Day 7

Today we started our day with breakfast duty at the Mission, which involves setting up the meal and cleaning up after as a group. Then we went to start working on our first job site! We moved sand from the front of the school building to the back in order to aid in the construction of an extension for the school. This work carried us from about 10am to about noon. At noon we walked back to the Mission for lunch.

After lunch we got a tour of all the programs run by the Mission, starting at the school. The school was developed by Father Greg in an attempt to increase the literacy rate in Guatemala. The school is comprised of Pre-K to 6^th grade and also allows older students to rent the area later in the day. Next we got in the back of a pick-up truck and traveled to the Women’s Center. At the Women’s Center, we learned a bit about what they do in their weaving, sewing, and cooking classes. The classes cost nothing to the women of the Mission and were developed in order to promote women’s rights and allow them to contribute to the economic status of their families. We had the privilege of perusing their shop and purchasing some of their goods, we also got to observe one woman at the Mission weaving a napkin. A few members of both the Western New England and Marywood groups got to learn and try a row of the weaving process.

The next Mission project we were brought to was the hospital. Comparing it to the other hospitals we have been in, it was very modern and very open. The hospital serves the immediate area of San Lucas as well as the surrounding municipalities and even surrounding countries when groups of surgeons come from the United States. The technology has primarily been from donations from the Friends of San Lucas organization and those they have partnered with. A modern surgery suite and X-Ray make the hospital one of the most advanced we had the privilege of visiting. After the hospital we loaded back into the vehicles and went to the coffee production location. The smell of coffee was strong when we walked in, and we got to see where the coffee was being roasted and ground. The stages of processing coffee and the history of the coffee project were introduced to the group, and we learned that dark roast coffee has less caffeine than other roasts. The nursery for the coffee plants was behind the storehouse and some people tried the freshly ripened coffee beans (they were sweet!).

After the tour we had time to go walk around the city and buy goods in shops before dinner. We were able to get back in time just before the rain set in. We ended our day with ice cream and a visit to the rooftop of our hotel, affectionately named The Castle.

-Emily & Kayla