Now that it is over (although as I told the kids it is only the beginning), I would like to take some time to reflect on the adventure…
I think we probably all have heard the saying “If you love what you do you will never work a day in your life”, but I think many of us take this axiom with a grain of incredulity. It seems to me that work, for the majority of us, is just something we have to do during the week so that we can afford to do what we want on the weekends; it is a means to an end. However, adages such as this one did not just appear out of the abyss, and every once in a while we are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the viability of living them out. This project has given me one of those glimpses.
As I have mentioned the “work” that has went into building this school has been fun since day one. But, more than that, it has also been inspiring, rewarding, and a wonderful learning experience – for me as much as for the community.
Inspiration is defined as: arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity. An idea like the “bottle school”, which I have been calling the quintessential Peace Corps project, eloquently illustrates this definition. The ingenuity of the design speaks for itself. Three major needs of the community are met, with the end result being a low cost, high quality school building that literally traps this inspiration in a bottle and stands as a symbol of the synergy that is possible when a community truly embraces an idea.
The project has been rewarding for a great many reasons, but it has been especially delightful to watch its evolution. For the kids, and I think even for the teachers, recycling has went from just a crazy new word, to just another homework assignment, to something that might actually be useful, to an exciting concept that could change everything. In fact, inspired by the bottle school, the teachers held a recycling invention competition this week. In teams of four the students of the middle school had to invent a new way to reuse the trash of the community. As I watched them present their awesome creations, it really hit me that a paradigm shift had actually occurred, and I can’t think of anything more rewarding than that. (See photos below to understand what I mean.)
When I say this project was a wonderful learning experience, I really can’t overstate it. When it was all said and done we coordinated the participation of over 1500 students and 100 teachers across three separate villages, received support from four separate development associations, managed the work of many masons, welders, and volunteers, took over 20,000 pounds of garbage out of the streets of the community, and started and helped perpetuate a movement that promises to produce benefits on a local, regional, national, and now international level. In fact, an article about bottle schools in Guatemala just came out in world wide publiacation the Peace Corps Times, and I have just agreed to help advise volunteers from all over the globe to help them replicate the success we've seen here. It really is exciting!
I would like to thank Hug it Forward (www.hugitforward.com) and World Ventures (www.worldventures.com) again for helping make this project possible. I think you guys are doing amazing work, and wish you all luck and success as you move forward. I see big things coming on the horizon!
And thank you to all of you who have been reading these updates and sending your love and support, you guys truly empower me! Please keep reading and never hesitate to keep in touch.
So, without further adieu, I will leave you with these pictures and let them do the rest of the talking.
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