5 weeks to go - Some facts and figures!

The mystery charity revealed - See the posting in the left hand column regarding CasaSito  and please watch the videos .........  Thank you.

Still from the CasaSito Video

(Click picture to View Video)

 

This weeks musings...............

Birmingham: 52° 25' N / 1° 55' W        Antigua Guatemala: 14° 33' N / 90° 44' W

So by my reckoning that means I am moving as good as 90 degrees, a quarter of the way round the planet and a whole heap nearer the equator, more sun, no snow!

But before you get carried away thinking tropical sunshine, white sandy beaches, Antigua is in the hills at 1510m (5030 feet)   [Birmingham 138m (453 feet)] I will notice the difference ~ a temperate climate and as to the white sandy beaches the  nearest are the lovely black sands of the  volcanic Pacific coast, 2-3 hours drive away.  Just don’t want you running away with the idea of me as a beach bum ~ occasional beach comber maybe ~ turtle (tortuga) watcher definitely!

 The volcanic sands of the Pacific coastline

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So, airline tickets booked and paid for, out October 31st back in UK August 15^th (get the date in the diary!) accommodation sorted at the Volunteers House, Spanish lessons commence on November 2nd at 8am! I am going to be doing 4 hours a day, 5 days a week for the whole of November and December about 160 hours of 1-2-1 tuition. Thereafter I think I will try to do 4 hours a week, to get to grips with some of the finer points of the quite complicated grammar surrounding the subjunctive!

A tortuga!

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I am still getting my head around the fact that until 1996 Guatemala had been involved in civil war since 1960, with over 100,000 killed and probably around a million people becoming refugees. On September 18^th Guatemaltecos went to the polls to elect officials and only their 4^th president in this period of democratic calm.  As there was no outright winner they will be going to poll again on November 6^th.   So, it is only 15 years since the end of the war and the repercussions of that are still very much in the news with convictions of army veterans for war crimes still taking place.

 

Guatemalan Women - seeking answers.

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I was just researching the ethnic mix in Guatemala and even in this information age the level of political amnesia that seems to exist around quite solid facts and figures is (un)surprising. The CIA “factbook” is surely an ironic misnomer!  

Well the population of Guatemala is just short of 14 million with Amerindians forming 40.5% of the population and Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and Spanish - locally called Ladino) and White European 59.4%.  

In terms of language 60% speak Spanish and then there are a further 23 officially recognised languages of which 21 are Mayan language types including K'ichi’ which is the second-most widely spoken language in the country after Spanish. Most speakers of K'ichi' also have at least a working knowledge of Spanish except in some isolated rural villages.  I hope to be working with people who fall into the category of having Spanish as their second language and a Mayan language as their first.

Nationally the literacy rate is around 76% but with huge variations depending on region and community. In rural areas children are often required to work on the family farm rather than attend school beyond the age of 11 or 12.

One of the latest scandals to fully emerge of course has been the USA sponsored syphilis experiments in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948.  Doctors infected soldiers, prostitutes, prisoners and mental patients with syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases, without the informed consent of the subjects, and treated most subjects with antibiotics. This resulted in at least 83 deaths.

It was only in October 2010, that President Barack Obama apologized to President Álvaro Colom, who had called these experiments "a crime against humanity".  Compensation has yet to be agreed!

Unfortunately, the USA does not come out of its involvement in Guatemala and Central America well in the last 70 years. Although the CIA "factbook" is a bit thin on this period of history.

Needless to say on occasion in Guatemala it has been important to impress on people that I am a British rather than an American "Gringo" ~ although "Gringo" simply means foreigner ~ it can be used in a very disparaging fashion especially when "tourists" forget their "cultural sensibilities."

From global to local ....

CasaSito!

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One of the reasons I want to work with CasaSito is because of the sensitive way in which it works with indigenous communities both local to Antigua and in some very remote locations in the mountains. I am sure I am going to learn so much and really get to see life from an Amerindian perspective.

A project I hope to be associated with is the Entrepreneurship programme, see the video below!

That's it for this week -  next Sunday and I am into the counting of days not weeks!

6 weeks to go! Musing on a model for creative rural business development

This week’s photos are dedicated to that great love of my life –food!   

“Understand the food of a country and you understand the people!”
 

A simple breakfast:  Pretty standard across Central America
Egg, chile sauce, refried beans, plaintain, bread

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Prompted by my own musings last week about effectively “giving something back” I have been thinking a lot about the notion of “Knowmadic Consultancy” and how I might give that idea wings.

I am exploring ways in which I could achieve a win/win/win solution that would deliver management development to senior managers, business development in less developed/rural communities and also provide me with a means of satisfy my desire to tread the less worn paths of Latin America.

I keep thinking back to a couple of Chamber of Commerce managers I met in Peru,  both of these managers were from remote parts of their respective countries (Paraguay and Venezuela) and were lamenting the fact that it was impossible for them to engage their local members in any business development activities, being constrained both by location and economics. Ping!!! Light bulb!!! ~ Knowmadic Consultancy!!!

At the moment I am developing a delivery model based on one weeks consultancy at a very competitive rate, 45% of the usual EU rate, which would not only pay for itself, but also subsidise a further three weeks work within less developed communities.   The “1 + 3 model” is born!  It would in effect mean I spent 1 week delivering a management leadership course in a city (and a hotel) followed by three weeks working with young entrepreneurs in a rural community and hopefully living as part of that community (with a family).  At the moment it is just an idea, I need to test some assumptions. I am also thinking of only offering this from April 2012 thus giving me a target date for mastery of Spanish.  And it gives me a six month settling in period in Guatemala, and the chance to work on some of these ideas whilst working with the charity in Antigua.

I managed to miss the Skype interview with the charity Friday night, I miscalculated the time difference – I forgot to add an hour on for Daylight Saving Time (aka British Summer[?] Time) so logged off and toddled off to bed just as they were calling me!  We try again on Monday!

 Tortillas and Rice  - the Tortilla are made from a blue maize

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I feel that I am on a right track, with the “1 + 3 model” but as many of you know, my blue sky thinking on green field ideas often results in purple prose and little else. But such is the nature of creativity; Edison after all needed the 999 failed experiments before the 1000^th successful one and the (not so) hey-presto light bulb!  Knowmadic Consultancy, is my light bulb; I just need to reverse engineer the idea, and arrive at a pragmatic and functional process to develop it.   

For me the concept of going to more remote communities taking and sharing knowledge in situ, is very exciting, and core to my vagabonding over the next few years.  Especially if as part of that process I can enthuse younger people and start them thinking about creative, innovative and entrepreneurial solutions and then turning those ideas into real development opportunities.

Fiambre ~ an amazing salad with up to 50 ingredients served at the 

graveside parties on the  "Day of the Dead"

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More prosaically, my other pressing task has been working out the pro and cons of a wide choice of travel options to get to and from Guatemala, as I do plan to be back in the UK in August/September 2012 including a “side trip” to India to celebrate Onam in Kerala.

Air travel: I now realise that a less obvious route benefits me by allowing twice as much luggage, enabling me to take a bag full of textbooks and other resources which otherwise might have gone who knows where. So it looks like I shall go with Continental Airlines: Birmingham ~ Newark ~ Houston ~ Guatemala City in a record 19 hours!

I will post the outcome of Monday nights conversation as I hope you will be as excited as am to find out just what and with whom I am going to be doing empowering stuff from Nov 1st.

 Fruit stall in the market, Antigua: Strawberries are available pretty much all year.

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Waxing a bit philosophical ~ 7 weeks to go!

It’s been an interesting week, ebay-ing continues apace, and absolutely no regrets in seeing my stuff go.  After being burgled years ago, when I lived in Hove and everything of value I owned had been meticulously removed, I vowed that I would never again buy expensive items or get attached to mere possessions.  Consuming because one can, is simply not reason enough, and yet, as my house full of “stuff” testifies, you just can’t help yourself!

 Family and food for one week in rural Guatemala

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Having said that, the consumer in me purchased two books this week (ebay both for under £1+p&p): The Backpackers Bible by Susanne King and Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.   Vagabonding has been revelatory and so affirming. Potts has invented the term “vagabonding” as not just a continuous action but also embracing a whole philosophy of life and as a way of looking at the world. 

I think I have always struggled with finding the right frame of reference as to the “meaning of life” and am still not sure whether it is: a lemon, the number 42, subservience to a “greater” power, or a chance to really plug oneself into “simply being”.  We are born, we live, we die; the end.  I couldn’t help being born, I know I will die ~ the trick is to get that middle bit right; to live.  It seems a pointless waste of energy to put effort into ensuring that we secure a place in an afterlife, when that same energy can be used to simply open ourselves up to the opportunities life presents us with on a daily basis. The challenge of life surely is to give what is basically, in universal terms, a meaningless process a little “worth” …..

Subsistence farming family off to market

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OK, I am lucky, very lucky. I am single, have no family responsibilities, no relationship, good health and have a group of close friends who support, encourage and do their best to understand me and my uncontrollable sense of curiosity and wanderlust.  This annuity is a “gift” which I am not going to look in the mouth, as I am sure this horse will contain many challenges, best tackled as and when they happen!

I am very clear in my mind that I am not setting out to be a perpetual tourist.  I know I want to make a contribution, “giving something back” sounds so pompous, and yet, I know that I want to share some of those skills and life experiences I have gained, whilst at the same time learning and absorbing the wisdom and learning from people of varying culture, race and creed.

Rolf Potts the Vagabonder's Vagabond! 

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Potts in his book says “Vagabonding is not a lifestyle, nor is it a trend. It’s just an uncommon way of looking at life – a value adjustment from which action naturally follows. And, as much as anything, vagabonding is about time –our only real commodity - and how we choose to use it.”  And, “vagabonding has always been a private choice within a society that is constantly urging us to do otherwise”.

He says that the hardest lesson of all to learn, and the one that will yield the greatest benefit is to simply “slow down”.  Only by slowing down do we give ourselves the time to reflect, to really see, feel, and fully appreciate our sense of the present.  Not plugged into timetables, or lists of must see, must do and must have’s common to the time-bounded tourist. The aim is rather to acclimatise, absorb and reflect. And to appreciate the fact that it is a gift and privilege to be able to do what billions would love to do but can’t ~ simply being!

 Who needs a buggy!

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Of course, the fact that I can afford to do this (as my means are only meagre by Western standards), is a challenge I have to overcome, finding the right way of not letting that fact become an obstacle and in using those means wisely and thoughtfully.

 Slowing down,watching the world go by!

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It turns out that my plan to start by settling into Latin American life by getting my Spanish back up to scratch, volunteering and working with the indigenous Maya and being fairly stable for my first year “should” help me slow down and to ready myself for possible/probable knowmadic vagabonding later.  Serendipitously Guatemala is the least “Latin” of all the Latin American countries having the highest proportions of pure indigenous Maya so, I hope that what I learn from them will stand me in good stead as I encounter other indigenous groups, tribes and communities throughout my journey south.

For me (at this moment) the knowmadic bit seems key to an underlying sense of purpose, if on my travels I can quietly share some of my knowledge then I feel I have something to offer, as well as a means to engage with people.  The years spent in business, management and personal development activities hopefully being shared practically and pragmatically as required, or my musical training being used to maybe open up new channels of communication. It all sounds a bit “lofty” but I hope in practice it will be less so.  Just a simple sharing ~ a two way process ~ and I am so excited to wonder at just what new skills and ideas are going to come my way ~ I am pretty sure that I will only be the better for them and (if my India experience is anything to go by) I will be humbled and constantly amazed by simple acts of human kindness.

I was stuck by a line in Potts’ book about “value choices” for instance, the opportunity to visit yet another tourist attraction or to be taught to tango in the back streets of Buenos Aires by an 80 year old grandmother who speaks not a work of English!  I can hear the plaintive sounds of Astor Piazolla’s tangos even as I write this!  (Argentina may be a few years away and almost as far south as the UK is West [of Guatemala] -yet the seductive strains of the Tango already exert a gravitational pull.)

Seductive  - just love his shoes! I'll be there one day!

And now I shall get down from my philosophical soap box and wrap a few more possessions just purchased by an eager community of ebayers.

Hasta proxima Domingo.  (Until next Sunday)

 As a special treat more Tango!    Music by Astor Piazolla - the king of Argentinian Tango.

Eureka! (or whatever the equivalent would be in the shower!) ~ 8 weeks to go

I think what I am having some difficulty getting used to is, that whilst I expect to have a great time in Guatemala and may end up staying many years, it might be, in actual fact, only a "stepping off" point.  I heard from the pension people that things are progressing as planned. I will be having an extended conversation with a representative of the charity at the end of the week in order to talk through possibilities and projects.  But in reality, I could actually do "nothing" except travel and explore, as my budget would be adequate.  I know that I want to do some work with my preferred charity (and yes I will reveal the name once all is agreed) but I literally have the whole of Central and Southern America at my feet, using the fact that Guatemala is the most northern of the Central American states.

My thinking to date is that I would spend part of each year travelling in Latin America, but the Eureka moment was when I realised that I could for instance spend a year in Guatemala, followed by a year in another country, and another country and another country and that after 10 years I would pretty much be in a position to say I knew Latin America quite well! This strikes me as an awesome possibility and appeals to the adventurous and intrepid part of me! What an opportunity!

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I know that the solution to these seemingly endless possibilities will only become clear once I am in situ  in Guatemala, but I am truly excited by the possibility of spending a decade travelling, volunteering, doing a little consultancy and maybe teaching some business English. And really walking the less trodden  paths of this amazing continent. What a privilege!

Planning continues at a pace, I have been e-baying like crazy, books, cds, dvds, an eye opening or (is it watering?) experience, people killing to own "footballers wives" and the West Wing (and no, I have nothing to say about why I had footballers wives in the first place!)

I have completed three out of the 11 sections of my TEFL advanced certification, and so far I am averaging around 85%, somewhere along the line I  must have confused my Past Participle  with a Past Perfect continuous although of course it might just have been a case of not defining my Transitive Inseparable Phrasal Verbs properly ~ I pity anybody trying to grapple with the English Grammar.  Did you know there are ten ways of pronouncing the letters "ough"  and what to do about Cholmondeley, Beauchamp, et al!

Enough for this week I think.  I leave you with two engaging pictures of the men's traditional costume from Todos Santos Cuchumatán, designed both for hard work and  mountainous cold conditions. I just love the trousers ~ can't wait to go native!

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