Building Schools in Guatemala
2011
The trip into Chi-Chi has been made slower and
safer but 30 some speed bumps.
The Sienna Project build two schools in 2011.
The first school was Nuevo Victoria in the last week in February. Three feet of rain form Hurricane Agatha swept the village of Panamiche (pan-a mish AYE) into the nearby river. They lost their homes and school building, their crops and animals, but no lives were lost. With aid from some international charities the villagers were able to purchase land in Solala. With the move, they had to change their name from Panamiche to Nuevo Victoria. When we arrived a number of families were still living in USAID tents. They had no permanent water supply, no electricity to the site and a shanty type corrugated building for a temporary school. We worked with the Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Lafayette, Colorado that funded and sent 18 volunteers to build three classrooms. Read more at their trip blog.
A week after Nuevo Victoria we went to Palanquix, Cotiyab (pa-lin KISH, co-tee HOB) in Solala and built a three classroom school with our usual contingent of 8 Gringo Volunteers. When we left at the end of a week… the walls were up and painted and the final touch, the Sienna Project Logo, nearly led to Marty's demise and the villagers kicked off a thank you celebration with fireworks a few 
Fireworks kicking off the closing ceremony
Jungle Gym testing...minutes early while Dave and Marty were up on a ladder finishing the logo. Derek will have a lot of work to do after we leave to finish the buildings. He has to weld the window frames and doors and install them. He welds the roof beams and gets them into place. Derek then supervises the electrical work and purchases desks, white boards, shelving, etc. and has them delivered.
More pictures from trip members Tom Hart , Jason Fletcher and Susan Rak.
