Living in La Esperanza
I landed my job in Guatemala through an organization called UPAVIM. UPAVIM, which stands for Unidas Para Vivir Mejor (United for a Better Life), is a non-governmental organization based in a community called La Esperanza which is located Villa Nueva, a municipality right outside Guatemala City. It sits on the outskirts of Zone 12 of Guatemala City, and La Esperanza is actually closer to Guate than it is to downtown Villa Nueva.
The community of La Esperanza (which means hope) is located in one of the poorer areas of the city. But despite that, there is a nice feel of community here. It's a small one where everyone seems to know everyone, and I see familiar faces everywhere I go. The bakery down the street is run by the family of the school's cleaning lady, right outside the gate is a small eatery owned by the mother-in-law of the school's principal, across the street is a chocofrutas (chilled fruits dipped in chocolate for just 1Q ($0.15)!) store of a student's family, and every time I walk to where I drop off my laundry, I always bump into one or two students. I hear mass in a small church down the street on the other side of the road. The first Sunday I attended mass, I saw four of my students; they were surprised and happy to see me, and couldn't resist coming up to me to give me hugs.
For the most part, the people here are friendly. Every time I go out I hear cries of "Hola, Seño" or "Hello, Teacher!" from my students, and I'm often greeted with "Buenos días" from random passers-by. Whenever I see students out and about, I get introduced to their brother or sister or mother, and even their grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins, whoever happens to be within the vicinity. The women in UPAVIM and the relatives of my students are always happy to chat. A quick hello can turn into a lengthy conversation, and I'm working on improving my Spanish. I'm definitely using it a lot more over here (which is great), but I do struggle with addressing people in usted and ustedes (as it's more commonly used here than tú and vosotros). I like hanging out with my students, and they like to teach me Guatemalan slang. Speaking of kids, La Esperanza is teeming with children. I always see children out and about on the streets, along with countless women (some dressed in traditional clothing) touting an infant in their arms (heavily wrapped in a thick comforter) or holding the hand of a toddler.
One of the most interesting aspect of being here is my living situation, and people always do a double take when I tell them I live on the roof of the school.
It's pretty amazing getting to watch the sunrise and the sunset over the volcano (when it's not foggy at least). Apart from the views, I'm awakened each morning by the noise of the traffic on the main road which is right by UPAVIM, and at night "lulled" to sleep by evangelical preachers shouting on megaphones and nonstop singing. It drives me crazy sometimes, but all part of the experience.
The weather has been... interesting. At the beginning of January, the weather was a lot colder than I expected (I thought I had escaped Europe's cold). While it doesn't reach Europe-level cold, it does get pretty chilly (maybe 12-15ºC) in the evenings and early mornings. It can also tend to get really windy which makes it all the more colder. During the day though it gets pretty warm, going up to 24-26ºC. Nowadays it's a lot more pleasant; not too cool in the morning and just warm enough during the day. I've been warned though that rainy season is fast approaching (and it might flood up a bit up on the roof), and summers will be hot (but then again, I do come from the Philippines).
But back to the roof: there are three rooms up on the roof for the volunteers. There are currently six of us volunteers -- four English teachers and two volunteers who work at the tutoring center. We used to be two to a room, but two of the volunteers recently moved out to live with some locals (to improve their Spanish). Everyone is great and we get along well. On Thursday we have community dinners where we cook together and share a meal (or if we're lazy or tired, go down and buy some tacos or gringas from a food truck), which is a nice morale booster.
Besides the rooms (which each have a bunk bed, a desk, and a drawer), we all share a kitchen (with a small couch), the pila, and a bathroom.
Right outside Centra Sur is a huge market called Cenma where you can buy dry goods like rice, grains, pasta, etc., as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. I love the abundance of produce they have in the market. I'm not too keen on vegetables, but I love that they have tropical fruits similar to in the Philippines.
To get to Cenma, there's a free bus that we can take (there are several that run to the neighborhoods or colonias nearby). In Guate, bus drivers would have a problem because they would be robbed. While these buses are free, the bus drivers would still sometimes be extorted by gang members who would demand a payment to "ensure" their safety. Nowadays, there are two armed guards that ride on each bus, one by the front door of the bus, and the other by the back door. La Esperanza in particular is an area that is plagued with maras (gangs) and violence. When I hear a loud noise, I pause to think if it was a gunshot or firecrackers.We take a lot of caution for our safety; we don't stay out too late at night, we avoid alcohol, tobacco and tattoos as they are most commonly associated with gangs, and there are not a lot of places we can go to or walk around in in the community. Prior to coming here I read up on the marero culture, and we were also oriented on it when we arrived. But even though I've heard stories about what it's like before coming here, being here and hearing about it first hand -- from the women about how they've lost loved ones due to gang violence or from students "casually" saying how they've lost family members due to gang related incidents -- gives me such a somber feeling of how tough life is here for the locals. I'm always reminded that while I'm here for a long time, it's still in a way a short time; this is the reality that these people live in every day for all their lives.
While La Esperanza has suffered from so much, and there are many who have lost hope, at UPAVIM, there is still hope that lives on. Despite the violence they have seen and the hardships they have been through, there are many women at UPAVIM who are always smiling, stopping to talk with you, inviting you over for a cup of coffee, and willing to work honestly and hard. In the school, the children are always laughing and playing. You'll find resistant children who act tough or act out because of all they've witnessed in their lives, but who, in the end, just want to be loved. And you'll find children who study and work hard to fulfill their dreams and hope of a better future.
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| The UPAVIM building |
UPAVIM started out as a small group of woman living in the impoverished community of La Esperanza who wanted to build a better life for themselves. The women began with a simple craft program, which they produce and sell on a fair trade model. The success of the craft program led to the creation of UPAVIM Crafts, and later on to expanding the organization to include a day care center, a health center, a bakery, a soy production facility, a Montessori preschool, and eventually a bilingual school (where I teach). UPAVIM also has a free tutoring center and a library (the only one in the community). While the UPAVIM building is situated in La Esperanza, the women come from the different communities of Villa Nueva (Búcaro, Mezquital, and Villa Lobos aside from La Esperanza). The cooperative aims to empower the women, and give them an opportunity to improve their and their families' lives. It also fights to give the community better economic, healthcare and educational opportunities.
The community of La Esperanza (which means hope) is located in one of the poorer areas of the city. But despite that, there is a nice feel of community here. It's a small one where everyone seems to know everyone, and I see familiar faces everywhere I go. The bakery down the street is run by the family of the school's cleaning lady, right outside the gate is a small eatery owned by the mother-in-law of the school's principal, across the street is a chocofrutas (chilled fruits dipped in chocolate for just 1Q ($0.15)!) store of a student's family, and every time I walk to where I drop off my laundry, I always bump into one or two students. I hear mass in a small church down the street on the other side of the road. The first Sunday I attended mass, I saw four of my students; they were surprised and happy to see me, and couldn't resist coming up to me to give me hugs.
For the most part, the people here are friendly. Every time I go out I hear cries of "Hola, Seño" or "Hello, Teacher!" from my students, and I'm often greeted with "Buenos días" from random passers-by. Whenever I see students out and about, I get introduced to their brother or sister or mother, and even their grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins, whoever happens to be within the vicinity. The women in UPAVIM and the relatives of my students are always happy to chat. A quick hello can turn into a lengthy conversation, and I'm working on improving my Spanish. I'm definitely using it a lot more over here (which is great), but I do struggle with addressing people in usted and ustedes (as it's more commonly used here than tú and vosotros). I like hanging out with my students, and they like to teach me Guatemalan slang. Speaking of kids, La Esperanza is teeming with children. I always see children out and about on the streets, along with countless women (some dressed in traditional clothing) touting an infant in their arms (heavily wrapped in a thick comforter) or holding the hand of a toddler.
One of the most interesting aspect of being here is my living situation, and people always do a double take when I tell them I live on the roof of the school.
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| The roof |
It's fun living up on the roof. Even though we're in the building majority of the time (since the school is just downstairs), because of the layout of the roof, I don't feel suffocated or constricted. Plus, from up on the roof, this is our view:
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| View from the roof |
The weather has been... interesting. At the beginning of January, the weather was a lot colder than I expected (I thought I had escaped Europe's cold). While it doesn't reach Europe-level cold, it does get pretty chilly (maybe 12-15ºC) in the evenings and early mornings. It can also tend to get really windy which makes it all the more colder. During the day though it gets pretty warm, going up to 24-26ºC. Nowadays it's a lot more pleasant; not too cool in the morning and just warm enough during the day. I've been warned though that rainy season is fast approaching (and it might flood up a bit up on the roof), and summers will be hot (but then again, I do come from the Philippines).
But back to the roof: there are three rooms up on the roof for the volunteers. There are currently six of us volunteers -- four English teachers and two volunteers who work at the tutoring center. We used to be two to a room, but two of the volunteers recently moved out to live with some locals (to improve their Spanish). Everyone is great and we get along well. On Thursday we have community dinners where we cook together and share a meal (or if we're lazy or tired, go down and buy some tacos or gringas from a food truck), which is a nice morale booster.
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| One of our community dinners |
The pila (as can be seen in the picture below) is a washer sink that is common all over Central America. In Guatemala, the pilas are typically composed of three parts: a division in the middle for collecting water, and two on each side for washing. The division on the left typically has a ribbed surface which can be used for washing clothes, and the one on the right has a smooth surface which is used for washing dishes, or even brushing your teeth. The water in the middle of the pila is always kept clean, so you use small bowls (like tabos), to scoop water out. In communities in villages where water is scarce or they don't have water systems, the pila is the place where they collect water. (Also a bit of trivia: in Guatemala, pila is a colloquial word used to describe someone who is intelligent).
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| the pila |
Up on the roof we have had some days when the water in the community would go out, and we'd have no running water. But when this happens I'm reminded that we still have it better than most. While we have no running water on the roof, we're lucky enough to have a water source just another floor down. So while we can fill up buckets of water to bring up, the rest of the community isn't as fortunate.
In La Esperanza, while we can walk to areas nearby to the school, for our safety, there aren't that many places we can go to. But we have most of what we need nearby, and it's easy to get by. UPAVIM has a bakery and also produces soy products (milk, ice cream, yogurt), that we can buy from just downstairs. There's a store that sells tortillas across the street, and two big tiendas nearby that stock a lot of basic things. There's another panadería (bread place) down the road, and two or three houses that sell vegetables further down. Sometimes, some locals will also randomly set up a makeshift store on the sidewalk -- a table and a stove -- and sell hot food and drinks. Life on the roof and in the community has been a little hard at first; it was a lot different from what I'm used to, but not impossible. It's taken some adjustment, but now I'm almost used to it.
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| A tortillería down the road |
For other needs, there is a small commercial center nearby. It's very small and we like to joke that there are only three things there: banks, phone shops/stalls, and ice cream stands. In reality there's a little more than that, but those three things are in abundance there. The commercial center, Centra Sur, has the bank where we cash our checks, a supermarket, a food court, and a huge Megapaca (a common Guate store that sells second hand clothes and other items for really cheap).
Right outside Centra Sur is a huge market called Cenma where you can buy dry goods like rice, grains, pasta, etc., as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. I love the abundance of produce they have in the market. I'm not too keen on vegetables, but I love that they have tropical fruits similar to in the Philippines.
To get to Cenma, there's a free bus that we can take (there are several that run to the neighborhoods or colonias nearby). In Guate, bus drivers would have a problem because they would be robbed. While these buses are free, the bus drivers would still sometimes be extorted by gang members who would demand a payment to "ensure" their safety. Nowadays, there are two armed guards that ride on each bus, one by the front door of the bus, and the other by the back door. La Esperanza in particular is an area that is plagued with maras (gangs) and violence. When I hear a loud noise, I pause to think if it was a gunshot or firecrackers.We take a lot of caution for our safety; we don't stay out too late at night, we avoid alcohol, tobacco and tattoos as they are most commonly associated with gangs, and there are not a lot of places we can go to or walk around in in the community. Prior to coming here I read up on the marero culture, and we were also oriented on it when we arrived. But even though I've heard stories about what it's like before coming here, being here and hearing about it first hand -- from the women about how they've lost loved ones due to gang violence or from students "casually" saying how they've lost family members due to gang related incidents -- gives me such a somber feeling of how tough life is here for the locals. I'm always reminded that while I'm here for a long time, it's still in a way a short time; this is the reality that these people live in every day for all their lives.
While La Esperanza has suffered from so much, and there are many who have lost hope, at UPAVIM, there is still hope that lives on. Despite the violence they have seen and the hardships they have been through, there are many women at UPAVIM who are always smiling, stopping to talk with you, inviting you over for a cup of coffee, and willing to work honestly and hard. In the school, the children are always laughing and playing. You'll find resistant children who act tough or act out because of all they've witnessed in their lives, but who, in the end, just want to be loved. And you'll find children who study and work hard to fulfill their dreams and hope of a better future.
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| With two bright-eyed students |
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