1. Along The Gua-y: My Trip To Guatemala “It doesn’t matter where you are going, or where you are from, but that your heart leads the way” –Personal Philosophy By: Sara Linn

2. Standard of Living  Most houses have dirt floors  Consist of one room; the parents and kids share a room  I was not expecting to see flushing toilets

3. Travelling  Cars zoom in and out of lanes passing each other; seems very dangerous  Rode on a “ferry” that could only fit about two cars; we sat ON TOP of the bus  As we got closer to beach/ coastal area the land was so much flatter

4. Education in Guatemala  Families had to pay for education  Hunger Relief International provided the lunches for the children at school  Many families struggled to keep their kids in school

5. Politics in Guatemala  They have thirty two political parties  They do not have regional representatives; one rep from each political party makes up the house (all of them are wealthy business people)  Rocks, street poles, and trees are all painted during voting season to represent political parties  They use hand signs to help illiterate people be able to vote

6. College Students  Siara, the opinion leader of the community, was amazed at how young we were  One of very few study abroad trips that requires strategic planning to complete the project

7. The Families of Agua Zarca  Families were willing and eager to help  Men had a dominate role and many of the women tried to get out of doing work while they were around  The children were just as excited as the parents

8. The Official Tree of Guatemala! IT WAS HUGE!!!

9. Lumber Yard  Upon leaving the lumber yard if the lumber isn’t covered with a tarp the government has the right to fine the driver

10. Animals of Guatemala  Darvin had lots of animals- 3 horses (2 pregnant), 8 cows, turkeys, quail, chickens, dogs (A NEW LITTER OF PUPPIES!)  Female puppies are given away as gifts and male puppies are traded at the market for a chicken  Dogs have serious malnutrition

11. Poultry in Guatemala  Chickens just seemed to like me ;)  We used native birds so they would be heartier to weather conditions  Families want to produce eggs; however, without proper nutrition it won’t be successful

12. Beach Vacation Day  Black sand beach with huge waves  Served fish with heads with heads still on (yuck!)  Bought a coconut for a dollar and watched an older woman hack away at it with a machete

13. Let’s Get to Work!  Everyone was so excited to get started  Each person was responsible for some role in building the chicken coops

14. Connection Church  Connection Church from Texas helped us to complete our projects  They have a strong connection to the people of Agua Zarca and they were so much fun to hang out with!

15. Little By Little  As we continued to work the chicken coops started to look amazing  Everyone wanted to help and the project got finished so quickly

16. Putting on The Roof  Darvin and I worked together to tie down the bamboo that would hold the plastic in place

17. Chicken Wire  Chicken wire took time to make sure it went on correctly.  We had to fasten the chicken wire together because it wasn’t long enough but we wanted to be sure that no predators could get into the coop

18. My Project  We had to explain what a nesting box was to the women of Agua Zarca because they had never seen one before  Using scraps was a challenge because we wanted to use materials (such as a water bottle) that could be reproduced

19. Building the Nesting Boxes  We used scrap pieces of wood because they were cheaper in price and could still get the job done

20. Water Pipe Uhh Ohh  Broke a waterpipe  Back home it cost money and makes a mess to break a water pipe; in Guatemala, the families lose precious water and still cost a lot of money

21. Playing with Children  Christopher (blue striped shirt) was so upset when he found out that I am good at playing soccer; I thought he hated me for beating him  Gifted me a bright colored yarn bracelet that he made himself on the final day

22. FAO Visits  Guatemala is the perfect humid location to grow mushrooms; however, they have to grow in the perfect room environment

23. FAO Visits  Agroforestry provided the farmers with a prevention method to soil erosion in highlands of Guatemala  One farmer used a broken piece of pipe to grow seedlings before growing season starts

24. FAO Visits  When rain fall is in short supply this farm uses a water storage unit to save water for the dry season

25. FAO Visits  The farmer showed us how to make clean water using a clear plastic bottle and the roof of his house

26. Poultry Care  We not only had to build the coops but educate the families on how to care for them  To us it was just a week long project but to them it is a second income and more food for the families

27. Chicken School!  We taught the families all about chickens:  Nutrition  Poultry Health  Human Safety  Egg Production  Etc.

28. Antibiotics  We had to teach the families how to feed the chickens antibiotics and vitamins

29. Darvin’s Chicken  All week Darvin worked hard to help with all three of the coops that we built, and in the end we were able to give him and his family a coop of their own

30. One Hot River  The river was actually really cold; however, hot water was fed into the river by springs heated by nearby volcano

31. Celebration Time  At the end of the week we got to celebrate with the entire community of Agua Zarca  The other families begged us to come back and build chicken coops for them as well

32. Antigua Vacation Day  Beautiful, rustic city with cobblestone roads and religious history  Bartered with merchants in the city market  Visited a Catholic church built in the 1500’s; turned to ruins after earthquake  Active volcanos on sides of city

33. The Families Were So Excited!