A Special School and More–Monday 23 April 2018

Linda photo of the sign above the sink in our hotel room. Bottled water is all we been drinking on the trip, but in some places it has been okay use the tap water to brush our teeth even though we shouldn’t drink it. Go figure.


The poorest of the poor in Guatemala City live beside and spend their days in enormous city garbage dump. Hanley Denning was a young woman who went door to door to learn how she could help these people and their children. The result was Safe Passage, started in 1999 and as they say, bringing hope, education, and opportunity to the children and families making their lives around the City’s garbage dump. Rather than me tell their story, if you are interested the links above to their website are very rewarding.


Rather than decide what to do to help these people, Hanley’s approach was to ask them what she could do to help them and then find a way to make that happen. Hanley was killed in a tragic accident in 2007, but what she started goes on with that same ideal in mid.


These children are often from a single parent family where their single mother works daily salvaging items in the garbage dump. Theirs is not a job, but rather a free for all where what you can collect you try to turn into money through some type of recycling. The kids get two meals and two snack a day, often the only food they may get, but even more important is the attention and nurturing of a caring adult. It’s not that their parent/parents don’t love them, it’s that their life is literally one of survival so they have very limited time for their children.


Some parents are able to break the cycle, these are items they have made and are on sale at the school.


This one of the mothers. She attends classes where is taught to sew items on an industrial sewing machine. It is helping her break the poverty cycle. She wanted her photo taken with me. It seems Jennifer Lopez is her favorite actress and she said I resembled the actor who was the villain in the movie Anaconda. Never saw it, but I wasn’t about to turn down a chance to hug an adoring fan. Bob the Stud.



Sorting the day’s collection from the garbage dump.


Outside the garbage dump.


Many never leave the dump, the for the few that succeed, the sky’s the limit.


Chicken Bus direct from the US and the blacked out school district. I’ve seen them where the name of the school district is still on the bus.


School buses should have this type of paint job in the US. These are NOT school buses in Central America, they are regular passenger buses. And the engines and transmissions aren’t the lame ones that were originally in them either. When you see them flying by you going up a steep four lane mountain road you now they have had some very serious modifications done to them.


The vehicle of choice in Guatemala. Late 80’s to mid 90’s pickups. Often wrecks from the US, they are stripped of all emission controls, and anything other than the the very basics, I.e. , and creature comforts. Each ounce of added weight is that much less they can haul. Body work, some chrome and paint and you’ve got and awesome vehicle. And yes, there are a lot of red pickups on the road.


Speaking of red vehicles, let’s not forget the Tuk-tuks.


In the cooler at a service station. Rolling Rock beer, Latrobe, Pennsylvania's finest and the first beer I ever drank.

 
Photo by Linda. She really liked it, making (not) me look this way and that to get it just right. Poor Terry.


Armed guard by our bus at the same service station.  Everywhere you go in Guatemala there are armed guards. As Richard so aptly put it, they don’t make us feel frightened, they make us feel safer. I actually meant to photograph all of him, but somehow only got his body.



The moment a tour member tripped and fell coming out of the service station. Both Richard and the guard ran over to be of assistance, though none was needed and all was well. Still, it was a scary moment.


Mayans make up 60% of the population of Guatemala. The area we be spending the next days are Mayan country. This is typical of what you see on the streets.


Mayan celebration in small town. Richard warned us the sound would be loud. He was wrong, the sound was deafening.


Linda got into the sense of the moment, dancing with this Mayan gentleman. I took some videos. but, it will likely be after we return to the states before I post them. Internet connections are not the greatest here.


Unloading our bus at the end of the day. And a fantastic day it truly was. This post doesn’t even begin to relate how wonderful it truly was. It is why we travel.