Guatemala Update III

Mocolicxot Alto

We visited the small village of Mocolicxot Alto today to see the results of the leveling of a playing field on the local school grounds and to bring some uniforms and balls for the school.

A 40 minute walk/hike down and up a gorge takes you to the village of Moxocliot Alto from the main town of Patzun. We passed an old lady with no shoes making it look easy.

A large group of local kids were there to greet us as we walked through the corn and pea fields up to the school.

This multi colored one wanted her own picture!

Even though for now it remains dirt, the field had already been used by all members of the community old and young.

This area will be seeded and hopefully produce grass once the dry season has ended and further work will be done with the help of the municipality of Patzun to install seating on the side.

After being overwhelmed by the amount of initial gratitude and eager energy we presented the children of the village with a set of girls and boys uniforms as well as some balls that the school will be able to keep and make sure they are used by everyone.

The school has a girls team who plays against other teams in  the area, and won an inter-school tournament last year.

We were given a couple small presents (woven canadian flag) and a heartfelt thank you from one of the teachers, my dad´s, Lorenzo Magzul´s cousin (who blessed the field) and the community representative.

This village of 250 families is one of the poorest in the Patzun area and very few (1  or 2) children continue school beyond grade 6. We will continue to support the community with further development projects (last year our family donated supplies and new chalk boards for the school-Michelle Buck and John Lydon) and our ties will remain close.

In addition to the levelling of a new field, the excess dirt was used to repair roads around the town. With the contribution of 15 community volunteers who donated their entire day these much needed repairs were realized and the initial single goal of the project blossomed into two.

More tomorrow.

Kieran