It feels unreal to think my mission trip to Guatemala was more than three years ago, considering it still feels like yesterday. My time here was barely a vacation, but an eye opening experience that forever changed my perspective on life.
In the nine days that I was fortunate enough to spend here, I was supposed to be changing the lives of the people I met but little did I know that they would be changing mine.
The first part of our trip was very volunteer based. We spent our time at Dori's Promise Orphanage where we spent all day playing with the children and desperately trying to remember our middle school Spanish lessons. When we weren't at the orphanage, we were distributing clean water filters to areas in need or hand-mixing cement for the foundation of new schools up in the mountains. The conditions were unimaginable: walking through living quarters we saw roofs of tin, rooms separated by dirt covered sheets and holes in the floor (floor meaning mud) for tapped water and another hole for human waste. Stray dogs roamed the surrounding markets looking for scraps while children kicked around deflated soccer balls. Not too far away was Guatemala's biggest area of concern: the dump. An area that looked like a massive crater, but filled with insurmountable piles of garbage and locals scavenging the outskirts for anything they could find. Some even say that bodies are thrown into the dump due to a family's inability to afford to have their loved one cremated.
Going home a week later I remember looking at my car, my suburban home and my faucet spewing crystal clean water and I couldn't help but sink to the floor. I looked down and thought - how could I even be ungrateful for something that seems as small as having wood beneath my feet and not dirt.
The mission trip allowed me to also see the beauty in the country of Guatemala despite the impoverished areas. Our day at Lake Atitlán was unforgettable. We spent the day gliding down waterslides, backflipping off the double decker boat and gazing at the breathtaking view of multiple dormant volcanos in the background. We ziplined from thousands of feet up between vibrant forests of green with the lake-filled volcanic crater below us.
Visiting impoverished areas means next to nothing if it doesn't leave some sort of mark on you- if not then you are simply observing those who have less than you and thinking "Oh, thats sad". I will forever be grateful for the little things in life, and appreciate the luxuries ten times more. I felt a tad matured and cultured, and oddly humbled returning to the states. I chose to remember how such small things made the people here smile so wide. Nunca te olvidaré, Guatemala.
Now cue "Guatemala" by Rae Sremmurd...
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