Casa Guatemala

Christmas break is approaching, which means it's time for an adventure. Eileen Rush, Amlan Pentiah and myself will be traveling to Guatemala over break to backpack and volunteer. We started checking out some volunteer opportunities and found this orphanage called Casa Guatemala that is in desperate need of help. The orphanage is in Rio Dulce, a swampy area with serious malaria and vampire bat problems.

In the past, many volunteers have begun projects at the orphanage, only to leave before finishing them. Eighteen children sleeping in an incomplete dormitory were actually bitten by vampire bats. The orphanage is currently experiencing a decrease in funding because the area is a little dangerous, which means tourists and volunteers haven't been traveling there. The home has a shortage of nutritious food right now because the funding it low. This means the 250 children at Casa Guatemala are surviving on merely beans and rice. I saw similar conditions at the Peace and Love Orphanage in Ghana. The orphanage has also seen a few cases of H1N1, which means they need hand sanitizer.

The following list was compiled by Eileen:

1. Food. Get them funding so that they can purchase meat and vegetables.

2. Vitamins. Chewable vitamins for 250 children can add up, but we'd like to get them enough of a supply to last them for at least a year. Malnutrition can have devestating affects on a child's health, and vitamins could really make a difference in these kids' lives.

3. Hand sanitizer and sanitizing spray. In a group home this large, disease can spread quickly. Already the orphanage has experienced problems with H1N1, which can be deadly to children.

4. School supplies. The children need everything -- paper, pencils, pens.

5. Art supplies. When basic needs aren't being met, the healing power of creative energy is also lost. The kids completed a production of The Lion King over this summer. A group started to build them a theater, but the project was put on hold. They ended up performing it at an abandoned prison nearby, called just "The Castle." We would love the funding to buy these kids paint, clay, crayons, markers and paper, other things that can sharpen their minds and express themselves.

Let me know if you're interested in helping!

Local exploration.

Just like that, summer rolls around and I'm nowhere to be found. My budget hasn't allowed for any grand adventures, so instead I've made several trips to Knoxville for Sundown in the City, as well as a roadtrip to Roanoke, Virginia to see my brother. I visited the Booker T. Washington Memorial in Hardy, but didn't realize the plantation where he worked was a short distance away until I got to my brother's and looked it up on the internet. Today I made a short roadtrip to Mountain City with a friend. It was a beautiful town, appropriately named, with some very interesting characters.

Last week, I hiked up to Beauty Spot in Erwin where I met two hikers who are heading North on the Appalachian Trail. I definitely want to hike the AT at some point. They had many colorful stories and I was tempted to forget about summer school and join them on their journey. Eileen Rush, my friend who is a reporter at the Erwin Record, snapped the photos at the top...

My every day daydream.

Today, after finishing up my spring cleaning and jamming out to some Ray Lamontagne, I went on a bike ride and enjoyed this absurdly warm weather we're having. Of course, as these things typically go, it's supposed to snow tomorrow.

Before my bike ride, I laid on a blanket in my back yard and let the sun seep into my skin as I re-read 'What is the What' by Dave Eggers. Perhaps it was because I was reading about Africa, I'm not sure--but my mind was transported to another place. This place was, of course, Ghana. I'm longing to breathe that African air again and to hear the chanting of the village fisherman as they gather up their nets in the morning. Fresh pineapple, recently plucked and succulent, dripping from my fingertips. The hot sand beneath my naked feet as I wander through the rasta's huts looking for Stephon. When I do find him, he's carving salt and pepper shakers out of calabash, rolled herb hanging from his lips and a slight smile on his face. Roots and Culture (his dogs) laying on the floor of his hut, happily panting, their hearts beating to the sound of the drum little Abraham is playing. The children from the village stumble in. They're hungry. Stephon pulls a bag full of bread from under his bench and begins to feed the children, one-by-one. He speaks to them in Twi, even though his first language is French.

I wander over to the gazebo with a notebook, feeling inspired as I always am here. The words flow from my pen and onto the sweat and salt stained paper that rests on my lap. These are words I know I'll read in years to come, and I'll long to be here.

I'll long to be here.

New York roadtrip.

This is a late blog, excuse my absence.

Well, I was sitting in Jacksonville on January 3rd, and a friend called to tell me she was leaving for New York City the next day. You guessed it...I was in my car the next morning, driving 10 hours to Tennessee before getting in another car and riding another 12. We were picking up our Swedish friend who got stranded in the city over break. She was staying in a hostel in Harlem...and we went there to pick up her luggage, at night. Interesting to say the least. I snapped this photo on the way home and was very pleased with how it turned out. I think I'll frame it.