tie, and to break the tie, we did a brainteaser. my team had a gross advantage. =P we won a loaf of banana bread which was obviously shared with everyone. but the everlasting pride of being the official winners is ours forever.
at mike's cafe, crossroads cafe, katy and i met neal, an american who felt led by God to do volunteer work in guatemala. he's about a year to a year and a half into a three year contract and he travels around a bit doing construction work. he's another really passionate guy who's totally sold out for God. we chatted with him about our role as believers in the US and the service we're called to do both domestically and abroad. pretty heavy chitchat. =P but awesome to meet so many english-speaking christians in our first day and a half in guate.
that night, we went out on the town in pana and spent the night in a hostel. stop thinking of that horrible movie immediately. this hostel was phenomenal. each room had two full beds and cost 35Q (the currency is quetzales, abbreviated Q) per night per person. the exchange rate is a little over 7Q to every dollar so our night in the hostel cost us about $5 per person. this will be a much bigger deal after i post pictures of the hostel itself. =P
on sunday morning we got some coffee (which tastes a million times better here) and headed back to solola to recouperate. that evening, katy and i went to church with one of the long-term volunteers. the church meets in a coffeehouse in pana called soloman's porch and services are done in english/spanish with a translator. it's a very small community but they did a fairly in-depth bible study and were all really passionate about their faith--especially our guatemalan counterparts.
monday is the day the team uses to get everything in order for the week. the long-term team has a meeting then there's another meeting with the volunteers and all the shopping for the week happens in the late morning/afternoon. tuesday was our first day in the community during which i just observed health classes and then we went into pana for the evening to take a salsa class. it's taught by two americans who are also here with other ngos. our group had a ton of fun and i especially loved picking up another cultural skill. for dinner we had papusas, a typical el salvadorian dish but they're good bar food so they sell them in pana as well. =P it's essentially an uncrustable. except the bread is tortillas and the peanut butter and jelly are any variety of beans, garlic, cheese, spinach, or meat.
wednesday is the day we'll have our weekly discussion. these differ from the meetings in that we talk about larger issues that relate to our community instead of just the logistics of our work for the week. our first discussion was on development theories and how manna thinks about the future development of the communities in which they implement their programs. it was awesome to hear about the experience of the long-term team and how they think about/how their time here has influenced their thinking on community development. i'd love to explain some of the theories we discussed in a post when i have less general catching-up to do. =P way interesting and extremely relevant as we think about how to invest in communities with both time and money.
after our meeting, we visited a ngo based out of pana called mayan traditions. mayan traditions organizes a co-op of weavers and ensures that they get a fair wage and their products are sold at a fair price. we watched yolanda, one of their weavers, give a weaving demonstration. she showed us an example of back-strap weaving, an incredibly intricate and time-intensive form of weaving which i'm assuming is called "back-strap" because they connect themselves to their looms using a strap. which goes around their backs. the piece she was creating would take her about 6 months and would be used as the centerpiece of a weepil, the traditional blouse that mayan women wear.
to the right is a generic picture of back-strap weaving that i absconded from the internet.
last night, some of us went to the weekly soccer game that the friends of the long-term volunteers have every week. a group of our team members played and actually did quite well. i didn't play partly because i stupidly wore sandals and partly because i've been sick the last couple days. mostly a weird stomach thing accompanied by a sore throat, both of which thankfully seem to be on the way out. katy's been sick too so we both ask for prayers that we'll be healthy for the remainder of our trip.
thanks for bearing with me as i try to keep you all informed. i may or may not give as detailed a post in the future but it seemed relevant today since we're still laying the groundwork for our time here. =) i'm so thrilled to be here and can't believe it's almost been a week already. i feel so at home here (besides the weird bug i acquired from the water. or maybe those mangoes i bought off the street...) and can already tell that i'd love to spend a long period of time living in latin america. i so appreciate all your support and prayers that got me here and will carry me through the rest of my time here. =)
we're able to use the internet pretty regularly here, so if anyone has any questions about my trip or wants me to post more about anything specifically, just shoot me and email or leave me a comment. this is partly a journal for me but mostly a way for you guys to stay informed about my life here so i'd love to tailor it towards your interests. =)
hm. the house cat (oliver) is licking my foot. time to relocate.
mucho amor.
i finally have a definitive answer as to what i'll be doing while i'm here: i am now an english teacher. the permanent team here teaches english classes at the elementary school in chaquiyla, a rural community about 20 minutes outside solola where we live. in addition to english, there are monthly health/personal hygiene classes that i'm also involved with as well as a bottle stuffing competition that began today. stuffing bottles with inorganic trash produces ecoblocks which can be used to build the foundations of buildings. it's an awesome alternative to the other two options (burning or burying trash) and gives us an opportunity to teach the kids about the importance of caring for the environment. once the school has about 13,000 stuffed bottles, they'll be able to use them to build an addition to the school. the class that produces the most bottles during our three-week competition gets to design and paint a mural that will hang in the new classrooms.
today was my first full day of teaching--i observed on tuesday and classes were cancelled on wednesday (something that happens a lot...for no obvious reason). i taught two sections of health and the 6th grade english class i'll work with wednesdays and thursdays. in health, we explained hiene (personal hygiene) to the kids, specifically dental hygiene and hand-washing. to demonstrate the spread of germs, we passed around pens covered in glitter then asked the kids to look at their hands. everyone's hands had glitter on them just like everyone's hands have germs on them when we all touch the same things without washing our hands. it seemed to be an effective exercise and offered a visual representation of what's really happening at the microscopic level.
we teach at two schools here: central y cooperativa. there are four total in the community and mpi has interest in expanding eventually but they really want to establish their existing programs and figure out how sustainable they are first. all the english classes are taught at central (except for teacher's english) and health is taught in both schools. i started my day at central and finished with a health class at cooperativa. there's a marked difference in the behavior of the kids at both schools. the children at central seem to care much less about their education and will often talk or walk around during class. at cooperativa they're remarkably well behaved and get really excited about learning. i asked one of the long-term team members what she would attribute the difference to and she feels the teachers at cooperativa have struck a good balance between being authoritative and being too strict, allowing them to earn the respect of their students and to encourage enthusiasm in the classroom. since the students from both schools live in the same community, it really is surprising how different they are. the hope is that as mpi continues to work with central, interest will improve but it's impossible to say what exactly needs to happen for that to be the case.
my time here so far has been absolutely phenomenal. since classes go from 8am to noon, we have plenty of time to spend making friends and immersing ourselves in guatemalan culture. we live in solola, the capital of the state/province/larger entity that's also called solola. the community we work in is also in solola proper and the city we relax in, panajachel (affectionately known as pana), is also included in solola. pana is much more touristy than the other cities we've seen and is a hotspot for backpackers especially. that's where you'll find the best souvenirs and lots of awesome restaurants and coffee shops. on our first full day here, we did a scavenger hunt through pana to get the lay of the land. the finish line was a coffee shop owned by an ex-pat named mike, an awesome christian guy who loves Lord and has been selling coffee in pana for 11 years, raising money and slowly building the youth hostel of his dreams. his goal is to create a space where backpackers and other travelers can go to feel at home while away from home. on monday, some of us went out to mike's house and helped him install a cover over an exposed pipe. his passion was intoxicating and extremely inspiring. i'll be posting pictures of his place once i get back to the states.
our scavenger hunt ended in a tie, and to break the tie, we did a brainteaser. my team had a gross advantage. =P we won a loaf of banana bread which was obviously shared with everyone. but the everlasting pride of being the official winners is ours forever.
at mike's cafe, crossroads cafe, katy and i met neal, an american who felt led by God to do volunteer work in guatemala. he's about a year to a year and a half into a three year contract and he travels around a bit doing construction work. he's another really passionate guy who's totally sold out for God. we chatted with him about our role as believers in the US and the service we're called to do both domestically and abroad. pretty heavy chitchat. =P but awesome to meet so many english-speaking christians in our first day and a half in guate.
that night, we went out on the town in pana and spent the night in a hostel. stop thinking of that horrible movie immediately. this hostel was phenomenal. each room had two full beds and cost 35Q (the currency is quetzales, abbreviated Q) per night per person. the exchange rate is a little over 7Q to every dollar so our night in the hostel cost us about $5 per person. this will be a much bigger deal after i post pictures of the hostel itself. =P
on sunday morning we got some coffee (which tastes a million times better here) and headed back to solola to recouperate. that evening, katy and i went to church with one of the long-term volunteers. the church meets in a coffeehouse in pana called soloman's porch and services are done in english/spanish with a translator. it's a very small community but they did a fairly in-depth bible study and were all really passionate about their faith--especially our guatemalan counterparts.
monday is the day the team uses to get everything in order for the week. the long-term team has a meeting then there's another meeting with the volunteers and all the shopping for the week happens in the late morning/afternoon. tuesday was our first day in the community during which i just observed health classes and then we went into pana for the evening to take a salsa class. it's taught by two americans who are also here with other ngos. our group had a ton of fun and i especially loved picking up another cultural skill. for dinner we had papusas, a typical el salvadorian dish but they're good bar food so they sell them in pana as well. =P it's essentially an uncrustable. except the bread is tortillas and the peanut butter and jelly are any variety of beans, garlic, cheese, spinach, or meat.
wednesday is the day we'll have our weekly discussion. these differ from the meetings in that we talk about larger issues that relate to our community instead of just the logistics of our work for the week. our first discussion was on development theories and how manna thinks about the future development of the communities in which they implement their programs. it was awesome to hear about the experience of the long-term team and how they think about/how their time here has influenced their thinking on community development. i'd love to explain some of the theories we discussed in a post when i have less general catching-up to do. =P way interesting and extremely relevant as we think about how to invest in communities with both time and money.
after our meeting, we visited a ngo based out of pana called mayan traditions. mayan traditions organizes a co-op of weavers and ensures that they get a fair wage and their products are sold at a fair price. we watched yolanda, one of their weavers, give a weaving demonstration. she showed us an example of back-strap weaving, an incredibly intricate and time-intensive form of weaving which i'm assuming is called "back-strap" because they connect themselves to their looms using a strap. which goes around their backs. the piece she was creating would take her about 6 months and would be used as the centerpiece of a weepil, the traditional blouse that mayan women wear.
last night, some of us went to the weekly soccer game that the friends of the long-term volunteers have every week. a group of our team members played and actually did quite well. i didn't play partly because i stupidly wore sandals and partly because i've been sick the last couple days. mostly a weird stomach thing accompanied by a sore throat, both of which thankfully seem to be on the way out. katy's been sick too so we both ask for prayers that we'll be healthy for the remainder of our trip.
thanks for bearing with me as i try to keep you all informed. i may or may not give as detailed a post in the future but it seemed relevant today since we're still laying the groundwork for our time here. =) i'm so thrilled to be here and can't believe it's almost been a week already. i feel so at home here (besides the weird bug i acquired from the water. or maybe those mangoes i bought off the street...) and can already tell that i'd love to spend a long period of time living in latin america. i so appreciate all your support and prayers that got me here and will carry me through the rest of my time here. =)
we're able to use the internet pretty regularly here, so if anyone has any questions about my trip or wants me to post more about anything specifically, just shoot me and email or leave me a comment. this is partly a journal for me but mostly a way for you guys to stay informed about my life here so i'd love to tailor it towards your interests. =)
hm. the house cat (oliver) is licking my foot. time to relocate.
mucho amor.
Friday, June 10, 2011
he llegado.
hola, amigos!
i am officially in country, chilling with the team at our house in solola. we've just eaten our first dinner together (enchiladas--good typical mexican dish) and moved into our host homes. katy and i are staying together and getting totally pumped to begin our first full day tomorrow. we'll be exploring solola and venturing into pana to get the lay of the land.
beautiful country. two and half hour van ride from the airport to our home. i'm so excited to explore.
time to pass off the computer. more later.
i am officially in country, chilling with the team at our house in solola. we've just eaten our first dinner together (enchiladas--good typical mexican dish) and moved into our host homes. katy and i are staying together and getting totally pumped to begin our first full day tomorrow. we'll be exploring solola and venturing into pana to get the lay of the land.
beautiful country. two and half hour van ride from the airport to our home. i'm so excited to explore.
time to pass off the computer. more later.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
the time has come.
my plane leaves in less than 7 hours. i should probably be asleep.
but i have my first official trip story. it seemed pertinent to share. i can sleep on the plane. =P
about a month ago, the program director asked for volunteers to transport dental supplies. it seemed like a benign enough request and they volunteered to pay the extra baggage fees so, being the flexible people-pleaser i am, i volunteered. i got confirmation that i would be receiving the supplies and then heard nothing else about it until wednesday. of this week.
while i was at work on wednesday night, holding down the fort at the panera bread, i received a text from my mother, alerting me of the arrival of a package for me. she and my father had assumed it was the dental supplies considering it was giant and weighed 73 pounds. i wasn't expecting anything else that weighed the equivalent of a nine-year-old child so this was probably a safe bet.
when we opened the package we found a ridiculous amount of toothpaste, toothbrushes, and dental floss. probably enough for an entire village. which is probably good when you realize that's exactly how much we need. but still--i proceeded to spend all of today trying to package it all as efficiently as possible. but really, how efficient can you get when the goal is to carry 73 pounds of oral hygiene items onto a plane?
so if you need a pick-me-up tomorrow, go ahead and imagine me in an airport in guatemala city, surrounded by 5 bags, two of which will reek of copious amounts of mint. also, you can use this story to explain to your kids why you should ask lots of questions before responding in the affirmative to a vague request to transport goods internationally.
in other news, the fundraiser at buffalo wild wings was a success. i was able to raise $75 and, thanks to this event and the extremely generous donations made by my family and friends, i will be able to afford this trip while still having enough money to pay for all of next school year. praise the Lord. hallelujah for continuing through college debt-free.
and thus ends my last update to this blog in the united states. next time you hear from me i'll be in an internet cafe in solola. or borrowing the laptop of another volunteer in the house. but either way, i will be on non-american soil.
can't wait to fill you in on the actual adventure. it's finally here. =)
but i have my first official trip story. it seemed pertinent to share. i can sleep on the plane. =P
about a month ago, the program director asked for volunteers to transport dental supplies. it seemed like a benign enough request and they volunteered to pay the extra baggage fees so, being the flexible people-pleaser i am, i volunteered. i got confirmation that i would be receiving the supplies and then heard nothing else about it until wednesday. of this week.
while i was at work on wednesday night, holding down the fort at the panera bread, i received a text from my mother, alerting me of the arrival of a package for me. she and my father had assumed it was the dental supplies considering it was giant and weighed 73 pounds. i wasn't expecting anything else that weighed the equivalent of a nine-year-old child so this was probably a safe bet.
when we opened the package we found a ridiculous amount of toothpaste, toothbrushes, and dental floss. probably enough for an entire village. which is probably good when you realize that's exactly how much we need. but still--i proceeded to spend all of today trying to package it all as efficiently as possible. but really, how efficient can you get when the goal is to carry 73 pounds of oral hygiene items onto a plane?
so if you need a pick-me-up tomorrow, go ahead and imagine me in an airport in guatemala city, surrounded by 5 bags, two of which will reek of copious amounts of mint. also, you can use this story to explain to your kids why you should ask lots of questions before responding in the affirmative to a vague request to transport goods internationally.
in other news, the fundraiser at buffalo wild wings was a success. i was able to raise $75 and, thanks to this event and the extremely generous donations made by my family and friends, i will be able to afford this trip while still having enough money to pay for all of next school year. praise the Lord. hallelujah for continuing through college debt-free.
and thus ends my last update to this blog in the united states. next time you hear from me i'll be in an internet cafe in solola. or borrowing the laptop of another volunteer in the house. but either way, i will be on non-american soil.
can't wait to fill you in on the actual adventure. it's finally here. =)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
God is in control.
i got a text from katy this week with an awesome story i wanted to share with you. it's one of those ones that remind you that God is way bigger than anything. everything.
here it is.
last sunday, katy felt like she needed to go to her bible study from high school that morning. thinking it was just an opportunity to reconnect with her old bible study leader, she decided to go. at bible study, they prayed for our trip and for my fundraising efforts. and after bible study, the mother of one of her friends approached her and said she felt led to give to me to help me pay for my trip. her daughter had done a mission trip last year and she remembered how difficult it was for her to fundraise but God came through for them and she wanted to give back.
i found myself not knowing what to say when she told me this. the way that God was so obviously taking care of me was overwhelming. it reaffirms the fact that God has plans for this trip and wants to do something awesome while katy and i are there.
i can't believe i'm leaving on thursday. i feel like i'm entering a dream sequence. probably partially influenced by the fact that i opened a new pair of contacts this morning and my eyes have been watering quite a bit, giving everything that weird hazy look that dreams had on the brady bunch. but mostly because it's hard to believe that this is finally happening. and overwhelmingly i'm feeling excited and ready. the other day, i ran into a girl who had graduated from city a few years before i did and we ended up having our conversation in spanish. good to know i can still communicate effectively.
we got an email last week with some last-reminders and bits of information. one of the more exciting tidbits in there was that we'll be living in homes for a large portion of our trip. this has always been one of my favorite parts of serving abroad and i'm so glad we'll have that opportunity to immerse ourselves so completely in guatemalan culture.
i got a another not-so-happy email from katy last week with a link to the state department's page on guatemala. their information on safety and security in the country was pretty extensive and rather disheartening. a weak government has allowed an increase in gang activity that leads to lot of robberies, kidnappings, and murders. also, mayan cultural beliefs make the indigenous people very wary of white women because they believe that they steal children. katy sent an email to the head of mpi program in guatemala who sent a really well-developed reply about the safety measures mpi employs. i think we have little to fear, what with all of mpi's efforts to keep us safe and God's hand that's been so obviously over this whole trip. but please pray for the guatemalan people and tourists who aren't as well protected in addition to strength for the government.
today is the day of my fundraiser at buffalo wind wings on the east beltline (near celebration cinema)! if you're in the mood for some chicken, come on out and present this flyer to have 20% of your purchase donated to my trip (you can also find a larger copy to download here).
i'll be there from noon to 2:30, 6 to 8:15, and 10 to midnight. i'll have some copies of the coupon there but i'll have to give them out discreetly (their policy on handing our flyers has a bit of gray area). generally it'd be best if you brought your own copy. =)
also, the procedure for donations has changed: since my departure date is so close, it's unlikely that mpi will be able to process any donations in time. the best way to donate is just to send your contribution to me (checks made out to kati turner) and i'll guide to where it needs to go. sadly, it will no longer be tax deductible, but it will still help me get to guatemala!
i'm so grateful for all the support i've received as i prepare for this trip and can't wait to actually be there in 5 days. another tidbit in the last-minute details email mentioned that we'd have internet access the whole time we're there in the mpi house. which means potential in-country updates. stay tuned. =)
here it is.
last sunday, katy felt like she needed to go to her bible study from high school that morning. thinking it was just an opportunity to reconnect with her old bible study leader, she decided to go. at bible study, they prayed for our trip and for my fundraising efforts. and after bible study, the mother of one of her friends approached her and said she felt led to give to me to help me pay for my trip. her daughter had done a mission trip last year and she remembered how difficult it was for her to fundraise but God came through for them and she wanted to give back.
i found myself not knowing what to say when she told me this. the way that God was so obviously taking care of me was overwhelming. it reaffirms the fact that God has plans for this trip and wants to do something awesome while katy and i are there.
i can't believe i'm leaving on thursday. i feel like i'm entering a dream sequence. probably partially influenced by the fact that i opened a new pair of contacts this morning and my eyes have been watering quite a bit, giving everything that weird hazy look that dreams had on the brady bunch. but mostly because it's hard to believe that this is finally happening. and overwhelmingly i'm feeling excited and ready. the other day, i ran into a girl who had graduated from city a few years before i did and we ended up having our conversation in spanish. good to know i can still communicate effectively.
we got an email last week with some last-reminders and bits of information. one of the more exciting tidbits in there was that we'll be living in homes for a large portion of our trip. this has always been one of my favorite parts of serving abroad and i'm so glad we'll have that opportunity to immerse ourselves so completely in guatemalan culture.
i got a another not-so-happy email from katy last week with a link to the state department's page on guatemala. their information on safety and security in the country was pretty extensive and rather disheartening. a weak government has allowed an increase in gang activity that leads to lot of robberies, kidnappings, and murders. also, mayan cultural beliefs make the indigenous people very wary of white women because they believe that they steal children. katy sent an email to the head of mpi program in guatemala who sent a really well-developed reply about the safety measures mpi employs. i think we have little to fear, what with all of mpi's efforts to keep us safe and God's hand that's been so obviously over this whole trip. but please pray for the guatemalan people and tourists who aren't as well protected in addition to strength for the government.
today is the day of my fundraiser at buffalo wind wings on the east beltline (near celebration cinema)! if you're in the mood for some chicken, come on out and present this flyer to have 20% of your purchase donated to my trip (you can also find a larger copy to download here).
also, the procedure for donations has changed: since my departure date is so close, it's unlikely that mpi will be able to process any donations in time. the best way to donate is just to send your contribution to me (checks made out to kati turner) and i'll guide to where it needs to go. sadly, it will no longer be tax deductible, but it will still help me get to guatemala!
i'm so grateful for all the support i've received as i prepare for this trip and can't wait to actually be there in 5 days. another tidbit in the last-minute details email mentioned that we'd have internet access the whole time we're there in the mpi house. which means potential in-country updates. stay tuned. =)
Thursday, May 19, 2011
creole confusion.
the other night, i was channel surfing on the radio in my car as i drove to a friend's house. i settled on a world music channel and was excited to find they were playing a song that sounded quite spanish. but as i continued to listen, i began to feel anxious because i couldn't understand any of what the singer was saying. i all of a sudden felt very unprepared to be using almost purely spanish for a whole month. if i couldn't even understand this song, how was i going to be able to understand the guatemalans i was hoping to serve?
turns out the song was in creole and my anxiety was all for naught but it made me realize that as excited as i am about this trip, i'm still a little nervous. but i know that God has given me all the tools and education i need to do this. any fear that i have is not of Him; he has blessed me with all spiritual gifts necessary to complete the task he has laid before me.
if you guys are supporting me in prayer as i prepare for and actually embark on this adventure, i'd ask specifically that you pray for both katy and i, that God would grant our hearts peace and confidence in Him. and that once we arrive in guatemala that we would trust Him and throw ourselves completely into our work there.
in other news, i stopped in at the buffalo wild wings on the east beltline (in grand rapids. i apologize to my readers in other parts of the country. wish you could be here to eat chicken with me.). i've set up a fundraiser for sunday, june 5. sometime in the next couple of days they'll be sending me a flyer for the event that i'll be able to distribute to all of you lovely people. if you bring the flyer to the b-dubs on the east beltine anytime that day, they'll give me 20% of your bill to put towards my trip. awesome deal. you get delicious chicken and the satisfaction of knowing you're helping me go to guatemala.
i'll be emailing mpi today to ask them how my fundraising has been going so once i hear from them i'll give you all an update as well. also: i was reading the fundraising packet the other day and came across some contribution cards that they recommend donors use to direct their donations. this is different from the instructions i found in the welcome packet they sent me so i'll also be asking them if donations sent in the old format are still getting to my account. unfortunately, there isn't a strategic way for me post the forms online. if i figure one out, i'll let you know, but for the time being just go ahead and email me if you'd like a form. (katherine.a.turner@vanderbilt.edu)
thanks so much for your support guys. getting more and more excited every day. =)
commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
proverbs 16:3
turns out the song was in creole and my anxiety was all for naught but it made me realize that as excited as i am about this trip, i'm still a little nervous. but i know that God has given me all the tools and education i need to do this. any fear that i have is not of Him; he has blessed me with all spiritual gifts necessary to complete the task he has laid before me.
if you guys are supporting me in prayer as i prepare for and actually embark on this adventure, i'd ask specifically that you pray for both katy and i, that God would grant our hearts peace and confidence in Him. and that once we arrive in guatemala that we would trust Him and throw ourselves completely into our work there.
in other news, i stopped in at the buffalo wild wings on the east beltline (in grand rapids. i apologize to my readers in other parts of the country. wish you could be here to eat chicken with me.). i've set up a fundraiser for sunday, june 5. sometime in the next couple of days they'll be sending me a flyer for the event that i'll be able to distribute to all of you lovely people. if you bring the flyer to the b-dubs on the east beltine anytime that day, they'll give me 20% of your bill to put towards my trip. awesome deal. you get delicious chicken and the satisfaction of knowing you're helping me go to guatemala.
i'll be emailing mpi today to ask them how my fundraising has been going so once i hear from them i'll give you all an update as well. also: i was reading the fundraising packet the other day and came across some contribution cards that they recommend donors use to direct their donations. this is different from the instructions i found in the welcome packet they sent me so i'll also be asking them if donations sent in the old format are still getting to my account. unfortunately, there isn't a strategic way for me post the forms online. if i figure one out, i'll let you know, but for the time being just go ahead and email me if you'd like a form. (katherine.a.turner@vanderbilt.edu)
thanks so much for your support guys. getting more and more excited every day. =)
commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
proverbs 16:3
Thursday, May 5, 2011
why i do what i do.
i purchased my ticket last night. its acquisition was not without a few complications, but with the help my mother and a lovely indian man, i'm officially going to guatemala.
recently a good friend asked me an extremely relevant question and i thought it would be good to address it here as i include you guys in my preparation for this adventure.
he asked me, "why go to guatemala to help people when there are so many people in need here?"
as a pre-med student wanting to do medical missions abroad i get this question a lot. but this time i felt like i actually had something worthwhile to say.
first of all, i absolutely acknowledge the need for healthcare and general aid in the US. the recent tornado in alabama makes it impossible to forget that. seeing the importance of meeting that need, i do serve in the US as well as often as i can. service is not an event isolated to foreign countries in my life. but i do feel a particular call to serve abroad.
i think there's a standing misconception that tons of people are going abroad to serve because it's somehow a more glamorous life and they leave all of the under-served people of the united states in a lurch. in my experience, this is absolutely not true. for example, when i checked last week, manna was still accepting applications on a rolling basis. meaning they still have spots. meaning not everyone is leaping at the chance to help others in a foreign country. and it is by no means the more glamorous option. when you work abroad, you typically live in community either with the people you're serving or others you serve with. you don't have much free time and, if you're living with those you serve, you may not even have running water. it's a hard life. and a lot of people talk about doing it, but i think many people would be surprised by how few people actually dedicate their lives to service abroad.
helping others in a different country also requires a specific skill set. obviously being a doctor requires typical doctor skills but serving people who don't speak your language or who come from a completely different cultural background is a different story. the language barrier is what kills it for many people. if you don't already speak the language, you have to work with an interpreter (if there's one available). and even then it's difficult to get used to working with someone else in the room, translating everything that's being said. and supplies are often few and far between so this work demands ingenuity, flexibility, and patience from everyone involved.
we have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. if your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
romans 12:6-8
we have all been endowed with a specific set of gifts. and the Bible calls us to use them to their fullest. and so i feel like not using my ability to speak spanish and my heart to provide healing to others would be squandering the gift.
finally, there exists the simple fact that we have more than they do. in the US, we have a much more established community of service organizations and far more resources to help our needy than developing countries do. because of this disparity, i feel led to help even the score.
i fear i've painted a bleak picture of what medical missions looks like. it's not bleak; it's beautiful. it can be discouraging and heartbreaking, but the success stories illuminate out the darkness. it's ridiculously rewarding work and i can't wait to be involved.
and so this is why i want to serve abroad, starting in guatemala and wherever else the Lord will take me. i can't wait to begin this part of the journey He has prepared for me.
if anyone has any questions about anything i've said, feel free to send me an email or leave me a comment. i think this is an incredibly important thing to discuss and would hate to leave anyone feeling unsettled by anything i've said or haven't said.
thanks for all of your support. i'm so excited to continue to share this adventure with all of you. and to actually begin in 35 days. =)
then i heard the voice of the Lord saying, "whom shall i send? and who will go for us?"
and i said, "here i am. send me!"
isaiah 6:8
recently a good friend asked me an extremely relevant question and i thought it would be good to address it here as i include you guys in my preparation for this adventure.
he asked me, "why go to guatemala to help people when there are so many people in need here?"
as a pre-med student wanting to do medical missions abroad i get this question a lot. but this time i felt like i actually had something worthwhile to say.
first of all, i absolutely acknowledge the need for healthcare and general aid in the US. the recent tornado in alabama makes it impossible to forget that. seeing the importance of meeting that need, i do serve in the US as well as often as i can. service is not an event isolated to foreign countries in my life. but i do feel a particular call to serve abroad.
i think there's a standing misconception that tons of people are going abroad to serve because it's somehow a more glamorous life and they leave all of the under-served people of the united states in a lurch. in my experience, this is absolutely not true. for example, when i checked last week, manna was still accepting applications on a rolling basis. meaning they still have spots. meaning not everyone is leaping at the chance to help others in a foreign country. and it is by no means the more glamorous option. when you work abroad, you typically live in community either with the people you're serving or others you serve with. you don't have much free time and, if you're living with those you serve, you may not even have running water. it's a hard life. and a lot of people talk about doing it, but i think many people would be surprised by how few people actually dedicate their lives to service abroad.
helping others in a different country also requires a specific skill set. obviously being a doctor requires typical doctor skills but serving people who don't speak your language or who come from a completely different cultural background is a different story. the language barrier is what kills it for many people. if you don't already speak the language, you have to work with an interpreter (if there's one available). and even then it's difficult to get used to working with someone else in the room, translating everything that's being said. and supplies are often few and far between so this work demands ingenuity, flexibility, and patience from everyone involved.
we have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. if your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
romans 12:6-8
we have all been endowed with a specific set of gifts. and the Bible calls us to use them to their fullest. and so i feel like not using my ability to speak spanish and my heart to provide healing to others would be squandering the gift.
finally, there exists the simple fact that we have more than they do. in the US, we have a much more established community of service organizations and far more resources to help our needy than developing countries do. because of this disparity, i feel led to help even the score.
i fear i've painted a bleak picture of what medical missions looks like. it's not bleak; it's beautiful. it can be discouraging and heartbreaking, but the success stories illuminate out the darkness. it's ridiculously rewarding work and i can't wait to be involved.
and so this is why i want to serve abroad, starting in guatemala and wherever else the Lord will take me. i can't wait to begin this part of the journey He has prepared for me.
if anyone has any questions about anything i've said, feel free to send me an email or leave me a comment. i think this is an incredibly important thing to discuss and would hate to leave anyone feeling unsettled by anything i've said or haven't said.
thanks for all of your support. i'm so excited to continue to share this adventure with all of you. and to actually begin in 35 days. =)
then i heard the voice of the Lord saying, "whom shall i send? and who will go for us?"
and i said, "here i am. send me!"
isaiah 6:8
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