Village of Alotendngo - my last day in Antigua

Well it's Thursday & my last day in Guatemala.  This morning Linda, Sarah & I along with guide, Geovany visited in the village of Alotendngo & delivere 30 chicks to 3 different families--5 woman and their children.  Alotendngo is about a 20 minute drive from Antigua, just on the outskirts and has 30,000 people living there.  It is a very impoverished community and the worst of it is, it does not have water!  The mayor did not pay the hydro which pumps in the water and so the village people have to walk several miles/kms daily to get water for their families.  According to Geovany, the mayor, however, lives in a 2 storey home with his own water system.  He also has not paid the village employees for 6 months.   Apparently he knows he is doomed in the next election so is sqaundering away money now.  But in the meantime, this means devastation for the people in the village.  Children in the village attend school at age 7 and go until age 10 and the adults only believe it a necessity that they learn to count numbers.  At 10, the child goes to work or looks after the younger children.  Along the streets were many young children/young teens just sitting around, doing nothing & of course, there is a high incident of youth pregnancy.  There is also an oldness on the faces of the young girls/woman and one can certainly see the harshness of such a life.  The main work is when the coffee beans are ripe for picking which is about 6 months and the the only other thing is picking corn.  The rest of the time there is little in terms of work.  We met with Manuel at the church he runs in the community of which there are around 70 adults and their children--he runs programs for between 150 and 175 children!  The village has been building the church for 4 years yet is it still a long way from being finished.  I will not mention the 2 years our church has been in the works!  Geovany drove us around the village & it was obvious many people know he.  He said he did some work in the village with agriculture and also did some vaccinations against some diseases that were prevalent a few years ago and he visits the village about once a month.  Upon return to the church, there were 5 women and some with children waiting for us.  After introductions and a few words thru Geovany, we divided the chickens amoungst the women.  At first I sensed the women were apprehensive and timid of us but after a while, they warmed up, shared smiles and their appreciation of us visiting their village.  Beautiful woman and children!   It was a pleasure on my part to be part of this and to be able to supply a few chickens which mean so much to these families.  After about 3 months, they will produce eggs for the families but also be able to supply eggs to others and these families will profit from the sales--estimated at $300 a year.  This might not mean much to most of us, but to these dear people, it means everything!  As Geovany said if you have little to give but lots of will, you gain immensely.  But if you have lots but have no will, you have nothing!  How true!

I also stopped into the Club de Leones de Antigua (Lions Club) and although there were no members--Lions present, I delivered a letter and pins from the New Maryland Lions Club who provided financial support for Elaine and I. 

Sounds like I had a busy morning but I did do some pampering this afternoon--a pedicure and manicure at Healing Hands!  Not quite like home but still a wonderful experience and it was relaxing listening to the background music.  Jennifer was sweet and very attentive to me.  Linda and I then walked to the bank, purchased some prints and wandered around the markets until her appointment at Healing Hands for a hot rocks therapy treatment.  I walked her back for the appointment and then headed off on my own to the hotel.  Only made one wrong turn & asked another hotel which is parallel to this one how to get back.  The woman was very helpful & I had no problems finishing the trek.  Great day thus far & hoping for a good meal and decent sleep until 3 a.m.  We head out of here at 3:45 to go to the airport.  Hoping the predicted tropical storm and any other delays miss us!