Guatemala

Our Enrichment Voyage stopped for two days in Guatemala. As with the other stops, passengers (voyagers) could select from a wide array of shore excursions: Pacaya Volcano Hiking Tour, Guatemalan Highlands, Lake Atitlan - the Mayan Wonder, Safari Wildlife, among others. 

A number of our Friendship Force members struck out on their own with Aila Erman from St. Petersburg, Florida. Their destination: the beautifully restored colonial city, Antigua. And since the city is almost a mile high, you escape the scorching heat of the lowlands, making it a great place to explore by walking the streets.

Here, even if just for a day or two, you get a glimpse of at least three different Guatemalas: First, there is the historic, colonial Guatemala that dates back to the 16^th century. The architecture alone is worth the visit. Second, there are the people and traditions of Mesoamerica: the Mayans. Although Antigua is several hundred miles south of the famous Mayan complex, Tical, the rich art and traditions of the Maya culture are easy to experience in Antigua.

Several of us visited Casa de Artes, a delightful arts center that is as much a folk museum as it is a store.  The handiwork displayed here was made in various villages, using centuries-old techniques. I selected a colorful table runner for my wife, Jill, an art teacher who loves indigenous art, particularly fabrics. The embroidery was done by hand in the same style as a huipile, the blouse worn by Maya women.

Third, in Antigua you can discover the Guatemala of today. School children on their way home from school, merchants selling their wares, and you get the impression that everyone is a merchant. Their friendliness makes it okay, as you realize you are instantly identified as a tourist and a potential customer. But you don’t have to look far to see the poverty that afflicts so much of the population, and you remember that this is a country of 14+ million people with an average income of under $5,000.  And though you can’t see it on the surface, there is the legacy of the civil war that was so destructive for decades, until recently.   

In Antigua, even during a brief visit like ours, you take in these different worlds, wondering how you can be a culturally “green” tourist – enjoying the history, diversity and local charm without somehow ignoring the underlying poverty. After all, tourism is one of the main sources of income, and the few dollars spent on handcrafted souvenirs can be a major source of income for a local family.

What does this mean for the Friendship Force? We do not have a club in Guatemala, and as with other developing regions of the world, we tend to shy away, not knowing how to introduce our programs. Certainly our mission of cultural understanding through friendship is universal, and we are eager to go beyond our current destinations and visit places like Antigua, to enter the homes and hearts of the people.  But how? Many of the people here may not be able to travel to visit us. The challenge in Guatemala and dozens of other countries is to design a Friendship Force program format that is not always based on mutual travel but on some other shared objective.

Left to Right: Vey Smithers, Louisa Wheeler, Dennis
Wheeler, George Brown and Aila Erman.

Here is where Aila Erman’s connections with Antigua come into the picture. She took our group to Antigua not just to show off this wonderful town, but to meet longtime friends of hers, Vey Smithers and Dennis and Louisa Wheeler. They are American expatriates who have lived in Antigua for more than 30 years. The Wheelers came to the region as American Peace Corps volunteers in the 1970s. Vey fell in love with Antigua as a child when her family wintered there. They have made Antigua their home, and among other ventures they established a non profit organization (NGO) that works with the local villages to the north that are ignored by the Guatemalan government.

Their organization is PAVA, a Spanish acronym that roughly translates to “assistance for the indigenous people of the highlands.” Each year PAVA, supported by these expatriates and their friends “back home” in the USA, conducts projects with the local people in the highland villages: building bridges, schools, fresh water sources, among others. But the value they give is not just financial. PAVA is a local grassroots organization that provides financial and logistical support (www.pavafoundation.org). The projects are community driven. Representatives of the community come to PAVA to explain their needs. If feasible, PAVA works with them and largely provides the materials, the engineering and helps cut through the government red tape. The villagers provide the labor.

What if the Friendship Force joined hands with PAVA in Antigua?  We don’t know what it would look like, but it seems worth the effort. Aila and I are going to invite the Wheelers and their associates, both Guatemalans and American expatriates, to try designing a Friendship Force program that enables our members from abroad to spend a week in Antigua – enjoying the unique culture, history, architecture and cuisine AND to visit and make friends with PAVA’s Maya villagers in the highlands, learning about their lives. Our Friendship Force ambassadors would also become “friends” of PAVA by each making a small financial contribution.

It is a different way to establish the Friendship Force in a new country, but it seems worth a try. And it certainly would live up to our new Friendship Force themes: Explore, Understand, Serve. What do you think?