Trip to Guatemala

[postalgriff]

I recently got back from a trip to Guatemala with a small group from my church. We met up with a group of guys from Texas and worked on building a church in a small mountain village called Camotan. It was my 4th time going down there over the years, but this time was blessed to have my son and his new wife go with us. It was an amazing experience, and I will definitely be going back. We were able to get more accomplished than what was projected so we were happy with the work. The work is very hard and it is very hot there, but it is so rewarding. All done by hand with no power tools, the hardest part being mixing all the cement and mortar for the walls, it literally drains you. They also have a child sponsorship program there which we were able to spend an afternoon with some of the kids from that program. The girl my family sponsors, Evelin, has 5 siblings and mom and dad all living in a one room hut with palm leaves for the roof and walls and dirt floor. No electricity, water, or bathroom and her dad works seasonally for the equivalent of $2.50 per day. How blessed we are here. for $35 a month her family gets a 50lb bag of food per month plus a live chicken, plus free access to the medical clinic and receives free medical, dental, and optical, literally life changing for them. we always spend the last day in Antigua, a popular tourist town with a huge market place and beautiful old building surrounded by volcanoes. We also found a place that were selling "bombas" ...they were like half sticks of dynamite and were sooo cheap like the equivalent of 25 cents, and they had a picture of Osama on them, that was fun...we blew off about 20 of them the night we finished working. Anyway, thought I would share some of my pictures from the trip, hope you enjoy and thanks for looking. If anybody would like info on the sponsorship program feel free to message me. Josh

p.s...we also found a huge pile of Jade in the mountains and all of us were able to bring some back (I have a few pounds and am looking for a tile saw to cut it down so I can tumble it) most all of the jade in the world comes from this area.

 

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[postalgriff]

more pics...

 

[postalgriff]

a few more of the girl we sponsor...
we were able to buy her some things from the store including a new outfit and shoes, personal hygiene products, some toys and a large baby doll. also, played in the pool, did some crafts, hair and fingernails etc....awesome time!.....thanks for looking all.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Yes, we are very lucky here in the states. Sure is a lot we take for granted...sounds very rewarding the work you do there to help those people J, gotta give you a lot of credit for that. Great pics too, the history there goes way back! Be interesting to see some of that jade polished up, that's a great find.

ffd

 

[Mike from MI]

I know you were very blessed by this experience. Keep on doing his work and He will continue to bless you. I have a couple tumblers if you need to use one or want me to do some tumbling for ya. Thanks for sharing the trip with us.

 

[Brentallica]

Fantastic story and pictures bro! We are so blessed to have all that we have over here. Area is very old - did ya have time to dig any old Silver or Coppers? - Quite a sacrifice to spend your time and money to help others. Looks like ya got some sun too! Thanks for sharing your trip with us and may God bless you and your family!!

 

[mpostma]

Hey Josh,
We sure do take a lot for granted here!

Wonderful pics, and touching story. You are doing great things, and making a difference in the lives of good people.
Anyone that says one guy can't make a difference just isn't trying. Good people working together with god to make things better can do even more.
My hat is off to you and yours.
Mark