Pueblo A Pueblo

As a new intern at Pueblo a Pueblo I would like to take a moment to introduce myself.
My name is Boana and I have been living in Washington, DC since October 2009. It took me a little while to find Pueblo a Pueblo, but in January 2010 I got in contact with Rosemary and started helping her with the development of certain projects and some other pressing needs.
I am originally from the Netherlands, and this is where I obtained an undergraduate degree in International Tourism Management. However, I also lived in Spain, and in the UK where I studied for a Master in Anthropology. Both these programs allowed me to travel a lot, and for my bachelor’s degree I conducted research in South Africa and in Bolivia. For my Master thesis, I lived with a Kuna indigenous community in Panama for a month to do research about their situation. I fell in love with the beauty and atmosphere of Latin America and its friendly and warm people. I am hoping to be involved in the development of and support to this part of the world for many years to come, and am certainly very excited to be a part of Pueblo a Pueblo at the moment, for it is clear that the organization has a great influence on the people of Santiago Atitlan. I am looking forward to using my experience in tourism development for a possible tourism project in the field, and to work on the development of other projects, together with Rosemary, Pete and Helen, and the staff in Guatemala. Thanks to Pueblo a Pueblo for the great opportunity!

During her recent trip to Guatemala, Executive Director Rosemary Trent met up Rick Peyser of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Bill Fishbein of The Coffee Trust, who were particularly interested in the School Garden Project which was funded through a grant from GMCR. With Adolfo Ramirez as the tour guide they were able to visit the school garden and see first-hand all the hard work that has been put into clearing the area for the garden project. As an effort to promote family and community participation in the School Garden Project, students and families of the Panabaj school were asked to gather posts to create a boundary to fence in and protect the new school garden.

 
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Last Wednesday a team from Global Giving visited Santiago Atitlan to see the projects being implemented by Pueblo a Pueblo. A team of six people, made up of donors and the Global Giving Marketing Communications Director Joan Ochi, was traveling around Guatemala to look at the projects that benefited from Global Giving. Their stop in Santiago Atitlan included a look at what Pueblo a Pueblo is doing in the community with our sponsorship, library and school garden programs. The trip began in the back of a pickup truck heading towards Panabaj. We first stopped at the garden to see the progress and then visited the school library site. From there we continued on to the school in Panabaj so they would have a chance to see the facility and meet the teachers and students. After their tour of Santiago, the Pueblo a Pueblo team sat down with the Global Giving group for lunch. They had the chance to learn more about our projects and our roles in the organization. In the afternoon they left to continue on their Guatemalan journey. We hope that the opportunity to see the projects firsthand gave them a better understanding of our work and we look forward to continued collaboration with Global Giving in the future!

After a few weeks of preparing the field and soil for planting (clearing the field, applying our coffee shell mulch, and making the rows/tables), last week we were able to have our first in-garden class and plant the first seeds.  The two sixth grade Panabaj classes and their teachers came out early Tuesday morning as garden coordinator Adolfo gave an introduction to basic gardening techniques, and the students went on to apply their new knowledge by planting five tables of beets, radishes, and cilantro.  With the school year well underway here in Santiago, the students in the four, fifth, and sixth grades have been receiving daily instruction in agricuclture and production, with the first few classes in the history of agriculture in Guatemala, and principles and ideas of organic to complement what they’ll be learning and practicing in their edible garden.

We’re working at the moment on finishing installing the drip irrigation system, collecting posts for the fence (which the fathers of the students have been collecting and bringing to the school), and beginning our compost with organic material from the school lunch and snack programs.  In the meantime, teacher trainings have been continuing–as the teachers of Panabaj have expressed great interest in learning more and engaging the families of the Panabaj community in the project.

The second planting will take place next week, and in the meantime, our intial seeds are sprouting, and interest and involvement in what the garden can be likewise has been growing, too.  

Rosemary Trent, Executive Director of PaP, has had a busy past week! Her adventures culminated in a private chat with President Colom of Guatemala. However, prior to her meeting, Rosemary was busy attending press conferences, protocolary sessions, and spending time educating public officials about PaP’s work in Guatemala.            

On Tuesday, February 16, Rosemary attended a Protocolary Session hosted by the Organization of American States (OAS). Delegates from all over Latin America attended as well as permanent secretaries to the OAS. At the session, officials and members spoke about development topics in Latin America and Guatemala’s priorities. That night, Rosemary then scurried off to a ceremony at the brand new Guatemalan Consulate. The ceremony was to inaugurate a new building for the consular office and many local Guatemalans attended the intimate gathering. The President gave a speech and later a traditional Mayan Ceremony was acted out to celebrate the new building.           

 On Thursday, Rosemary was able to attend a National Press Club Newsmaker Program, which consisted of a press conference with President Colom. It was a small, intimate group and President Colom took questions from various attendees. Rosemary was able to inquire about child malnutrition in Guatemala and the impact it is having on education and development. After the session, Rosemary was invited into a private meeting room and was able to meet President Colom! She informed the President about PaP’s mission and goals in Atitlan and was able to steal a (blurry!) picture with him as well. We are all thankful for Rosemary’s persistence and are thrilled she had the opportunity to meet the President as well as share PaP’s work with Guatemalans here in the states.   

Over 30 inches of snow hit the metropolitan area of Washington DC over the weekend,  leaving the Pueblo a Pueblo office inaccessible.  Luckily as ED, Rosemary Trent works out of a home office, getting to work was no problem.  However, getting out of the office was a big problem. Roads were completely blocked off by nearly 3 feet of snow, downed trees and power lines.  Internet and power was shut off for extended periods of time so staying warm and in touch was a challenge. By Monday communication lines were back up but much of the area remained without heat and power.  Just as we see a light at the end of a shoveled tunnel,, we brace ourselves for yet another storm which is expected to bring an additional 18-20 inches of snow!  Be patient if you are trying to reach PaP during our record breaking winter weather!

This week marked the first week of working in our new office here in Santiago Atitlán–as the number of staff and interns has grown, it became necessary for our work space to grow too.  Situated near the hospital in the canton of Tzam Chicham, the new office has been conducive towards all of us being able to work collectively in a space large enough to accommodate the growing work of Pueblo a Pueblo.  Here in the PaP office in Santiago, we’re looking forward to the arrival of Alyssa, PaP’s new intern, as she will complete our staff/intern group for the winter/spring, working in our Mother/Infant program for the next six months.

Thanks to the donors and funders that made the new office space possible!

Last week marked many ‘firsts’ for the school garden, as progress towards the goal of a late-February planting day is well underway here in Santiago Atitlán. The organic school garden, which we hope will reach over 500 Panabaj students in the course of two years, aims to equip the children of Santiago Atitlán with the knowledge of how to grow food organically in a region where heavy pesticide-use is the norm, the nutrition necessary for students to be healthy and happy in a place where child malnutrition is all too common, and the experience essential for students to be able to replicate what they’re learning in the school garden in their very own homes, as many Atitlán households struggle each day in securing enough nutrition for their family. 

Recognizing that the teachers will need to be active participants and leaders in the program in order for it to be successful in the long-term, we commenced the first of our weekly trainings last week which we hope will make the teachers of Panabaj garden experts by the end of the training program, able to carry on the garden work and lessons for many years to come.  As fifteen teachers from the Panabaj school gathered last week for the first training day, led by our garden coordinator Adolfo, what began as a basic introduction into the principles of organic agriculture quickly turned into a lively and heated discussion on  the health of Lake Atitlan (which is currently experiencing excessive growth of cyanobacteria, making the water unsafe for use), inquiries into the effects of heavy agro-chemical use in the region on the social and environmental health of the pueblo, and questions into the logic of the region’s export-led agriculture as many within the town, including students at Panabaj, have little or nothing to eat.  The discussion concluded with the hope that the organic school garden in Panabaj could be a model for the community and the beginning to a more sustainable, healthier future for Santiago Atitlan (with a return to more traditional farming practices).  

Pueblo a Pueblo has hired two new local Tzutujil staff members to work in Guatemala: Johanny Quieju and José Adolfo Ramirez. Johanny will act as the School Library Coordinator and Adolfo as the School Garden Coordinator.

Johanny Quieju holds an accounting degree and has been working as the Panabaj School Library Coordinator since December 2009.  As she works with the students, teachers and community members, Johanny sees the promise the School Library Project holds and has no doubt it will be successful. 

After her first month working with us, Johanny says, “ I’ve been able to see that Pueblo a Pueblo is an organization of great help to the Panabaj community because it has given unconditional support to the people who survived the tropical storm from Hurricane Stan. The majority of the people here lost everything they had.  What I have been able to see during the past month is that the help my people have received from Pueblo a Pueblo is huge and the beauty is that the organization does it altruistically, this is why I feel it is my privilege to have the opportunity to work with Pueblo a Pueblo.”

José Adolfo Ramirez joins Pueblo a Pueblo as the new School Garden Coordinator. He grew up and attended primary school in Santiago Atitlán. He attended high school in the capital, and after high school he attended San Carlos University. Halfway through college Adolfo received a scholarship to attend school in the United States, where he studied agriculture in California. Adolfo has also studied agriculture in Israel.

After returning to Guatemala and receiving his Bachelor’s, Adolfo worked for several coffee companies and managed a processing plant that exported coffee to Starbucks.  He has worked as a coordinator for school garden programs at 9 different schools in the  Sololá region and has taught farmers about different crop stages, nutrition and pests.  Adolfo helped to create a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Santiago and works with a group that hands out scholarships for education. He is also active in ensuring the health and cleanliness of Lake Atitlán.

Pueblo a Pueblo couldn’t be more excited to have Johanny and Adolfo as part of our team!