We joined Global Missions Project on another missions trip, this time to Guatemala. This likely has been one of the best we have been on. We had approximately 14 concerts and 6 workshops in the 8 days we were there. Fortunately Guatemala is a Spanish country so we could conduct the rhythm workshops in Spanish without a translator. One of those 8 days was committed to touring Antigua, Guatemala. Because there was so much activity this blog will be organized by day and events for each day.
To begin with, here are photos of the group of 20 that met in Guatemala for this adventure. Our orchestra was supplemented with local musicians and the largest combined orchestra was 40 people. So it was exciting. Before getting into the individual events there are some generic photos. These photos are of Casa Emaús, the guest house that we stayed at. Here are photos of typical street scenes of Guatemala City and surroundings. One of the things we have always been intrigued by in each country we visit is graffiti, shown here. In Guatemala it is very reminiscent of Brazil. The first few are just a series of graffiti but the last group is a mural of people holding hands and rolling a ball along. Another thing we noticed was the variety of buses. Besides the standard tour buses, there appeared to be two types, dull red old Bluebirds or Mercedes Benz, and very colorful. The dull red ones seemed to concentrate within the city and the fancy ones for intercity travel. In fact, these colorful ones always had the luggage loaded on top. Here are representative photos. We called the fancy ones "parties on wheels".
Of special interest were the volcanoes around Guatemala. Typically they are covered with clouds but we did get some good views as these photos show.
The highlight of any trip of this nature is eating, generally local food. However, we ate a lot of fast food on this trip because we were always on the run and this was the easiest. We are not used to that much fast food, and half way through the week we got tired of pizza. Here are number of "eating" photos.
The rest of the blog will be by day and then location during that day.
Friday 13 July
Our first and ONLY rehearsal at Union Church. This included some Guatemalan musicians. Photos of this rehearsal are shown here. We then went to the National Conservatory to conduct workshops and then give a concert but ended up hearing a Marimba concert and then giving ours as seen here. A video of the Marimba concert is at this YouTube site. We then visited Coro Filarmónico, which was very interesting. Two Guatemalan brothers, Pedro and Manuel, felt called to reach out in a poor community to try to bring kids off the street through music. They have been successful because they simply trust God to provide and He always has. Here are videos of the choir singing alone, the boys playing the piano, all of them playing hand bells and all singing with the piano. Understand that these people live in a bad environment and come from abusive homes and found Coro Filarmónico to be a place of refuge. Many notes on the piano no longer worked so our group decided to help out. Here are a couple of photos of the choir, a welcome sign and Manuel and Pedro after receiving the gift from our orchestra, which was almost enough for a new piano.
Saturday 14 July
We began the day by giving a concert at Universidad de Valle. However, we did not get any photos as we rushed in and out. After lunch we went to Centro Cultural Cristiano. Their website is at http://cccguatemala.com/. Apparently the leader of this organization felt led to go to an extremely poor and violent part of Guatemala City to reach the youth. According to their website they are working with upwards of 1,200 young people. What caught our attention was that they have an auto mechanics workshop, a metal workshop, art studio and English classes to provide centers of life skill training. We then noticed a Rotary Club symbol and asked about it. 60% of the funding for the workshops comes from local Rotary Clubs who are in contact with a large number of clubs in the US and Canada. Since we are Rotarians in our local club, this was of special interest. His next project is a carpentry shop!! At this location we put on a concert on the street. The local police blocked off the streets for us. Here are photos of this opportunity. That evening we ended up giving a concert at Bethania Baptist church. Three photos of this concert are shown here.
Sunday 15 July
On Sunday we gave two concerts at Union Church. These were our only English language concerts. Here are four photos of our time at this Church. That afternoon we held workshops and gave a concert at Vida Nueva Church. We didn't get photos of the workshop as we were busy instructing the rhythm section in Spanish. We rotated instrumentalists on each instrument to give them all a chance. At the end of the class, with Nancy singing, we had a "near" perfect worship band. As instructors this was extremely gratifying. We did get pictures of the concert, which can be seen here.
Monday 16 July
This was our one tour day and so we went to Antigua, a historic city in Guatemala. Here are photos of this adventure.
Tuesday 17 July
In the morning we headed off to the Alfredo Colom Music School to conduct workshops and give a concert. Here are the photos of this opportunity. In the afternoon we went to the Universidad Galileo. This is one of the most prestigious universities in Guatemala. Students are not allowed to work and so their parents have to provide total support. Cost is approximately $1,000 USD per month so by Guatemalan standards very expensive. But it is an extremely beautiful campus. All students have to take English and those in medical and dental school have to add at least one indigenous Mayan dialect because they are expected to work in the outlying communities. Our director, Camp Kirkland, gave a lecture on music composition followed by Nancy lecturing on Sound Tech. These lectures were followed by a concert. Here are the photos of the time at this university including the lectures and concert. Here is a video of Camp and Nancy lecturing, at least small parts. Nancy found out just prior to the lecture that half the audience knew nothing about sound, so she started with the basics.
Wednesday 18 July
The whole day was spent at a very interesting orphanage, Camp Bernabé. This orphanage has about 150 orphans on a well maintained and beautiful campus. They have their own school, several houses with from 10 to 15 children in each with house parents, a garden, a carpenter shop and a well organized structure. We met several short term interns and some folks that are there for a longer period of time. This orphanage is part of a larger international organization Friends of Children Everywhere (FOCE). It is not government supported so relies totally on private donations. However, it is one of the best if not the best orphanage in Guatemala. In fact, it has a waiting list of 1,000 children. So there is a real need. We did workshops and held a concert here. However, there were no rhythm instruments so no rhythm workshop. So Walt found a guy named Tony who essentially does exactly what we do at Hope House so Walt had to compare notes. Tony's next project is an aquaponics system!! Just what we are trying to do in Mexico, Tony is trying to get Camp Bernabé to be self sustaining. Here are pictures of Camp Bernabé. One of our gals, Barbara, put a whole program together for us to interact with the kids. So you will see photos of that.
Thursday 19 July
Thursday began with a ministry that really touched everyone. It was in a place called Potter's House. Their website is at http://www.pottershouse.org.gt/. Apparently 11,000 people scavenge the Guatemala City garbage dump to make a meager living. This has been going on for generations. It is not just the poverty that is an issue, it is that they are considered second class citizens so they have no apparent hope. Potter's House has been working to change that for the last 25 years and have been quite successful. We went to listen to an orientation briefing and to give a concert. Here are photos of this opportunity. Later that day we were joined by a choral group, Virginia Voices International, who joined us for the last two days. Our first combined concert was at Jesús El Buen Pastor church. Here are photos of the concert.
Friday 20 July
This fantastic trip ended with workshops and a concert at Seminario Teológico Centroamerica (SETECA). The concert was on live radio and the very large church was packed with a very enthusiastic crowd. It was an excellent way to end this incredible trip. Here are a few photos of the workshop and concert.
Future
We are signed up to go to Israel in October of this year and to Curitiba, Brazil in June of next year. If you would like to help us out on these ministry opportunities God has given us, you can do so by going to https://www.globalmissionsproject.com/givetoparticipant.php and supporting either one of us for Projects GMP-190 and/or GMP-200. Although they can be quite exhausting they are extremely rewarding and we are convinced this is a ministry God wants us involved with. Any support would definitely help us in serving where God is leading us.
Wednesday 18 July
The whole day was spent at a very interesting orphanage, Camp Bernabé. This orphanage has about 150 orphans on a well maintained and beautiful campus. They have their own school, several houses with from 10 to 15 children in each with house parents, a garden, a carpenter shop and a well organized structure. We met several short term interns and some folks that are there for a longer period of time. This orphanage is part of a larger international organization Friends of Children Everywhere (FOCE). It is not government supported so relies totally on private donations. However, it is one of the best if not the best orphanage in Guatemala. In fact, it has a waiting list of 1,000 children. So there is a real need. We did workshops and held a concert here. However, there were no rhythm instruments so no rhythm workshop. So Walt found a guy named Tony who essentially does exactly what we do at Hope House so Walt had to compare notes. Tony's next project is an aquaponics system!! Just what we are trying to do in Mexico, Tony is trying to get Camp Bernabé to be self sustaining. Here are pictures of Camp Bernabé. One of our gals, Barbara, put a whole program together for us to interact with the kids. So you will see photos of that.
Thursday 19 July
Thursday began with a ministry that really touched everyone. It was in a place called Potter's House. Their website is at http://www.pottershouse.org.gt/. Apparently 11,000 people scavenge the Guatemala City garbage dump to make a meager living. This has been going on for generations. It is not just the poverty that is an issue, it is that they are considered second class citizens so they have no apparent hope. Potter's House has been working to change that for the last 25 years and have been quite successful. We went to listen to an orientation briefing and to give a concert. Here are photos of this opportunity. Later that day we were joined by a choral group, Virginia Voices International, who joined us for the last two days. Our first combined concert was at Jesús El Buen Pastor church. Here are photos of the concert.
Friday 20 July
This fantastic trip ended with workshops and a concert at Seminario Teológico Centroamerica (SETECA). The concert was on live radio and the very large church was packed with a very enthusiastic crowd. It was an excellent way to end this incredible trip. Here are a few photos of the workshop and concert.
Future
We are signed up to go to Israel in October of this year and to Curitiba, Brazil in June of next year. If you would like to help us out on these ministry opportunities God has given us, you can do so by going to https://www.globalmissionsproject.com/givetoparticipant.php and supporting either one of us for Projects GMP-190 and/or GMP-200. Although they can be quite exhausting they are extremely rewarding and we are convinced this is a ministry God wants us involved with. Any support would definitely help us in serving where God is leading us.
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