Quotes & Facts (to cheer us up)

In the other places where we went we had a house, this is just... two rooms. (Sam, getting a bit tired of our accommodation, early November)

Why don't they appreciate what you're doing? (Michele, always asking the most difficult questions)

Having to go outdoors to reach the toilet after waking up is not nice, but a view like this makes up for it, big time (Elena, watching the volcanoes in the cool air of the morning)

I know what to do: tomorrow morning I'm gonna go out on the street, start shouting and sell them all! (Michele outlines his solution to our problem of oversupply of tamales, received on Christmas Eve, all excited at the thought of finally having the opportunity to imitate the local ladies' advertising techniques; unfortunately he had to be told he wouldn't be much successful, as everybody would be either stuffed with the same or still having plenty of leftovers...)

Profe (that's how they call Mattia, as when they first knew him he was a teacher), you're staying here up to... 2020, right? (Oswaldo one of Mattia's "athletes", pretending not to remember our leaving date)

NOOOO! (one of Mattia's kids shouting at the news of our leaving soon)

Yes, they could have gained so much from her, if they had given her the right support. I learnt so much and it would have been a great asset for the whole community to have somebody learn properly from her. (A good friend and former member of UPAVIM, agreeing with us that Elena did a lot but could have had a greater impact if her expertise had been better valued)

I'm so sorry about it, so sorry, so sorry. (An UPAVIM woman, crying on our shoulders at the thought of UPAVIM's rejection of our services)

I still remember all the 6 songs - Me too, and there were 7 of them. (Jaciel and Jeffrey, Mattia's former 3rd grade students, making their teacher quite proud, as after nearly 3 months they could still sing in good English and most of all remember the meaning, showing learning results way different from those of other classes)

You are a very good teacher: my son was very happy and learnt a lot with you; he said you shouted so the students would listen and this way something could be do in class, why with other teachers nobody pays attention and nothing is achieved (a 6th grade student's mum).

I must thank you for this year my daughter learnt a lot, so much so that she can now tell me the meanings of some lines of English songs we hear (we can't vouch for that). You were strict and that helped a lot, though some people here don't understand that, but that's because we're a bit disrespectful around here... (a 3rd grade student's mum).

It's such a pity you're going, we should have found a way for you to stay a keep working. When I told the local priest there's a good man, a good teacher who's doing a great job with the youth in the area, he said: "Why didn't you tell me before? I could find a job for him in the school and he could keep working here". What you're doing with the kids in the campo is so good. It's such a pity, Mattia, such a pity: why are you leaving? (Liliane, our strongest supporter)

It's shame that UPAVIM didn't support you. The youth are the future of the community. That's exactly what they need: to have their time and their minds filled with positive activities. If you had continued that for some time, it could have made a real difference for the community. (A former member of UPAVIM)

You should come back and start your projects from scratch, by yourselves, in the community. I know you can't now, but if God wants, one day you'll find the means to stay here, with a house for you, as a family, and all the right conditions. (A friend)

You surely planted some seeds in the youth. Pity that seeds needs watering... (The same friend)

On one hand I'm happy to meet my friends in Italy, and our grandparents, but on the other I regret leaving all the friends I've made here (Michele)

- over 75 afternoons on the dusty field;

- over 50 hours of athletics training with the early teens, reaching over 30, with a core group of 12, most of whom have improved a lot;

- over 50 hours of sport-games with the 5-to-10 year olds, with an average of 15 kids and a total of over 30, who all had a great time;

- 8 trips to 2 different athletics stadia (with a total of around 15 kids, boys and girls, enjoying the experience, which included a proper 8-lane track in one case and passing by the public, free University in the other, with hints at their possible future attendance);

- over 20 hours of morning chess teaching and playing (with no tables nor chairs, dust on the board and chasing dogs away), with half a dozen kids now able to play by themselves (and some of them already eagerly doing that before training).

Long but smooth final journey

On Wednesday at 7.030pm we left La Esperanza, our neighbourhood for nearly 9 months, and after a night camped in Guatemala's airport, a journey of 21 hours and a half, over 15 of which flying, passing through San José in Costa Rica, Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic and Frankfurt in Germany, on Friday at 11.00am we were hugged by our family outside Venice airport and at 12.00pm we were finally at home in Padua, Italy. 

Explosive Xmas

In Guatemala, Xmas Eve is celebrated with tamales (a maize-based dish), ponche (mildly spiced fruit drink) and... fireworks! After an evening of small-scale firing (quite enjoyed by M&S, too), at midnight it got shockingly loud and colourful, all over the city, from small firecrackers to the big sky-high ones, for nearly one hour. Here's a couple of videos for you to get a hint.

Merry Christmas, sung for you all

Listen to our Christmas greetings

Last month

Yes, and last indeed: after nearly 9 intense and difficult months, the 29th of December we're flying out of Guatemala. 'Tis true, the original plan was to spend here 10 more months, but things didn't work out as expected, for various reasons:

- Mattia's job, teaching English in the primary school, turned out to be not so relevant as hoped (the real needs are others, even just at educational level, and there wouldn't be much continuity after primary), which together with the strained relationship with the school direction (so badly managed, such a wasted opportunity...) made it impossible to keep working there in 2017;

- without that job we wouldn't have any financial support given that the promises of finding funds for Elena haven't been met (and with that small salary we were already using savings and donations to make ends meet and enjoy some necessary time outside this area);

- Mattia's new, much more relevant and promising youth project, based on sport games, athletic training and chess, with good attendance and possibilities of development, much appreciated not only by the kids but also by many people in the community, isn't supported at all by the organisation, which is quite disheartening as working with the youth means to tackle the main problem of the area, i.e. gang violence;

- even Elena's job hasn't been properly valued, as they haven't found anybody she could train to continue the projects well and they haven't done anything to make her stay, not finding a salary and not taking into consideration that rejecting Mattia's project would mean to lose her services too, though they were more closely linked with the organisation's activities;

- UPAVIM, though being a good working opportunity for women of a disadvantaged area, isn't really interested in the community's development, as it seemed to be when we decided to come, which is a big issue for us, as that's what we believe in most and what we hoped we could somehow dedicate us too;

- living on a roof, in two small rooms with bunk beds, with communal kitchen and toilet-shower room, sharing life with young single volunteers (apart from our dear José&Marlene) isn't easy at all for a family, especially when you've got to deal with stress, tiredness and frustrations coming from a hard working environment and two little sons always happy but going through some difficult times due to the awful influence of school and local behaviour style, so 8-9 months are quite enough, for everyone;

- living with volunteers (apart from a month with Fernanda at the beginning and three with J&M at the end) with no great expectations for their job, no vision, no experience in development or knowledge of third world dynamics, isn't very helpful to overcome work-induced stress, so once again 8-9 months are enough, even though the prospect of having J&M with us until June was a positive one;

- maybe it's down to naivety, or to hope, or misplaced trust, or tiredness, but the fact is we didn't look for other options, that is other institutions or people who could support our community projects, so once we realised there was no future for us with UPAVIM we just had to look for flights; a local lady much devoted to the community told us that something could be found through the Catholic church, but we're not sure it would have been a real option and anyway it turned up too late 

- if we didn't work for UPAVIM, a different school arrangement should be found for M&S, which most likely would have been an improvement... We could think of home-schooling them, but it wouldn't be actually feasible due to their parents' schedule, so the only other option would be a high-level school, again not viable for costs, dates (enrolling for 2017 stopped last April) and logistics (over one hour by public transport or expensive taxis, as school buses don't come to our far and dangerous zones);

-  after the last two months without salary, our saving were running out and we don't want to have to count even more on our families and church, whom we must thank a lot but don't want to exploit further;

So, we have to leave, which is, despite all these valid-looking reasons, quite sad and very hard, sadder and harder by the day, as the leaving date approaches: we struggled, but we were doing well and if UPAVIM didn't get it, many women of the organisation and many people from outside it keep expressing their strong appreciation, not only those enjoying our services (Elena's patients and Mattia's kids), but even those who simply understand how important and relevant is what we are trying to do. Every positive feedback fills us with joy and satisfaction, but at the same time with regret, as we can't keep working for the local people, with our current projects and other great ideas. M&S are happy to head back go Italy and stay there until the end of the school year (we don't feel like evicting our new tenants so early, it wouldn't be fair) with grandparents and friends, but they're also sad at the thought of leaving, once again too early, all the friends they've made here.

Anyway, we've done what we could, helping some people directly or planting seeds, showing what should be done and how, and most of all we've lived side by side with the least, working for them, which makes us always feel we're doing the right thing, so we leave fully aware we've dedicated 9 months of our family life to a good cause: it might not have been the best choice, but we've taken that step with the best intentions, for the sake of the least, not for us and we surely did some good.

It's been tough, especially for the two adults, who, once again, didn't get it totally right, and for us as a family, but at least it was a relatively short time, so we should be able to recover relatively soon, though it's going to be hard, not being mentally ready to start over again, given that the plans, as to times and satisfaction levels were quite different.

Moreover, we're also leaving with good memories: of the people, the work, the experience of another part of the world, which is always so enriching (especially as it makes up for what the boys went through, so much so that most likely they will have gained more than what they might have lost); we lived in some desperate areas, but we also took in different cultural aspects and wonderful natural and historical sites of Guatemala, which we enjoyed in late November and early December, with the excuse of entertaining GrannyChiara (holiday pictures are coming soon, once we sort them).

P.S. As you might have noticed, among these reasons for leaving shines the absence of the dangers of living in one of the "red zones" of the world's second most violent country: not because we're reckless, but because actually the risks for us are minimal, as violence is quite carefully targeted, for extortion or turf wars, so there's little to fear, as even the boys have understood, accepting it as a terrible fact, awful for the locals but not so dangerous for us, who have always been able to move around freely and safely.