For my STEP project, I participated in the Buck-I-SERV trip to Antigua, Guatemala to serve with the local masons and construct a house for a family living in poverty. Throughout the week, we traveled to a local town, Santa María de Jesús, to do work with moving cinderblocks, mixing concrete, and much more to assist the masons in their work constructing the house. We were also immersed in Guatemalan culture through excursions like hiking and cultural tours. When we finished constructing the house, we shared a fun day with the community, including dancing and playing with the school children with whom the Constru Casa organization works closely.
Having never left the United States, my eyes were opened to the beautiful diversity of cultures besides my own. I think before leaving the United States I had an idea about what I would see while I was in Guatemala, especially regarding the people with whom we were serving. I was told that the citizens of Guatemala have many struggles, including a lack of access to clean drinking water, as 97% of water sources are polluted. A lot of the media that we consume in America portrays “developing” countries in a certain way that makes us pity or feel sorry for its citizens because they might lack certain amenities that we consider commonplace. However, in Guatemala, the sense of community supersedes these “problems”, as the individuals smile and laugh as they walk arm in arm through the streets, celebrating their lives. I saw a society that overcame their struggles via a connection to each other and their religion and implemented a high degree of respect for this culture.
On our trip, I saw the difference in family structure as well as values in Guatemala. Compared to the United States, Guatemala is a much more community-based country, where people don’t live as isolated as Americans. I saw many front rooms full of people, family & friends, either watching a soccer match or preparing goods for a day at the market, something that isn’t as common in the US. On the walks throughout both Antigua and Santa María de Jesús, we saw many women arm and arm chatting and laughing, saying “Good Afternoon” to us and I knew just how strong the connections between individuals there as compared to in the US, where people barely even look at each other when they pass each other on the street, sometimes even crossing over to the other sidewalk to avoid interactions. I felt a sense of respect and admiration for the culture’s emphasis on their relationships with others and desired to include more of that in my own life.
As we walked into the city square of Santa María de Jesús, I saw the women of the town laughing and chatting as they washed their and their family’s clothes in the public washbasin. While I might see this as a chore, to have to hand wash my clothes, it really made me appreciate the culture of community and hard work in Guatemala. When I got home after spending the day at the site, my work pants were pretty stained and dirty, so I decided to try and handwash them myself. Elvira, our homestay hostess walked into the sink area and offered to teach me how she did it for her family. She was already doing other work and took time out of her busy day to help me, which really touched my heart. The culture of hard work in Guatemala is very impressive, as the work that Elvira and Tita were doing to provide us with food and housing accommodations was difficult but they handled it with grace, making it look easy.
Another very cool experience was heading into the square of Antigua during Sunday mass. In the United States, there is not nearly as much of a connection to religion as in Guatemala. There was a massive parade and a celebration, which made us question if there was some kind of holiday or some other event occurring. What we realized is that the event we saw was simply Sunday mass, with a very strong community connection and a connection to Christianity. Even on one of the weekdays we were working, we got stuck in traffic due to the congregation’s trip to the church. It was very impressive to see the sheer amount of individuals, especially children, attending mass, as this phenomenon is quite different from America.
One of the reasons this trip was very valuable as it allowed me to see the realities of people’s day-to-day lives. As I intend to further my career in healthcare, it is easy to start seeing one’s work as simply that: work. However, this trip allowed me to see that people have their struggles at home and might not show it in a short visit to the hospital, so it is important and necessary to be empathetic and understanding, as it might have taken a lot to get an appointment at all. I also hope that by seeing the impact that good community connections can have on one’s lifestyle, I can incorporate more interactions with my friends in my day-to-day life, especially as work gets more and more consuming. I am forever grateful for my STEP experience in Guatemala and I will never forget it.
