Guatemala Mission Trip, Oct. 24

Saturday Kirk and Matt went back to Gomera to check on the pump. It was still lurching along, but may need some attention when the next DCC group comes down in November.

Then it was back to Guatemala City via Antigua, where we stopped for a little shopping and sightseeing. I was too tired to get my camera out very often, so this last day's offerings are a little meager.

The city was founded by the Spanish back in 1543, and was the third capital of the country. It has a ton of cobblestone streets and old ruins of colonial churches, like this one.

The Santa Catalina arch is supposedly one of the most photographed structures in the world. So I took a picture of it.

The center of town had beautiful gardens and fountains.

Saint Joseph Cathedral. Matt apparently felt like he hadn't been in enough pictures.

Part of the ruins of an old monastery have been turned into a five-star hotel, the Casa Santo Domingo.

A part of the inside was being prepared for a wedding. Really not a bad setting for one.

We rolled out of town around 6:30 and headed back to the Mennonite Seminary where we had spent our first night. After some very satisfying Domino's for dinner, it was an early bedtime in advance of our 4 a.m. departure to the airport on Sunday. And a fairly uneventful nine hours and two planes later, we were back in Denver.

Despite the tummy troubles, cough and fatigue that still haven't quite gone away, I'm incredibly happy to have had the opportunity to go on this trip and contribute to the projects. The experience was something I'll absolutely never forget, and I hope the people in Azatlan and Gomera both get to enjoy their new wells for years to come.

Other entries:

• Oct. 18
• Oct. 19
• Oct. 20
• Oct. 21
• Oct. 22
• Oct. 23

Guatemala Mission Trip, Oct. 23

Once more back to Gomera on Friday to finish that well. Sorry this is a few days late. We lost wireless internet at La Colonia Friday night, never had it on Saturday in Guatemala City and when I got home yesterday all I wanted to do was relax with my family.

Reduce, reuse and recycle was the theme here. We took the existing pump and Mark and Kent worked on splicing new wire for it.

Kirk went up to the existing cistern to make sure all its wiring still worked, which it fortunately seemed to.

Our already ample manpower was augmented by extra help from the villagers to get the pump connected and dropped down the hole.

And there was water again! Unfortunately, the sand that bogged down the original well already seemed to be plaguing us with the new one, too, as the pump ground and stalled repeatedly.

Wildlife sighting! David spotted a bird called a white-bellied chachalaca.

While we let the pump run to try and clear out some dirty water and hopefully unclog some sand, we headed 30 minutes to Champerico and the Pacific Ocean. Matt encountered some bigger waves than he's used to in Colorado.

Florentine, Hugo Jr. and Mark kicked back on the beach. After working in the sun for five days, I thought the shade of a nearby cantina sounded like a much better idea.

I always thought Antonio McDyess looked much bigger on TV... Seriously, this was one of four North American team jerseys I remember seeing along with an Atlanta Falcons Michael Vick, a Charlotte Hornets Larry Johnson and a Dallas Cowboys Roy Williams. Sadly, no "Colorado Rockies 2007 World Series Champs" paraphernalia like I'd hoped.

When we returned to Gomera it was evident that the pump had been running, so we capped it off and buried the ground wire.

Really, I could have just posted nothing but pictures of the local kids and this would be a good entry. Mark took this one.

While we finished up Gloria led the kids in some songs.

There was consternation over the pump's repeated stalling and grinding, but no good solutions. So we connected it to a gas-powered generator to give it some extra "oomph" and set it up to run overnight in the hopes it could muscle through whatever was ailing it.

Other entries:

• Oct. 18
• Oct. 19
• Oct. 20
• Oct. 21
• Oct. 22
• Oct. 24

Guatemala Mission Trip, Oct. 22

Everything fell in place for me to bounce back today. Got nine hours of sleep, then we were stalled at the hotel waiting for some equipment so after breakfast I got to go back to bed for another couple of hours. That seemed to do the trick, because I was about 85% when we finally left and able to contribute to another productive day. God truly works in mysterious ways.
This little guy made the mistake of falling in one of the pits of drilling fluid. I moved him to some fresh water and it looked like he was going to pull through.

Three of us had developed hacking coughs, and it occurred to me that breathing diesel fumes all day probably wasn't helping. So I grabbed one of the bandannas I brought and actually, you know, used it.

Our doctor, Hugo Gomez, knew EXACTLY how to spend our lunch break.

There are a ton of dogs, most of them pretty skittish because they're not treated all that well. But this little guy was too young to be timid.

The only thing that attracts children in larger groups than a camera is candy. Put the two together...

The Azatlan women made Gloria a traditional outfit in appreciation, and each of the rest of us bags. We were quick to point out that the true praise belonged to God -- we were just his vehicles for this project.

Several older villagers commented that they were delighted that their grandchildren would get to enjoy our efforts for years to come.

Florentine got the honor of cutting the ceremonial ribbon.

Then they brought us out some McDonald's for a celebration meal, that had to have come from at least an hour away. You can see from the expression on my face how excited I was for a McNífica after my adventures yesterday.

There was a lot of living in a lot of the faces, none more so than this gentleman.

The hardest work is done. Tomorrow we finish up the well in Gomera, then start getting ready to come home.

Other entries:

• Oct. 18
• Oct. 19
• Oct. 20
• Oct. 21
• Oct. 23
• Oct. 24

Guatemala Mission Trip, Oct. 21

Productive day for the team, bad day for me personally. The native Guatemalan microbes finally caught up with me, and after fighting some intestinal issues all day I'm now dealing with chills and possibly a fever. Hopefully a good night's sleep can take care of things.

Today found us in the village of Gomera, right next to Azatlan, named after...

The Gomera tree. Sort of like Aspen, but a little less snobby.

Even the local ladies pitched in to help dig the pits for the drilling fluid this time.

And this señorita, whose name I believe is Isabel, filled our water barrels when they got empty. She seemed much older than her years, which I imagine is pretty common.

We pulled up the pump from the original well which had become clogged with sand. Matt was chosen to see if he could connect it to the electrical wires from the solar panels, since he's the only one in the group without children. Just in case.

Kirk ran over a chicken on our way back to Azatlan to finish up some things there. After a brief negotiation, he made restitution to the family.

Since Azatlan's community center had tables, that was the location to prepare the PVC for Gomerra.

Boys and girls don't seem to get along too well in general, but these two were hitting it off just fine.

Kite-flying was definitely popular. Most of them were made from plastic grocery bags and straws or sticks, and almost all flew better than the one I made with Zak.

We think the folks in Azatlan bought these roses for Señora Gloria. And the kids, as usual, didn't turn down the opportunity to pose with them.

Prayers for a speedy recovery are appreciated -- there's more work to be done!

Other entries:

• Oct. 18
• Oct. 19
• Oct. 20
• Oct. 22
• Oct. 23
• Oct. 24

Guatemala Mission Trip, Oct. 20

Up bright and early and back to Azatlan again today. Getting up was a little harder this morning.
The village men built a sunscreen for us yesterday. It was a lifesaver. Doing all that work with the Central American sun beating down on us would have been a nightmare.

Gloria added a fetching bubble wrap skirt to her ensemble today to keep drilling fluid from splashing down inside her boots.

With the hole drilled and reamed, it was time to drop in 20-foot sections of PVC casing. That unfortunately meant adios to our sunscreen.

Gratuitous shot of me working. Really doesn't add anything to the narrative.

Two native Guatemalans -- Abel and Florentine -- worked with us and provide long-term support to the villagers. Florentine is 60 years old with five children, 22 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. So if I'm still doing this sort of thing in 20 years I'll be almost as impressive as him. I don't think any kids of Zak's will have kids of their own by then, though.

We pulled some "bad" water off the top with a pretty slick little pulley system that just involved dropping in a small section of pipe and pulling it back out. Water pressure somehow kept it full. Pretty good deltoid workout, too.

Then...water!

Word must have spread fast, because pretty soon just about the whole village was there. The pastor spoke while the kids pretended to listen...sort of like back home (sorry, Duane).

And what better way to celebrate than with a HUGE string of firecrackers hung from a tree...

...and Pepsi! Again, it's kind of amazing what they DO have considering they don't have clean water.

Six-year-old Fernando and I hit it off pretty well. Our first night there he was punching other kids who tried to get close to me and telling them in no uncertain terms, "Esteban es MI amigo!" I told him it was OK -- I could be everybody's amigo. :)

As the sun set and kids played, the mood was good. We had finished well ahead of schedule (get it? "Well" ahead of schedule?), and were going to set our sights on putting in another well in a different village starting tomorrow.

Other entries:

• Oct. 18
• Oct. 19
• Oct. 21
• Oct. 22
• Oct. 23
• Oct. 24