Chickens on the Menu

The last two and a half weeks here in Guatemala have been filled with some of the most fun, meaningful, productive, and magical days I’ve had in this country – and that is saying a lot because every trip has been an amazing experience (as many of you know!) And the response we have received from you during this trip has been inspiring – with your blog comments, your donations, and your emails asking what this year’s Advent project is going to be. (The answer is the Chicken Project and our holiday campaign will begin on Giving Tuesday, December 3, but feel free to give now if you’d like!)

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I visited four more groups of the Association to see their projects. This included my first visit to a group named Seguidoras de Cristo (Followers of Christ) in one of the poorest communities I have seen. Many children are malnourished, the living conditions are indescribable, and access to water is a major issue. There is no municipal water, but you can get water to your house from the community well if you pay Q50 ($6) per month. Yet most of these family can not afford that, so they have to carry water from far away rivers or try to capture as much as they can in the rainy season, sometimes on their roof.

I was the first person from the U.S. to visit this group of women and we got off to a rocky start. When we gathered to introduce ourselves, I took out my notebook just to jot down a few things I wanted to remember and they thought I was taking attendance! So they quickly gave me a litany of apologies and reasons why three of the 11 members weren’t able to be there (working in the fields, having a baby, broken ankle). I started to laugh and said not to worry, I am not in charge and that all decisions are made by the Board of Directors and staff of the Association, although I did have one request: that they please smile when I take pictures of them to share with people back home – and boy did they deliver! From then on, we just laughed and giggled for the rest of our time together.

These women have each received revolving funds to plant potatoes as well as a set of 20 starter chickens. Christina (pictured below), a single mother and president of the group, is a shining example of how to leverage these two opportunities into life-changing income for one’s family. Before her work with the Association, she had to wake up at 3 am to make and leave breakfast for her kids who would get themselves off to school, then she would go work in someone else’s potato fields all day. With the profit she made from her first 20 chickens and her first own potato harvest, she reinvested in those projects and also bought thread to weave aprons to sell. With that additional income, she then bought several sheep. I’m thinking a cow is in her future. She still wakes up at 3 am to weave in a quiet house before the kids wake up, but she is her own boss and has more time at home now.

After a tour of more women’s potato fields and chicken coops, it was time for lunch. As is customary, the four “guests” were seated out on the patio at a small table with plastic stools and served delicious chicken soup with potatoes (of course!), while the women remained in the kitchen to eat. Breaking with tradition, I asked if we could eat together. After much discussion in Mam, they came out and moved the table into the cramped room, where we had the most unexpected, interesting and joyous conversation. They shared about their lives and aspirations; I expressed how impressed we are with their work and shared a bit about the Guatemalan neighbors we have in Kennett Square, which they found fascinating. Then we made plans to bring the next delegation of 12 people from NCP to visit this community in January and they are super excited to host you all…but said there is just not enough room in the kitchen for that many people, so I agreed that we would indeed eat on the patio.

After lunch, we paired the women with their new prayer partners from Trinity Church. They coveted the photos, putting them in plastic bags to protect them from the rain that had started and asking again and again how to say the names so they won’t forget. One woman expressed that she never imagined she would have a special friend praying for her. So many great smiles too!

This trip was exhausting and energizing at the same time, and I am now back at the hotel airport and fly home early tomorrow. There is much more to share with you and we will do so over the coming months. Thanks so much for following along on this trip. Our next trip will be the end of January, so we’ll see you then!

P.S. – I will have a table set up at Westminster (Wilmington, DE) this Sunday to display the handmade and heartfelt thank you cards from the Utz Pan bakery kids. Hope you will stop by to read them!

– Carrie Saathoff, Co-Chair of the Guatemala Partnership of New Castle Presbytery