Tom's Visit, Part 2 of 4: Classrooms Off Campus

Text by Tom Kemple

Tom Kemple is a sociology professor at the University of British Columbia and a long-term friend of Pop Wuj. With his colleague Sylvia Berryman in Philosophy, he has been bringing groups of students to study in Guatemala since the summer of 2010. In November and December of 2017 he spent five weeks studying Spanish, building stoves, helping out in the Pop Wuj Clinic and Nutrition Program, and having fun at the Family Support Center. What follows are some writings from his trip created in the course of his research project on university fieldschools and study abroad programs, titled “Global Citizenship at Home and Abroad.” We hope you enjoy Tom's stories and insights as much as we enjoyed having him back at Pop Wuj.

My daily rhythms give me a certain confidence and security in being here: Isabel and the Mayan Cosmovision symbol behind her greet me as I enter the school; I immerse myself in Spanish classes every day; watch a film in the evening (“Men With Guns” and “Ixcanul: The Volcano” are well worth it); attend Luis’s roundtable on justice for indigenous people; help out in buying and delivering materials for safe stoves; attend a birthday party at the Family Support Center; help make a fruit salad for our weekly Thursday dinner; or go on a long weekend hike to Lake Chicabal with Alberto and some other students. 

Pop Wuj Entryway

I am slowly getting used to the confusions and irritating inconveniences at my homestay as well: the door to the bedroom only closes after a struggle; the electric heating unit in the shower seems permanently set to tepid, and always hits me in the head; and my housemate and I were locked out of the bathroom for several days when I closed the door behind me. The two-block walk to and from school is an obstacle course of broken sidewalks, dog doo, and unpredictable traffic, which is especially hazardous in the dark.

As I learn to modify my ordinary assumptions and everyday habits, I also come to understand something about myself as a citizen of a supposedly more developed and civilized world. Everyday I have to unlearn things that had always seemed normal and natural to me, and I retrain myself to see my habits and assumptions as products of a long history that I otherwise take for granted.

As many of the students we’ve brought here have said over the years, Pop Wuj’s Safe Stove Project in the poor indigenous village of Llano del Pinal just outside of town is among the most challenging and moving experiences one can have in a lifetime. I spent last Tuesday (election day in the U.S.) helping Carmelina, Benedicto, and another student, Alison, to sift, measure, and mix sand, cement and water for the last of the three stages involved in building a ‘safe stove’ (estufa segura).

A Completed Safe Stove

Doña Maria, the old woman in the blue blouse in the photo, is almost blind from cooking over an open fire over a lifetime in this tiny shack, which I could hardly bear being in for more than 10 minutes at a time (and I live with a chain smoker!). As my Spanish teacher Gerson pointed out to me, the main incentive for people like Doña Maria in having a stove built is the economic saving rather than the health or environmental benefits: 5-6 bags of firewood per month at 30 Quetzales each (about $4US) can be reduced to 3-4 bags with the new stove.

These savings seem to be offset by the large concrete house which is also being built on the plot, presumably from remittances in US dollars sent by relatives working in the States. Despite these improvements, Doña Maria tells us she plans to continue cooking in the shack and living in the wood and straw hut located just behind it.

The afternoon unfolded without a hitch, with our leader Carmelina, who lives in this community (and who took the photo of us), giving us very clear instructions, all the while chatting in K'iché and Spanish with Doña Maria and some neighbors who stopped by.

The next day Carmelina led me, Mynor, Elizabeth, and Carmen, along with 14 members from the families who would be receiving stoves in the coming months, to buy and distribute the stove materials. This time things did not come off so smoothly: the hardware store opened late; we had a hard time organizing a human chain to get 800 bricks loaded onto our truck at the factory; the store that supplied the cement was no longer there; the people delivering the blocks seemed to be lost for the first couple hours; and the caravan of trucks could only barely maneuver in and out of the narrow dirt roads of the village.

Each of these expenditures of muscle and money made me think about the meaning and value we might take from coordinating our efforts for a task that each of us benefits from differently. Or as the sociologist in me would put it, the day reminded me how the material division of labour is infused with a moral spirit of solidarity that each of us experiences in our own way.

¡Nos vemos, Pop Wuj!

Text by Mary Gramiak and photos as noted

Environmental Projects Coordinator Mary Gramiak finished her 3 months of intensive volunteering at Pop Wuj on April 7.

 General Projects Coordinator Emily Rempel and Mary celebrate a successful day of stove construction! You can read more about their experience flying solo here. (Photo by Señor Sales, Safe Stove Project participant)

Three months of laughs later, and the time has come for me to say goodbye to Pop Wuj. 

Interning as Environmental Projects Coordinator with Pop Wuj has been such a wild ride. From stove construction to translating in the clinics, from scholarship meetings to Timmy brigades, these three months offered an opportunity to test skills I didn’t even know I had.

Mary carefully negotiates moving one of the Family Support Center's cabinets alongside Pop Wuj students and Director of the Medical Program Roney Alvarado. You can read more about moving the FSC here. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

Mary helps sort recycyling to be weighed at the private recycling center outside Salcajá in March. You can read a little more about recent recycling work here. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

While I focused on safe stoves, something which was awesome about Pop Wuj was the diversity of projects I was able to lend a hand in. Working with the clinics was a personal favorite. Whether it was translating consults, helping out in pharmacy, or weighing babies with Dr. Herman, there was always something new to be done.

Mary helps sort recycyling to be weighed at the private recycling center outside Salcajá in March. You can read a little more about recent recycling work here. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

Above all, working in the communities around Xela was the most rewarding part of the internship. While three months isn’t an exceptionally long time, it was long enough to get to know some of the women, children, and families, who participate in the programs. After a couple weeks, faces in Xecaracoj and Llanos del Pinal started to look a lot more familiar, and we were regularly greeted with kisses on the cheek.

Mary leads a Nutrition Program presentation about indoor air pollution in Llanos del Pinal in January a couple weeks after starting her internship. You can read more about Mary's experience with this presentation here. (Photo by Elise Lynch)

What really struck me was how easy I settled in at Pop Wuj and in Xela. Even the chicken bus felt totally normal after a couple of rides, and I had to remind myself when we had volunteers that this was a totally new experience for them. That feeling of comfort and normality, even in an environment which is so different than what I was accustomed to, is completely attributable to the community which Pop Wuj has built, and I will miss it very much. 

So thank you Pop Wuj and thank you Xela! You will always have a very special place in my heart and I am so grateful for the time we were able to spend together.

Mary hefts a bag of clay into a Safe Stove Project paricipant's home. You can read about our Safe Stove Project "compra," or materials shopping and delivery day, here. (Photo by Emily Rempel)

Mary has returned to Canada to complete her Bachelor of Arts Honours in Global Politics at Carleton University. ¡Te deseamos todo lo mejor, Mary! Que te vayas bien.

You can read more blog posts written by Mary or spotlighting her by clicking here.

A Very Feliz Día de la Tierra

Text and photos by Emily Rempel

Happy Earth Day and ¡Feliz Día de la Tierra! Although I'm a few days late with this post, Earth Day is something that Pop Wuj celebrates every day. This year the international campaign for Earth Day was focused on Environment & Climate Literacy.

"Education is the foundation for progress. We need to build a global citizenry fluent in the concepts of climate change and aware of its unprecedented threat to our planet. We need to empower everyone with the knowledge to inspire action in defence of environmental protection."
- EarthDay.org

Environmental protection is fundamental to the work of Pop Wuj, as indigenous Guatemalans suffer the brunt of climate change. The problems of disease, poverty, and malnutrition that our communities face are compounded by a lack of safe and clean water flowing through our rivers, nutrient‐rich soils to support crops, and pollution‐free air to breathe. Our communities are also left vulnerable to irregular weather patterns, such as severe storms and late rainy seasons. In addition to the physical importance of environmental protection, the health of the natural world is also paramount to the spiritual health of many indigenous communities.

At Pop Wuj we work with our communities to help build knowledge of the effects of climate change as well as strategies for combatting it. In our Safe Stove Project we discuss the dangers of burning plastic, including its effects on bodily and environmental health. With every new stove that is built Pop Wuj stresses to the family the importance of not using plastic and other trash as a fuel for cooking.

We also offer an alternative to burning plastic ‐ recycling! Our recycling program collects plastic, tin, paper, and other recyclable materials from our Spanish School and Family Support Center. We also encourage families in our Safe Stove Project to bring their recycling to the Family Support Center.

Once we have enough recycling stocked up we head out to the recycling plant. Our last recycling day was in March, and while being a bit impromptu, it was a success nevertheless. Former Environmental Projects Coordinator Mary and I spent the morning repacking all of the recycling (as some of the costales had broken down) and bringing it down into the school. Then, with the help of Carmelina and our Student Coordinator Elizabeth, we packed the many bags of recycling into the back of our rented moving truck and headed out to the recycling plant.

The moving truck packed tight with costales full of recycling

Interns Emily and Mary hard at work 

At the recycling plant the workers compiled our smaller costales into giant bags, which were then attached to a hook and manually held up, so they could be weighed. We were paid a certain price per pound of recycling, depending on the type. For example, the thick plastic medication bottles from our medical programs were worth more than thin plastic drink bottles.

Student Coordinator Elizabeth scoping out the grounds

Any extra money that we receive from the recycling day (after paying for the cost of the moving truck) is invested back into the projects. Unfortunately this day, because we were asked to deal with our recycling before we had saved up enough, we did not make up the loss on the moving truck. Nonetheless, the unfortunate amount of waste that we had generated though the projects will now be repurposed instead of sitting in a landfill or on the side of the road.

Having the recycling project active at the Family Support Center is another important strategy for supporting "environment and climate literacy." By teaching the Center participants about the principles of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" and the impacts of waste on the environment, we're helping to foster a cultural change in the attitudes and behaviours of the kids in our project and their families. To encourage the kids to continue recycling we held a small prize ceremony. Kids that brought in recycling from their homes during the month of March were able to pick out a fun pencil and eraser set. While the prizes were simple, it helped to reinforce the value of recycling at home as well as in the Center. As you can see by their faces, the kids were very happy to pick out their new writing tools.

Teacher Santos begins the recycling prize ceremony

Zulmy brought in the most recycling for the month and was allowed to take the first pick of pencils and erasers!

Jonathan choosing his prize

Rosemeri's turn!

With the rainy season shortly approaching, we will also be starting our reforestation project soon. Our Pop Wuj environmental projects, while simple, help to create cultural change around how we interact with our environment. By promoting recycling, disseminating information about the dangers of the common practice of burning plastic, and working towards reforestation, we can help make small improvements in the health of our world.

Stove Shopping Day

Text and photos by Mary Gramiak

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks here at Pop Wuj! After completing the interviews for the incoming stove group, and holding our group meeting the previous weeks, last Wednesday we spent the morning performing La Compra – a morning where we collect and deliver all of the necessary stove materials for the incoming group. 

With this group we have 11 women and families from the communities of Llanos del Pinal and Xecaracoj, all of whom were present to help with the Compra. For each stove there is 110 bricks, 30 cinder blocks, a stovetop, a chimney, a door, and cement, clay, and sand. 

We started by collecting and loading the bricks into the truck, about 1,210 in total. From there we all piled into the back of the truck, a squishy experience to be sure. We then picked up the necessary cinder blocks and sand and headed to the communities in order to distribute the supplies to each home. 

A community member helps unload sand in Xecaracoj

This is where the manual labour aspect of the day really jumped into overdrive. In order to unload all of the materials we set up some assembly line and unloaded the bricks four at a time, and the cinder blocks one at a time. Something which was really cool about the unloading process was the community aspect of it, where everyone worked together to achieve the same goal. It was tough though, and if I never carry another bag of cement in my life I think I would be okay with it. 

The unloading begins. 

Incoming stove recipients held unload bricks.

Something I really appreciated about the Compra was that it gave the participants of the stove program the opportunity to be more involved with the stoves they will be receiving. When the women participate in aspects of the stove building like picking up and delivering supplies it creates a relationship based on teamwork and mutual respect between the participants and the organization. 

Working with Pop Wuj has been a really cool experience because in all projects there’s an emphasis on creating collaborative relationships with the surrounding communities, and working together to develop solutions which directly meets the needs of the population without taking a domineering approach. The Compra this past week was an excellent example of the importance of including community members in all aspects of social and development projects. 

Off Come the Training Wheels

Text by Emily Rempel

As with any position of responsibility, there comes a time when the trainees must learn to fly solo. Sometimes we know exactly when our newly learned skills will be put to the test, and other times we’re surprised by a pop quiz. For Environmental Projects Coordinator Mary-Mak and I, last Tuesday was definitely a “pop quiz” kind of day.

We set out on the Safe Stove Project just like any other day, our bag of tools in hand, following the lead of our stove expert, Carmelina (who we’ve lovingly dubbed “La Reina de las Estufas,” or “Stove Queen”). We would be finishing up the third and final stage of a stove we’d been building in the home of a truly lovely couple and their sweet little baby. This particular stove project was memorable for me as it would be the first time I’d gotten to work on the same stove through all three of its stages.

We had just barely gotten started with the day’s build when our Stove Queen, Carmelina, was called away on family business. Of course, not only can Carmelina build a stove faster than anyone I’ve ever seen, but she’s also a mother.

Talk about a #LadyBoss, am I right?

Stage 1 of the stove (Photo by Emily Rempel)

And that’s when the training wheels came off, when the pop quiz was handed out, when we learned to fly solo. Now, before I indulge myself in any more dramatization, I should probably clarify that this was definitely not my, or Mary’s, first stove. I’d participated in about 5 different builds, doing every stage at least once. Mary-Mak, as our beloved Environmental Projects Coordinator, had completed her full stove building training, which you may have read about here (if not, check it out!). She had also been co-leading builds with Carmelina.

Stage 3 ft. the family's creative addition to help even out the cement (Photo by Mary Gramiak)

Nevertheless, it was still nerve-wracking to be left reliant on our own understanding of the project… especially when dealing with materials as unforgiving as cement. This would be Mary-Mak’s first time leading the project solo, and unfortunately for her, I was the only other Pop Wuj volunteer there to help. It was also only my second day as an official intern.

Luckily, Mary-Mak’s training quickly kicked in, and she was able to guide us through the final stage of the stove with only a few minor speed-bumps along the way. We were also helped along significantly by Señor Sales, the husband and father of the house, who was wonderfully patient with us and managed to contain most of his laughter at our masonry struggles. He also rigged up a very effective method of smoothing and evening out our final layer of cement. All in all, it ended up being a real team effort, and was an amazing experience to be able to work so closely with the family that will be using this stove for many years to come. Through lots of broken Spanish, hand gestures, and laughter, we were able to communicate well enough to get the job done.

There’s something really special about being welcomed into someone’s home, in a space as intimate and vital as the kitchen. For food lovers like me, the kitchen can really be understood as the heart of a home. As such, it can’t be stressed enough how important it is to make sure that a kitchen is as safe, accessible, and functional as possible. To read more about the numerous health concerns associated with unsafe stoves, check out the last blog post by our Environmental Projects Coordinator. At the end of a building session, when you’re up to your elbows in clay and cement dust, it’s this knowledge that brings the most satisfaction: these stoves will undeniably have a tremendous positive impact on the everyday lives of the families who are using them.

With that last thought, I leave you with one final photo:

(Photo by Señor Sales)

The (almost) finished stove, Mary-Mak, and myself ... and the dirt-smeared, exhausted, triumphant smiles on our faces.

Talking Indoor Air Pollution

Text by Mary Gramiak and photo by Elise Lynch

One of the most exciting moments of the week before last was during a Nutrition Program meeting in Llanos del Pinal, where I was able to give a short presentation on the impacts indoor air pollution have on the lungs of women and children.

Here at Pop Wuj, we run a Safe Stove Project which upgrades cook stoves in the Llanos del Pinal region just outside of Xela. These stoves are constructed to reduce the probability of burns, reduce smoke in the kitchen, and reduce the amount of fuel needed by about half. With this presentation, we were able to continue to educate women on the impacts open fire cookstoves have on the health of themselves and their children.

Mary and Carmen talking about the impacts of indoor air pollution on health. 

Many people don't know, but indoor air pollution is one of the leading causes of premature death in the developing world, with World Health Organization estimates ranging around 4 million deaths every year. The indoor air pollution comes almost exclusively from stoves which use open fires, biomass fuels, or coal, and has profound impacts on the health of communities and individuals.

Indoor air pollution affects children the most, and can lead to low birthweight in infants, pneumonia, atypical lung development, asthma, and tuberculosis. In adults, it contributes to strokes, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and cancer. For the community, these stoves can pollute the air and their energy inefficiency leads to rapid deforestation. On a day to day basis, the smoke from these stoves contributes to skin and eye irritation and headaches. Of the 3 billion people worldwide who cook over  these stoves, many are inhaling the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes a day. Of course, because women and children spend the most time in these environments, they are disproportionally impacted.

In the Thursday presentation I was able to talk with a group of women from Llanos del Pinal whose children participate in the malnutrition clinic about the different ways indoor air pollution effects women, children, and babies. In order to illustrate these points we filled three different size jars, small, medium, and large, with water in order to represent the different sized lungs. Then we dropped the same amount of ink into each and watched the ink spread throughout the jar. In the smallest jar, which represented the lungs of a baby, the water was pitch black while in the adult's jar the colour was significantly more diluted. This represented how the effects of indoor air pollution on babies are significantly more profound than the effects in adults. By using the visual demonstration of the jars and the ink we were able to turn a complex topic such as respiratory health into a user-friendly experience for the women involved.

A really rewarding moment from this presentation came the next day, Friday, when Carmen, Carmelina, and I went out to conduct interviews for the new group of safe stove participants. Before someone can receive a stove we conduct short interviews to identify their needs and overall profile, including number of dependents, level of education, and so on. What was special about these interviews was that we met with many women who had intended the presentation the day before. This was important because we were able to follow through with a lot of women by not only talking about the impacts of indoor air pollution, but actively offering them alternatives to their current cooking situation.

If you're interested in learning more about the impacts of indoor air pollution in the developing world there are many resources available including this fact sheet  from the United Nations.

"¿Cómo se dice 'cinder blocks' en español?" and other learning curves from the Safe Stove Project

Text and photo by Mary Gramiak

¡Hola todos!

What a wild ride this first week with Pop Wuj has been. After spending the first couple days getting the lay of the land I was able to start working on the Safe Stove Project in full force. This started on Tuesday and Wednesday with half-day excursions to complete one stove and get started on another. After getting a taste on those days, I spent the weekend with a Guatemalan engineer and Spanish teacher named Mynor in another community learning how to build the stoves from start to finish. For those of you who may have never built a stove before, let me explain a little about what that looks like.

The first phase consists of laying a 90cmx125cm base of cinder blocks, held together by cement. The cement has to be mixed by hand with either a shovel or a spade. While the cement is being mixed two cinder blocks need to be cut in half, and then a third cut into quarters. When I told my dad this his response was "How do you cut the blocks? Do you have a masonry saw?", the short answer to this is no. In order to cut the cinder blocks they have to be chopped in half with one of our two machetes. Before beginning the Safe Stove Project I had never considered just how many uses there are for machetes, I have since learned they can be used for pretty much anything. Once the cement has been mixed and the cinder blocks have been cut we use small trowels to fill the gaps in the blocks and let it sit to dry. This is a very messy process if, like myself, you're not so handy with trowels or cement. There are three layers of cinder blocks in the first layer, and after each layer is completed the first stage of the stove is finished.

Once the first stage has dried overnight we are free to get started on the second stage. This stage is similar to the first and consists of placing three layers of brick atop the cinder blocks with both clay and cement. This stage is significantly more difficult than the first as both the clay and cement need to be mixed by hand which is a tough job when there's only two people, as was the case over the weekend. Once the clay and have cement have been mixed you can begin laying the bricks on top of the cinder blocks from the day before. When laying the bricks it is important to account for the door at the front and the chimney at the back, but other than that it's pretty straight forward. Upon reflection the hardest part of the work was mixing the clay and cement. It's hard to say how long it took to mix the two pastes because in my head it took 16 hours at least; realistically it probably took more like an hour. Michelle Obama arms here I come.

Mynor putting the final touches on the Safe Stove
this weekend. 

The final stage is the most satisfying by far because it's the stage where the stove top and chimney are installed. There is still some cement mixing in this stage, but significantly less which is a nice break. The tricky part in this stage is cutting the hole in the roof in order for the chimney to have somewhere to go. In order to do this you have to climb up a ladder and cut the hole using very rusty tin cutters. As one person is working on that others are busy constructing a ramp within the stove to provide a direction for the smoke, and filling the final layers of brick with clay. Once the chimney has been installed and the bricks have been laid we install the stove top and lay a final layer of cement. From there we set to work levelling the cement, filling any holes, and cleaning the chimney and stove top so it's bright and shiny for the family. You can check out a picture of the final product above.

Working with Mynor this weekend was challenging it was so cool to be invited into a space as intimate as someone's home. Everyday with Pop Wuj has proved to be an incredible learning experience so far and I'm so eager to see what the next few months have to offer.

Life as a Pop Wuj Intern

Text by Nadia Mondini and Photos and Captions by Elizabeth Barnes

On Friday, July 22, Pop Wuj bid goodbye to interns Chris Conklin and Nadia Mondini. Adaptable, enterprising, and enthusiastic, the two of them have been involved in every single one of Pop Wuj's projects and helped us tremendously. As one of her last undertakings, Nadia wrote a reflection on her experience volunteering with us.

When I applied for a position as an Environmental Projects Coordinator at Pop Wuj in January, I had not much of an idea of what to expect. I didn’t know much about Guatemala, about what my everyday routine as an intern would look like, or about the people I was going to work with. Today, on my last day after almost two months at Pop Wuj, I cannot believe how sad it makes me to leave.

My experience at Pop Wuj has been more amazing than what I could have imagined, and I’ll take more wonderful memories with me than I can possibly count.

My Monday mornings, coming in, getting my coffee, chatting a while with students and the just so amazingly cheerful and welcoming teachers, always with a smile and a joke ready for me.

Pop Wuj teacher Mynor Arrivillaga, Nadia (far right) and Pop Wuj students tuck into homemade pie on an afternoon break. 

My Monday meetings with the other interns and social work students, in which Director of the Social Projects Carmen de Alvarado would introduce the projects and tasks for the week. Her tales about Guatemala, culture, history, and her work, fruits of 25 years of experience.

My afternoons out in Llanos del Pinal, building stoves with the students and my fellow interns. The families helping us mixing clay and carrying bricks, sometimes offering us delicious tamales at the end of our work. Our sunset chicken bus rides back to Xela.

Our days planting little trees together with families and children, working all together in the sun and green of Llanos, San Juan, Chirijquiac. Carrying back our empty boxes, happy about our work, joking around.

Nadia and Social Work Spanish student Caroline Palleschi came to Chirijquiac for a long morning of planting trees and distributing scholarships. The biggest challenge was hauling 150 saplings up the mountain  on foot after discovering that our minibus couldn't manage to drive up the narrow trail!

The big stove meeting, in which we received the group of 14 new stove recipients to explain the building process. Día de compra, when we went out together with the recipient families to buy and distribute all the necessary materials, building long human chains to pass on bricks and cement blocks.

My Thursday mornings in the nutrition program, giving short educational speeches after the children had been weighed, measured and checked. Enjoying my banana and my cup of Incaparina together with the mums and kids, before heading back.

My afternoons out at the Centro de Apoyo Familiar, reading books with beautiful Zulmy, crafting Father’s Day cards or running around the courtyard.

Our Thursday dinners at the school, when one of the students would cook for everyone and we would spend a fun and delicious evening all together. “Mojitos para arbolitos” Thursday, on which us interns prepared mojitos to raise money for reforestation.

Nadia rests between planing saplings in the "very healthy forest" in San Juan where we planted in early July. Having written her undergraduate thesis on reforestation , Nadia was eager not only to use her own knowledge to benefit Pop Wuj's Reforestation Program but also to listen to and learn from the experiences of local community members.

All of our awesome weekend trips, visiting coffee farms, hot springs and natural volcano saunas, ziplining, climbing volcanos. Our night hike up stunning Tajumulco, the highest volcano in Central America, and watching the sunrise from the top, tired and freezing, but happy.

Eight weeks with my absolutely gorgeous Guatemalan host family, the insanely delicious “comida típica” (tradicional food), all of their tales about Guatemala, all of our laughs, all of our game nights.

Just simply every single stroll around beautiful Xela, which in only two months has become a home away from home.

In just two months, I learned more than I can say. I gained an insight into the absolutely stunning and fascinating country that Guatemala is, and realized that despite all the problems and issues it is facing, it is home to the doubtlessly most amazing, cheerful, and genuinely friendly people I have ever met. I made so many friends and so many experiences, and I am incredibly thankful for having been able to become a part of the big great awesome amazing Pop Wuj family.

I leave Xela as a happy, sad intern, knowing I will miss everything and everyone here, and hoping I will be able to come back one day.

Chris and Nadia spent their last morning at Pop Wuj saying goodbye to teachers, students, and staff and basking in the satisfaction of a job well done.

We miss Chris and Nadia already! Chris has returned to the U.S. to pursue his master's in global affairs at Yale University, and after a few more weeks of travel, Nadia will go home to Switzerland to pursue HER master's in Comparative and International Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. We wish our brilliant interns all the best and remind them that they will always be welcome at Pop Wuj.

To learn more about Pop Wuj's long-term volunteering program, check out EntreMundos, the local nonprofit that facilitates our internships.

Reforestation 2016

Text by Nadia Mondini and photos by Dawn Liberto (unless otherwise noted)

On June 24, we had a special day at Pop Wuj: reforestation day in Llanos del Pinal and Xecaracoj.

Tree planting is one of our main environmental projects. Although we plant in several other communities, in Llanos del Pinal and Xecaracoj especially reforestation complements the safe stove program. Pop Wuj stoves are designed not only to prevent smoke-related health issues, but also to save more than 50% of firewood: in order to reinforce this step against deforestation, during the rainy season we plant tree saplings on lands owned by new participants in the Safe Stove Project and families in the Scholarship Program.

Every year, reforestation gathers Pop Wuj staff, students, teachers and volunteers, safe stove and scholarship families, and children from the Family Support Center for a day of work and fun out in the green of Llanos.

Even after two hours of dividing trees up by families and organizing trees into boxes according to their destination on Wednesday afternoon, Nadia is excited for reforestation on Thurdsay morning! (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

Saplings wait downstairs to be loaded into a chicken bus for their trip to Llanos del Pinal. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

We partnered with 14 families, all of whom received five trees to plant by their houses, and 7 of whom also received trees planted on other properties used for firewood or farming.

Pop Wuj teacher Alberto shows a group of 5- to 9-year-olds how to plant their saplings. Kids of all ages helped with planting, from the 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds in the youngest class at the Family Support Center to the teenagers who participated in the FSC last year and aged out.

FSC participants show off their saplings before planting. This year we planted a mix of pino blanco, aliso, and ciprés (white pine, alder, and cypress), all species that do well in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. 

This year, we were able to plant 275 saplings belonging to three indigenous species, as well as one eucalyptus tree for each family, very appreciated for its medicinal effects. Since we had to reach different patches of land, we split up into four groups. I joined the last group, which went the furthest and consisted of a funny mix of children, adolescents and the women owning the land.

Everybody was in a good mood, laughing and telling “bromas” (jokes). Our chicken bus took us high up the slopes of Santa María volcano in a beautiful drive across corn, bean and onion fields. When we reached our destination, everybody helped cleaning the lands from shrubs and weeds and digging little holes for the young trees. It was a challenging task, but together we made it, and finally left the lot with its share of young trees waiting for some afternoon rain. After a well-deserved banana and orange snack, we then went back to the lowlands in a fun pickup drive altogether.

Evelyn peels plastic wrapper off a sapling with care not to damage its fragile roots. (Photo by Elizabeth Barnes)

For me as a relatively new intern at Pop Wuj, reforestation day was a highlight. It brought together such a lot of different people, all having fun, all learning from each other, and all contributing something to our common effort for a small step against deforestation and firewood shortage.

Robyn and Amalyah's Exclusive Goodbye Interview

Text by Amalyah Leader and Robyn Nielsen

Left: Amalyah reads with Andrea at the Family Support Center. She designed and led a number of fantastic activities for the kids in Llanos del Pinal. Right: Robyn wields a machete on a stove-building morning. Her background in global health drew her especially to safe stoves and nutri, where she distinguished herself in developing excellent educational materials. 

Amalyah and Robyn finished their three-month internships with Pop Wuj as General Projects Coordinators last Friday. Luckily, before they left, an anonymous Xela journalist got the chance to sit down with the two and ask the pressing questions we've all been dying to ask.

If you were a salad, what type of dressing would you have?

Robyn: An organic, rosemary-infused, 100-year-old Italian balsamic reduction with a hint of lavender honey harvested from free-range bees. Or ranch. 

Amalyah: Avocado, lemon, garlic, olive oil dressing.

What was your favorite project to work on and why? 

R: The safe stove project. From seeing young children in the nutrition program with respiratory problems and standing in smoke-filled kitchens during the interview process, it's obvious how much of a positive impact the project has. Particularly in terms of improving respiratory health among women and children. I enjoyed being a part of the whole process from being trained to build stoves, conducting interviews, hearing the women's stories, material buying day, stove meeting day, the stove benefit dinner, and each time we went out to build. I like working with my hands to create something and enjoy the comradery that building stoves creates. Also, there's pretty views from people's roofs when it's time to install the chimney. 

What is your fondest memory of being at Pop Wuj?

A: The process of meeting all of the women in the current stove group to building stoves with them. From interviewing them to finishing their stove, I got to listen to many women share stories of incredible strength and courage. There is always an immense amount of laughter and good humor building stoves with Carmelina and the families. And two of our interns officially got married in Llanos! (Congrats Adam and Chris!!) These will always be happy memories to remember. 

When you're not at Pop Wuj working, what are you most likely doing?

A: Sleeping, eating, or climbing volcanos. 

R: Eating chicharrones and standing in the cheese section of Paiz. Simultaneously. 

Favorite hideaway places in Xela?

A: Baul!! It’s so hard to find a place to be in nature alone, but I love climbing up in the early mornings. 

R: I have a secret balcony. 

Favorite Thursday night dinner?

R: Mojitos. And burritos. 

A: Gotta agree, those mojitos were pretty good.

Is there life after Pop Wuj?

R: Pop Wuj is life.

So what’s next?

R: First I’m traveling around Guatemala with my mother, and then I’m going to hang out in Belize and then I will be visiting Cuba. Then I will return home to Seattle for a job with a travel company.

A: I’m going to stick around Xela, you’ll probably see me around. I’m going to teach some English and might teach flamenco. And I’m going to study Spanish again! And hype myself up for going back to college this fall.

Editor's Note: Even though they can be ridiculous, we're grateful to Robyn and Amalyah for their three months of hard work in the projects and wish them all the best. We'll miss you!

Know someone who might be interested in committing three months to support Pop Wuj's social, educational, environmental, and health projects? Check out EntreMundos, which facilitates our internship program.