31 Mar 2010

Guatemala for my summer trip

Posted by fireside

I’m SO excited! On June 17th I will join 4 others as I fly to Guatemala City, Guatemala on a church mission trip to Patzun, Guatemala. We will be assisting the San Bernardino School with school maintenance and meeting the school children PLUS we will kickoff our Clean Water Project. Our water filter demo and talk at church this month touched the hearts of many parishioners, and they gave generously so we can help provide clean, safe water for the school childern and their families. Improving the daily lives of the Patzun children with our Clean Water Project really touches my heart.

Since I do not speak Spanish, my supportive husband bought me software to help me…we will see what I can learn in the next couple of months. Does anyone have any tips for quickly learning Spanish? Primarily conversational, I doubt I will have to write much!

As I was deciding whether to travel to Guatemala, I was shocked that two weaving publications highlighted the weaving in Guatemala. First, Handwoven Weaving Weekly on December 16, 2009 focused on fair trade mentioning Ten Thousand Villages, the organization our Mission Team was using on that day to hold our first Fair Trade Market…what a coincidence! But best of all they highlighted a book by Debbie Chandler and Raymond E Senuk titled “Guatemalan Woven Wealth” – of course I found it wrapped under the Christmas tree. The details in the weaving are intricate and beautiful – I cannot wait to see work like this in person!

Then Syne of Weavezine published an article in January about TRAMA Textiles, a 400 member association of Mayan weavers who join together to offer their beautiful weaving for sale to help support their families. Check out the Weavezine article here They are located in the Western highlands of Guatemala in the same department (state) where I will be. I hope to be able to visit their store. They are looking for more International Partners and perhaps Fireside Fiberats will become a US distributor!?

Exploring Guatemala for one week will not be enough but I am sure to come back with thousands of pictures to share.

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2 Responses to “Guatemala for my summer trip”

I’ve been to Guatemala several times. The colors in their huipels are beautiful, and when you come home, you’ll notice how dull we Norte Americanos are with our lack of color!

Jill

April 25th, 2010 at 5:34 pmpermalink
I suspected their bright colors from pictures I have seen, and that is just great for me. I love color – never a white wall in my house! It’s the patterns that seem so intricate and bold…I’m sure to bring home something that catches my eye. Do you have any tips for my travels in Guatemala?

fireside

April 25th, 2010 at 6:23 pmpermalink