Heather Craft, 16, is entering her junior year at Cape Elizabeth High School and through June 28 she volunteered for the Safe Passage program in Guatemala.

Craft has agreed to be the Sentry’s guest correspondent for the trip. Follow her travels by reading the blog she posted while abroad: mainetospain.blogspot.com.

Smiles 

Wednesday, June 23, 7:38 p.m.

I have received more than enough heart-filled smiles in the last two days to last me a lifetime. Yesterday doing the “soy yo” (project for Level I Spanish students to practice describing themselves in Spanish) book with the kids was extremely rewarding. To see the smiles spread across their faces when we took their picture was amazing. The majority of the kids whose pictures we took had never had a picture taken of them. When we proposed the idea each child giggled to their neighbor and made excited Spanish remarks. 

In the afternoon I worked with a family who had come to Safe Passage for the afternoon from a refugee camp they are living in due to the recent eruption of a nearby volcano. At first the young girls were very shy about having their picture taken but by the time we got around to taking the picture they were more than eager. The two young boys were so photogenic and their pictures came out looking absolutely professional. 

The family then decorated around their pictures on a piece of construction paper, and it shocked me at how much slow precision everyone took with their details. What also struck me as different from the United States was that both boys and girls were fascinated by drawing hearts, not just the girls as I would have assumed. 

The finished products were quite intricate and beautiful. The fathers’ creations in particular were quite creative and visually appealing. One of the little boys played Uno with the older boys once he had finished his project and he owned every single round. He had a quiet yet powerful and thoughtful aura about him and everyone seemed to be drawn to him.

Today we worked wherever was needed and in the afternoon Madeline and I worked in a classroom with young kids around 5 to 6 would be my guess. We got to sing songs and then help the kids with their reading and writing skills. 

Thursday, June 24, 7:09 p.m.

Our group worked in the guardería all day today, playing with the little kids. During lunchtime at the main building a bunch of us handed out gift bags to the volunteers and employees, which contained chocolate and a pencil. Everyone seemed very grateful for the small token of our gratitude.

We got to do our soy yo project one last time with a group of 6-year-olds in the afternoon. It was a hit! I worked with this little boy named Carlos whose favorite color was green. He was really cute and exuberant. Half way through the project we all took a break to participate in a going away party for the movement and dance teacher, Shannon. A bunch of the kids had made cards for her and there was a lot of singing and dancing. 

Down here break dancing is a huge part of their culture and a bunch of the boys are B Boys. So some of the kids showed off some of their sick moves for everyone. It was quite entertaining to watch some kids no taller than my hips throwing down expert moves.

Tuesday, June 29, 12:52 p.m.

The past few days have been crazy, however we all arrived safe and sound into Cape around 4 a.m.