The HOLA students and staff have arrived safe and sound at the Hotel Pasaje in Antigua, Guatemala, a city roughly 25 minutes away from the capital. Antigua used to be the capital of Guatemala until a major mudslide occurred and then the capital moved to Guatemala City.
The flight seemed longer than two hours for most of us, but we made use of our time getting caught up on our journals or sleep. Antigua is beautiful with cobblestone streets and colorful buildings surrounded by green tree mountains. We plan to stay in Antigua for two nights, spending the rest of today acclimating ourselves and then tomorrow we will tour the orphanage where we will drop off the trunks of hygiene products and blankets we brought with us, as well as touring an active volcano (No worries though, it will be a light hike to the volcano).
That is all for now. Until next time!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Drum Circle
Below are our students' Djembe (African Drumming) performance at our Silent Auction. Please note the video is not that high in quality, but our students still did an excellent job.
Song: Sunu
Song: Sunu
Song: Bomba
Song: Belize Funk
Initial Itinerary
ITINERARY Outline
1) Houston to Guatemala City airport
2) Antigua -- visit Casa de Fe orphanage -- deliver donations
3) Quetzaltenango -- stay with family and friends of Sandy's Market -- city tour and volcano
4) Coban (central Guatemala) 2 day stay in Mayan Village -- see Proyecto Eco-Quetzal website
5) Flores -- visit to Tikal and El Peten jungle
6) Cross into Belize -- Hopkins, Belize -- drumming center
7) Belize City to Houston
Note: Click on Photo to enlarge.
PeaceJam Poetry
The following poems were written by HOLA students about the themes encountered during our reading of I, Rigoberta Menchu. These poems were given to Ms. Menchu as a gift at her book signing.
WARRIORS OF THE NIGHT
By Tarik B., age 18
It was nearing dusk with a scarlet red sky.
Every so often the Quetzales sang with a very sad cry.
The layout of the terrain was surreal and serene.
Trees as tall as sky scrapers and vegetation as dark as hunters green.
The darkness falling more and more by the minute
Both soldiers and guerrillas, frightened, not knowing of the others limit.
One side with fire arms and orders yet ever so cumbersome
The other, agile and all knowing of the forest, only fighting with the minimum.
Both with their wits and weapons ready to fight.
Unknown which side will be left fighting after the night.
Sugar Cane
By Azure R., age 12,
Sugar from the sugar cane,
Brown and sweet.
Sugar from the sugar cane
Makes me jittery and jumpy
Sugar from the sugar cane,
A mile away from eating a beet
Sugar from the sugar cane
It’s smooth or lumpy
Cutting the sugar from the sugar cane
So very sour
Working and working
It’s hard not to be a quitter,
Sugar from the sugar cane
Working hours and hours
Sugar from the sugar cane
It’s not sweet but bitter
Finca (A Haiku)
By Natalie A., age 11
I really try
Work hard at finca
Makes me cry.
Finca Life
By Jessica W., age 11
Finca life is never easy
Picking cotton and coffee beans
The coffee beans are very greasy
Watching out for the spraying planes
Make the plants green
The Guerillas
By Josh S., age 14
The guerrillas trained themselves to be deadly
They trained to protect their people and their own
They got themselves prepared and ready
They fought for their family and for those who moan in pain
People were tortured to death and lost their lives
They were skinned, burned, and cut
When they were captured, they believed what the soldiers believed were lies
They were burnt by fire, skinned and cut by machetes
Which are known as big knives.
Poem
By Denis R., age 15
She went over a hill
To find a pill
And take a chill
At the hill
She was eating a pie
Hoping not to die
Her brother fell ill
Because he couldn't get a pill
Birth Ceremony
By Christian A., age 12
The day you’re born is very special
You could be like a bull
All the traits are the same and sometimes even the facial
Even when the sky is full
Haiku
By Christian A., age 12
Rigoberta how
Have you escape the
Torture of them?
Guatemala
By David S., age 17
Guatemala is a beautiful place
Too bad they stole it from us
We are forced to work in the finca
Just to get some money
We learn to read the bible
And we bless the poor
It’s very sad when a loved one dies
They’re lucky if they live past 5.
Untitled
By Ariel S., age 16
The people have been collected and raked
And the U.S. wishes it was faked
All was good till Arbonz bailed
I think we should have sailed
I’m really glad that people hadn’t failed
They raked you up to demonstrate their power
I’m glad you lived to tell this tail
And now the people tower
Poem Untitled
By Isaac A., age 16
When the poor become rich
And the rich become poor
Then society’s long desired stitch
Has them oppressed more and more
The Menchu Way
By Reece H., age 17
She came in the night
Put up a fight
Keeping her family tight
She finally saw the light
She worked hard
To make a living
Worked in the yard and
Kept on living
Untitled
By Anthony S, age 12
I eat corn
I work on the fields
I grieve for the fallen
I am only human
Poem #3
By Izzy A., age 14
I can eat corn
From a factory
Or a village
I can be indigenous
And I can be Christian
But
If I
Don’t
Have a
Choice
Its
Not
So
Great
To be
Me
Anymore
The Cry
By Aaron M, age 18
Oh the injustice
Absolute tyranny
I am tired of all that disgust us
I talk and no one is hearing me
My people starve to the bone
I cry
It is carved in stone
That people shall not die
Poem Untitled 1
By Emily, Age 13
Corn under my feet
It smells really bad
Corn I’d like to meet
Oh em gee its 4 new fad
Maize is the new craze
I always go into a daze
I hope I get the raise
Right now I am in such a phase
WARRIORS OF THE NIGHT
By Tarik B., age 18
It was nearing dusk with a scarlet red sky.
Every so often the Quetzales sang with a very sad cry.
The layout of the terrain was surreal and serene.
Trees as tall as sky scrapers and vegetation as dark as hunters green.
The darkness falling more and more by the minute
Both soldiers and guerrillas, frightened, not knowing of the others limit.
One side with fire arms and orders yet ever so cumbersome
The other, agile and all knowing of the forest, only fighting with the minimum.
Both with their wits and weapons ready to fight.
Unknown which side will be left fighting after the night.
Sugar Cane
By Azure R., age 12,
Sugar from the sugar cane,
Brown and sweet.
Sugar from the sugar cane
Makes me jittery and jumpy
Sugar from the sugar cane,
A mile away from eating a beet
Sugar from the sugar cane
It’s smooth or lumpy
Cutting the sugar from the sugar cane
So very sour
Working and working
It’s hard not to be a quitter,
Sugar from the sugar cane
Working hours and hours
Sugar from the sugar cane
It’s not sweet but bitter
Finca (A Haiku)
By Natalie A., age 11
I really try
Work hard at finca
Makes me cry.
Finca Life
By Jessica W., age 11
Finca life is never easy
Picking cotton and coffee beans
The coffee beans are very greasy
Watching out for the spraying planes
Make the plants green
The Guerillas
By Josh S., age 14
The guerrillas trained themselves to be deadly
They trained to protect their people and their own
They got themselves prepared and ready
They fought for their family and for those who moan in pain
People were tortured to death and lost their lives
They were skinned, burned, and cut
When they were captured, they believed what the soldiers believed were lies
They were burnt by fire, skinned and cut by machetes
Which are known as big knives.
Poem
By Denis R., age 15
She went over a hill
To find a pill
And take a chill
At the hill
She was eating a pie
Hoping not to die
Her brother fell ill
Because he couldn't get a pill
Birth Ceremony
By Christian A., age 12
The day you’re born is very special
You could be like a bull
All the traits are the same and sometimes even the facial
Even when the sky is full
Haiku
By Christian A., age 12
Rigoberta how
Have you escape the
Torture of them?
Guatemala
By David S., age 17
Guatemala is a beautiful place
Too bad they stole it from us
We are forced to work in the finca
Just to get some money
We learn to read the bible
And we bless the poor
It’s very sad when a loved one dies
They’re lucky if they live past 5.
Untitled
By Ariel S., age 16
The people have been collected and raked
And the U.S. wishes it was faked
All was good till Arbonz bailed
I think we should have sailed
I’m really glad that people hadn’t failed
They raked you up to demonstrate their power
I’m glad you lived to tell this tail
And now the people tower
Poem Untitled
By Isaac A., age 16
When the poor become rich
And the rich become poor
Then society’s long desired stitch
Has them oppressed more and more
The Menchu Way
By Reece H., age 17
She came in the night
Put up a fight
Keeping her family tight
She finally saw the light
She worked hard
To make a living
Worked in the yard and
Kept on living
Untitled
By Anthony S, age 12
I eat corn
I work on the fields
I grieve for the fallen
I am only human
Poem #3
By Izzy A., age 14
I can eat corn
From a factory
Or a village
I can be indigenous
And I can be Christian
But
If I
Don’t
Have a
Choice
Its
Not
So
Great
To be
Me
Anymore
The Cry
By Aaron M, age 18
Oh the injustice
Absolute tyranny
I am tired of all that disgust us
I talk and no one is hearing me
My people starve to the bone
I cry
It is carved in stone
That people shall not die
Poem Untitled 1
By Emily, Age 13
Corn under my feet
It smells really bad
Corn I’d like to meet
Oh em gee its 4 new fad
Maize is the new craze
I always go into a daze
I hope I get the raise
Right now I am in such a phase
Peace Jam with Rigoberta Menchu
This past semester, the students have read I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala translated by Elizabeth Burgos in preparation for their trip. I, Rigoberta Menchu is about the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu's early life in Guatemala during its civil war. Ms. Menchu grew up as a young indigenous peasant woman to the K'iche'Maya ethnic group, suffering through injustice and hardships that included the murders of her parents and brother by the Guatemalan military. Ms. Menchu has dedicated her life to getting the rights for the Guatemalan indigenous people, as well as publicizing their everyday plights during the civil war. After being exiled to Mexico in the early 1980s, Rigoberta Menchu met with Elizabeth, an anthropologist from Venezula and conducted a series of interviews that lasted twenty-seven hours. From those twenty-seven hours of tape, I, Rigoberta Menchu came about.
By a sheer stroke of luck, our principal discovered that Rigoberta Menchu herself was coming to Houston March 27-29 as
the guest speaker for PeaceJam Houston. PeaceJam is a non-profit foundation looking to create a new generation of young leaders who will create positive changes within themselves, their communities and the world through the insight and motivation from Nobel Peace Laureates such as Rigoberta Menchu, The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu.
On Friday, March 27, our students and staff went to Rothko Chapel, near the Menil Museum, to hear Rigoberta Menchu speak about ending racism and hate. It was an absolute wonderful experience having read Ms. Menchu's novel about her early life and then hearing her speak in real life and drawing inspiration from her continuous effort to fight for the rights of the indigenous people of Guatemala. Six of our students were also able to participate in the PeaceJam conference with Ms. Menchu.
By a sheer stroke of luck, our principal discovered that Rigoberta Menchu herself was coming to Houston March 27-29 as
the guest speaker for PeaceJam Houston. PeaceJam is a non-profit foundation looking to create a new generation of young leaders who will create positive changes within themselves, their communities and the world through the insight and motivation from Nobel Peace Laureates such as Rigoberta Menchu, The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu.On Friday, March 27, our students and staff went to Rothko Chapel, near the Menil Museum, to hear Rigoberta Menchu speak about ending racism and hate. It was an absolute wonderful experience having read Ms. Menchu's novel about her early life and then hearing her speak in real life and drawing inspiration from her continuous effort to fight for the rights of the indigenous people of Guatemala. Six of our students were also able to participate in the PeaceJam conference with Ms. Menchu.
Monday, March 2, 2009
This is a blog used for information, student writings, and travel updates about/for the Houston Outdoor Learning Academy, located in the Heights area of Houston, Texas. The Houston Outdoor Learning Academy, HOLA, is a non-profit 501(C) (3), full-time non-traditional school for students in grades six through twelve (ages 11-18) who wish to combine their inquisitive nature and enthusiasm for the outdoors with personal academic growth in an educational setting that uses a hands-on approach to enhance self-esteem, multiple intelligences, academic knowledge, social skills, and personal development.
As part of the student's education at HOLA, there are two trips taken each year: a backpacking trip in the fall and an international trip each spring. This past fall (Octobe
r 2008), the school traveled to Taos, New Mexico and spent three days backpacking in the Wheeler Wilderness area and climbed Wheeler Peak, the highest peak in New Mexico at 13,141 ft. This Spring (March 31-April 16, 2009), the school will be traveling to Guatemala and Belize in Central America. Our trips are specifically designed as an educational experience and more than just a vacation. Our school has a great group of students who work very hard at fundraising and preparing for their trips by learning about the culture, history, and language of the country(ies) we travel to each year.
Stay tuned for further information/journal entries about our trips!
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