Upon our return yesterday to San Gregorio, we had a
meeting with the local cocode, a committee in the community to
address any concerns and answer any questions we might have about the
school. Several members spoke to us and
first always thanked God for our being there and thanking us for our presence. The main speaker was a father, and a teacher
in the town next to San Gregorio.
(Interesting to note: he lives in a one room wooden house with a metal
roof and an outhouse - and is a teacher.) We talked about what role the
government plays in supporting the school and getting it ready for
students. Their hope is that they will
start with two teachers for the four classrooms with mixed grade levels. Teachers in Guatemala have to have a specific
degree in teaching elementary education.
The school does not yet have desks and they are unsure of how those will
be financed. It is technically the
government’s responsibility but the government is slow to respond to needs of
communities. The leaders expressed how
they had really not anticipated the vastness of this project and that they did
not know what they were getting into because they had never built a school
before. We expressed the same sentiment
in that we did not know what we were getting into either! We
both took a leap of faith and together a school has been built. One of the many wonderful things about this
project has been the cooperation between members of Rolling Hills and the
members of the San Gregorio community. None of us were skilled builders, however we
have all given our time, talents and learned so much from each other. Through this relationships have formed that
cross borders of all kinds. After our meeting we shook hands, gave thanks, gave
hugs and left to attend their church service.
There are just some things that are almost impossible to put
into words and that was the case at this church service. We walked to the church and were greeted as
if we were visiting dignitaries. The
women of the church had lined the aisle with grasses for us to walk on and
everyone clapped and cheered when we entered.
There were flowers everywhere and welcome banners in both Spanish and
English. The pastor welcomed us all by
name and expressed his heartfelt gratitude for us attending their little
church. Children were
everywhere!!!! We were given a schedule
of service which began with three of their youth singing along with guitar and
keyboard accompaniment. (I will
interject that we were sitting in the front row about 12 inches from gigantic
speakers. Still trying to recover my
hearing today J.) While they were singing, down the aisle
strutted a chicken! After a few minutes
of the chicken walking around the front of the church, one of the men picked it
up to great squawking and indignation.
All the while the kids just kept singing. After a couple of joyous songs where we all
clapped along, there were prayers, scripture readings, more singing and then
the highlight of the evening a sermon from Pastor Ted. Our guide, Candace, translated Ted’s sermon,
which moved everyone. (No surprise
there.)
When Ted finished his sermon, the pastor said they had one
more act they would like to share. At
this time women of the church came down the aisle to give us all drinks and
crackers. They had soft drinks as well
as bottled water. Finally, they
presented us our gifts. Wow. Our jaws dropped as they walked out with
baskets laden with food. It looked like
the three wisemen carrying their gifts – from a community that does not have
anything to spare. They gave one basked
to Rolling Hills and a smaller basket to the head mason who was also with us. After the presentation of the baskets, they
came with a carefully wrapped box which seemed to be moving. The look of anticipation on their faces was
evident and you could just tell they were so excited for Ted to open the
box. Ted passed the honors to Will to
open this wrapped box with holes. In
this box were TWO roosters. Oh the joy
on their faces when Ted and Will picked up the animals with feet tied and held
them in the air for all to see. That is
just one of those things that none of us will never forget. This was one of their most valued assets and
they were so proud. They gave us TWO and
I say this because it would have been incredible to receive even one. We were all laughing and cheering and just so
full of joy. Ted expressed how humbled he
was to receive this precious gift and that we would have a relationship with
this church. Through his tears, the
pastor said how never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he would have
visitors from the United States and he was just so honored to have us
there. After every one of the adults in attendance came and shook our hands and
hugged us it was time for us to leave.
They lined the way to our truck where we climbed in and headed home in
the rain (in the open truck). We arrived
back at our hotel wet but thrilled, knowing that the experience we had all just
lived through was one that no one had ever had and can ever forget.
Due to the length of the above recount which was totally
necessary because of the beauty of the event (and still cannot totally be
imagined), I will tell the details of today in one short, succinct
sentence. We had an amazingly beautiful
day riding on Lake Atitlan, visiting wonderful towns and shopping our hearts
out. Good night!
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