An organic finca, Oscar Berger, and a yellow church

Greeting to all. Here in Guatemala the sun sets over the 4th day of March…how time flies. As each day passes I’m becoming more immersed in my volunteer work and more accustomed to Guatemalan ways. The interviews I’ve been conducting have continued to be highly interesting. On Tues. I went out to this finca outside the little town of Colomba where they produce organic coffee and bananas. After the war a group of ex-guerrillas got together and took out a loan to buy this finca. Over the eight years that this group has lived on the finca they’ve created a really beautiful community. One of the interesting insights I took away from this visit related to nature of organic/fare-trade coffee. Although the coffee the people produce is organic certified and they receive a significantly higher price for their product, they are still earning very little because the annual fee for organic certification combined with taxes associated with foreign markets eats at most of their would-be profit. As I’ve visited other organizations I’ve often thought, “If only these people could figure out how to access a foreign market where their product is in demand…” In this case the people had figured out how to access a foreign market, yet the financial difficulties remained.

Another interesting and insightful day was last weekend when in short, Jose Manuel and I snuck into a conference where the president of Guatemala, Oscar Berger, spoke. The long story…. Jose Manuel got a job delivering flowers to this conference that was held in a newly built Hawaii-style five star resort. This new resort happens to be minutes from Jose Manuel’s house and his grandparent’s finca. So he invited me along to meet his family and see his house. After we delivered the flowers we did just that- I met his family and visited his and his grandparent’s house (where I might add we ate/drank coconuts). His grandparents, being prominent figures in the town, had received an invitation to the afore mentioned conference. Jose Manuel decided that we would accompany them, using the entrance ticket we had from delivering flowers to get through the gate. Once through the gate we stuck close to his grandparents and not a person questioned our presence. So yah, I heard Oscar Berger speak and then afterwards ate a ridiculously delicious and extravagant lunch for free. The day truly highlighted the extreme class differences present in Guatemala and all of Latin America. On one side of the wall people were scraping to get by, on the other side of the wall people were eating every variety of meats and seafoods while sipping on their drink and sitting by the swimming pool. After lunch we went across the street to what is essentially Central America’s Disney Land. We rode that roller coaster that is complete with five upside-down components, walked through the various stores that each represented a different country from around the world, and took the train that not only circled through the amusement park, but also wound through a coffee finca being worked by campesinos (just a bit of irony). As I said… an interesting and insightful day.

Another highlight of the last few weeks was yesterday when I visited two really funky churches in this town off the beaten track. Both churches are painted bright yellow and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Rather than try to explain what they looked like, I’m just going to refer you to the photo I’ll post. The blending of Mayan beliefs with Catholic doctrine is definitely evident in many ways and forms in Guatemala, but this church seemed to epitomize it. It was really cool! Well, I’m off to dinner with some friends. Again, I hope you’re all doing well.

Love,
Amy