Eat, Weave, Smile: A Guatemalan Home Visit.

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We’re on Day 2 of our special Guatemala Week here at Beers & Beans. Enjoy!

One of the best things about participating in Cooperative for Education’s Snapshot Tour (aside from the smiling children, of course) was the variety of activities that we did in addition to the school visits. And at the top of the list was the home visit we made in El Tablon.

Walking the baked dirt road to the house, we passed a sea of cornfields full of gigantic stalks, each stretching up to the deep blue sky. Behind us young kids raced feverishly around collecting stickers, pencils and other goodies from volunteers whose faces glowed brighter than the midday sun that watched silently from overhead.

Inside the shaded courtyard, we got to see firsthand the process that goes into the traditional hand woven goods that are still made by mothers, grandmothers and daughters for their families. It’s meticulous work, but the results, as shown throughout the beautiful and abundant textiles throughout the country, are absolutely stunning.

Several darkened rooms surround the courtyard. The walls are a mix of colorless concrete blocks and white plaster, acting like a large blank canvas that pops with greenish blue doors and shutters, while soaking up speckles of intricate, bright colors from the family’s traditional dress.

Next, we moved into the kitchen, where we are treated to a hands-on tortilla demonstration. Like so much of the home, the kitchen just has the necessities. In this case that is a plump, red stone stove that could have easily been ripped from the pages of a John Steinbeck novel. Even still the family went out of their way to make all of the tortilla mixture and salsa with purified water for our visit.

One by one, the ladies (grandmother, mother and daughter) and the volunteers flattened out the delicious corn concoction before tossing them on the flat top stove to cook to perfection. Honestly, if you haven’t eaten a homemade tortilla hot off the grill, then you just haven’t lived. 🙂

Sadly, just as quickly as we came, it was time to leave. After presenting a gift to the family, we said our goodbyes and made our way back out into the enchanting countryside, each with a deeper insight into the lives of the families and children of the El Tablon school.

We hope you enjoyed this peek into our home visit with CoEd! The home visit was one of our favorite activities during our volunteer trip with CoEd because it was such a great view into the world of a Guatemalan family. We’ve got more great stories lined up for the rest of the week from our time in Guatemala so please stay tuned!

We are really excited about the response we’ve been getting for our CoEd fundraising project! Each day we are getting a little closer to bringing two computer workstations to the students at Panajxit Cooperative School, and we couldn’t do it without you guys. Thank you so much for your support. If you are new to our blog please see below for more photos from our home visit and information on how to donate to this great cause and enter in our Guatemala raffle giveaway!

Just in case this is the first time you are hearing about our fundraising campaign, I’ve included the details below about how you can get involved, including info about the prize pack we are giving away to one lucky person, Beth and I decided we not only want to raise $2,000, but we want it to be fun. We want to give you the opportunity to join us on our mission, while earning a chance to win some great prizes for yourself as well! That’s why we have put together this amazing travel fun pack as a prize!

How it works:

It’s very easy. Make a $15 donation and get an entry into the raffle for the prize pack! Do you want more than 1 entry into the raffle? All you need to do is make a larger donation. Easy as pie!

• $15 Donation = 1 entry
• $25 Donation = 2 entries
• $50 Donation = 4 Entries
• $100 Donation = 10 entries
• $250 Donation = 18 entries
• $500 Donation = 36 entries
• $1,000 Donation = 75 entries
• $2,000 Donation = If you donate $2,000 we’ll give you a prize pack of your very own!

Each entry earned gives you a chance to win the the Travel Fun Pack!

The Gift Pack Includes:

• 1 $25 Amex Gift Card
• 1 $25 Amazon Gift Card
• 1 $25 Itunes Gift Card
• 1 Adventurer’s Travel Journal Pack By Earmark
• 1 Free Download of Getting Out Of Auto
• 1 Safety Whistle from Tom Bihn
• 1 Tom Bihn Packing Cube Backpack

Total Prize Pack is worth $165 and the winner takes all!

How Do You Enter?

It’s easy! Just click the DONATE NOW button below or you can click on the green widget on our sidebar to make your donation. Either way will bring you to Razoo which is where we have decided to host our fundraising efforts. Why did we pick Razoo? Well if we can get enough donations quickly then we will be showcased on their homepage, which will let even more people know about CoEd and our mission to fund two computer labs!

Is There A deadline?

Yes there is! We are trying to raise $2,000 by midnight on Dec. 31, 2012. We know it’s a short amount of time but we really want to make these computer stations a reality for the start of the new year. Plus, it will be a great way for all of us to bring in 2013 knowing that we just made a huge difference in the lives of these beautiful children!

How Will We Choose The Winner?

We will write your name on a slip of paper for each entry into the raffle. As soon as we raise the $2,000, Randy will complete an exuberant one man Polar Plunge into the great and incredibly cold Atlantic Ocean! After he runs back to the beach and draw a name out of a hat (we’ll bring it with us to the beach). We’ll be filming the Polar Plunge and name draw on video and then post it on our site to announce the winner! Good Luck!

Please consider making a donation to this very worthy cause today and earn a chance to win a fabulous prize pack at the same time! If a donation simply isn’t in the cards this year, please share this page with your friends, family, coworkers and neighbors so they can learn about CoEd and perhaps join in the raffle themselves! If you are interested in learning more about Cooperative for Education and the work they do please feel free to visit the CoEd website!

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*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you do want to use one of them please contact me first. Thanks!