Jan Kurtz spent three weeks teaching in Guatemala, sometimes with children in gym class. Students played basketball, soccer or volleyball in a public facility across the street from the school.
The houses consisted of one to three rooms, masonry block walls, dirt or cement floors, an open cook fire or small gas stove, clothes washed in a scrub board sink and 100-pound bags of corn propped up alongside a wall, by the firewood. Corn tortillas are their staple. Yet, one young girl worked an afternoon on the coffee plantation, so that she could offer us cake. Back at the school, Edgar, the principal, was doing jumping jacks with the sixth graders for gym class. Eddie, Carol and I lined up everyone else for the trek to the town center’s soccer court for relay races. “Do you do any warm-ups” I inquired, as we hiked down the hill. “We figure walking 15 minutes covers that,” Eddie grinned and took the lead. As I stepped behind, Freddy and Gisela came to my side, reaching out to take a hand and… a piece of my heart.
pulled on my sleeve and informed me it was time for the 9 a.m. break. Still unsure of the twinkle in his eye, I looked to Ingris, who nodded in the direction of the women gathering at the door with baskets on their heads. I watched as they lowered their goods, revealing fruits and candies for sale. Class dismissed! After break, the children scrambled to the book shelves and got… toothbrushes. Eddie rationed out the toothpaste as they filed over to the pila (outdoor sink), to scrub away residual treats. Time for some serious studying!? My time was spent doling out glue for their myriad cut and paste projects, reading stories, organizing clothing distributions, art lessons, filling notebooks with copy work and giving talks on Spanishspeaking countries. When introducing Cuba as an island, I noticed quizzical looks. Ah, what was an island? Again, I scrambled to discover their age level and cultural understanding. At 11:15, students went to work scouring bathrooms, erasing whiteboards, mopping all floors and washing the glue off of their desks and themselves! After a plethora of hugs, the call of “Seño” faded down the street, as they skipped home. After lunch, we volunteers were led into their homes for visits.
HV
Jan Kurtz
Jan recently concluded a sabbatical updating her courses at Central Lakes College in Spanish and Latin American studies. She is now writing and doing presentations on her travels.
A little brother of one of Jan’s students stands in front of the family’s wood cook stove. This is a literal “step-up” from the ground bonfires that often result in burning accidents and respiratory problems for the women cooking. WINTER 2012 | her voice
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