I can’t believe the trip is over already! It went by so fast since we were constantly on the go and working. We’re currently in Houston for our layover, and I’m just beginning to have time to process what happened over the trip.
One thing that really stood out to me was the last day. Adithya and I installed an EcoFilter in a very small one room house with four people living there. Up until this point, the houses had all been dirt floors and still pretty poor, but nothing like this one. Things were hanging from the ceiling everywhere to make space for everything, and the cook stove was only two feet from where everyone sleeps. The bed was covered in flies and bugs, and it didn’t smell the best since so much was going on in such a little space. Before coming to San Antonio, we had tested the water and it wasn’t that bad in most of the houses, and that’s what we came to test. So, my thoughts in my head had these people living a better life than I originally thought. But, seeing this house I realized that just the cleanliness of their water doesn’t determine their standard of living.
We just barely saw a peek of what living in poverty is like in Guatemala, but we will never actually understand it–and that’s probably the hardest thing for me and something that has challenged me during this trip. Every community was so different in what they had and how they lived even though they are just a couple miles away. Since we will not truly understand what these people go through, it made me realize the importance of having multiple years on this trip, and partnering with an organization that is already working with these communities. Having communities that are so different challenges me with what future projects could be possible. It completely changed from my initial thoughts, especially with their water purity.
Anther thing I concluded from this trip is that everything stems from a lack of education. This really came into my mind after dinner Wednesday night, and I kept thinking about the last couple of days. Everything can relate back to this, and I believe that to really make a change this is where we should start. This is a challenge though, because they have so much to teach us as well as the other way around.
So, the next two years have some work on their plates, but I really believe that this year was necessary to their future success. We set a great baseline of how to communicate and help these amazing people, and I really believe we can figure out a solution for these communities, no matter how small or how big!