Nataly Basterrechea
We didn't have a story nor lead nor contact; we only had one assignment to find someone, something or anything worth telling, and well, I have to admit that I was scared, so I prayed. On the bus to Santa María de Jesús, watching the mountains and volcanoes, I asked God to let my big ego aside, and I offered our disposition to listen and be guided to whatever thing we needed to witness.
The bus left Morgan, Gina, Molly and I in the well, so we tried to hang out with the women until we could find the right signal. We didn't find a message to stay, the cue we had to leave was the scruciating awkwardness the four of us felt because no one actually wanted us there. After feeling out of place, we secluded ourselves outside the big yellow church in the main plaza. We saw two little sisters eating popsicles as big as their heads, when they saw us they ran away, as they got further away, a little girl in the fountain got closer.
The curious girl´s name was Jacklin and she had the sweetest smile. She asked us if we knew English, she was eager to practice what she had learned in school and we were excited to meet her. We asked her where she learned English and she pointed right in front of us at her school, Angelitos de Dios, translated as Little Angels of God. A few minutes after we started talking with her, Jacklin parted with an elderly lady, but she had done her mission with us. We said goodbye thinking we were not going to see each other again and Las Capibaras Curiosas headed to the school beside the church.
Without being expected we were received so warmly by teachers, they were more than willing to share with complete strangers.Despite being really affected by the government's social distance mandates the teachers of Angelitos de Dios hand´t lost Guatemalan´s distinctive hospitality. Their passion for education and their love for the children of the community hadn't made them stop their mission, on the contrary, it had only reinforced their work´s value for the future of the kids.
Education is a privilege, a way to expand ourselves and enrich our lives with different perspectives but sometimes we forget that not everybody has the opportunity to have a space too.
By pure faith they let us inside their lives.