Today we had a great time at Antigua. We had quite a few bumps on the bus ride there. We broke into small groups for the first few hours of shopping, and after we came back to the main square we went to a restaurant and had some delicious food. We had the option of having chicken, steak, fish, or veggies. After watching Sam and Kevin throw some spitballs, we went onto the next part of the journey. Then we went to the market to buy some fairly interesting things. We had several people buy some knives, and the haggling was very intense. Everybody got some things for their family back home, and we proceeded back to Agua Viva. We had a nice dinner after we got back to Agua Viva, and ended the day on a nice note. Daniel Thompson 

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 was a great day in Guatemala. Many of the youth went to the water park, and had a great time. We took 30 of the kids who had good grades.  These kids had a many good experiences going down slides and playing in the wave pool.  The youth also interacted with the kids and many got bad sunburn. Brett Bardenwerper had it the worst.  After having a great breakfast we departed at 8:00am for our jam packed day of excitement.  After our bumpy hour and a half drive, we arrived at our destination.  It was a beautiful place set in-between two steep mountains.  Next to it was a volcano that had smoke misting from the top.  After two hours of excitement, we stopped a lunch of hamburgers and soda.  It was great seeing the kids having so much joy in something as rare as going to a water park.  We decided to have another three hours of swimming and shouting.  By four we were on our way back to Agua Viva.  Now, we plan on having a fun night of songs and games.  The youth are planning to teach the Guatemalan kids how to sing a song in English.  Finally, we will retire to our beds for a well needed sleep.  Tomorrow we  will start a new adventure.  Sam Will & Brett Bardenwerper

Today started as usual with morning prayer, and a delicious pancake breakfast to follow. Afterwards, arrangements were made by the youth to set up a “field day” for the kids, as the adults continued with the work projects. The field day consisted of many different games and challenges, ranging from baseball to soccer and even Frisbee. After lunch, the adults once more returned to their work, and the youth prepared a surprise for the Agua Viva children. Water balloons! With a few games and even a water balloon fight out of the way, it was time for the “Americanos” to take on the Agua Viva children in a game of soccer. Unfortunately, the Americans got smoked (we lost count around 10 – 1). But, today was fun, much work was accomplished, and the children’s smiles were unforgettable. We are tremendously fortunate to be here.

-Kenny

Monday June 21, 2010

We had to wake up at 6:00am in Guatemala, which it would be 7:00am in Wisconsin.  Today we started our jobs here.  There are a bunch of different activities that had to be done.  The job that we did was sorting through all of the donations that our church had made for the kids in Guatemala.  We thought that that it would be an easy job at first, but then when we started unpacking we realized how tough it really was.  We had fun doing it because we got to see what the kids had gotten.  It was hard because there were a lot of clothes to sort through, and we had to figure out if they go to the boys or the girls.  The other choices of jobs that we had were mowing the lawn, building the playhouse, building the road, weeding the grass, and sewing.  When we had break we got snacks from the snack room because we were hungry, and we didn’t want to wait for lunch to come around.  After we had break we had no choice but to go back to work.  After we worked for an hour we had lunch, then we had to go back to work.  When we went back to work someone else decided to come and help us, and that made the time go by faster.  We are also going to have a camp fire, some games for the kids, and having hotdogs from the fire later tonight.

Sincerely Ashley Duke and Angela Hein

This morning we had to be in the dinning hall by 7:00am (too early for us teens!) to greet the children and eat breakfast. We as a group like to eat with the children and to make up different handshakes with each of them. After breakfast it was time to hang out until the church service. The service was definitely unique, and all the kids from Agua Viva participated in the whole church service. They adapted very well to us English speakers. After service they have Sunday school and we went off and did morning prayer. Then after morning prayer we hung our for a bit until lunch. We played card games and swung on the swing set. Then we went on a walk through the neighborhood below the compound. It is stricken with poverty. We saw a lot of stray dogs, you could see their rib cages. The children in the neighborhood we very friendly and liked having their pictures taken. After we took their picture we would show them and their faces would light up. We saw the mountains and a volcano (not the one that just erupted.) We saw a little girl, about 4 or 5 years old, that had lice so bad you could see it crawling on her head and skin. After the walk we had a group meeting and planned what projects we are going to do for the rest of the week. Then we had dinner and planned for a field day full of games. We also planned to have an Episcopal Eucharist. The language barrier made for an interesting Eucharist. It went well except for kids being tired and not everybody understanding the communion because they only have it once a month compared to our once a week. After the Eucharist we had more planning meetings and talked about our day. So all in all we are having a great spiritual adventure. We are growing as a youth group and becoming closer. We ask that you pray for us so that we continue to have a good trip and complete or mission to be the people God has called us to be. We also ask that you pray that the language barriers become easier to understand one another. We are praying for the friends and family that we left behind. In Gods peace, Kaitlyn and Sheridan   

After a one hour delay, we arrived safely in Guatemala City.  The bus ride from the big city to Agua Viva Children’s home was an eye-opener for a lot of people. Little tiny shop after shop, intense crowding and impressive poverty and pollution, yet a very vibrant and exciting atmosphere.

Agua Viva was quite a contrast – a beautiful plot of land, spacious grounds complete with five cows, 100 chickens and a friendly dog named Daisy. Very well kept, which shows an obvious sense of pride on the part of the children and adult leaders who live here.

After a tour of the grounds and school we enjoyed a delicious lunch with the children who were very well behaved. They quickly set up the place settings and served each other food. Afterwards we had free time which some used to catch up on sleep while a number of youth group members played soccer with the younger children. Everyone was impressed with their tenacity and sportsmanship.

So far everyone is enjoying this incredible experience. Stay tuned for further updates!