Timmy Brigade with Butler University

Text and photos by Jessica Franks (except as noted)

We achieved another successful Timmy Global Health brigade with the help of Butler University. We were fortunate to have Dr. Meg back with us for this brigade.  We loved seeing her and her family back in action at Pop Wuj.  The brigade happened during the week of May 18 - 22, and we traveled near and far to the towns of Llanos del Pinal, Xeabaj II, Pujujil, Buena Vista, and our very own Pop Wuj clinic in Xela.

The students and faculty from Butler University had endless amounts of energy throughout the week. Their hard work and compassion were much appreciated by more than 200 patients which we saw over the course of one week! To learn more about Timmy Global Health and the international impacts of these brigades click here.

Day 1 in Llanos del Pinal, and the Butler students are ready for the big week ahead. 

Doctora Carmen Rosa welcomes the students and gives them an overview of the community.

Students discreetly work in some health education while coloring with the children.

  

Dr. Meg returned to Pop Wuj for the brigade and provided excellent care to her very captivated patient. 

Teaching the children the importance of hand washing.

And providing fluoride treatments to the children of each community.  

As always, the children adored Edmundo!

A patient in Pujujil receiving her first pair of glasses. 

Students first triage the patients, in which they measure their heights, weights, and vital signs.  

Triage on Friday in Xela. Photo by Amy Scheuren.

A quick stretch break at the farmacia.

Outside the clinic the children were enjoying themselves in the sunshine. 

Another captivated audience.  

The children were just as excited for the brigade as the Butler students. 

Everyone likes to fly, no matter what country you come from!

El Día del Árbol

Guatemala celebrated Arbor Day on May 22.  We recognized the day with a little bit of tree education and planting.  Because it's just the beginning the rainy season, the land isn't ready for large reforestation projects, however, we planted ten trees at the homes of three Family Support Center families.  The families will care for and tend the seddlings until the rains really start.

Approximately a dozen of Pop Wuj students and teachers headed out to Llanos del Pinal with 10 seedlings, including white pine, cipres, alder birch, and eucalyptus. 

First we talked about the types of trees we would plant today.

We talked about the trees and their uses.  Many of the children and teachers told us that they use the trees as medicinal plants.

Walking toward the homes where we would plant

Oscar, very proud of his white pine seedling

Amy and Amy planting the first tree of the day

Ismael watering the seedling

Guayo with his seedling

Planting another white pine

Chipping in to plant a cipres seedling

Planting an alder birch

El Día de la Madre

Text and photos (except as noted) by Jessica Franks

Mother’s Day falls on May 10 each year in Guatemala. To celebrate, the children and youth at the Family Support Center put together a special presentation of skits, choreographed songs and dances, and fun games for the moms of the Llanos del Pinal community on May 7. A large group of Pop Wuj students and teachers attended the celebration and the kids were excited to perform in front of a captivated audience.

Carmencita welcomed everyone to the activity and we got underway!

Photo by Shanti Aguilar

Wilson, taking his mustache very seriously.  Photo by Shanti Aguilar.

¿Quién ganó? Una mezcla of moms from the community and moms of Pop Wuj's faculty. 

Trying to pop the balloons. Photo by Shanti Aguilar.

Hip hop stars with their backup dancers honoring their moms with song and dance.

  

The ladies performed a choreographed dance for us.

 And then pulled Amy and Shanti from the audience to join them!

In the middle of the celebration we recognized the first quarter honor roll students.  ¡Buen trabajo!

A skit by the little ones.  Photo by Shanti Aguilar.

¿Cuál mamá puede comer un plátano el más rápido?

 And when we returned to the Pop Wuj school, the students were cooking up a big dinner for everyone! Buen provecho!

Recycling in 2015!

Text by Amy Scheuren

On Friday May 9th, we made our first recycling trip of 2015 and earned Q103 or about $13 USD!

The children and youth at the Family Support Center have been collecting plastic bottles and containers for several months.  Last week we loaded the plastic in Llanos del Pinal and brought the full costales (sacks) to Pop Wuj.  It quickly became obvious at Pop Wuj that it was time to clear off the roof terrace and recycle!

Gustavo and the kiddos packing the costales
Photo by Ashley Aue

 

Helping to load the truck in Llanos del Pinal
Photo by Ashley Aue

Loading the truck in Llanos
Photo by Ashley Aue

With the help of a few Pop Wuj students, a former long-term volunteer and University of British Columbia professor, Sylvia, and Wilder, we carried all of the recycling to the street and began loading it onto the truck.

Plastic on the left, metal and glass on the right!
Photo by Amy Scheuren

There's always a way to load everything in one trip!
Photo by Amy Scheuren

Tying down the bags
Photo by Amy Scheuren

But we forgot to load the broken chair!
Photo by Amy Scheuren

We headed to Recip, a private recycling center just outside of Xela, and after a few hiccups and delays we were able to recycle:

• 237 lbs of plastic at a rate of Q0.25/lb.
• 10 lbs. of aluminum at a rate of Q3.50/lb.
• 18 lbs. of glass at a rate of Q0.10/lb.
• 35 lbs. of tin and small kitchen appliances at a rate of Q0.20/lb.

Mountains of plastic, packed and ready to be shipped out of Recip
Photo by Amy Scheuren

The $13 earned on recycling will be saved and combined with other 2015 recycling income.  In November we will use these funds to reward the recycling efforts of the children and youth at the Family Support Center with a pizza party!

Feliz Cumple: Celebration Time at the Family Support Center!

Text by Amy Scheuren

On Friday May 1st, we celebrated the birthdays of 14 Family Support Center children and youth.  We have three group birthday parties per year and on May 1st we celebrated all of the children and youth who have birthdays between January and May.  

Filling the piñatas! 
Photo by Amy Scheuren

As always, staff and volunteers were preparing for the party all week.  We bought three piñatas, a lot of candy and peanuts, and selected gifts for each of our cumpleañeros.  We decorated the main room at the Family Support Center, destroyed three piñatas, sang "Feliz Cumpleaños," gave the birthday presents to the birthday kids, and distributed the goodie bags to all children and youth.  

Photo by Shanti Aguilar-Cardenas

Photo by Shanti Aguilar-Cardenas

Photo by Shanti Aguilar-Cardenas

The kids were extra excited because we had many current and former long-term volunteers join us for the party.  It was great to have former Family Support Center coordinators Ashley and Adam as well as former General Projects Coordinator Shanti in attendance.  In addition the party coincided with Johanne's last day in Xela and Llanos del Pinal.  Johanne has been studying at Pop Wuj and volunteering at the Family Support Center since September 2014!  Many short-term volunteers pass through Pop Wuj and the Family Support Center, but it's a special treat when the kids get to celebrate with folks that they know well!

La Celebración de Pascua!

Text and pictures by Johanne A. Olesen

We celebrated Semana Santa (Holy Week) a week early at the Family Support Center. Guatemalan Lenten and Easter celebrations do not include bunnies, eggs, or the color yellow.  It is much more of a religious celebration, especially for Catholics.

But at the Family Support Center we often mix local and foreign traditions.  Plus the kids love egg hunting and candy.  They have been asking us for weeks when we are going to look for the eggs!

So we boiled around 40 eggs and then all the kids painted one each.  We also made small notes with "Consejos del Conejito," wishes and advice from the Easter Bunny.

Then we hid the eggs and the messages around the playground.  When we came back inside we found about 30 really,  really eager and egg-hunting-hungry kids!  So all that was left was to count down from three, two, one, go!

The hunt was on!

All of the kids found at least one egg and a message before going back inside.  Those who found more than one shared with the children who didn't find any.

Even Doña Delfina, everyone's grandmother and owner of the house where the project is based, read her message from the Easter Bunny.  Hailey, a Pop Wuj student, read hers in English.  Santos, one of the teachers, read his in K'iche', and I had the challenge to read it in Norwegian.

Doña Delfina reading her message

When everyone understood and promised to listen to the message from the Easter Bunny they received a little Easter treat--chocolate!

The Family Support Center was closed for Semana Santa, so after the activity we all wished each other happy holidays and everyone ran home!