Teach a man to fish....

A couple of weekends ago I took a trip to an area of Guatemala called San Marcos which is very close to the border of Mexico. While there I visited a project of the Mennonite Central Commission, a project which puts into pictures the phrase, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." The project is located in a small town called La Vega, which means the Valley in Spanish. The pueblo is a small cluster of houses located about 3 miles from the border of Mexico. About two years ago the town was hit very hard by a Hurricane. The hurricane actually stayed in the valley for a few days. Many people lost their houses and some even their lives to flooding. To get to this small community we had to take a ride in the back of a pick up for about 1 1/2 hours through the gorgeous mountains of Northwestern Guatemala. When my group arrived we were given a tour of the area and saw the damage of the hurricane. Then we were treated to a huge lunch including their new special dish, trout.

About a year ago the MCC helped a few families in the community construct pools beside their houses where they can raise trout. The families sell half and then save half for their families. With the money made the families can send their kids to school and buy other healthy food to feed their children, which is very important since the region of San Marcos has the highest rate of malnutrition amongst young children. Some of the money as well goes into a community pot where the community will decide what to do with the money. Since they have started they have helped others build and buy pools to put beside their houses and are constructing an office headquarter in the middle of the town for business. I think what amazes me most is that this small community is lifting itself up out of poverty and infirmity solely with the help of a little funds and two very caring men. There are two men that work with them, one from the Catholic Church and one from the MCC. The two men help them dream and plan and make their dreams and plans come to fruition through ligistical work. Yet, the plan is that in a few years the community will be able to manage the fishing business all by themselves.

While there I stayed with a family in their house. In talking to the father of the family I found out that he actually worked in Immokalee, Fl for a while in the Tomato Farms there. I was completely humbled by his hospitality and the constant lack there of on my part to my brothers and sisters in Christ who are working and living right down the road from me in Immokalee. Sometimes this world seems so big to me and I am overwhelmed by how much need there is and the complexitiy of every community but this trip reminded me how small the world is and how it really is only small acts, like teaching someone to fish, that have made the biggest changes and have formed the deepest relationships.