Mother's Day!

We had a great day on Monday. A special day with clear skies and about 200 mothers and grandmothers came along for the celebrations. We brought in a folkloric group led by Miguel. His group has been operating in Panajachel for about 2 years now and have added a lot to their repetoire. Along with the traditional marimba, this year Miguel added some folkloric dances and Maya myths to be presented to the kids. It was very exciting as Miguel had the children participate in all the activites. Little Erika and Diana performed on the maracas and some of the older students were all fitted out in different trajes (traditional dress) from all over the country. It was a fantastic experience for all as Miguel spoke about the history of the designs and their origins. He is very passionate about preserving the ancient Maya traditions and is a huge advocate of a cultural-educational experience. He gave a great motivational speech that really struck a cord with everyone. It was very emotional and such a treat to watch these youngters experiencing a bit of culture outside their regions and it was an introduction to ancient weaving techniques and design origination. Miguel finished his presentation by speaking of the hardships of the indigenous for centuries going back to the Spanish Conquistadors. The last part of the speech was incredibly moving and he spoke of the importance of family remarking that, "the women of Guatemala are the heart and soul of this land", it was very emotional and his main goal is to preserve ancient traditons, language, cuisine and manner of dress as well as the ceremonial religious aspects of their traditional faiths.
Miguel is a descendant of the Maya and speaks 3 indigenous languages as well as English, Spanish, German and a little Hebrew. He praised the efforts of GVI to have such an ambitious vision on education while at the same time helping to preserve and expose this next generation of Maya to the ancient traditions of their ancestors.
Everyone was entertained by the marimba and the folkloric dancing. It is an honor for us to promote the cultural heritage of this remarkable little community in the rural mountains of Guatemala.

What would a Mother's Day celebration be without food and entertainment. The mother's received a special meal of
sweet bread, a beef vegetable stew, rice, and a huge amount of tortillas and hot chiles! The children also had their favorite chow mein with plenty of vegetables, a banana and their atol drink. At the conclusion of the day the children all passed out presents to the mothers that had been hand-crafted by the students.

Mother's Day!