My first day in the office was on Monday. The day did not entail too much- I was given a few business plans for our projects, in addition to some budget sheets and whatnot. Most of the information was on two business that I apparently will be working closely with- a natural juice business started by three women that need help becoming sustainable, and a recycling business that searches the garbage dumps throughout the city for useful material to recycle and sell.
After reading a few hundred pages, I was then given some proposals (all in Spanish, yay) that TechnoServe prepares for outside organizations in order to receive the necessary funding and support. At the end of the day I was told that I would be joining my co-worker, Stuardo, in the field Tuesday morning until Wednesday evening. Although I did not expect to be able to work in the field so soon, I was stoked!
Stuardo picked me up around 8, and to my surprise, he also brought his wife and 16 year old daughter. It was definitely a relief because Stuardo doesn’t speak any English! It was a good balance of languages and great learning environment because his wife spoke a little English and his daughter spoke just a little bit more. So, between the four of us we were able to have pretty fluid conversations in Spanish, with the help of a view translations.
We headed to Cunén, a small village about 6 hours from the city. I won’t lie to you, I got in the car thinking I was going for a 2 to 4 hour ride! The first two hours were great…the remaining four hours were a little rough! It was essentially four hours up and down mountains, speed bumps every 30 seconds, winding roads beyond belief, and small villages with two way roads that felt as though they could barely fit one way! Bascially… it took my carsickness to a whole new level. I’m sure I’ll be overcoming that by the end of this trip!
We finally arrived around 2:30 and Staurdo and I had to go straight to a meeting with the group of farmers working with TechnoServe and AIDA. Unfortunately this project was not one they
had me read up on before I visited, so I had to gather the information from the meeting and talking with Stuardo privately. Basically, it is a business for farmers (about 95) growing French Beans and Snow Peas. I believe (which I will clarify this week in the office) that TechnoServe is working with them to ensure they are using government funding on pesticides, sanitation, and exportation. The majority of them will be exported to the United States and EU.
In the future, I will be able to share more specifics on the program and area, but like I said I wasn’t able to read up on this one and was sort of just thrown in it. Plus, it was a lot harder because it was not just in Spanish; it was in their local language as well- some Mayan dialect. So attempting to follow it all was a little difficult. Not going to lie…had no idea there were so many languages in Guatemala. Whooops. Stuardo said there are 14 main languages, and upon looking it up I found out there are 55 known languages- 53 that are actually spoken.
On a more positive note, my Spanish is improving dramatically! This trip definitely helped. Dinner consisted of the four of us talking for about 3 hours. Comparing both languages and sharing new words. I attempted to explain Social Entrepreneurship…they got it at the end but it took a while. I just figured an employee of TechnoServe would understand easier… but I was wrong.
After dinner, I headed to my room. It was nice to have no Internet or anything. I was able to just write down some thoughts and mull everything over. In the morning, we met with the group leaders and walked through the bean fields- so many beans! After seeing it all, we headed back to the city. Though this first trip to the field wasn’t the most informative…it was great to get a general feel for the projects, but even greater to be completely immersed in Spanish with people willing to help me improve- almost made me wish I was staying with a host family. On the way home Stuardo wanted me to experience traditional Guatemalan food and Antigua.
The meal was delicious and Antigua, “the second capital of Guatemala,” was absolutely beautiful. NOT TO MENTION THE VOLCANO ON ITS BORDER. I saw so many volcanoes the past two days. They’re absolutely mesmerizing.
Anyways, overall it was a great two days. Stuardo and his family were so genuine and truly wanted to show me their country. It’s crazy to think this is only my third day at TechnoServe. So much more in store the next few months!
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