Friday, January 5, 2018

Chi Elias Assessment Trip Day 3: Meetings

Stefan and Angela recording some data 
Today in Guatemala, we took some more measurements of Chi Elias and met with some parents from the school. Napoleon told us that unfortunately, due to other events happening in the community, only about 10 parents would be able to make our Q&A session. However when parents started to arrive, we had to move the meeting from inside to outside due to how many people showed up!

Some of the parents and students of Chi Elias. In total, about 50 people came to our Q&A session.
Our engineers from the EWB Guatemala office, Jeanny and Waleska, also came by. We discussed who Engineers Without Borders is, how the project will happen, and what to expect from us throughout the project. We mentioned how we will only come by every so often, but just because they don't see us doesn't mean we've forgotten about them. We will still be working on their school every week at Rutgers. We also explained to them how we will expect from them a 5% contribution  to the project in the form of materials. This includes any wood, concrete, or other tools we may need. Although this was initially a concern for the community, we encouraged them to leave the worrying to us for now as we are there to help them.
Our team with Jeanny and Waleska on the official EWB truck
The teachers then invited us for a lunch of a traditional Guatemalan soup, tea, and of course more oranges. The soup had beef, vegetables, and noodles and the tea was made with corn, barley, and cinnamon. Both were absolutely delicious. Napoleon told us, "Although we do not have much, God is big" as Carlos loosely translated to us. Brief appreciation for the whole team: Carlos has been an amazing interpreter, Angela a wonderful leader every step of the way, Stefan a brilliant navigator, and Brad an endless source of wisdom. Our success on this project is thanks to the work of everyone on the team.
Enjoying our traditional Guatemalan lunch
After lunch, we had a meeting with the teachers to discuss some technical options for the project. This included details such as how to level the land, where the office would go, and how to optimize usage of the event space. Fortunately, the teachers did agree with most of our ideas with constructive feedback on some. We had a productive, supportive, cooperative meeting with the community of Chi Elias which is more than we could ever hope for in this project. With the support from the community, as we have been so careful to generate, will allow us to fully improve the community with the best of our abilities.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us, so ¡buenas noches!

Christina

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