"La Siembra"

The economy of Salacuim is completely based on agriculture and the majority of the activity is centered around corn. We live in a special area of Guatemala because it's possible to get two corn harvests per year, where the majority of the country can only get one.

To help describe how important corn is to the people here, "La Gente de Maiz" (translated: the people of the corn) is a common nickname for Guatemalan people. The word for the ever-present corn tortilla in the native Q'eqchi' language, "wa" is the same as the verb "to eat". Basketball practice can be canceled if the concrete court is being used for corn drying. Each family sends a mother, grandmother, or daughter with a bowl full of corn to the gas powered "molinas" (corn-grinders) three times a day to make "masa" (corn paste) for the tortillas for the meal.

This morning I was invited to help with "la siembra" (planting) of our neighbor's plot of land. I felt honored to be able to help with an activity I found to be rich in tradition. The custom is to eat breakfast with the land owner in the morning and work until the planting is done. When the work is finished, all are invited to share in the "caldo de gallina" (chicken soup) lunch which is the popular celebration dish for people here.

The work was all by hand. Only using a 2 meter long stick with a metal point on the end to pierce a hole in the ground and an over the shoulder bag to hold your seeds. It takes a little practice to throw your seeds in the tiny hole with out leaning over, but I figured it out after an hour or so. We were 6 "sembradores" (planters) to cover 12 "cuerdas" (roughly 21 square meters, or about 25 "varras" in local measurements), and it took us about a half of a day to finish the job. If I had been a hired worker, I would have earned 15 quetzals, or just over 2 dollars for my work.

Here are some pictures of the action:


"El Sembrador"


Teodoro with his perfect, consistent seed pitch.

Peace Corps Photographers

We take some snapshots of our ¨Peace Corps Experience¨ here in Guatemala. They are great memories and a few of them turn out really nice. However, there are some top notch P.C. photographers here and they are capturing images similar to what we see here but in a much more artistic and eye appealing way.

Check out these site if you want to see some good PC guatemala pictures--

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanmiller/




http://www.flickr.com/photos/43918028@N00/

Child of the week

name: Candido Medina
age: 14
grade: 5th
favorite subject: civics
favorite sport: soccer
future goal: to be a nurse

Candido seems to be excelling in 5th grade this year. We met him while he was hanging around the school the first week asking the teachers if he could just come to class. His family didn't have money to pay for the initial fees or buy any supplies, but he still wanted to participate in class as much as he could, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to pass the year without some sort of funding. His teacher from last year asked us to help him if we could. Candido became one of the more persistent kids we have met and showed up at our house a few days in a row asking for any kind of help. We went to visit his family and found him in a single parent home with a mom that cannot speak Spanish, only q'eqchi'. There was nobody to fight for him, so he had to fight for himself. It was hard for us to communicate with his mother, but we are improving our q'eqchi' every day and hope to have more of a relationship with his family in the future.


the new Jaguar group members 2007

Since he has started school this year, he has become more involved in the community. He was part of a new wave of members inducted into the youth group, Jaguar, this year. He found odd jobs after school to pay for his admission and monthly fees to be part of this group. He's taking advantage of the workshop opportunities they provide as well as computer classes and other service projects for the community.
He also is one of our favorite kids to guide us around town on adventures. A couple months ago, he took us on a cave tour around Salacuim and he is always looking for something fun to show us. We know this will be a good year for Candido, thanks to the help he is getting from you.


cave guide


helping dry corn

Chicken Bus Photo Essay

The chicken buses are famous in Guatemala. These converted American school buses are the main form of transport around the country and are known for being so full that people hang out of the windows and doors. Check out this website for some more info and pictures.

Chicken Bus Page