Tour of Canilla by Air

Posted on October 13, 2015 by adrienneorris

One of the questions that people always ask is “Is the hospital and school on the same property? How far away from the school do you live?” I am going to give you a tour in pictures.

This is the hospital property on the right and then the housing for mostly everyone on the left. It is a two minute walk from one property to the next and we do not own the property in between.

As for the houses, in the front there are two red roofs that make a sort of L shape. I currently live in the one that is parallel to the road with short term visitors and Luis and Naomi and their family.

This is an updated view of the hospital property. Each day it changes. They have been working on the roof and will soon have the prayer room enclosed.

This is a view of the town of Canilla from the north. As you look out of town, the road turns into a “V”. As you follow this road, at the very top corner there is a patch of trees on the right and left side of the road. The school property is the patch of trees on the right side of the road.

Here is a better shot of the school property. There are many trees on the property which cover over the school, but the property if found in the middle of the photo

And here is a picture showing the distance from the school to the hospital. The hospital is found in the upper right corner and you can hopefully identify the school in the middle of this photo – about half a mile apart.

Hospital Update

Posted on October 1, 2015 by adrienneorris

Honestly my knowledge of the hospital is minimal…. they make a lot of cement, make a lot of noise and are planning into the future for what they will need to open the first phase. Just when they finish with one section, they begin a new phase. Right now they are working on finishing the walls of the prayer room – and after that will be putting the final coat on the other walls. A container was just shipped from Texas that has the roofing materials and hospital equipment. The men continue to work hard daily towards the final product. And we are reminded weekly of the need.

Canilla from the air.

The well was sealed off after drilling for months. We believe we reached the certainly of having an endless supply of water.

The endless need for rock and sand to make the cement.

The hospital from the air.

Seminario

Posted on September 29, 2015 by adrienneorris

Seminario is a class that the students have all year. In a summary, the students set personal goals, class goals and community goals… research were the greatest need is… access the situation… create a proposal for a project…. collect funds for the project… work on the project… present it to the community… and then present a 126 page document of their work in which they are judged and graded by judges from outside the school in front of the general public. Honestly, the students have probably put in close to 400 hours in on this project as well as much of their own money. We are very proud of what they have done and how they carried themselves and represented the school.

Here is the project in pictures…

Preparing food for everyone at the dedication.

The students before the dedication

The director of the school accepting the resolution.

Cesar speaking to the community members that attended the dedication

The project that the students decided on was building a bathroom at a school that had only been in existence for two years. The students had been using an above ground system and the students dug and dug and laid the foundation and built this bathroom from the bottom up with their own funds.

The bathroom that the students built – from the 8 foot deep hole for ventilation to the structure you see standing. (the students spent their Saturdays working on this project)

Activities for the students at the school

Presentation in front of the judges and the community

This project was definitely a stretch for these students academically, of their time, of their money and of their hearts…. but as I watched during the dedication service, I could see that the students had built a relationship with the community. They had done more than just give some money and food and walk away. They had left something of worth and served as role models for the students in this small aldea.

Luchando

Posted on September 29, 2015 by adrienneorris

Luchando – this is one word that I use often. There are some words that don’t smoothly translate to English. This is one of those words. It means to fight, even when the fight is against yourself or more than you bargained for.

Our San Pablo students have begun their practicals on the weekends. This means that most of our students are working 8 hours a day at a job to pay for school, attending classes from 5:30-8:30 Monday through Friday and then leaving on Friday after class for a normally 2.5 hour bus ride to Quiche where they are working for their clinical – two 12 hour shifts. That means for five weeks straight they have continued this pattern without one day of rest. This is a lucha! Add to that the road conditions. This last week the students left the school at approximately 3:00 and encountered a road of mud along the way. Each time the bus got stuck, they unloaded the bus, the girls walked up the slippery slope on foot, and the guys put rocks and wood in the road to make is strong enough for the bus to pass. And then they pushed the bus through the mud. Needless to say, everyone needed a bath when they arrived 6 hours later. If the students did not have a lucha within them, I am sure they would not have boarded that bus!

The bus they boarded in the afternoon.

The road they encountered in the first part of their trip.

Surprisingly though, the clinics have rejuvenated the students as they get to experience first hand what it will be like to be a nurse. They have come back with stories about their patients – from crying over a patient that had lost so much weight they were about to die. Pushing old people in wheelchairs and bathing patients. And even greater stories of praying with patients and relying on God as they learn medicine. This of course is our greatest desire for these students… that they understand and trust God as the ultimate healer. One student told me a story this week about her patient – a mentally ill woman who is/ was married to a doctor – and now cannot even feed or bathe herself. On her charts, the diagnosis was “abandoned”. I wonder how many more stories there are of the same level. Our student told us that all she could do is to pray for her and hope that she can place her hope in Jesus.

We are mid-semester with these students and praying about a future. Do we open registration for a new class to enter? To we wait a year? Do we open a new type of class? Do we continue with what we have and grow it? We have begun to have students coming by from surrounding villages to begin the registration process – each wanting to continue their own lucha for hope for a future. And so we continue to lay it before God. We continue to watch what God is doing. And we continue on with our own lucha here, as servants towards what only God can do.

Differences

Posted on September 24, 2015 by adrienneorris

There are days when I forget that I am living in a foreign country, and days where I cannot feel like anything around me is home. Differences often make things feel foreign, and there are so many of them between my country here and my home country. Some differences I notice daily, and others are so subtle that I don’t notice until I go back to the states. Differences are not always bad. They often mold us and cause us to grow in areas that we would not have done without being forced to do so.

One of the differences I am reminded of daily is that my culture raised me to always be in a hurry – and now I live in a culture that is not time sensitive. I am often on my motorcycle driving and I pass cars and other motorcists in the street and think – am I driving fast? The truth is that I am actually driving at a slow speed, but there is not hurry or rush to anyone’s lives. This is seen when I am at a corner store buying a water or waiting on something. In the states the goal is customer service and speed. Here both are defined very differently. I have adjusted to some of the speed of the culture, yet there are other days that I am not sure if I will every adjust to this speed.

Friendliness and Hospitality are two parts to this culture that I really enjoy. Although Guatemalans are not extremely emotional, they do greet each other when they walk into a room, or a store, or on the street to pass each other in a car. I am a person that lies to go unnoticed, but I have learned that if I walk into or out of a room without greeting everyone, that it is considered disrespectful. I also really like the willingness to help out – whenever and whomever. If I am stopped in the road, people will stop and ask if I need help. If I am asking about directions to someone’s house, I often get an escort there to make sure I find the right place. Often it is out of my comfort zone, but the difference is one that I will embrace.

Leisure activities. Often we say that there are none here. Because it is different. There are no malls. There are no movie theaters or restraunts or parks to visit. Travel is slow and the process can be painful. And so simple is usually what happens. A motorcycle ride around the same roads that I always travel. A walk up the mountain. An ice cream cone. Or a trip to the river.

Community. In the states there were places that you could disappear. You could disappear in your own house for a day and no one would notice. If you were gone 24 hours, most people would not ask where you were. Community has possibly been the most difficult adjustment that I have had since I have lived on my own for many years and am an independent person. Sharing a house, and a room and a car. Sharing meals, and responsibilities and decisions. Sharing frustrations, and trials and answers to pray. My life has changed from one where I made decisions on my own and didn’t have to answer to many other people in my life, to sharing everything that is done. At times it is suffocating. At times it gives me a head ache. But most of the time, I have embraced it as there is nothing I have to do alone. The greatest support comes from the community that is experiencing the very same trials and joys.

There are so many differences that give my life here a feel that I am out of my culture, out of my norm. The longer I am here, the more people I recognize though. The more people I know. The more conversations I have in the streets and the more brown I become… the most Guatemalan I become.

Independence Day

Posted on September 20, 2015 by adrienneorris

This year’s celebrations were small – the government has squashed the running of the torches and there were not enough students to form a band. Here are a few pictures of the parade of schools. None the less, it was another day for Guatemala to celebrate and be proud of it’s heritage. There have been good years and bad years, but I have been able to see the progress as my time here continues to stretch over another decade.

My favorite part of the day was watching the students perform “gymnastics”. It was quite risky – no mats below to catch falling students. The group above was the most impressive as they created human pyramids and threw classmates in the air. I am sure this would not have happened in the states on a cement basketball court.

The Simple Life

Posted on August 30, 2015 by adrienneorris

So many times in this last month I have taken a time warp. When I was younger, Little House on the Prairie was one of my favorite series. I read the books, watched the series as well as other shows like Christy. As I rode through town on my old school motorcycle, and nearly missed a chicken running across the road and then watched a young girl scoop it up and put it in a bag without hesitation….. I was reminded of how I used to visualize things like this in my mind and now it is a reality. I went to the tailor to get alterations done and bought rice by the pound in market. There are some days here that feel like a time warp.

We have also experienced these life changes in the school, in the way education is done and nursing is done. We are constantly asking ourselves, how do we raise the level and yet keep the Guatemalan system. How do we do it with integrity and hold the students to a higher level?

What do you do when someone comes into clinic and is in need of a surgery that we cannot offer here? We do what we can and pray.

What do you do when the roads are blocked with protests and you need to get to the city? You suspend your trip till another time?

What do you do when the electricity is out for a “planned” power outage ? You go to bed early 🙂

The stark differences between two cultures that are extremely different are evident the longer that I live here. Likewise, there are things that I notice less and less. I am accustomed to people urinating wherever or riding in tuk-tuks. I am accustomed to 28 people loaded in the back of a cattle truck or adobe houses. I turn my head when I see a new truck in town. And many of reversions to a simple life and now every day life. There are fewer choices to make – because they do not exist. And so we live this life and ask for patience every day to endure that which comes at us challenging our faith.

Another Semester

Posted on August 20, 2015 by adrienneorris

The idea of having a university here in Canilla had been just talk for many years. And often it seemed an overwhelming thought…. but as we pursued other options for nursing programs. As we realized the difficulty that it would be for those from this area. As different doors continued to close – and other doors opened – we were led to begin this nursing program here. It is government approved, Ministry of Health approved, and all of the hundreds of hoops that we had to jump through have been completed. Maybe. These are unchartered waters.

Last semester I taught the math course – focusing on skills they would need within the nursing profession and critical thinking skills. This semester I am teaching biology.

The format here is like those working on their master’s program in the states. Most of the students here work during the day and then take courses at night. It is dark. The students are tired. And honestly I really am teaching them how to study and retain information, just as much as I am teaching biology. We believing in raising the level of education. We believe in teaching values and challenging students to do more than they thought they could. And so we continue to forge on. We continue to lay foundations. And we continue to pray for the hearts of each of these students.

Study break

Posted on August 4, 2015 by adrienneorris

This week is exam week here and I caught Cesar studying his physics in on of his favorite places – the wheelbarrow. Exam week is one of the weeks that is unlike what we do in the states. The students take their exams for the quarter all together – starting off with four exams on the first day. It is an exhausting and stressful week for the students and they could surely use your prayers. This week marks the end of the third marking period with only 8 weeks of school left. This year has sure gone fast!

A Day Off

Posted on July 26, 2015 by adrienneorris

Here’s the gang…. we took an adventure on our day off and traveled the bus system to Solala. If you never leave Canilla, you feel almost as if you are living in a bowl and forget that there are humans anywhere else at times. It was nice to get away – and very, very stress free. We were definitely noticed wherever we went because of the amount of white skin.