D
A R C I E
H
A S K I N S
7/13/15
Volume 1, Issue 1
Inside this issue:
The Bureaucracy of Death
The Beauty of Guatemala
Was it Just Sports Equipment?
Politics: What’s Right and Wrong
A Larger than Life Dump
The Process of Transportation
Catholicism
Willfully Trying New Things
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On the first day of our service I was able to meet an inspiring child. This thirteen-year-old was able to affect my life in a way that
I did not think possible.
Being non-verbal put her on another level from the rest of the children at
Daryl’s home as she could not communicate her needs as easily.
Even with a double communication barrier (my limited Spanish and her being non-verbal) we were still able to interact and laugh together. She is one of the smartest thirteenyear-olds I have ever met.
She was able understand both English and Spanish and use head motions to agree or disagree.
She is also unable to stand on her own due to the low tone in her legs, but that did not stop her from wanting to try. With help, she was quite good at it too! With this extra confidence in her ability to stand she will be able to participate in more occupations that require her to stand. She will no longer be occupational marginalized and will have the opportunity to participate in occupations she deems important (Stadnyk,
Townsend & Wilcock
2012). Her happiness was contagious and I could not help but being drawn to her in my free time.
On our second and final day at Daryl’s home we arrived early and decided to walk to the cemetery down the street to pay our respects to the baby that had passed away just days earlier. It was a difficult moment when we finally found his grave and saw the fresh cement.
We all stood silently for a few minutes as many of us prayed for him.
The sadness I felt was relieved by the knowledge that he was greatly loved all through his short life. Being at his grave made me really think about how many Guatemalans felt during the times of the Civil
War. There was so many who died at all ages that did not deserve to die. This sorrow they felt is unimaginable to anyone that has not experienced it firsthand. Even Benz discussed the massacres that happened in the late 1980s that the government tried to sweep under the rug (Benz 1996). It would be extremely difficult to be told by your government that your family members death was not important.

P a g e 2 X a v i e r G u a t e m a l a 2 0 1 5 T i m e s
As we were driving through the National Cemetery it was difficult to hear and understand that if people’s families did not continue to pay the fee, their bodies would be removed from their resting place and disposed of. This was a frequent occurrence as the fee continued into generations when the dead were no longer know personally by those paying. I think the worse part of the whole situation was when
Rolando told us that they would throw the bodies into the dump due to the fact the mass grave was so close to the edge.
I was shocked between the United States and Guatemalan philosophies on the respect of cemeteries. You could see how loving most families of the dead were, as there were many visiting graves and cleaning the area around them. For the government to inform you that you must pay a substantial amount of money every ten years when you are struggling to survive puts the family in a tough situation.
Learning about what the poor Guatemalan families go through during a death in the family and then seeing the huge mausoleums that the rich have, also hit home the substantial income gap. There is a income gap in the United States but not as obvious as in Guatemala so it is not as easy to view this disparity. vocabulario aprendido: el mausoleo,y la tumba
This picture represents not only the beauty of the country but also the beauty I saw in each and every one of the country’s residents. I found that every person we worked with, whether it be the children, our in country “family”, or the employees at the sites were some of the most caring and loving people I have ever met. Having the opportunity to interact with these people and allowing them to make a difference in my life was such an enlightening experience. Without them I would not have truly fallen in love with the country of Guatemala.
I was able to see and experience opportunities that I will never be able to experience any where else.
The joy on the children’s faces when we were able to find a game or activity that they really enjoyed, whether it be bouncing on a trampoline or helping clean was awe-inspiring. I was able to watch a volcano erupt in person and stand on a roof with both people from the United States and Guatemala. That experience was able to connect our cultures together on a basic level.
The experiences I gained will last a lifetime and my heart is larger due to all the people I met.
I loved waking up to the view of the volcanoes, but became aware of the destruction that can be caused from such a beautiful landmark, such as when Volcán de Fuego erupts. Volcán de Fuego can erupt for months at a time creating both a dirty and sick environment (Glittenberrg 1994). vocabulario aprendido: amor, corazón,y la monada

V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1
When I volunteered to blow up the soccer ball and basketballs the night before we went to visit the children at the middle school I was not expecting the feelings I experienced. I sat in the salon for ten minutes pumping the balls in silence as I thought about how much I hoped the children loved the gifts.
These gifts were something simple to us, but to them it could be life-changing.
Little did I know that night that the following morning I would be standing in front of all those kids and their teachers and seeing the joy on their faces as I passed the bag to them. Our donations provided them with the ability to have new occupations that they may have been deprived of before. The deprivation of occupations can cause an occupational injustice in their life (Stadnyk, Townsend &
Wilcock 2012). Some of the children may not enjoy the sports equipment, but even if the equipment just helps one child, that’s one child with an improved life. vocabulario aprendido: el baloncesto, el fútbol, el tenis, y la raqueta
A lot of the time spent in the van went towards discussing the upcoming political elections. Even though the elections were mentioned in class, I do not think that most of us were prepared for the amount of advertisements that adorned the street corners and rock walls of the roads.
When I first arrived, each poster we saw was more and more shocking.. There was one with a woman holding a scalpel and another that boasted about not being corrupt. That was his entire campaign, the absence of corruption. If that was a politician’s campaign in the United
States the media would attack him, but since the government in Guatemala has been corrupt for so long, to some this is a valid strategy.
These thoughts lead to a very personal conversation from Darby explaining his views on the political situation of the country. It was interesting to hear because I have never heard someone be unhappy with every single person running. We learned about the corruption of the government in class, but you do not actually realize how bad it actually is until you are able to hear straight from a Guatemalan’s mouth how they feel. There are part of their society that may never reach news sources outside of their country, leaving outsiders to never know the whole story.
Being able to experience what it is like to be in Guatemala during election season was an eye-opening experience that I’m glad we were able to experience. With that being said, I’m also upset that as the week went on the shock value of the posters and paintings eventually was replaced by indifference. Indifference is never a feeling
I want to have when being confronted by corruption. vocabulario aprendido: elección, politico, corrupción, y bisturí
P a g e 3

P a g e 4 X a v i e r G u a t e m a l a 2 0 1 5 T i m e s
One cannot possibly understand the vast size of the Guatemala
City dump until standing over it and looking down. The ironic nature of how we viewed it is not lost on me. We, the tourists, are able to stand at a distance and mention the smell while there are people whose only livelihood come from working in that very dump. In this moment it was impossible to be a sojourner as that would have required us to join those that work in the dump and experience what they do. Although we were unable to be truly sojourner, I do believe that we were more than just simple tourists. Byram believes that tourists are just there to see the culture not actually experience it. We went a step further than just viewing the dump when we learned about the background in class.
Without what we learned in our Spanish class we would be unable to truly understand the impact in which the dump has on the people of Guatemala City. When watching Recycled Life in class we were able to see what the people experienced daily and what little amount of money they live off (Iwerks, 2006),. That previous knowledge did not effect me as much as it did actually seeing the landfill and knowing what the people inside of it go through and how they are treated.
Many hours of this trip were spent in the vans which left a lot of time to discuss the process of buying a vehicle in Guatemala. Our driver and interpreter, Darby, was able to explain the difficult process to me as we were stuck in traffic.
Darby informed me that most of the vehicles come from the United
States of America. He also explained to me the cost of his van and it seemed quite expensive for how old the van actually was. This is a point that also hit home when we overheated after leaving Amor del Niño and had to separate half of our van into Rolando’s van.
This was something I had never experienced before and was unprepared for what it could mean. I mentioned my thoughts on the price to him and he told me that he thought it was a pretty good deal.
This gave me a deep insight into how our different cultures view money. Many of the drivers in Guatemala drive their vehicles as their occupations and see this purchase as an investment. Many people in the United
States just see vehicles as a way to get around.
Darby opened my eyes not only to other point of views but also the invisible culture in Guatemala. If we did not learn about Edward T. Hall’s iceberg model in class I would have never thought about the culture that was not present to the naked eye. The chicken bus owners see the cost of their buses, painting them, and improving the engine as a worthwhile investment that they hope will turn a larger profit. Darby believes that the vehicles from the United States are better quality then they would ever be able to get in Guatemala.

V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1
My faith has always been an important part of my life growing up and that became apparent as I struggled to take off my cross necklaces that I wear daily. On the last day we were lucky enough to experience mass in a Guatemalan church. Unfortunately
I was unable to get a picture of the actual church that we went to, but this picture is able to capture the beauty of the churches we saw around
Guatemala.
The experience of going to mass in Guatemala was very humbling as I was able to see
how important their faith was to them. The mass was very early in the morning and yet there was probably around one hundred people there.
Even though I could not understand most of the mass, I could feel the faith that was around me. This faith is definitely part of the visible culture in Guatemala. The Spaniards came into the country and left behind the Catholic religion that the Natives were able to mix with their own existing religion. vocabulario aprendido: la ilegsia o la catedral
I have always been firm in my distain for beans since my food choices are largely based on texture. My parents love beans and force me to try them all the time, but this trip I decided to give them a chance again. In class we learned so much about how important the food is to the
Guatemalan culture. I did not want to spend a week there and refuse to integrate myself into the culture.
This view is more sojourner than tourist. A tourist would want to try only what they were comfortable with, not trying to break out of their comfort zone.
I’m really happy that I continuously tried the beans, because I ended up really liking the refried beans. There was something about the flavor of Guatemalan beans that was different than refried beans we have in the United States and I think it was way better than anything I have tried in our country.
This experience really helped me remember that every time
I go out of the country and am in a new area with a strong culture I should be willing to try everything that the place has to offer. If I do not, I will just be a tourist passing through rather than a sojourner experiencing and falling in love with a culture.
P a g e 5

D a r c i e H a s k i n s http://www.xavier.edu/ot/guatemala/
This was the last picture that I took on this wonderful trip. It was taken as we were on our way to the airport and after we said our final goodbyes at the hotel. This was a bitter moment with no sweetness. I left a part of my heart in Guatemala and saying goodbye and thank you to Steve and Darby at the airport was extremely difficult. I cannot wait to make my return in the coming years and hopefully make a difference in not only the children’s lives but also my own.
Benz, S. (1996). Guatemalan journey . Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.
Glittenberg, J. (1994). To the Moutain and Back: The Mysteries of Guatemalan Highland Family Life . Prospect
Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press.
Recycled life [Motion picture on DVD]. (2006). United States: AllGlad, Inc.
Stadnyk, R. L., Townsend, E. A., & Wilcock, A. A. (2010). Occupational justice. In C. H. Christiansen & E. A. Townsend (Eds.), Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living (pp. 329-358). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.