July, 2007 Viewpoint for Community Recorder
Submitted by Debbie Young, Villa Madonna high school librarian
Twenty two students and adults from Villa Madonna Academy completed the school's first international mission trip June 2 – 10. The group traveled to Guatemala to meet the people of the village of San Juan Argueta, elevation 6,000 feet. Through an organization called HELPS INTERNATIONAL, the students learned that many Mayans still use the traditional indoor fire pit as a means of cooking and heating. Numerous instances of childhood burn accidents and adult respiratory problems due to this cooking method have been noted in Guatemalan villages. An engineer volunteering with the HELPS group worked with indigenous people to develop a stove that would solve these problems, while meeting their cooking and heating needs. The resulting product is called an ONIL stove. It has a completely contained flame, is off the floor, and consumes 70% less wood than the traditional floor pit fire (thus lessening the deforestation of Guatemala and saving citizens firewood gathering time.)
Through fundraisers such as selling concessions at sports events, babysitting, and writing letters of appeal, students at Villa Madonna raised enough money for materials to build 100 stoves, at a cost of $125 per stove. They had group meetings to learn about the culture of the Guatemalan people before the trip, and had one day of training in building the stoves upon arrival at their mission site. Then they divided up into five teams of three or four students with one adult, and set about going to individual homes to assemble stoves. According to volunteer Mark Bailey, a 2007 Villa grad, "All of the families ... were incredibly grateful for the work we did for them. Just seeing the expression on the people's faces was thanks enough for me. After we finished each stove, all of the family members would come out to thank us and we would play with the kids and give them toys. Each home made us some form of food (like tortillas, fruit, and snacks) and a drink of bottled water or papaya juice. Some of the food didn't exactly settle well with our stomachs, but we ate it nonetheless out of respect for the starving families. They were really giving us food out of their budget while they were going hungry. It was all too humbling."
On the last day of stove building, the women of the village made a special lunch for the Villa group, and conducted a cultural ceremony complete with traditional Mayan dancing. The villagers presented the volunteers with a hand-woven blanket embroidered with the school's name. Eileen O'Connell, coordinator of the Villa service effort, says "Lots of tears fell from the Villa community. We have never experienced such thanks and gratefulness."
Reactions of some of the other volunteers follow:
Kim Humphrey, VMA senior
The experience was humbling in the extreme and forced me to re-examine my priorities. The experience ... has made me aware that it is not only a cliche that you can change the world, it's the truth.
Laura Kennedy, VMA junior
For me, the best part about Guatemala was realizing all the things we had in common with the people there, and how similar we are to them. We had been fully educated on the differences between our cultures, so it was a pleasant surprise to meet people who look and live differently from us but share many things in common with us anyway. We saw couples riding motorcycles together, we saw giggling groups of schoolgirls and clusters of schoolboys karate-chopping each other and whistling at girls they liked. The children, like children in the US, are inquisitive and love to play. My group spent much of its time playing frisbee and tag and monkey-in-the-middle, just as we would have at home. ... Families drank sodas and laughed with us at our hilariously broken Spanish. Music was played, there was dancing and eating and laughing – just like in America. These were simple parallels, but they connected us to people we knew very little about, and they are what, to me, made the trip so meaningful and life changing.
Renu Ramesh, VMA junior
Going to Guatemala was a life-changing experience. The interactions with the locals gave me a new outlook on life. The people there are not materialistic, and find happiness within themselves. They are not frivolous or petty, and their resilience can carry them through any hardship. I learned much from the Guatemalans.
Emily Schubert, VMA Junior
This trip was an experience of a lifetime. My eyes have been truly opened, and I am now even more grateful for what I have and the lessons the people of Guatemala have taught me. If you have your friends and family and people to look out for you, nothing else matters. The rest are just trifles. This trip will definitely have an effect on the rest of my life. I will never forget the people and their generosity and
hospitality, and I hope they never forget me either. I'd like to thank HELPS International and Ms. O'Connell for making this trip possible.
Joe Reser, VMA Senior
The trip was not about building stoves, but it was about forming a connection with the people. The greatest lesson I learned from them is to measure success by family and friends, instead of how much money one makes. The overall experience was incredible. Guatemala is a beautiful country with amazing people.
Derek Furnish, VMA Spanish teacher
This trip really made me see what is important in life: relationships. Family, friends, neighbors, loved ones are what is important. Material possessions, money and stuff do not make us happy. I saw people with just a roof over their heads who were still smiling just because they were alive. The only time I saw sadness was when they talked about loved ones who had died or moved away. My cable is now cancelled and I'm on my way to visit my mom and then my grandmother. I am going to try to remember this trip whenever I complain about something trivial or unnecessary, and remember that as long as there is someone who loves me and cares about me, then things are going to be just fine. The only thing I need to acquire is a tighter relationship with everyone around me.
