Of all the possible skills I thought I might be able to learn while living in Guatemala, using an espresso machine never ranked very high. But that is where expectations could be deceiving.

Helen, another volunteer with Soluciones Comunitarias in Nebaj, brought a small espresso machine back from the States so that El Descanso, a small restaurant and favorite hangout place of gringos passing through town, could improve its coffee options (currently, they fill a big container of instant coffee).

What better way to get tourists to stay in Nebaj a little longer and put more money into the local economy than by offering quality coffee – there’s no shortage of it growing here.

That said, the majority of the highest quality coffee is sent directly for export. So, needless to say, the first three blends we’ve experimented with have come out less than ideal. But, we’re still hopeful to find something incredible and then teach the meseros in the restaurant how to make our favorite lattes, cappuccinos, and espressos.

So, even if the coffee we’ve made has been less than superb, Shreya (another volunteer, pictured) and I are already stellar espresso machine users. Ultra important life skills for the win.

This post by Fellow, Ian Zimmermann has been cross-posted from the Current TV News Blog.

Q: What are you first impressions? How does your new home compare to where you live in the US?
What an amazing place! I grew up in a small New England town, so in terms of the number of people here, it’s certainly nothing too overwhelmingly different; that said, it can be impossible to find certain things here. Want to buy some peanuts? Too bad – you have to travel an hour and a half to find any. I honestly had no idea that there exist people this friendly! Everyone wants to say buenos dias to you and start a conversation. One huge pro of there being very little to actually do here is that human relationships end up being valued above all else.

Q: What are some of the local issues facing the community you’re in?
Lack of educational opportunities must be the most pressing concern here. Only last year did Nebaj – a community of over 20,000 – open its doors to the first free public basico (roughly junior high). If a student decides to go on for a diversificado (high school diversification), the options that exist are limited to three professions: a banker (impractical because there are only two banks in the city), a college track (impractical to most because there are no universities within an hour), or a teacher (the only profession in which it is possible to find work).

Looking outside of Nebaj into the surrounding communities, one of the biggest problems is malnutrition. Beans, rice, and tortillas are great and all – but they frankly don’t make up a balanced diet. In an attempt to raise awareness to this issue, one of our projects is to begin a vegetable garden with kids at a community center called El Centro Explorativo in La Pista. We hope this project will lead families to start their own vegetable gardens as a means for which to improve the local diet. Read more…

One of our major projects in Guatemala is to support Soluciones Comunitarias, an NGO which trains Guatemalans to sell health related products such as reading glasses, water purifiers, and vegetable seeds. This week, we spent two (long) days traveling around northern Quiche and I produced the following video to document our journey:

Complimenting Zuleika’s blog post from last week, we spent this Monday in a town passed Vi Chibala called Santa Averina doing publicity for a campaign for Soluciones Comunitarias (we do publicity a few days before returning for a campaign when we bring the water purifiers, reading glasses, and other health products for sale). Usually, we just walk around town and hand out fliers describing the event; the free eye exams and such. In Santa Averina, however, we did our whole publicity in the market, where hundreds of women shopped in their traditional garb.

Following this, we found out that the town has a waterfall: “do you want to go?” My initial thought went something like “mehh, waterfall…” But, realizing it would probably be my only opportunity, I agreed to check it out.

After we walked fifteen minutes or so, we began to hear the roar of tumbling water. Turning a corner, I about lost my breath. Expecting the falls to be 20 feet or so, I was beyond shocked to see the picturesque falls stretching high into the sky in a microclimate rainforest – absolutely gorgeous. Moving closer, the falls simply appeared more and more magnificent.

I suppose the moral is to never turn down an opportunity to see cataratas?

Feeling the part of an expert, I’ve decided to make a simple guide explaining how to come in contact with Guatemalans that have lived and worked in the States.

1. Go to Guatemala
2. Look “American”
3. Locate any form of public transportation (camionetas or microbuses work fine)
4. Take aforementioned public transportation
5. Sit on the driver’s side, as far back in the vehicle as possible
6. Wait

I kid you not, this plan is foolproof – I’ve successfully used it twice myself. (Okay, maybe not foolproof, but the only times I’ve met Guatemalans that lived in the US occurred this way). Read more…

“Touch your head…head…touch your ears…ears…now jump…” About 30 minutes ago, I finished teaching my first ever foreign language class. Sure, teaching English isn’t as impressive as some other language, but the class was exhilarating nonetheless.

School is on vacation this time of year in Guatemala, but “El Instituto” in Nebaj is the city’s first fully public (and free) escuela basico – high school (mas o menos). Ambitiously, though the school has existed for less than a year, the director decided to open up the doors during vacation to encourage further learning. This means 13, 14, 15 year olds that actually want to learn – to the point where they are willing to go to school when they aren’t required to. Whoa! I can’t help but think that if my high school had opened its doors for classes over the summer, you would have been able to hear a pin drop. Read more…

Were I to be handed a five hundred dollar disability pension check from my job as a paramedic, I might not immediately think to move to Guatemala and start planting macadamia trees. This is why I wasn’t the founder of the Valhalla Farm.

The farm, tucked behind a small bridge and a jumble of vegetation, lies on one of the main roads out of Ciudad Vieja. Only steps beyond the bridge, I found myself in a place of utter beauty. The massive macadamia trees create a picturesque deep green landscape, made even more majestic by the clearly laid footpath that could have easily fallen straight off the pages of a JRR Tolkien novel.

Before receiving a formal tour of the property, we sat around a simple wooden table, carefully placed to fit in perfect harmony with its surroundings. Before long, we all had breakfast on a plate in front of us — three perfectly cooked pancakes served with rich homemade macadamia nut butter, blueberry jam, honey, and fresh pineapple and melon. Simply stated: the best breakfast of my life — every flavor impeccably intense, every color vivid, and every texture smooth. A meal for the gods.

Still immersed in a state of food-imparted ecstasy, I pulled myself away from the table to observe the small pond with fish. Come to find out, this pond exists for the purpose of creating natural fertilizer, dually using fish excrement and the roots of two breeds of quick growing plants. In fact, nature was a pretty important concept at the Farm. The six acre campus has no electricity and prides itself on not using clones of trees, rather encouraging biodiversity “as God intended” to ensure that the macadamias can survive changes in environment. I can’t help but feel that these kind of projects are the most promising ways that humanity can combat our environmental problems. Read more…

“…After passing through what appeared it must be the last bit of civilization before the volcano, we came across this covered, but open-air shelter filled with over 20 men — as well as a few children holding marshmallows up to the bus window trying to wordlessly convince us to purchase the colorful, gooey treat. We chose — or our driver, I guess — chose a guide for the rest of the journey…After passing this shed which surely must be the last sign of civilization, we drove about 5 km and entered into a whole other town. When we parked, our van was quickly surrounded by men on horseback, hoping we would opt for a taxi, rather than hiking ourselves…”

“…We began climbing — getting quickly exhausted on the first kilometer of steep concrete stairs — completely plastered in horse droppings…”

“…I don’t know if there was another option or not, but our guide took us esquiando down the volcanic sand…”

“…Generally, there’s something really surreal about roasting marshmallows over lava, but I couldn’t even begin to complain because they tasted so incredible…”

Overall, what a day.

“Ask 6 tomato vendors how much a pound of tomatoes costs. What is the disparity in pricing?”

This is one of over a dozen questions on a single sheet of paper we were handed in the main Antigua market. Beck, our Antigua contact with Social Entrepreneur Corps, gave us this survey as a means with which to begin to understand the many dynamics of the local marketplace.

As we went around to different vendors of various items — from nuts, to avocados, to pirated DVDs — we were forced to acknowledge the staunch discrepancies in pricing both between sellers and between buyers.

Read more…

David Abernethy, Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Stanford, was introduced by Abby Falik as one of the single most important people in engaging her in global development. He described development in terms of different groups; personal development focuses on our capacity to handle problems while the development of human “groups” will focus more specifically on improving other capacities: be it the ability to raise money or to feed more homeless people. Further, development can be measured in different roles – social and economic. Using various per capita measurements from the World Development Report, we examined how we can start to understand development within a nation.

Read more…