Meeting Joyce Maynard in Guatemala
In 2001, I was living on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, where I launched PlanetOutreach, non-profit internet cafe, with financial help from the eBay Foundation (read my full story here). Naturally, I met several expats who frequented our cafe and many of them told me I needed to meet Joyce Maynard, an American author living in San Marcos La Laguna for 6 months while writing one of her novels. A friend lent me her latest novel, At Home in the World, and I devoured it. I was taken back by her honesty and humor and quickly read through the book, creating a clear picture of the author's life. One day, returning on a boat from Panajachel, I met a traveler who told me he was attending a Joyce Maynard writing workshop in San Marcos La Laguna. I let him know that I had heard much about her and that I wanted to meet her. This man invited me to return to her house as they were having a dinner party that evening. It was the perfect opportunity to meet this mystery author. This night was the first of many dinner parties and other events with Joyce, over the next several months.
A couple of years after we met, I became the American Director of the middle school in San Marcos La Laguna. Joyce Maynard recruited the help of the Larson Legacy Foundation to organize a basketball clinic in our village and invited Tom Newell, a professional basketball coach from Washington, to help coach the local Mayans. The Larson Legacy Foundation helped to financially host this event, providing basketballs, t-shirts and more for the local teams, in addition to night lights for the town's basketball court. It was a successful and memorable week, one I will never forget.
Joyce Maynard continues to lead writing workshops every year on the shores of Lake Atitlan. For anyone interested in writing and adventure, consider attending one of her workshops in Guatemala. Your life will never quite be the same as you see and experience a world vastly different than the North American way of life, while cultivating your writing skills.
In March 2008, the NY Times travel section covered Joyce Maynard's life in Guatemala, in an article I highly recommend, titled: "Guatemala as Muse and Base for a Writer". Read and enjoy.
Support Development in Guatemala
Education is fundamental to empowering the poor in Guatemala, as well as other countries around this small globe. In time, we will post stories and information about the villages and schools we support on our website, through the kind and generous donations of people like you. Once we obtain our tax exemption status, we will seek donors and invite them to get to know their sponsored student, teacher and community in Guatemala. We won't twist arms about it, as we know people are busy, but at least the option and opportunity is available for donors to get more involved.
Clean drinking water and fuel efficient stoves are two other initiatives we seek to provide for the Mayan families around Lake Atitlan. We are looking for partners to make this a reality, including donors and in-kind donations. Clean water is a necessity for all people yet many around these communities can't afford clean water. Many have to walk long distances to get bottled water, if they can afford it, while many continue to drink water that is polluted and toxic. As a result, many have intestinal and stomach problems. Fuel efficient stoves are warranted as the traditional open fires cause serious respiratory problems as well as require a large amount of wood. Please consider helping us with these initiatives and projects.
We have trusted partners and volunteers on the ground to help us support schools and communities. In addition, we work with the local leaders to support our initiatives, knowing that their buy-in is critical to our success in each community.
We incorporated Globally Minded Works in April 2007 and are waiting for our official 501c3 tax exemption approval from the IRS. Meanwhile, will you consider placing our banner on your website and promoting our work on your blog or website? Tell you friends, colleagues, and church about Globally Minded Works and consider joining us as we impact the lives of children and communities in Guatemala.
Guatemalan Coffee From the Source
When you go to Starbucks and buy your grande cup of Guatemalan coffee, do you ever wonder how it got from Guatemala to your local Starbucks ? I did some research while living and working there and found some interesting information. The area around Lake Atitlan in Guatemala is a coffee grower's dream. Surrounded by three volcanoes and lots of vegetation, coffee beans are shade grown and abundant. Connie, a Mayan woman from San Pedro La Laguna, worked in the internet cafe and her husband's family sold its coffee beans to Anacafe. Sadly, they only received $80 per 100-pound coffee beans. Think about it. The profit margin is substantial, even with the cost to export and sell.
From October until January, coffee season is at its prime and entire Mayan families spend the morning picking coffee beans. It is quite common to see small Mayan girls carrying their baby sibling on their backs, while Mom and Dad pick the coffee beans for their survival. Often barefoot, toothless, dirty and hungry, coffee farmers work hard and long to harvest the coffee, earning a pittance for their labor while Americans sip Guatemalan coffee at $1.75 a cup, without a care for the hands that picked the beans.
Clinicas Maya: San Marcos La Laguna
(Source of images: ClinicasMaya.org)
Cindy Waterman, a midwife and nurse by training, moved to Guatemala in the late 1990's and settled into San Pedro La Laguna to fulfill a passion to help Mayan women struggling in poverty. Cindy made a decision to wear the traditional Mayan women clothing in order to bridge the differing cultures and establish connection with the local women. We met in 2001, when I moved to the same village to launch the internet cafe. Cindy's dream: to build a midwifery clinic for Mayan women on "this part of the Lake Atitlan", including the villlages of San Pedro, San Juan, San Pablo, San Marcos, and Tzunana.
Cindy moved to San Marcos La Laguna to run the Clinica Naturalista, a holistic medical clinic serving locals, travelers and expats. Through determination, hard work and sacrifice, Cindy has built a legacy for herself: today, a midwifery clinic is in full bloom. Cindy continues to work tirelessly tending to the needs of the sick and the poor and helping out with various medical clinics around Lake Atitlan. Thankfully, as a result of Cindy's training of local midwives, fewer mothers and babies die during child birth and people are getting treatment for their ailments. Indeed,the combination of Cindy's service, compassion, training and holistic and western medicine work together to make life better for the Mayan people.
I've partnered with Cindy to provide medical supplies to her clinic, every time I travel to Guatemala. Rotaries, churches, and friends have all given medical donations to me to help her clinic thrive. Gathering donations is always on the front of Cindy's mind, as well as donations and long-term, bilingual medical volunteers who can hit the ground running.
Do you want` to help? Contact us!
Why Guatemala
Guatemala is an amazing country, rich in culture and landscape. I fell in love with this beautiful place in 1997, the first time I traveled down there. The country had recently signed a Peace Treaty after a very brutal 36 year Civil War. Thousands of Mayans and advocates of the poor were tragically killed, or simply "disappeared". The more I learned about this country, the more I was intrigued and captivated. I went on holiday for two weeks and returned to the US with a deep sense that this new country would one day be my second home.
I returned to the world of software sales with a burning desire to return to Guatemala. I wanted to make a difference in the lives of those struggling in poverty. Within a year, I returned to Guatemala on my own and volunteered for Common Hope in Antigua. I lived with a local family in the beautiful colonial city of Antigua, studied Spanish in the morning and volunteered every afternoon. Eventually, I returned to the states and then returned again in 2001-2003, to launch the first ever satellite internet cafe in San Pedro La Laguna on the shores of lovely Lake Atitlan. Seven months later, I returned and directed a middle school in San Marcos La Laguna. Returning once again to the US, I obtained my MBA, launched Globally Minded and recently formed Globally Minded Works. I am passionate about helping the poor through business and education.
We are looking for people who are like minded, who desire to make a difference in the Land of Eternal Spring. Interested? Contact us! We'd love to hear from you.