Traffic jam

A couple of weeks ago we went shopping in town as usual, but the traffic was very congested.  In fact, on the way home, it took us 40 minutes just to get out of town, instead of the usual 5 minutes.  The main problem with traffic jams here are the old U.S. school buses and large 18-wheelers trying to navigate the narrow roads in town with 6-point turns at some corners.  This happens because the main highway that runs north-south through Chichicastenango goes through the narrow grid of streets that were created before cars existed here.

We later found out that the "traffic police," were absent because the town mayor called them off the job to help him with some other business.  Three of these officers direct traffic in the three main intersections in town rather than traffic lights.  We heard that there was a lot of frustration with the mayor over this issue!  And we found out how important those three traffic workers are!

House foundation

The boys poured the first section of our house foundation this week.  They did a great job digging and setting posts, then pouring the bottom concrete base.  Now they have five more sections to go, and then they have some foundation blocks to lay and columns to pour.

Christmas Eve fireworks

For the last ten years that we have lived in Guatemala, our family has enjoyed going outside at midnight on Christmas Eve to watch the fireworks display put on by many individual families.  The beautiful display lasts about 15 minutes. Now that we live on our property, we have a view of a wide area.  There were fireworks all the way to a mountain range in the distance!  Next, we will repeat the fun experience on New Year's Eve!

Immigration

We have had an interesting time trying to keep up with Guatemala's residency requirements.  We live 3 hours away from the Guatemala City immigration office, so each time we try to submit paperwork, we have to pay a courier to take the documents, as well as our passports and identification cards, in his private vehicle.  He then waits for the lawyer's assistant to stand in line at the immigration office and handle the transaction for us, and then the courier returns everything to us later that day.  

Earlier this year, before the pandemic hit, we tried to send our yearly paperwork.  The immigration office didn't accept it because we hadn't paid our newly required yearly fee.  So we tried to pay our fee, but the office closed for the pandemic while our lawyer's assistant was in line, and they didn't open again for several months.  Then we tried again, but they had introduced a new document required for the girls and wouldn't accept their fee without it.  So we paid to obtain those documents for the girls and submitted their fees.  Then, after finally paying our yearly fees, we tried to submit our paperwork again, which we had to completely redo because it was now more than 6 months old.  This time we were told we couldn't submit it because we had already paid our yearly fees, the opposite of what they told us earlier in the year.  Go figure.  Five trips to the immigration office and still no resolution to our yearly requirements!

The rules are often changing, and the information we receive from the immigration office seems to depend on which teller is asked or what day we ask!  Let's hope things work better in 2021!

Our workers

Whenever we ask our friends here for suggestions about construction workers to hire, we are told the same thing, "I know some workers, but I won't recommend them because they are dishonest."  We have also had workers that we wouldn't recommend to anyone else and that we have had to fire due to dishonesty.  

Right now, our construction team is down to three boys, all of whom are hard-working and very respectful:  Manuel, age 18, his brother Sebastián, age 16, and their cousin José, age 16.

Hurricane Eta

The following post by Mark W. Wakefield, a missionary in Guatemala, describes the situation here well!  A large part of Guatemala was affected by Hurricane Eta, with large floods and deadly landslides, and now Hurricane Iota is heading towards us.  We are grateful that here in Chichicastenango we only received a modest amount of rain from the first hurricane.  Please join us in praying for the people of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, that the Lord will have mercy and that Hurricane Iota will dissipate and not do any more damage!

SUNDAY MORNING POST:

“The luxury of building correctly”

 

    So, how come those poor people in the mountains of Guatemala can’t build their houses right? It seems that every time a storm comes through, it washes away houses, and in the case of Hurricane Eta, entire villages were wiped off the map. Maybe people are too dumb or too careless to build on solid ground? Maybe someone should go and show them how to build better houses so they can live in safety and not fear getting buried in landslides?

    Interesting thoughts. So, allow me to defend the poor, the marginalized, and the indigenous who live in remote mountain communities. But first, our home is built safely, and we are on solid ground. We have deep foundations and culverts to keep water away from the house. While we have some adobe walls, they are fortified with plenty of rebar and cement to hold them in place. We have been blessed to have the money, the know-how, and a decent piece of land to work with. But, back to those poor souls, “Who can’t seem to get it right”.

    People build where they have land. “But, the wise man built his house on the rock”. Yes, but you first have to own a rock or a solid piece of property. Family is foremost here, so many people inherit land. Most of the time that land is slowly divided and inherited as the family grows. What was once many acres has often dwindled down to a small plot for each family. You work with what you have. Families like to live in close proximity. So many times houses are built in clumps, where they can share a single water source and if they are lucky electricity. That thing called “sewers” does not exist, so people guide their waste water to wherever is most convenient. That often does not provide for the best sanitation, and often sewage rivers wind their way through the land, homes, and community until it finds a river or stream to empty into.

    Guatemala is extremely mountainous. If you are super-very lucky, you may get a flat spot. Most people don’t. So they find a way to cut into hills and mountainsides and hold up the dirt however they may. If you are on a plain or flat spot, you are also at risk of getting flooded. That is what happened to a lot of the flatlands when Eta or any tropical storm hits. And building a house is complicated. If you have the resources and know-how, you can make mud blocks called adobes. But many people live far away from road access, so the most abundant material is wood. They chop down trees to make wood structures. Some have money and cover that with sheet metal. Others depend on thatched roofs made from palm leaves. Many people simply have pine wood walls where huge cracks form as the wood dries out. And those trees and boards were probably cut with an axe and chainsaw.

    Getting materials into many communities is nearly impossible. There is the luxury of being able to buy cement or blocks, but then you must carry them on your back for 2-8 miles, uphill, both ways. No joking! Even ministries who dedicate themselves to building homes for the poor seldom go out that far. Logistics is a nightmare with roads being muddy and treacherous. Mountain paths are difficult to travel on foot. Only a select few have access to a donkey or horses to help drag wood or cart needed items. So, building a home with a solid foundation, cement floor, or sealed walls is pretty much off the table. They make do with what they have.

    And families live in groups. So during Eta’s pass through here days ago, entire families were wiped out when landslides hit. Deforestation and people planting crops on the sides of mountains have destabilized many areas. It is easy for the land to shift and slide. A man explained that in one home a family member was feeding dozens of children when the landslide took them out. And even homes built out of rebar and cement are not totally safe from the rains. Many people create “level ground” by building their homes on stilts. You can see this in many communities. So, with weak foundations built on dangerous hillsides, even “stronger homes” often do not survive.

    But, can’t families invest and build safer houses? When you make under $200 a month to support a family of seven, you are limited in what you can build. There is little access here to any type of loans. And unlike first world countries where people amass huge amounts of debt to build gigantic houses with more space than they need, many people here simply live day-to-day with what they have. They are truly impoverished and at the mercy of nature. But, they are debt free and content in their small humble home.

    However, many are incredibly happy. They live in family communities on inherited lands owned for centuries. They work their fields and crops together, making a living to survive each day. Many would have it no other way. It is a luxury to think they can just evacuate every time there is a risk. Most have nowhere they can go. It is a first world problem to have to deal with the insurance companies when tragedy wipes out your home. Here I know of nobody who has insurance on their home, I’m not even sure if such a thing exists.

    It is easy to watch the news and judge the world’s poor. If you have a vehicle, live on flat land, own your own property, or live less than 15 miles from a Lowe’s or Home Depot, you are of the world’s elite. And unless you actually come here and live with the people for an extended period of time, I’m not sure their reality can be fully understood.

Video presentation

 This is a video presentation of our ministry: