Guatemala Team Reports

A heavy rain overnight pelting the corrugated tin roof over the school that serves as our base did not dampen our spirits on Monday, especially after we passed out the gift packs we brought to at least 115 school children. Wish I could share video but the internet is pretty sketchy here.

And just as we set out to begin our stove installations the rain stopped. We broke into four stove teams, each with a Hands for Peacemaking staff member and a local helper.

Before we did a man dropped by our group with a big load of coconuts, which are plentiful in these parts. The man also pleaded with us to buy him a set of hearing aids. Later when we visited his home to install a stove he was overjoyed at the gift of the Seedplayer audio Bible as Marco held it closely to his ear he offered a big smile.

Our stove installation total today (Monday) reached 39. Three of the teams installed eight stoves and water filters, and one ambitious team did nine. The balance were stoves assembled by staff.

Our team spent the lunch and dinner hours excitedly sharing stories of the families they met and the love that was shared.

The weather did improve throughout the day – in fact by early afternoon it was in the high 80s and steamy.

Greg launched his drone this evening and took some great shots of the village and the sun setting over the Ixcan River nearby.

We should have a full day of stove installation tomorrow. We are all getting better at the job as we go and by tomorrow we expect to be experts!

Everyone is well and we are enjoying our time here with the villagers of Rancho Palmeras.