Host Families in Semesche

Here is an article about our experience in Semesche and some more pictures too!



“Impoverished” Hospitality?
Slowly getting used to the cold, wet climate, we went to Coban where we meet this really energetic interesting guy named Rob, who for the next crazy week would be our leader. On Saturday morning we all packed into a small cattle truck and rode on a old dirt road through the mountains for the next two and half hours, however we were all very excited to see what was next for us all we knew that we were being thrown into a village that is far away from “civilization” and that they didn’t speak a word of English, or Spanish for that matter but solely K'ekchi' a language that only the local Natives knew plus our fearless leader Rob. So we finally arrived there with all the village people waiting for us. Upon arrival we were broken into small groups that we would stay with for the next 4 nights with host families. So after that we just all broke off and headed off to our new homes… However the experience was a lot more fun then what we could have expected. The families we stayed with were exceptionally hospitable towards us and catered to our needs the best they could which was a huge blessing to our group and really opened our eyes to see how people with so little could give so much. And over the next few days we made relationships and had lots of memorable moments… One of our main purposes there was to help with a project that they have been working on for quite a few years now. These people live on the edge of a Cloud Forest, a forest where it gets most of its precipitation from clouds that surround the trees and the precipitation falls on the leafs and drips to the ground, not only providing for the trees and the Forrest but it also created springs of water which would provide safe drinking water for the surrounding communities. Sometime back in the day the people over-forested and cut down too many trees, so our job when we were there was to help plant trees and help bring back the ecosystems. It was a really neat thing we were doing for these people and the environment. I think our little time in Semesche had a huge impact on all of us. We all had lots of fun a learned a lot about a different culture. Over all it was a pretty cool experience!



By Trevor Bach