Peter Chung: Day 4 Guatemala Field School

Today is BC Family Day and our Guatemala Study Abroad Group left Antigua after breakfast at 7 am and headed for Del Monte Plantation in Morales in our 20 passenger van.

It took us a full two hours to travel back to Guatemala City before heading North East via Pan American Highway to Morales situated in the province of Izabel. The weather is sunny and blue sky awaited us ahead.

We passed along a beer delivery truck with shortgun armed guide standing right by the truck door. On many businesses along the way, such as banks,there are always armed security guides protecting the premises. It tells of the security (or insecurity) in the country. Also while stuck the stop and go traffic on the road, a man suddenly appeared by the window and spoke in English “good morning, how are you guys doing?”  We were immediately told by the driver, Marco, to close the window and pay no attention to that man. We learn later that in that kind of traffic situation, it is not uncommon to have a stranger point a gun at the car occupants and demanded computer, cell phone and or wallet.  It is not a good situation to be in.

We soon passed the Sierra Madre (Mother’s mountain) which was the Guarella training ground set up by the Guarella leaders who were former military officers. The CIA sponsored national military aimed the “elimination” targets at the Mayan provinces and never suspected that their enemy was right in their “backyard”. 

Four and half hour past and we drive along the Maringa River which was used by the Mayan for Jade trade. From this river, the Mayan was able to control the production and ludicrous trade of jade.

The scenery is now dry and hot with cactus, Sougum, growing along the highway. There are also orchards such as papaya, palm, coconust and along the river valley. There are melon fields with workers wearing masks spraying the plants with pesticides.  There are also cattle ranches with cattle and sheep and horses with the occasional cowboys in their horses attending the ranch. I saw produce stands selling watermelons, pineapples and peaches on sections of the highway.  There are also churches and houses along together with “corrugated tin roof huts” on the roadside indicating the degree of poverty in the region.

We were one hour late when we arrived at Morales and the Del Monte School.  We were greeted by the principal who took us immediately to the waiting school kids at the cafeteria. There were about 30 children in their uniforms (boys in white T-shirt and dark pants and girls in white top and colored skirts). While being served with soda and a plate of chicken leg lunch, I grapped two boys in their uniform and have them seated side by side with myself and started exchanging information. Each  Capilano student has  two high school students as part of the exchange program  and the whole place become very noisy all at once. The teachers are also very anxious pacing long seeing how each student is doing.

We introduced each other, the names, age, grades and follow through with their goals,hobbies,values and worldview.  My two students are named J.J. C (Names initiated to protect their identity) and E.F respectively. They identified themselves as Ladinas. The following is a summary of our exchange. Their command of English is adequate for their level of bilingual education and need occasional hesitation and clarification to understand the words and expression.

JJC is 16 years old and attends grade 10.He aspires to be a medical doctor and specifically to be a “pulmonary” (meaning respiratory) specialist. He has asthma as a child but has not had any symptoms for a while.  He reasoned that there are not enough doctors in the country and people have to wait a long time to see one. Ironically, he also recognized that their family do have quick access to medical services. He understands also that the government hospitals are very inadequate in their equipements and drugs supplies as well as crowdiness. When asked about the type of patients he like to serve, without hesitation, he indicated that he like to work with Spanish speaking residents only as he does not speak the Mayan indigenous languages in which there are 22 of them. He understands the challenges of the university program but is not worried by it because he thinks his school prepared him well for university education.  He values good health and family and happiness is to have both simutanously. If he has more money, he will donate to the charity foundation called Teleton which helps disabled kids. He likes to travel and was in St Petersburg (Russia) last year with his family. He enjoyed the Hermitage museum. His father works as an agriculture engineer for Del Monte and mother is a teacher. His only sister is in Guatamela University studying law.  He has a good understanding of world geography. In his spare time, he plays soccer and other sports. He does not partake in any household chores as they have a housekeeper doping the job.

EF aspires to be a computer engineer and is very health conscious. He works out at the local gym after school and is very confident of his career path. After graduation, he likes to work for Del Monte for a few years to save up some money to be able to start his own business. He wishes to be able to donate a computer each to a poor student who cannot afford one. His father works as a supervisor for Del Monte and his mother is a teacher. He is interested in understanding why I choose to study when I already “retired” from my work. I told him in simple terms that studying is a lifetime job and one can never stop to learn.  On Mining in his country, he wants to make sure that it brings wealth to the country first and the environment integrity and bio-integrity has to be preserved at the same time.  He likes to see the wild life preserved in his country and no further air or water pollution.  He also value family.

I had to hastily finish my lunch by about 3:30 when the group moved to inspect the classrooms and school facilities.  Their classroom size is ten only and they have about one hour of homework a day and test every two months. Their school day starts at 7am and finishes at 3:30pm. We took photos together and exchanged email address for follow-up contact.

After we left the children, we checked in to our accommodation and relaxed in the pool of the Del Monte Club House which is very refreshing in the hot weather.

We brought dinner individually and chatted along at the club house of Del Monte. Anthony and one of the English teacher  joined us later for chit-chat. Anthony later entertained us with his Spanish songs joined in the “dance” by a few of our talented classmates. The evening ended at 11pm with everybody retiring in their bed tired and looking forward to the next day of exploration and learning.

 Peter is a second year arts and science student.