Bites & Frights: School Vacation at the FSC (Part II)

Text and photos by Elizabeth Barnes (unless otherwise noted)

Last week we started a blog series on the activities we've held in the last month or so at the Family Support Center. Today is the last regular day of the project for 2016. As the kids are enjoying a water balloon fight and afternoon movie in Llanos del Pinal, we're looking back on one of the funnest days of school vacation: Halloween!

Director of Social Projects Carmen de Alvarado invited some helpers to Pop Wuj on the morning of October 28 to prepare pumpkin pie for the Halloween party. Older students who aged out of the Family Support Center came from Llanos del Pinal (no easy feat given that unexpectedly, no buses were running that day!), and long-time Pop Wuj volunteer Ashley Aue brought participants from her  new project, Pathways, serving adults with developmental disabilities in Xela.

We used every part of the pumpkin—the seeds for roasting, the insides for pie, and the shells for jack o'lanterns! (Photo by Marie Barranco, Pop Wuj Social Work Spanish student)

Carmen and our bakers roll out dough for pie crust! The pies turned out absolutely delicious, but they didn't last long enough to be properly documented by our photographers. (Photo by Marie Barranco)

That afternoon, with dozens of pies of all sizes baked, we packed up in a hastily rented minibus to head out to the FSC Halloween party.

First we helped everyone get into their costumes. We had a huge jumble of witches, pirates, zombies, princesses, Spider-Men, vampires, a Little Red Riding Hood, and a butterfly. (Participating adults were a bat, a pirate, and a soccer witch in a jersey and spooky shawl.)

Trying to get everyone to keep their costume on, hold still, not show off their karate kicks, look at the camera, and smile at the same time proved to be the scariest part of Halloween.

Costumes on, we gathered in the party room to tell scary stories.

The room was lit only by jack o'lanterns.

Spooky jack o'lantern light completes Ilcy's witch look.

The kids and Carmen took turns telling scary stories. In Carmen's tale, dogs howled as the dead walked past. She asked the kids over and over, "What did the dogs do?" and over and over, they howled.

Stories told, we turned the lights back on, had pumpkin pie, and set up trick-or-treating. Kids approached Pop Wuj students in pairs to say either "Trick or Treat!" or "¡Dulce o Truco!"

Wilson and Manuel choose from mini Halloween notebooks offered by Pop Wuj Medical Spanish student Katrina. Another student, Will, handed out candy at the next trick-or-treating station.

Halloween is always a blast. After our party on Friday the 28th, the FSC had a few days of vacation for the children to celebrate Día de los Muertos (or Día de Todos los Santos) with their families. Check out our next blog post to see what they've been up to since then!

"Can you smile, Andrea?"

Halloween in Llanos

Text and photos by Elizabeth Barnes 

Last weekend was a festive one in Quetzaltenango. Sunday, November 1 was Día de los Muertos — many Xela families visited the cemetery to pay respects to loved ones who have passed away. On Saturday, October 31, throngs of people filled Parque Central to admire the alfombras (carpets) lining the streets and watch the image of la Virgen del Rosario parade around the park and back into the church.

It was also Halloween, of course. While Halloween is a much bigger deal in the United States, Xela had its share of decorations and costumes, and Pop Wuj celebrated at the Family Support Center. Every year we have a party with decorations, treats, costumes, and scary stories.

The day before our party, General Projects Coordinator Albizael Del Valle repairs an orange shirt worn by one of our pumpkins. All of the more elaborate costumes were made ahead of time by Pop Wuj staff and volunteers.

On Friday morning, los grandes (the older kids) bused down to Pop Wuj to make decorations for the party that afternoon.

The most popular choices were pumpkins, bats, and ghosts.

After making dozens of paper decorations for the walls of the Family Support Center, the kids tackled the pumpkins to bake pies and carve jack o' lanterns.

Our carvers begin by scooping out the insides of each pumpkin.

Some of the pumpkins had thin, brittle shells that had to be cut with care.

Carmen, our Director of Social Projects, led the kids through the laborious process of making pie dough, rolling it out, and transforming gooey piles of pumpkin into a delicious filling.

The kids take turns kneading two batches of dough.

After cooking the pie filling on the stove, students moved it to the blender and added spices.

Carmen shows the kids how to smooth the dough. 

The pie turned out absolutely delectable, and somebody couldn't resist breaking into it early!

At lunchtime, the kids headed back to Llanos del Pinal to eat fiambre, the traditional dish for the Day of the Dead, and put up their decorations. Pop Wuj staff, volunteers, and students followed with all the costumes, and the party started with everyone getting into character!

"Dr. Shanti" poses with Princess Amy. Shanti is a Medical Programs Coordinator for Timmy Global Health.

General Projects Coordinator Albizael Del Valle cowers in fear around four terrifying zombies and a ferocious lion.

Mid-photoshoot, Princess Amy charges in to adjust Oscar the Robot's cardboard head.

Ilcy, one of our witches, shows off her costume.

Once everybody's costumes and face paint were ready, we killed the lights and lit the jack o' lanterns carved earlier that morning. It was time for scary stories!

Albizael and Gustavo, a teacher at the Family Support Center, spooked us all with their stories.
Allegations that Albizael's jump scare made me yelp in fear are entirely unfounded.

Stories done, we brought the lights back up to feast on pumpkin pie. Ashley, a longtime volunteer and Medical Programs Coordinator for Timmy, taught the kids how to say "Trick or Treat" in exchange for a piece of candy.

Full of pie and sweets, the kids sadly had to take off their costumes and pack 'em up for next year. We hope your Halloween was just as fun!

Vacation at the Family Support Center!

The last month at the Family Support Center has been focused on preparing the children and youth for the end of the school year exams. This has meant a lot of reading, homework help, and working on multiplication tables. School is now out for most of the FSC participants and we have a lot to look forward to during vacation.

To kick off the end of the school year, we hosted a Halloween party on Friday, October 31st. In the week leading up to the fiesta we began making kites at the FSC as a way to celebrate the festivities surrounding Day of the Dead and All Saint's Day. Throughout the holiday weekend, families throughout Central America gathered in cemeteries to honor the dead. The kites, or barriletes, are thought to carry messages up to the spirits in heaven.

Intense kite making

We also have some big plans for our little garden at the Family Support Center! The other week we all spent some time outside weeding. With hands and tools we have begun to dig out the weeds that have sprung up among our remaining onions and chard during the rainy season. We're thinking about planting another round of fast-growing radishes as well.

Weeding the chard

Post-weeding chard

Since the produce from the garden is used to supplement food costs at the Family Support Center, we plan to take full advantage of the remaining wet soil from the rainy season in order to plant and harvest even more vegetables!


We also started teaching classes in Math, English, and K'iche', so that FSC participants are able to brush up on their skills during vacation. Amy, Adam, Lily, and Emma teach math and English classes, while Santos teaches K'iche'.

Emma's math class

Emma's math class

Amy's attempt at an outdoor math class

Other fun activities that we will be continuing from last year include Olympics, water games, and hikes around the valley! Stay tuned!