I couldn’t talk anyone into taking me to the field today, so I’m “stuck” in San Lucas. I can’t think of a better place in which to be stuck. I remember the first time I saw this paradise in 1972. I was riding in Paul Wise’s Jeep, we turned the corner at Godinez, and my eyes beheld the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen.
Yep, you know the story. Lake Atitlan (https://www.istockphoto.com/es/fotos/lake-atitlan), 16 by six miles wide, 1,000 foot deep crater lake, surrounded by three 13,000 foot volcanoes, a mile above sea level. You can NOT make that stuff up! The lake is surrounded by 12 Maya villages, named after the 12 Apostles.
The red and white in the traditional San Lucas blouse
The Mayas in each of the 12 villages wear brilliantly colored clothing ranging from the red and white of San Lucas , the blues of San Antonio the purple and white of Santiago Atitlan, It’s freaking magical!
I’m still recovering from the shock of how Sanik’ Ya and Chitulul have grown and developed. The water project has been the catalyst to lift the towns out of poverty. In the last blog, I forgot to mention, that Edwin Palomino, one of the towns’ leading citizen arranged financing by CARE to build a demonstration 40’ by 20’ chicken coop. The coop will eventually house hundreds of egg producing chickens. Edwin has invited the women of the community to form a cooperative to sell eggs and chicken meat in the local market. To date, the women of 23 families have agreed to jointly purchase the chicken and operate and maintain the operation. The goal is to share sustainable animal husbandry strategies and techniques to help develop the community.
Next on the town’s to-do list is a school. Please consider donating to this worthwhile cause. The town has successfully petitioned the Ministry of Education to build a primary school in the villages. The next step is to purchase a small section of land upon which to build the school. Please consider clicking that donate button to help.
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