Here are some updates and photos from projects and friends of Farmer to Farmer in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala.

We arrived to find the lake level up between 9 to 12 feet! The beautiful new park completed last year is totally submerged. The torrential rains this summer that caused so many mud slides also filled the lake to the highest level in over 40 years.

statues in the park underwater

a store washed into the river

I was fortunate to be in Santiago for the Day of the Dead and to accompany Francisco and Rosa (leaders in the Comite de Tejedores, our F2F group here) to the cemetery to visit their family graves. It was a wonderful event- a mix of honoring the dead and a celebration with friends and family. They decorate the graves with pine needles and flowers. The two graves of Francisco and Rosa’s families were very different styles of graves- cement tombs vs graves dug straight into the earth mounded over with dirt. Usually the choice of which type of grave is based on what families can afford but Francisco’s grandparents wanted to be buried in the dirt (the mounds) because “it is cooler and more airy than the cement graves”. There is also a photo of the cutest kid selling cotton candy at the cemetery. Why don’t we do this in the U.S.?

Rosa and Francisco at cemetery

family in front of a grave

boy selling cotton candy at cemetery

volcano behind gravesite

This next photo is of one of our scholarship families: Dalila and her 2 kids Scarlet and Ixac. It was wonderful visiting with them all and they are looking forward to the group coming in January. Dalila’s 3 siblings are also receiving scholarships to attend San Carols University in Guatemala City. In January F2F will give out scholarships to 21 students attending kindergarten through university.

Scarlet, Issac, and Dalila Esquina

The Open Door Library (Biblioteca Puerta Abierta) in Santiago has just moved to a new building . Amanda (the director) and her husband Martin built on the building their own land just outside of town. Amanda said they built it because they had to move too many times when the landlord raised their rent. They’d fix up a space and the rent would go up. So now they have a wonderful permanent library. It is beautiful and even has an outside yard where kids can play, very rare here. 

inside the library

The last photo is from my visit the Hospitalito  the Santiago Atitlan Hospital, that is having their grand opening later this month. They are working frantically to finish up the the main floor before the opening. This hospital would be impressive anywhere in the world and will be a huge asset to Santiago. It has been the effort of a huge group of people working here in Guatemala and sending support from around the world. F2F is part of this! I brought good chocolate bars for the volunteers- always a welcome treat.

I wanted to tell you how much your support is appreciated down here in Guatemala.

So, from Guatemala, I’m passing on all the heartfelt thank-yous I’ve been receiving from all these people here in Santiago Atitlan!

Jody Slocum