Past Memories from Guatemala

Perhaps the biggest reason we love Guatemala is because of the people there.  Wherever we go there, we meet some of the nicest folks.  Meet Melvin, from Monterrico:

Melvin is a Cristiano Renaldo fan – I knew it from the Real Madrid jersey with “Renaldo” spelled across the shoulders. I pointed at him, raised my eyebrows and said, “Renaldo?” “Si!” he replied with a huge smile. Melvin’s buddies all nodded and repeated, “Si!” I pointed at myself, smiled and said, “Mi – Messi!” and gave an enthusiastic smile. “No! No! Renaldo!” they all said back to me. We laughed and agreed to disagree. International diplomacy at its finest.

Melvin is very serious about learning English. He is one of the local Monterrico kids who lives in a dirt-poor village that we visited the day before. That afternoon we played with Melvin and about thirty other kids in an unfinished cement building. You would be amazed how much fun kids can have with assorted building blocks, some crayons, and a few bottles of bubbles. But we must have connected, because Melvin and his friends came to the church’s facility for breakfast, a health checkup, and English lessons.

Quick with a laugh, Melvin and his friends were very well behaved. They accepted their breakfasts with a sincere “gracias”, cleaned up their plates and tables, and moved from class to class in an orderly fashion.

Melvin is probably nine or ten years old, although he is like most kids in Monterrico in that he is smaller than an American kid of the same age. Insufficient nutrients in their diets and inadequate health care keep them pretty small, plus the Guatemalans just aren’t very big people to start with. But he made up for size with sheer cuteness, bright brown eyes and a smile that didn’t stop – until he was learning English.

Gwen, Megan, Rosie and I were responsible for some very basic English lessons: letters, numbers, a few simple phrases. Melvin was good with most letters, although “v” gave them all trouble. Melvin could count on his own up to fourteen, but translating quince to “fifteen” was his stumbling block. He would stumble, listen closely, then correctly and clearly enunciate “fifteen!” after me. Then we would start over – about fifteen times.

Later Melvin joined his buddies in playing soccer out in the black-sand side yard. Those kids were faster on sand than most kids are on manicured grass fields, playing with great gusto, both making and avoiding violent slide tackles and making beautiful crosses into the box. They were probably playing fútbol before they could speak. Big smiles, age-appropriate trash talk – they were just kids.

Melvin wants to do everything well. He has nothing, but you would never know it from his demeanor. Polite, energetic, laughing, engaging – he’s a model kid growing up in the middle of Central American nowhere. I’m forty years older than Melvin, and I look up to him. He’s quite a kid.  Jeff Copelan, 2013.

                                         

We are about to go back to Guatemala where I am sure we will once again form relationships with both the Guatemalan church members and the very poor people they serve.  Follow us as we serve in Guatemala next week.  Look for more blogs as we update our progress!

Karin DeGroot