We have been here for two weeks now. I am learning more and more about La Armonia Hermosa and the culture here. There is a lot going on with the project and the people involved are great! The poverty down here in Guatemala is sort of masked by the Tourism of Antigua. We leave Antigua and head up Volcan Agua to Santa Maria de Jesus and the reality of the "Third World" becomes more apparent.
The project is really interesting. The people involved really have a heart for Santa Maria and want to see them succeed. Julio is the Guatemala in charge of everything, he is Les's go-to guy. Without him, La Armonia may not exist. He said his family are farmers and he is a farmer too, it's in his blood. He wants to spend more time working the project, but he needs to be able to feed his family. We are trying to find ways to make that happen so he doesnt have to teach, which takes up more of his time during the harvest season.
They are in need of a truck. We have visited 3 of the farms from the project, and you have to hitchhike out to a spot, then hike a half hour through some mountainous trails to get to the farms. After the farmers are done picking for the day, they have to put the 100 pound bags of coffee fruit on their backs and carry them back up the mountains to the road where they hitch a ride back into town. A truck would help out substantially. An added benefit to the truck would be that Julio would be able to give people rides on his way into Antigua for a few bucks a trip.
I came here knowing that the type of ministry that I would do would be different. It is... but it is also just like it would be in the States. I simply work with the people and find out what their needs are and try to meet them, whether it is food, money, or spiritual. That is pretty much the same thing I do at home, only the Guatemalan people are much poorer. The picture of the girl at the top is Melissa, Julio's daughter. She lives with her brother Melvin and her two parents in a house made of corregated metal sheets. We would probably use his house to store lawn equipment in back home. Julio just told us that he could have a house built on his property for about 16,000 Quetzals, or $2,000. Julio may not need saved, he is an elder in the Christian Church in Santa Maria, but he needs ministered to as he ministers to others in the community.
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