Guatemala Trip

Wonderment Cooperative nepo-ambassadors traveling from SLC to Chimaltenango to see what’s what!

Wonderment Cooperative nepo-ambassadors traveling from SLC to Chimaltenango to see what’s what!

A new Response has been added to the Guatemala trip reflections Path.

"My trip to Guatemala has stayed with me in a powerful way—especially as friends and family continue to ask what I thought of the experience. From San José, it’s just over an hour by plane to Guatemala City, making it a quick and affordable trip. We visited the stunning Acatenango volcano and wandered through the rich, historical streets of Antigua. I’m so grateful I went, and I’d love to return someday. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t also make me deeply uncomfortable. What unsettled me was the stark contrast in income and opportunity. It was hard not to feel the weight of that disparity. And yet, this discomfort has also deepened my commitment to Project Wonder—our mission to make entrepreneurial tools and learning accessible to students and changemakers around the world. One project that especially inspired me was the Paco Piñas initiative. It’s proof that real change can start at the local level. The women running the library there are doing more than just providing books—they’re nurturing futures. They work tirelessly to help children build skills that matter, both in school and in life. Being there gave me a genuine sense of hope. While we were visiting, Owen was talking about hope and it stuck with me: “Hope is really the best thing that we can give to people."  I saw that firsthand at the community center. There was a garden growing, shelves full of books, games to play—and most importantly, a group of women showing up every day to nurture the children. That kind of love and commitment is transformative. If we can help support and bring more structure to community-driven organizations like this—anywhere in the world—then we start to create small but meaningful shifts. Even when I feel uneasy about the inequities I witness, places like this give me hope. And hope, I believe, is where change begins."

A new Response has been added to the Guatemala trip reflections Path.

"Cass pointed out that this trip was full of emotions, and I couldn’t agree more. As much as I dislike admitting it, I’m very aware that I’m a sensitive person—and this trip was a little hard on me. And since I’m someone sort of obsessed with making lists, here’s a list of thoughts, feelings, and conclusions drawn from this experience (in no particular order): Talking with Adriana about the lack of educational opportunities made me feel helpless. I myself am a product of financed education—thanks to the government, sponsors, and scholarship programs. I know how hard it is to have dreams and not know if you’ll reach them because of financial uncertainty. I felt uneasy about presenting to teenagers, but even though not all of them were eager to participate, I was surprised to find myself enjoying the dynamic. Who knows—maybe I learned that I could work with teenagers. Surprise again. I was really excited about hiking the volcano but fully convinced I’d do horribly. Turns out I’m in better physical shape than I thought. Torn between happiness and sadness—about the volcano, the kids… I love nature, but seeing so much trash was disheartening. It felt like the volcano had become a product—something consumed and discarded. The trash left behind reflected that. Saddened by the inequalities in choice, mobility, and life opportunities. Talking with the guides and one of the porters was probably one of those moments that will stay with me forever. Amazed—by the night sky, by everything Juanita and the girls and Mr. Paco Piña do, by all the things Adriana wants to accomplish. A little lost, too. That feeling of being tiny and helpless came up again. (Little propaganda moment: y’all should read my blog entry—Tourist on the Volcano, Outsider in the Story.) Privileged. I don’t think this needs much explanation. But I do think it’s important to recognize that we experienced the entire trip from a place of privilege—and even then, we sometimes felt things weren’t great or could have been better. Just imagine what it’s like from the perspective of the locals."

A new Response has been added to the Guatemala trip reflections Path.

"Browsing through our shared photo album I get all these glimpses of the trip through everyone else's eyes. I admit, though, I have maybe like a genetic predisposition to Augie's photos, taken with an old camera without any AI algorithms in it to goose the color saturations and sharpness and all that. And Augie also seems to have a very literal eye--when he takes a picture of a dog, it's just a picture of a dog. Or a tree and some rocks. Or just some mostly invisible mist. Maybe a cloud, if you're lucky. The zen monk in me likes that quality of is-ness to whatever it is in the photo. And so the Augie picture above is just a picture of Gigi, visiting a place. And not to try to force things too deep, but what I see in the photo is a person in a place who's maybe just a bit out of place. And the place itself is wildly layered with so many different types and ages of things it's almost incoherent, almost tearing itself apart not knowing what it even is. But all of that comes together in this amazing tapestry-like thing that just works for me. This latest trip helped me see that I'm the kind of person that likes to find a space of quiet in the middle of a riot of stuff. I've always been this way I think, but this trip helped me put my finger on it, and now it's become a part of who I think I am. I'm never happier than when I'm in the middle of 10 super weird things happening around me at the same time. I feel the most calm and centered when other people are freaking out. The only thing I didn't like about the volcano night, for example, was I thought that if Augie had to be carried off the mountain, his mom was going to murder me and people would say I was a deadbeat dad. The dad version of mommy guilt, plus the fear of being murdered by the mom. But other than that, the weirder it got, the more I loved it all and wanted to go back and do it again immediately. Well, not quite immediately, but, you know, after 20 minutes in a shower and a real bathroom, I was rarin' to go. Anyway, that's what I learned about Me. But what I learned about Us is in the title to this response, which could be boiled down to a simple algorithm: Place + People = Magic. I think it's just that simple, except for writing it down I immediately notice I'm missing the one key, sometimes hidden ingredient: Attention. So maybe we should write like this: Attention(Place + People) = Magic. Attention transforms any place into a riotous, multi-layered, endlessly fascinating tapestry of electric connection and meaning such as is evident in everything that surrounds Gigi in the photo above. And likewise, deep attention transforms any "ordinary" person into someone you can see is actually a visionary with a totally unique view of the world and its possibilities, and also a receptacle of the wisdom and stories of all their infinite generations of elders which you can hear all about if only you ask, and listen. When you bring that kind of attention to people and places, magic unfolds, every single time. It's foolproof. For the sake of consistency and branding, and in the Augie-inspired spirit of is-ness, maybe I should just say Wonder instead of Attention. Okay. It's all about Wonder, here. Something else that is completely evident in the trip album is that bringing Wonder to a situation is not only fun, it's extremely practical. Look at all the connections we formed and strengthened with so many new and old friends. Look at how many possibilities for new work we identified and got fired up about. This is exactly how all new ideas, connections, and coordinated social actions come into the world. And it's also so fun. Anyway, now there's so much to do to keep the energy building on all these new ideas, actions, and relationships. Time to get to work. But also, how about let's pick a new place and do it again? Whatever you loved about this place and these people, let's find it all again in a new place with new friends. Whatever kicked your butt, made you scared and uncomfortable, why not face that beast again? I swear, we could climb that volcano in such style, with such grace and dignity. Who's in?"
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