| | Guatemala appears to have strict barriers between its social classes. There is not a large middle class, so the disparity is huge. The Limonada is the poorest section of Guatemala City. Built in a valley, it is a community made up of many people living in small, crowded spaces and houses made of lamina, cardboard or if fortunate enough, block. It is a territorial area with at least 3 to 5 sections (I have heard both numbers). Gang activity is extremely high, so you must be careful not to step outside your portion of the Limonada or you literally risk death. The small river running through the Limonada also serves as their garbage dump. When we asked what the residents who do not work do during the day the response was, “they go to the ‘surface’ and steal”. However, there are many who do work hard at legitimate jobs each day. Jamie is one of these people.
Jamie is 19 years old and a special mother at Hannah’s Hope. She lives in her father’s house (a term I use very liberally) with her brother and sister. Her mother is very ill and lives in a home, presumably some type of nursing home. She has not had a relationship with her father in 9 years. Her father is remarried and lives with his wife in another house. From what we understand the second wife has been the catalyst for the estrangement between Julio (Jamie’s father) and his children. With the children fending for themselves, the house has seen little to no improvements or repairs. The lamina roof has several holes and when it rains, which is everyday in the rainy season, the water pours in. Yet, they do not complain and ask for nothing.
You may have already read previous posts that explain the work our group has done on Jamie’s house, but here are some things that may not have been shared or not shared in detail. To emphasize the class disparities that exist I will share 2 separate incidents. First, Jamie’s brother injured himself pulling the lamina roof off the house. He cut his hand pretty bad and most likely needed stitches. If he had gone to the emergency room his wait would have been most of the day. Ashley made some calls to find someone to pick them up or to come and treat him in the Limonada. No one was very willing to do either. She did secure a ride a ride to the clinic at Hannah’s Hope where the doctor there, who due to some miscommunication was expecting an injured American, but he did treat him. Second, most of your restaurants deliver food. This includes your fast food like McDonald’s and Burger King. Ashley and Jamie called McDonald’s to deliver lunch for the group working in the Limonada one day, however they refused to deliver. They did not believe that a group of gringos would be in the Limonada and that anyone there could afford to pay for the food once it was delivered. This is just how things are in Guatemala. The people grow up knowing nothing different. We just hope we put a small hole in the barrier between classes.
The Limonada is a dangerous place where death and illness are just part of everyday life. As if to illustrate that for us there were 2 deaths while we were there. I should say first that our group never felt in any danger while they were working. Ashley paved the way for us prior to our arrival by earning the respect of one of the local gangs be getting a tattoo. Her tattoo of choice was a fish on her ankle, which she explained the significance of to the gang members. They have nothing but respect for this gringa and protect her and some have even tattooed themselves with the fish. That, as well as, Jamie’s family “hosting” us while we were there, our safety while not guaranteed, was increased. The first death was a gang shooting. One of our gang members encountered a couple members from another gang and he was shot and killed. The second death was Jamie’s cousin. In honor of their fallen brother they will often fire their weapons in the air as a tribute. Jamie’s cousin fired a couple rounds into the air and at least one came down and hit him resulting in his death. Such senseless death is hard for me to grasp, yet these people deal with it everyday.
Even with all the despair and inhuman (at least by our standards) conditions in the Limonada, the people are happy. Most everyone embraced us with open arms once we were no longer a spectacle for them. Our folks earned their respect by working hard each and everyday through all sorts of weather conditions. Food was offered, which was extremely humbling when they had so very little for themselves. They washed our shirts after working in rain and mud and gave them back clean to us the next day and offered their own clean shirts to wear in the meantime. They respected how hard our guys worked and we were later told that just the carrying of all the materials would have potentially taken a year to accomplish and we had done it in 2 days.
The work on the house is slow going because everything is done manually, so the house was not completed before we left. This was a big disappointment for the people who worked on it throughout the week. However, much more happened in the Limonada than just the building of the house. We met Marvin, a former gang member who now works to buy wheelchairs for people who cannot afford them. Julio (Jamie’s father) showed up one day, renewed his relationship with his children and really became foreman of the crew showing our guys how to build the house. Before we left, Julio gave David a picture of Jamie and her sister that was 9 years old stating it was all he had of them for the last few years and now he no longer needs them because he has his children back. Julio will continue to oversee the rebuilding of the house now that we are gone and perhaps that is how it was meant to be as one member of the team pointed out.
On Friday, we threw a “fiesta” for people living in the Limonada. We filled a huge piñata with candy and small toys, blew up balloons and enticed the children with sidewalk chalk. Once we had a decent group gathered of about 100 children and several adults, we let them at the piñata. Once broken, the expected chaos to gather the treats ensued. Then it was time for Pastor to share a message with the people gathered and then we provided them with bags filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and a Jesus storybook. Everyone lined up and waited for their turn to receive their bag. Once the bag distribution began, more people appeared. Word was spreading and as we finished with the initial crowd, we stayed and served the stragglers as the continued to walk by. One of these late arrivals was a small boy, maybe 6 years old. Upon receiving his bag he squealed with delight. I don’t even think he knew what was in it and it obviously did not matter to him. As Maggie said that moment right there made it all worth it, all I could do was sit back in wonder at this child. Such a small thing to you and me was right now the world to this boy. I thank God for the opportunity to witness that moment and I hope the memory of it stays fresh and alive for a very long time.
Our goal was hope and to share God’s love with those we came into contact with in the Limonada. We know that Jamie and her family did not have a relationship with God prior to our arrival, we need to pray that our work there will have them curious enough to explore why a bunch of gringos would come to a foreign country to rebuild a strangers house. If they do explore it the answer they should find is God. Almost everyday as we dropped one group off at Hannah’s Hope and watched the other go off to the Limonada I doubted our work there because of the danger. However, this is what we are called to do. As Pastor reminds us, “I never promised you a rose garden”. We must stretch ourselves and move beyond our comfort zone to bring all people into the family of God. Risk and change now holds a new meaning in my mind. We saw hope in the Limonada while we were there and we pray that that hope continues to grow now that we are home.
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| | Posted 6/21/2007 3:04 PM - 149 views - 0 comments
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