Maya Traditions Journal > Pitt Nourish: Week 5

Posted by on June 15, 2016 in

Hi there!

I can’t quite figure out how it’s already the end of week five here in Guatemala. On one hand it’s starting to feel normal here, which is incredibly exciting because that means we are adjusting and adapting! At the same time, however, there are still those moments where you step back and none of it feels real. We are so lucky.

This past week has been one of many changes and accomplishments. After spending almost two weeks on fixing up the garden in San Juan La Laguna, we finally finished and were given the honor of presenting it to the women. We also bought tools that will hopefully make maintaining the garden a little bit easier for them. Having all of the women in the town that work with Maya Traditions come to the garden for the “grand reopening” was a pretty profound moment. We got the chance to meet the women of San Juan that we had been learning about since we arrived there two weeks prior. It was rewarding to see a more direct transformation of the garden in a short span of only 2 weeks. Even more than that, however, is the potential for this garden to provide important resources to the community for years and years to come. Living with families in the community that can directly benefit from the medicinal plants and natural dye plants really gave us the determination that we needed to push through the heat and exhaustion.

nourish1 What made San Juan so special though, was the people and the families that we lived with. It was the most heartwarming two weeks that I could have asked for. Getting to know our host mothers especially, made the work that we are doing that much more important. We now have a better view on how the garden can be used in their craftsmanship and also for healing. The addition of the natural dye plants that we planted in the garden is exciting because we got to see the process when we attended the natural dye workshop.

nourish2

Sadly it came time to leave San Juan and head back to our last week in Panajachel. The goodbyes were surprisingly difficult because of the warmth and kindness we received. It was an honor to work on this garden project that connected us with the families that welcomed us into their homes.

Emily

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