First Night in Guatemala City

Susan and I arrive here in Guatemala City after a nice flight from Portland to Houston and then on to here. We'll stay overnight here and leave in the morning for Cobán, about four hours away by bus. It's supposed to be a beautiful place with lots of flowers and birds, including the Quetzal, the national bird. It's a sort of beautiful parrot with a long trailing tail.
I talked yesterday about the very short time we'll actually be here, just two weeks to visit many different small communities. I don't like that in one way, I don't want to be a visiting authority who comes in for a short visit, doesn't really understand the situation or the communities needs, makes some pronouncements and leaves. I'm going to try and not make myself seem all knowing and smarter than I really am. I'm expecting to learn more than I teach.
Someone once made a good observation to me that I really liked. When Americans volunteer for service projects like the one Susan and I are on, we sometimes think of ourselves as knowing a lot and coming to teach others who know less than us. We are on a higher plane and the people we are serving are down on a lower level. We are going to hand down our wisdom and the people will gratefully accept it. It's certainly easy to think like that when you see extreme poverty and illness, especially if you think you know ways to alleviate it.
That person put it differently. He said that instead it was more like a mutual sharing. That these people had ideas and skills just as valuable to teach us. He tells the people that he is working with that Americans need help, they need the skills and values that they have and that the Americans are coming to learn from them. Americans have lost the sense of family, the sense of sharing and community that these people have and they need the lessons that they can teach. That is a trade, not a one way transfer and no charity is involved.
When the interaction between volunteer groups and local communities is seen in that way, there is more of a mutual respect and sense of value in what each offers. I try to keep that observation in my mind at all times, and I try to listen more than I talk. I've certainly learned a lot about people and human values on the trips I have done, and I've hoped to share a little of what I know that can help someone else.
I'm really looking forward to this new learning experience!
Tom