Goodbye to ANA

Monday was our ceremony to say goodbye to those who we met at Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados, and who were a large part of our time here in Guatemala. The night began with a delicious dinner with Jose, the director of ANA in Guatemala who has been so caring to our group all along, Jorge, who we became close to through house-building, and Vanessa, the doctor who helped many of us through our illnesses. All of whom have made an impact on us in only a few weeks time through their never ending willingness to help and care, and friendly personalities. After chatting and enjoying dinner, we hustled through the rain, over to the chapel on the ANA campus to close out our time volunteering. Jose began by explaining what a blessing our time here has been for not only ourselves, but ANA and the families we worked with as well. He had us close our eyes and imagine what each family whom we built the houses for are doing right at that moment, on a cold rainy night. Envisioning them not having to worry about their clothes and beds getting drenched, and trying to keep warm with soggy blanket; that they’re able to keep warm and dry in a house with a solid roof, cement floor, and sturdy walls- that we constructed. It was a beautiful thought to ponder on as we end our time here, knowing that even though we are leaving, the work we did will still be benefiting them for a long time come. The ANA team then celebrated our time here by giving us each a certificate, a necklace with a charm on it in hopes to come back and add new charms each year, and custom “God’s Child” caps, which came in handy on our trip to Tikal the following day.

After the ceremony, Teslin, Megan, and I headed over to our new friend, Micaela’s, house for dinner and conversation. We met her from several stops into her shop of handmade goods, we quickly learned she was a pretty amazing woman, and had a lot we could learn from her. She welcomed us into her house with abundant hospitality and made us feel at home. It was great to be able to talk with a Maya woman who has had many trying experiences, and has worked so hard to get where she is today. Definitely a memorable and valuable night for us on this trip.