Work at Safe Passage office and Antigua Tour

Even though we didn't get a chance to visit the Guatemala City site of Safe Passage today due to security concerns, the yesterday was a productive learning process for me.  In the morning we walked the 15 minutes to the Antigua office of Safe Passage, where we started the day with several videos that have been made by various people including Safe Passage volunteers that address the everyday realities of the guajeros.  Perhaps the most impressive of these for me was one that dealt with the adult literacy project.  The power of learning to read and write after a lifetime of illiteracy came across so clearly in the eyes of the women who were interviewed for the film.  One of the interview subjects was a 75-year-old woman who decided to commit herself to learning to read after seeing one of her fellow guajeros learn to read--at the tender age of 95.

After viewing the videos, I worked in the volunteer office for several hours translating letters Safe Passage students had written to their US sponsors.  Invariably, students mentioned that they were doing well in school, that they were happy at home, that they had many new friends, and that they loved their sponsors and hoped to meet them soon.  Reading and translating these messages into English was a humbling experience for me.

In the afternoon, we took a guided walking tour of Antigua.  We visited the municipal headquarters and learned much about the history of this breathtaking city.  Our guide called the architecture here "earthquake baroque" because it was built to withstand the frequent seismic activity.  For me one of the most informative parts of the tour was our visit to the ruins of the cathedral.  We descended into the subterranean catacombs where the bodies of commoners were left to decompose until the bones were exposed and could be deposited in another interior chamber.  These chambers are also part of a weekly "ghosts of Antigua" tour.  We also saw a monument to the burial of such historic characters as Pedro de Alvarado (Spanish conquistador) and Bernal Diaz (who accompanied Alvarado and wrote much of the Spanish perspective on the conquest of Mexico).

In a few minutes we head back into Guatemala City for our final day at the Safe Passage site.  We have heard that the violence in the capital has died down, so we will proceed with caution but everything should be fine.

Have a great Friday everyone!

DS