Bacarella Blog: Leap of Faith youth mission trip San Lucas Toliman work

In San Lucas Toliman we did physical labor assisting in the construction of the Women's center and also at the reforestation project. The Women's Center construction project is being built as a place where women in the community can go and learn skills for both the home and vocational skills. It has been under construction for a couple of years.

Construction in Guatemala is very different than in the United States. In the U.S., we borrow the money and build it as fast as possible and then worry about paying for it later. In Guatemala, we find that they save their money, build a little, save their

money build a little more, and eventually your project Women's Center
is complete.

We did a couple of thing at the women's center. First we mined Lava rock out of the side of this hill. Then we took the rocks

up the hill to a cistern by the Center. The Lava rocks are going to be used as a filter for a rain collection cistern.
We also filled bags of dirt from the volcanic soil in this hill. Volcanic soil is incredibly rich and will grow any thing. The center has several gardens surrounding it. Some the the gardens provide nice relaxing spaces, others grow fruits and others have medicinal plants.
The goal of the center is to build the self esteem of the women in the area. It does this by giving them a peaceful and safe place to go and learn.

We also worked on the reforestation project the mission has. This area was hit hard by mudslides from a hurricane. The mission has been running this project for 27 years. They start the trees from seeds and grow them

until they are small trees. They then take them out and plant the trees where ever there is bare ground. They teach the people the importance of planting strong trees with good roots. They also go into the schools to teach the kids.

We dug dirt from a compost pile, sifted it and then filled the little bags with the dirt. The compost dirt was made from a mixture of coffee shells and manure.

I'm told that filling the bags is very relaxing. I couldn't tell you, because I spent the day digging and sifting dirt.

The hand sifter we used was tough work, although the Guatemalans made it look easy.

Taking a break with Jesse