Awaking in the village, we were greeted with the most spectacular view I have ever seen. Our el campo is situated on a large soccer field overlooking a valley surrounded by lush green mountains. Known as the Cloud Forest District, low hanging mist hugs the peaks and ridges.
Secanquin is unique. They are newly established and consist of families from a neighboring village who decided to organize and purchase new land for themselves. Their previous community is very crowded and there is no land left for new young families to farm. They took a loan from the government and purchased the land for about $300,000.
The community has identified four priorities, the first being a water system. Prior to our arrival, the village worked with CHOICE and paid for half of the survey and plans for the system. Academy Mortgage will be their main partner on their projects.
After eating a hearty breakfast, about 40 men from the village waited for us as we organized and broke into six teams:
- medical clinic
- dental clinic
- hauling rocks
- laying the foundation for the water cistern
- trenching for the water system
- helping with family gardens
With an expedition as large as ours, we are able to have simultaneous projects going. I chose to join the rock team, I had no idea what I was in for!
We rode in the back of a cattle truck about 10 minutes up the road and carefully climbed our way through the jungle down to a small stream. The village men quickly got in the water and started digging out rocks from the mud. From there, we loaded them into sacks which the men then carried on their backs up the steep hill to the truck and unloaded. Not to be outdone, members of the expedition quickly followed suit and followed the arduous climb to the top. The bags weighed probably 75-100 lbs each, it was incredible. As one of a few women and not to be outdone by all the men, I attempted to make the trek as well. I almost didn't make it and started to get wobbly as I neared the top. One of my fellow expeditioners, Bill reached out and helped me summit. I remember distinctly thinking, I couldn't have done that alone, as was the same with our projects with the village.
As we loaded the rocks, the men would exclaim, "kao" (not sure on the spelling), meaning heavy and "mas nim", it is big. As well as another saying
I am familiar with, "cha'bil", similar to esta bien or bueno. Just these simple exchanges and their sense of humor made the arduous work more fun.
After filling the bed of the truck, we drove back towards the village, where the cistern was to be. And this is where it gets really good. Having already climbed one hill with all those rocks, we soon realized we had to carry them up another hill to the tank site! Seemingly eith unspoken word, the Kekchi men quickly formed a line up the mountain and we began passing the rocks up. I wish I could say it went quickly... Alas, it took over an hour and 30+ men and expeditionets to unload all those rocks! True team work and in 90° weather with high humidity!
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