A new Home for the Fausto Co Guitz Family

Fausto, Aida and Greyberth have a new home! Here's some more information about our family and their new home which cost about $4,200 and is 500 square feet.

Aida (25) and her husband Fausto (26) live with their son Greyberth (5 months) in San Juan Chamelco, Alta Verapaz. Aida and Fausto are both teachers, but right now Aida is at home taking care of their son and of the home.

Prior to moving into their Habitat house, the family was living with Fausto’s family. There were eleven people in total, in a Habitat house that Fausto’s parents had solicited. They had been living in the house for five years. It had always been extremely uncomfortable due to the large number of people sharing the home, and when Aida got pregnant they started thinking about changing their living situation so their new baby would have a spacious home in which to grow up, and they wanted to live alone as a family, apart from the in-laws, and have their own space and privacy.

Living in a Habitat house they liked the design and knew the house was safe and sturdy and knew that Habitat would be able to help them they way they had helped Fausto’s parents. After applying for their own house, they were thrilled to learn that the Greig McPhee volunteer team would be coming to help with the construction and with their help, the house was finished in just 25 days.

The new Habitat house has a living room and three bedrooms. The kitchen is outside. The family loves their new home and is very much looking forward to living alone together for the first time. It will be much easier to raise their son, with space and privacy and not having to worry about whether or not his crying is disturbing others. Sharing a kitchen at times had been difficult with so many people, but now Aida will be able to prepare whatever meal she likes, at whatever time. They are so happy knowing they have a safe and decent home for themselves in which to raise their son and future family.

Aida and Fausto's final words to us "God bless you. May your dreams come true like they did for us."

IBEX Clean Your Green 2006 to 2009 - Why?

Building a Habitat house in Guatemala was amazing, but the work is just as important and rewarding here at home as well. Here's a You Tube video created by my hubby, Darryl, about the work done by IBEX Payroll to clean our green space, raise money for Habitat for Humanity and build homes for deserving Winnipeg families. Watch the video and you'll understand why we do it.

Roasting Marshmallows on the Volcano

About the volcano, I have two important additions:

1. Yes, we did see actual lava flowing out of the mountain. It was very cool. Actually, it was very hot, but it was cool to see. We were about 5 feet away. Getting any closer just seemed too risky for any of us. As it was, we were nervous being that close. The rock under our feet was very warm to the touch and it sounded hollow. Not knowing much about the geology of newly formed lava rock, we decided to err on the side of caution and limit our stay.
2. Yes, we roasted marshmallows on the volcano. Our sticks were a little too short to reach the actual lava flow, but we did find a steam vent (white hot hole in the ground) that provided just the right amount of heat. Our marshmallows roasted in no time at all and were the best marshmallows we've ever tasted.

With or without marshmallows seeing the birth of rock was pretty amazing. And Aidan is pretty impressed with having a five day old rock in his collection.

The Trip Home

It's 5:00 am, time to start the long journey home. I fly from Guatemala City to Miami to Chicago to Winnipeg. I'm due to arrive at 10:30 pm. It's going to be a long day.

I am reminded of how much I dislike airports. The minute we touch down we are herded like cattle into shoots where all visitors are fingerprinted and interrogated. It seems as though we're all presumed guilty until proven innocent.

The cold harsh reality of international travel today becomes even more evident with the recurring warnings of the terrorist attack threat levels over the intercom, repeated security lines and signs posted throughout the airport encouraging everyone to report any suspicious activity.

Ironically, I feel less safe than ever before.

I'm also reminded of our crazy North American life styles. Barbie is everywhere - tucked, nipped and high heeled with pumped up lips and breasts, she's stylin' with her Gucci bag and Manolo high heeled shoes. Classy business execs are also in abundance with their high tech gear that's plugged into every available outlet. I pass a restaurant where three, twenty year olds are having dinner together, except they aren't talking to each other, they're each texting someone else on their hand held "thingies". Hmm, what a great life we live!

My head is still in an altruistic state thinking about the plight and welfare of people across the globe. It's hard to process these two images -excessive wealth versus excessive need- that are floating around in my head.

I have a lot of time to contemplate this dilemma as I don't arrive in Winnipeg until 11:30 pm. When I finally pass through the last checkpoint, my thoughts are washed away by the sight of my family. Their embrace is all I really needed.

Saying Goodbye

Early Monday morning the first of our team depart. It's hard to say good-bye. We've only known each other for nine days, but we've experienced so much together that it seems like saying good-bye to life long friends.

Our plans vary. Some of us are eager and ready to go home and rejoin our friends and family.

Some aren't ready to go quite yet, they have more exploring to do. Several members are touring the sights of Guatemala - Lake Atitlan, the Pacific Coast and maybe even Tikal in the north. Two others are staying in Antigua to take Spanish lessons and immerse themselves in the culture even more.

No matter which direction we go, one thing's for sure - we've had an amazing adventure that will stay with us for a lifetime.

Pacaya - Volcana Adventure of a Lifetime

Today was one of the best days of my life. Today, I climbed 1,000 meters to end up 2500 meters above sea level on a lava flowing crater of Mount Pacaya about 1 hour from Antigua.

It was extra special because every step of the way, my family was with me. I couldn't have done it without them! They are my rock.

I woke up and all I could think was "It's a great day to climb a mountain." a phrase inspired by Darryl and the IBEX Herd. While Darryl and I often use this phrase figuratively, today, it was 100% literal. It was a clear sunny, warm (23 degrees) day - a great day to climb a mountain. I thought of Darryl every step of the way.

Aidan, my 8 year old son was with me every step of the way as well. I know how much he loves nature and how much he would have loved seeing the plumes of smoke coming out of Pacaya and the volcano Feugo off in the distance, which also sent regular plumes of smoke into the air. I know he also would have loved the gigantic grub/caterpillar we saw. It was yellow with a black head and a transparent rear end. It was as thick as my thumb and at least 4 inches long. Can't wait to show you the pictures. And, I thought of Aidan's recommendation not to go to the smoking vent at the top and look over the edge. So, I didn't.

Melanie, my 6 year old daughter was with me too. When the going got tough, and it got pretty tough, I thought of Melanie.

It was a tough climb. I was wheezing like crazy and stopped frequently to catch my breath. I swear we went up a 60 degree angle, as Darlene put it, it was worse than a level 12 on a Stairmaster in the gym! The terrain consisted of loose, sliding rock which made it difficult to get a good footing. The path was tricky with people above and below and people going up and coming down. There were hot air vents to avoid and heat cracks with white coals to jump over. The rock itself was like pummice further down but towards the top it was incredibly sharp edges that cut my hands any time I had to steady myself. It was hard. But Melanie saw me through it - I kept thinking of the song she sings whenever she encounters something difficult - "Keep on going, keep, keep going, keep on going every day."

I also remembered Melanie distinctly telling me not to slip and hurt my knee. So I didn't. Although, we did see some nasty cuts as people came down the mountain. There were a few scratches and scrapes that we had to disinfect on our team too.

It was a surreal experience. I felt connected to the power of Mother Nature and to my family like never before. I can't wait to see them, hug them and share my stories with them in person.

A True Guatemalan Adventure

Our 5 hour trip back from Coban to Antigua turned into a nasty 9 hour adventure. The good news is we weren't in a crowded "chicken bus", we weren't kidnapped or hijacked in any way, and no one got really sick.

Our journey took us through one final journey through the streets of Coban where once again we saw hundreds of little stores lined along the streets - people trying to earn a little something by selling just about anything along the streets. Coban is not a tourist town, so they're not just selling to tourists, this is simply the local economy and way of doing business.

We continue through the winding highway through the mountainous terrain of the province (Department) of Alta Verapaz. We cringe as we see drivers passing on blind corners and driving in a manner that seems to far surpass the quality and ability of their vehicles. But, we did not see any accidents. We pass pick up trucks with built up walls carrying loads of people in the back - they are standing so tight there is no room for them to move.

We also pass and/or are passed by the "chicken buses" so named because everyone and their chickens ride on these buses. The tops of these buses are packed with possessions, inside there are 5 people per seat with another 30 jammed into the aisles. We followed one bus that also had one person hanging out the front door. These buses are old school buses that come to Guatemala from Canada and the US. They get them because they don't meet emission requirements in our country. This does not come as a surprise to us as we are suffocated by the black exhaust of a brightly coloured bus we're unfortunate enough to follow for a few hours. We are torn between closing the windows and baking to death (25 degrees and sunny today) or dying from exhaust. We chose death by exhaust fumes - we figured it was a slower death!

We also pass an army truck with 20 soldiers carrying heavy duty guns (sorry, I didn't get the make and model, but they looked pretty scary). We decided against taking a photo out the side of the bus. Seeing security guards with sawed off shot guns at banks, gas stations and other fine establishments is not so shocking to us anymore. Nor is seeing the glass shard security system on top of the walls surrounding properties. Imagine broken glass bottles cemented into the top of a 4 inch wide wall with the poky ends sticking straight up. The other line of defence for those with more money seems to be razor wire. Razor wire is one step up from simple barbed wire. There are literally razor like edges on this wire.

We did get to stop at a bioreserve (protected forest) for a 1.5km hike up a mountain. Wow, altitude really does affect breathing. I haven't wheezed like that in a long time. For all the amazing plants we saw, I was perplexed and surprised that we did not see any bugs - none, not a one, not even one lonely little ground leech! Apparently the altitude is to blame. After much searching, I did find one spider and one beautiful butterfly -hmph!

Once we hit Guatemala City the ride turned into a nightmare. We were sandwiched between trailers and chicken buses emitting clouds of black in the traffic jam of all traffic jams. It seemed like we moved 2 feet per hour. We later found out the delay was due to the annual Christmas parade and possibly an accident. Death by fumes seemed eminent. We're amazed by the vendors and people lining the streets who survive this hell on a daily basis.

Finally our Habitat Interpreter convinced our driver to take a detour. After much manouvering, we ended up seeing the "rich" part of Guatemala City - the Department of Defence (a high walled compound with watch tower turrets lined with holes for guns. We can only imagine the history these walls have seen. We also went by the US embassy, bank towers and other fancy buildings.

Stopping for lunch was another interesting adventure. The armed guards of a shopping mall (we were headed to the food court for a quick bite) refused to let our van/bus enter. We ended up at a "On the Run" shop at an Esso station. Nothing but the finest for us!

After more delays and line ups we finally hobbled down the cobblestone streets of Antigua. It felt so good to stop moving and reach our hotel - Los Bucaros. Our oasis!

What an adventure.

Tomorrow we head to the volcano. Whoo Hoo!