I admit when the day finally came I was pretty stressed
out to be herding my fourth group of eager teenagers through four airports and
two sets of customs. But as the last supply drive box was loaded on top of the
fancy red chicken bus, I breathed a sigh of relief. We had finally made it to
Guatemala. From here the road was more or less familiar.
I was armed with a minute by minute itinerary of
everything we would do over the next 15 days as well as a map of San Miguel
Escobar denoting every homestay family. Having accompanied previous groups, I
felt comfortable and confident that together with the Guatemalan Staff we would
be able to provide the robust, transformative experience we promised during all
those school presentations and Info Nights last September.
And in retrospect I believe we were able to do just that,
but as usual things did not go exactly as I imagined. I keep trying to find the
way to articulate what was so different about this trip. I hesitate to compare
it to my previous trips because though we did many of the same activities, such
as visiting the dump and volunteering on our work teams, the trip (well really
the entire program) is more than its components, but rather something that is co-created
by its participants. And the Spring Program participants were a unique and
beautiful blend of diverse personalities and experiences who chose to create
something very special.
There are so many stories, so many small victories and
major revelations that I find it difficult to explain. I could tell you about
Sam, a kid I once thought of as shy, infecting the entire group with the YOGO
(you only Guatemala once) philosophy and how this pushed everyone to try new
things. I could tell you about gorging on cake and ice cream with Annie and
Rita during the Antigua tour or about how Mary-Anne always sang and lead her
work team in games or how Stacey spoke so beautifully about her experience in
the Hospital that I almost cried. Or I could tell you about trading poems with
Devin and Nava or about Lupe who was so eager to translate that she sometimes
translated Spanish to Spanish or English to English or Steve who makes the
funniest faces ever and still can never seem to get all the way through
Redemption Song on the guitar. But they are all just pieces that add up to
create something greater than their sum.
Throughout the trip, the Spring participants created and
re-created community. They worked hard and played harder. They drew their Chapin
counterparts into the fold. They held one another accountable for participating
in discussions. They passed each other Kleenex and held hands with people who
were feeling homesick or overwhelmed by something they had learned or
experienced. Work teams created get well soon cards for people with upset
stomachs. There was an attitude of “what can I do to make this a great trip?”
Chris Fontana always says that it is each person’s
responsibility to make sure that everyone else “gets it”. And that is exactly
what this group did. My experience is that this was a trip filled with
compassion, honesty, humility, a great deal of reflection, new found
friendships, learning, and fun. It was a trip that really connected me in a new
way to our mission, because I returned to the States feeling more empowered and
privileged to have gotten to know such a special group of people. I came back
really feeling like not only did they “get it”, but that I did too.
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