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Hello again, I am back at Lake Atitlan but this time I'm getting a different look at things. For those of you that are not aware, there were devastating mudslides at the lake this past year due to torrential rainfall caused by Hurricane Stan. Hundreds of people lost their lives and many lost theirs homes and crops. A lot of different groups are here at the lake providing resources and help. I have been introduced to a few of them and will help out where I can.

Lending a Helping Hand

Jeremy Curl
2006-08-28 16:23:59

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her friend Nancy Robinson at the local library. We met there to help local shoe shine boys learn to read but none of them showed, so she took me over to her friend Sharon's house for an introduction. Sharon is also a missionary living in the area and had plenty of construction work in the area to keep me busy. For starters, she had a team building a house in a nearby town (San Jorge), so I was to meet them on Monday and assist with construction. I sat and talked with Sharon and Nancy for awhile about various projects around the area that I could help with. I got the contact information that I needed and returned to my hospedaje. Later that night while searching for a bit to eat, I ran into Joann and she invited me to attend a group bible study the next day and informed me that a volunteer (Richard) training firefighters in San Juan wanted to meet with me.

Before the bible study that Sunday, I was walking down the street to grab a quick breakfast when I heard my name yelled out. Well, well, if it wasn't my old friend Liss the volunteer dentist from Santa Cruz. We ate breakfast together and were actually able to carry on a real conversation since I'm now fluent in Spanglish. We talked for awhile and decided to meet later that day.

Bible study that morning was great. I soaked in a motivating message, met a lot of really neat people, and enjoyed a delicious meal. Joann introduced me to Richard, the volunteer firefighter/Paramedic from Oregon that she had mentioned. Richard was volunteering his time in San Juan (which neighbors San Pedro on the lake) to help train firefighters and get the department up and running. He was so excited to learn that I had been a firefighter/EMT in the states. He quickly offered me a place to stay and the occasional meal if I would come over and help him train his firefighters. I happily accepted and let him know that I would be their on Tuesday. After leaving Joann and Richard, I met up ...