A Baroque Style Cathedral in Antigua. This is the main church in this city and is called 'the Wedding Cake Church"!
Due to it being Saturday, we did not have any schools to visit today and it was pretty much a free day in Antigua. Antigua is a very fascinating city that is kind of stuck in time in terms of the buildings. Joe and Howard gave us a little tour of some aspects of the city to include the main cathedral in the city. Antigua used to be the Capital of the city until the late 1700s when the King of Spain refused to rebuild the city again due to an earthquake. Then it moved to Guatemala City, where it stands today.
One of the main statues on the facade of this great Baroque style Cathedral!
The church has a Baroque exterior that has been coined the “wedding cake church” as its exterior façade resembles a wedding cake. The yellowish walls and the statues are very prominent for this church. Inside the church, several statues embellish the walls with the crowning jewel being the wooden statue of Jesus as he is carrying his cross. During holy week, the statue is carried throughout the city on a wooden platform. Men pay a substantial amount of money to be chosen to carry it for a block. This church also has an outside overlook area where you are able to see much of the city and two of the main three volcanoes in this part of Guatemala.
Boyd and I pose with the two scholarship students we spent the day getting to know! They were a couple of lovely and polite young ladies!
After the church, we walked down their main pedestrian only street to the main square. We were given some free time until we were to meet in the square around 11 am. At eleven, many of the scholarship students were there to spend time with the Rotarians. Boyd and I were happy to take two young ladies who were very pleasant and very appreciative for the opportunity they were given for a quality education. When asked what they wanted for lunch, they both quickly spoke up that they would like pizza. So, pizza it was. During lunch, the young ladies shared about their lives and their families. With the translation help of Peggy, one of the CoEd staff members, we were able to carry on a very nice conversation with these young ladies. After lunch, we went for some frozen yogurt and headed back towards the square. At the square, the young ladies gave us some gifts and “Thank you” cards which they had made by hand. It is very rewarding to help those who not only take ownership of the program, but are very appreciative of the assistance.
After the rest of the afternoon spent in Antigua, we returned to the hotel for a bottle of wine with our neighbors on the balcony as we prepared for the final dinner with the group. The group dinner would involve testimonies from the week as people would share their experiences. Meanwhile, the wine was lovely and having an opportunity to speak with Stan and Gretchen from Washington was a real pleasure.
Several Rotarian volunteers spend the afternoon with their scholarship students!
At the ending festivities, they presented several awards and your writer, won an award. I was awarded the Rotarian ‘Least Likely to be Without His I-Pad’. My reward was a Canadian tie which I proceeded to wear for the remainder of the dinner. There were awards given for the most recognizable laugh and the one-liner award. It was a great way to kick off this final evening with a group of people that Boyd and I have enjoyed meeting and getting to know. As the proceedings progressed, it became a little more serious as future plans of CoEd were discussed.
Finally, the Rotarians were allowed to say a few words about their experiences if they liked. Thanks to Boyd, I was forced to come forward and give a few words. All of the speakers spoke of this experience in a very positive and life-changing way. Many vowed to support the project in the future with scholarships and more. It was truly a wonderful evening. To top off the evening, the Rotarians from the Grand Cayman Islands made Howard Lobb a Paul Harris Fellow for his work with the Guatemala Literacy Project. Following that, we heard from Alan, another Cayman Rotarian as he sang a song written by Giselle, a Rotarian from Canada who wrote a song about the trip. As we ended the festivities, many hugs and exchanges of club banners and emails were done before those wishing to go to a downtown club exited to leave for the club.
Boyd and I were among those who went to the club along with the Cayman Island guys. It had been a long time since I have been in a loud “disco” dance club and even much, MUCH longer since Boyd had. Nonetheless, we lasted nearly 2 hours before we retired to the hotel and our last night in Guatemala.
Overall, it was an amazing experience and one that I would strongly encourage all Rotarians to experience. The short tours are for everyone, whether a Rotarian or not, but this one, designed for Rotarians and spouses only is the one that is the most moving as you know this project would not have been as successful if not for the help of all Rotary Clubs in North America and the Caribbean. The reason Rotary works as effectively as it does is the pooling of the resources of Rotarians the world over to make a difference. With over 1 million Rotarians worldwide, there are plenty of resources to accomplish nearly anything we set our collective minds to accomplish. This trip made me even more proud to be a Rotarian and even more proud to be a member of the Rotary Club of North Raleigh as we were the first club to support this project. Thanks to people like Matthew Kane who was introduced to this new project more than 13 years ago; there is no telling if Rotary would be involved today. Thanks to the vision of Joe and Jeff Berninger, who as twenty-something adults, saw the need, quite their jobs and started this great organization to make a difference in the education of the people of Guatemala.
I hope to return in the future and hopefully, I will be able to encourage my wife to come with me to experience the same life changing and life affirming experiences that I have this past week.
Thanks to all who read this blog throughout the week and I hope you were able to see a glimpse of what we have experienced this past week. I hope it moved you and will move you to action. You can learn more about CoEd at www.coeduc.org and you can learn more about the Guatemala Literacy Project at www.GuatemalaLiteracy.org.
Thank you Steve for reporting on your experiences in Guatemala. Although I wasn’t there in person, your descriptions helped me join you in your many travels. It is said that experiences like this transform a person from being a member of a Rotary Club to a true Rotarian.