Lavando la ropa

     Typically back at Furman, I happily do laundry once a week for free in the automatic washing machines and dryers. Here, it's a totally different story. Once or twice a week the Guatemalan ladies hand wash their clothes in pila (essentially a big rock basin). That is exactly what I and four other American ladies attempted to replicate. Some of the other students paid an outrageous 30Q (approximately $4) for the hotel ladies to do their laundry for them. But we definitely made the right choice. As you can see in my educational video, doing laundry is a bit different. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0zRPMvRSNA

     Yes, the ladies stared at me. Yes, they laughed while I carried my clothes on my head. But I got it done--Guatemala style.

     Also, to recap the main event of Friday the 13th... After an exciting breakfast of oatmeal and black beans, we hopped on the back of a pickup truck to go to our next destination. Our friend Andres took us to visit Andres Tos Toy in Panemaquip. He is essentially the Martin Luther King Jr of the San Lucas area. He worked with about 100 others on a coffee plantation where they were severely mistreated because of their Mayan heritage. They were expected to work more than 12 hours a day and receive minimal payment of less than 50 cents of the Guatemalan money. That translates to about a nickel a day for backbreaking work. Andres realized this social injustice. He led a 13 day strike against the owner of the farm and eventually they were able to settle on a fair salary for less time working. It was a monumental time for San Lucas. This strike allowed the local Mayans to know that they were being severely persecuted. This one occassion sparked many other strikes around at the farm.
     Andres´ story is not something that can easily be read and studied in a textbook. In fact, there is a book written about this history, but it forgoes many of the details in fear that a violent uprising could happen at any moment. Essentially, the only way to hear the real story is to hear it straight from the source. No amount of Wikipedia can substitute a firsthand account of a real strike that inspired many other Mayans. I guess this is what Furman means by Engaged Learning.

School children in Panemaquip

- David Hanor