Sophomore’s Travel to Guatemala on Mission Trip

Written by Gabrielle Lintner

On March 9 sophomores Lizzie Wrablica, Melissa Ator and Grace Peterson all arrived at the airport for their 6:30 a.m. departure flight for their mission trip to Guatemala.

During Spring Break of 2012, Wrablica’s family was off in Palm Springs lathering their hands with tanning lotion, prepared to spend the week basking in the sun relaxing and swimming in the ocean with the salty breeze blowing in the air and sand between their toes.

Meanwhile, Lizzie and the Hillcrest Covenant Church youth group arrived at the Guatemala Airport around noon.

“Once we got off the plane, we gathered our luggage and took two, white, 15-passenger vans to Panajachel,” Wrablica said. “Once we arrived in Panajachel, we stayed the night in a hotel and woke up the following morning to begin teaching.”

When the members of the youthgroup woke up the following morning, there were two ferry boats waiting outside their hotel to take them to San Juan la Laguna where a school is located. One ferry boat transported the people, while the other carried all of their luggage.

Each day, they would wake up at 6:30 a.m. and eat breakfast near 7 a.m. After breakfast, everyone headed over to the school to teach for the day, splitting up into groups based on the subject they were assigned.

Peterson and a group of five other people from her youth group were assigned to teach English to

children from third grade to sixth grade. Each day, members of the youth group would start the morning with 40-minute “devos,” or prayers to God, and then jump right into teaching each grade a lesson for 40-minutes.

“The first day of teaching was very nerve-wracking due to the difference in languages,” Peterson said. “Our translator was very helpful in helping us understand what the kids were saying. I have taken four years of Spanish, so I could communicate pretty well.”

As they began to pick up the language, they began speaking Spanish more frequently and fluently while walking around town in their free time saying “¡Hola! Como estas?”

Wrablica was assigned to teach math to the students which included teaching them the basics such as adding and subtracting.

“It wasn’t too difficult teaching math, based on my prior knowledge of the numbers in Spanish and signs such as plus and minus,” Wrablica said. “While I didn’t struggle much in teaching math, I felt more comfortable that the translator was in the room with us in case we needed help.”

Ator was assigned to teach World Geography to the students which consisted of showing them where each continent is located and a summary of what is located within each continent and other interesting facts including climate, population, and the culture. At the end of class, they would play learning games to review the material.

“It was often times difficult to explain things to the students due to our little experience with the language,” Ator said. “If the students needed help, the translator and the teacher were there for assistance.”

Guatemalans dress more modest than most Americans. There was an emphasis on not wearing white shirts, because this was viewed as an ‘undergarment’.

“On a typical day of teaching, we were expected to wear skirts which fell below the knee in length and a blouse which covered your shoulders,” Peterson said. “We weren’t allowed to wear our Nike shorts outside of our hotel because they exposed too much skin.”

After the group finished teaching in the classrooms for the day, they would take the kids outside for recess to play. When the kids had recess, they went out together and played on a large area consisting of a patch of dirt.

“I remember one day when we had free time and the little girls wanted us to paint their nails. They were so excited and thankful when we painted them for them,” Wrablica said. “The people and children in Guatemala really appreciate things more than we do in America, where we take things for granted.”

During their mission trip, the group taught in the schools for four days on the trip and did other activities around the city for six days including community projects.

Once having lunch each day, the girls would get an hour to rest and then begin their community service

project for the day. Projects included carrying cement blocks to a woman’s house, painting the new addition of a school for kids with disabilities, picking up trash along the lakefront, and sweeping the gymnasium.

Once the community service projects were complete, everyone headed back for dinner. The girls ate at a woman’s house across from the school in San Juan la Laguna.

“The food the woman cooked for us was more traditional. It was a buffet consisting of pulled pork, beans, corn tortillas, and a spicy salsa which they put on almost everything,” Wrablica said. “While the food tasted somewhat bland, I enjoyed it.”

Afterward, they would return to their hotel and have free-time before they went to bed. During their free-time, they relaxed and shared stories of things that happened that day.

In the beginning, the girls didn’t really want to go on the mission trip. Ator’s mom really wanted her daughter to do it, and so Wrablica decided she would go with Ator.

“At first, I was bummed I didn’t get to go to Palm Springs with my family,” Wrablica said. “Looking back, I’m very thankful for my decision. The experience and memories I gained from the mission trip will stick with me much longer.”

The purpose of the mission trip was to help the community and show the kids love and how important they are, while providing them with an education.

“I wasn’t planning on going, but in the beginning none of my friends were going, and I thought it would be a good idea to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people,” Peterson said. “This mindset helped me reach out to those in need and provide children with love and care. I wanted it to be a mission trip, rather than a social trip.”

Very thankful that they all decided to go, the mission trip will remain a lifelong memory and a priceless experience to the girls. Their impact on the society of Guatemala was tremendous and life changing. They were able to make such a difference.

Between teaching in the schools and spending time with the kids at recess and during their free-time, the girls got really attached to some of the children making it difficult to say goodbye.

“During recess I met a second grade girl named Flo whom I really began to connect with. When it came time to say goodbye to Flo she gave me a big warm, tight hug and offered me her special, handmade doll which she carried around with her everywhere,” Wrablica said. “I couldn’t accept the doll. I began to cry and suddenly she began to cry too. It made my heart melt seeing her cry with me. I will never forget her.”

Kids come to Guatemala on mission trips to teach the children all the time, so this wasn’t her first time meeting new people. Wrablica really felt a connection between them because of the many kids that Flo has probably met, they became very close and she offered Lizzie something that had sentimental value to her.

On March 18 the youth group began loading their luggage onto the ferries to head toward the airport for their trip back home. The last day was very hard and emotional for all those amongst the youth group.

“All the kids came down to the dock where we were going to take the boat back to Panajachel,” Peterson

said. “We put all our luggage on the other boat and they were sitting on the dock as we pushed away, watching us sail further and further away.”

While few of the children from Guatemala cried due to the frequent visits of youth groups to their school, numerous members of our youth group were teary-eyed. The boat ride back to the airport was very quiet and emotional for all.