Habitat for Humanity - Guatemala - Summer 2009
Public service, cultural immersion, and high adventure. Combining these elements makes for one incredible Scout trip, so that's what we did in the summer of 2009 with our Habitat Guatemala trip. In June of 2009, a crew of 14 of us flew to Guatemala City to begin what many would claim is the most influential experiences of their life.
Parents were worried because gangs in Guatemala City like to kidnap kids from the US for ransom. Since this is actually true, our hosts at Habitat quickly shuttled us to a safe location in the city while we prepared for our build in the northern jungles. Behind locked iron gates we learned of how the build would progress over the coming weeks and where we would be shipping off to in safety of daylight.
In the morning we left GC, being sure to avoid the dreaded Zona Tres we braved the narrow, winding, poorly maintained roads through thick jungles and arrived in our destination city of Coban. In the afternoon we met the families that we'd be working with and oriented ourselves to the third world village that was an incredible shock to Scouts that have spent their life in the affluence of Chapel Hill.
In the morning, we scoffed down bean loaf and goat cheese (don't ask) and headed out to the worksite. I'm not sure what we were expecting so to see a patch of earth carved out from the thick jungle with primitive tools laying around didn't surprise us. We got right to it. We started laying cement blocks that we lugged up hill and mixed hundreds of pounds of mortar on the dirt ground with tiny short shovels.
During the day the heat would crank up and we would wander down to the corner store during our break to really soak in our surroundings. Sometimes during our break we would relax with the kids in the family and read short stories to them in English or just play in the dirt with them. As the build progressed we got very comfortable with our new surroundings and village and we learned to build primitive scaffolding, shape cement blocks with a machete, goof around with the local masons, and eventually start a roof for the house we'd been building.
After a couple weeks, Coban began to feel like home...maybe it was because everyone had Montezuma's Revenge and dinner conversations had gotten very personal. It seems as though just as we were getting good at building and living in town it was time to move on. We had planned on going to Honduras for some RnR but their government collapsed while we were there...don't you hate it when that happens when you're traveling in a 3rd world country with a bunch of high school scouts and there's a coup right next door, I know I do. So since there were tanks and riots to the south we headed north to Flores Guatemala.
Once in Flores we packed our bags for a 50 mile hike with the goal of hiking to Mirador, the largest Mayan city, located 27 miles into the jungle on a muddy mosquito infested path. Now i was under the impression that since jungles were so hot and dense that they had water. Not the case. There was no water the entire way, so we were forced to hire a team of donkeys to carry water for us for the 54 mile round trip trek. We spent 2 long day hiking in the hottest weather any of us had ever even imagined. We saw spiders the size of soccer balls and were conscious to avoid the jungle vipers that could hide in the bushes or dangle from the trees above us. In the evenings, the sweat fest in our tents made sleep a comical notion.
When we finally made it to Mirador we spent a day exploring the city with our jungle guide giving us the grand tour. We climbed temples and pyramids that were long ago reclaimed by the jungle yet still soared above the canopy, affording us views to the horizon in all directions.....a perfect place to enjoy sun rises and sun sets. With water supplies running low and our desire to get to the beach running high we made the executive decision to hike the 27 miles out in one fell swoop...a brutal day it was to say the least.
What better way to relax after building a couple houses and hiking in the steamy jungle than heading to the beaches...of Belize no less. We caught the bus over to Belize City and then ferried out to Caye Caulker where we spent the next week living the island life. There were no roads, so no cars, and no real need for shoes or shirts. We spent the week playing in the water, shooting hoops with the locals, snorkeling, scuba diving with some sharks, and generally really enjoying the relaxing island lifestyle.
After a month in Central America we headed on home. The combination of public service, exotic culture, and some great travel adventure was absolutely perfect. The experience is still talked about excessively and there are plans for another Habitat for Humanity trip in the very near future.
Be sure to check out the photos from our trip in the gallery or watch the video of the trip.