Lacrosse Festival in Guatemala

I first heard about Safe Passage through my brother’s former prep school, Millbrook, because Will and some other of his teammates traveled to the project last March to share their lacrosse talents and knowledge. I was surprised to hear that such an elite and preppy sport existed in this poverty-stricken country, but then again if I had better known the man responsible for implementing the lacrosse program, Drew Casertano, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Drew is incidentally the headmaster of Millbrook School, and one of the most passionate, energetic, dedicated, and funniest men I have met. Four years ago, Drew, Liz Duhowski (sp?), the women’s lacrosse coach at Millbrook, and I think some other US lacrosse players/aficionados decided to bring lacrosse to Guatemala, and more specifically to Safe Passage. And, so, my first impression of SP itself was a place where Guatemalans who live near the city dump played lacrosse. It wasn’t until I looked at their website to read more that I actually realized it was much more than a lacrosse program, and knew that it was a place where I would enjoy volunteering.

Every year since the lacrosse program began, Millbrook has brought a “Support Team” of 15 boys and girls lacrosse players to the project for a week, culminating in a two-day festival. This year was the biggest festival yet, including 5 boys and girls teams from different regions in Guatemala: Ciudad Quetzal, Cobán, Livingston, Guate City (SP kids), and Palin. On Saturday (the last day of the festival), a boy’s team came from Sheila, and they even had their own uniforms. On the first day of the festival, we held clinics for beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups, so that the kids could learn about the sport from the lacrosse experts. And on the second day we played games. Overall, it was a huge success, and I know the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.

I could describe every detail, but I prefer to write about what I felt were the three highlights of the festival:

1) Participation of both the US Ambassador to Guatemala, Stephen McFarland, and Julie Chappell, the British Ambassador to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Julie, who is only 31 and played for the British national team, made an appearance on Friday for the inauguration of the festival, where she played in the women’s exhibition game. She has also expressed interest in working with the SP girl’s program on a more frequent basis, which is very exciting. Steven came on Saturday with his teenage son who plays lacrosse and played with the boys. I introduced myself to him and had a brief one-on-one conversation about where I was from, and mainly about the volunteers’ role at SP. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him if he had any job openings in the embassy, but hopefully we will meet again…

2) The team from Cobán came from a tiny Mayan village in the Northwest part of the country, where their primary language is not Spanish, but a Mayan dialect. Some of the older girls understood a bit of Spanish, but they had a translator with them! Their language was so cool! So beautiful! So, here we were, where I was helping the Millbrook girls translate from English to Spanish, and then the Copán translator was translating from Spanish to Mayan. Very cool, although sometimes frustrating, especially when the translator disappeared (which happened more than you would think). These girls had never played lacrosse before, so they were very happy to learn the basics. Oh, and, they all had matching shirts, name tags, and matching sticks, which is more than the SP girls can say (many of them show up for practice in skinny jeans and flats-something I am going to try to change!).

3) The team from Ciudad Quetzal was my favorite mainly because they were very happy to be there and interested in learning how to play lacrosse. Probably my personal favorite part of the festival was the mother-daughter players from Quetzal. The mother, María, was not only really good at lax, but also extremely appreciative of the festival and of my help with her and her team (before the festival they didn’t know any of the rules, the set-up of the field, or how to pick up a ground ball). On Saturday, she gave me a pair of earrings that she had made, as well as her phone # and address in Quetzal. It was a very special moment. Hopefully, I will be able to visit them at some point!

Overall, it was a lot of fun, and I hope the girls learned a lot. During the week, there was talk of a permanent girls lacrosse coach position at the project which would include a stipend, as well as a one-year commitment. Drew already appointed me to that position, but it has to go through the board, the stipend has to be approved, and all the logistics need to be straightened out. Either way, it is definitely a position I would be interested in, because I have many ideas on how to build-up the girls program.

I must admit, it is quite difficult working with some of the girls because of the great cultural differences and attitudes towards female participation in sports. For instance, many girls wear clothes that I would wear to a bar to play sports! I attribute my involvement in sports to a lot of my personal strengths and who I am today. Playing sports makes me happy, and makes me feel good about myself. I know that sports such as lacrosse can provide a space for these young SP girls to develop a higher sense of self-esteem, as well as crucial leadership and teamwork skills in a society not incorrectly known to be machista and male dominated.

Here are some pictures:


The Safe Passage chicas!


The procession/inaugeration


Millbrook girls coaching


Man in red polo and jeans is the US ambassador- legit!


Raul! One of my 6th grade students


Mom & daughter from Ciudad Quetzal, aka my new best friends!


Girls from Palin


Girls from Cobán

Back in Guate

Anddddd I’m back!

Wow, after flying on what is probably the most ghetto, and cheapest, airline in America, we (my brother and I) arrived in Antigua at about 4 pm Wednesday afternoon. It kind of all hit me at once that I was actually here, and man does it feel good to be back in this part of the world! I am so happy.

On Thursday morning, I went on the Safe Passage tour for my second time. I figured that, even though I was already familiar with the dump & its surrounding, I could always see and learn more. Plus, I knew that I would have the opportunity to see some of “my” old students. Fredy, who works in P.R. and has been with Safe Passage since its inception ten years ago, once again gave a thoroughly informative tour. And, once again I was struck by the severity of the living situations under which these people live.

Although I had already heard much of what Fredy told us about the Guatemalan reality, one of his points that hit me hard went something along these lines: “Education is very important for these people, but first, they need to have the opportunity to live like a human being, and go from there.” As he continued to explain, the 22,000 people in the dump community share their workplace as well as their homes with rats, dogs, bugs, and vultures, while the ubiquitous stench of decomposing garbage and methane gas penetrates their homes. Of course, from an outsider's opinion, this reality is troubling and even revolting, but these people have grown accustomed to it and know no other way of life.

For the most part, everything at the project seemed the same as when I left last August. With one exception. The Guardería (Nursery School) is located smack in the middle of the dump neighborhood, a little paradise among the shacks. To keep it secure, the property is gated, guarded during the day, and protected by barbed wire that spirals on top of the walls. Because of its location, no volunteer is allowed to walk outside the gates unless accompanied by a Guatemalan Camino staff member.

The Guardería was built on land that was donated by a rich Guatemalan who owns the dump and some of the property in the area. However, not all of the land he donated was used for the construction of the Guardería. Thus, some of the land adjacent to the Guarderia, that now belonged to Camino, remained vacant.

Last November, literally overnight, some people in the community “took over” the vacant plot of land and constructed makeshift shelters that have since evolved into more permanent houses. I forget the estimated number of people currently living there now, but it a significant amount of people, and clearly the possibility of them moving to a different area is quite low. Where else are they supposed to go? What other options do that have? I must say, it was incredible to see that this neighborhood had sprung up from nothing in such a short amount of time. I bet they are there to stay.

During the tour we stopped for lunch in the main center where I worked last time. We stayed until the younger kids began to file in for lunch, which meant that I got to see some of "my" old students. What a special experience!! With the exception of one little boy named Walter, they all seemed to remember me. Not all of them remembered my name but they definitely remembered my face and gave me big hugs. I saw my sponsor child, Elías, who had no idea I was returning, and he was literally speechless. It was very special and gratifying. (However, I found out that Elías failed 2nd grade and is now repeating it!!).

Now it is Sunday, meaning that I start again tomorrow. It looks like I will be helping out with the lacrosse festival this week and weekend which should be fun. I cannot wait to be back there!!! I am so happy!!

Some pics:



people working at one of the "stations" in the dump




I witnessed this little boy's brother rummage through the garbage truck, find this stuffed animal, and give it to his little brother, who then hugged it.



the new houses next to the guardería

Preparing "la vuelta"

I am the queen of procrastination. Seriously. In college I would routinely wait to write a paper until the night before it was due, staying up half the night to finish it. When I need to clean, do laundry, or in this instance, PACK for my trip (the plane leaves at 6:40 am tomorrow), I end up finding something else to occupy my time with and put off the thing that I really need to get done. For example, starting this blog. I sat down to write an email to all of my friends & family explaining my relocation to Guatemala, and then, on a whim, decided to start a blog. I guess that I have always wanted to start one, so here I am with my first attempt, hopefully it will improve over time.

Although I am currently procrastinating packing for my return trip to Guatemala, it does not mean that I am not excited for the trip. In fact, I am ecstatic! I can't wait to be there! I spent 2 months last summer there with the same NGO (www.safepassage.org) and absolutely fell in love with the culture, the people, choco bananos, and especially the students I worked with. I cannot express how excited I am to see those little kids again, lice and all. I currently sponsor an 8 year old boy named Elías who likes soccer, superman and breakdancing. He was one of my students last summer, and is absolutely adorable, although not the best behaved little boy. He has no idea that I am returning so I hope to surprise him and the other students a worked with!

For those of you who don't know, Safe Passage works with the poorest, at risk children and families in the Guatemala City garbage dump, providing them with "opportunity through education." It is an incredible program, serving almost 600 students now, from babies through high school aged, as well as the mothers & fathers of the students. This particular group of people use the city garbage dump as their primary source of income, scavenging it for items such as plastic & glass bottles to recycle, materials to build their make-shift shacks with, clothing for their families, and even for food. The work Safe Passage has done to provide these people with another option toward upward social mobility is remarkable. Not only do the children receive an education, but they partake in arts, music, and sports programs. Most importantly, however, is the incentive of FOOD. The kids are given two meals a day, which is most likely the primary (well, at least most immediate) reason they attend the project.

For more information on Safe Passage visit the site. And for more info on the Educational System in Guatemala, read this article that was published by the think tank I was interning for last fall, COHA.

If you or anyone you know is traveling through Guatemala, I would love to meet up with you/them!!

OK, time to get to packing.


some pictures from last time:

people working in the dump:


where the project is located:



me with some of the boys: