We are back in the states. Landed safely in Atlanta. We have a two/three hour lay over and then on to Nashville!!!
Major
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
THAT’S A WRAP
We just wrapped production after two weeks of long days in various locations around Guatemala. The stories we captured are amazing and we are very excited to share them with the world. Fortunately, we made it through without too much illness. A few of our team began to have stomach issues yesterday, but nothing extremely bad. We are all running on fumes and ready to see our families again. Tonight we will celebrate Guatemalan style and tomorrow we head to the airport at 11 AM.
THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this trip possible! We ill be posting more photos and video next week after we rest.
God Speed,
el scotto
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Chicken Buses and X- Gang Members
Ramiro, Marko and Myself boarded a Chicken Bus headed to Guatemala City this morning. There were no chickens but it did get packed with people. Once we left Antigua the bus driver was flying. We thought we would make Guat City in about thirty minutes. However, he did have to stop several times to pick people up.
I was carrying the steady cam and the tripod. I had them both between my legs and when it was time to get off the bus I had to pull up both things, stand up and try to get past a sleeping old lady sitting next to me. Ramiro and Marko were already off the bus. The bus started rolling and they both yelled at the driver to wait. I made it off and we made it to Guatemala City and met up with Shorty soon after.
After we met up with the rest of the Athentikos group we went into some villages and looked at some new water purification systems and stoves. A man named Forrest is heading up this relief. By getting the people clean drinking water they have cut down on several illnesses in the communities they are put in. More on this later.
Shorty has an amazing story. Here is a picture of him with his hommies. He is the one in Red. He now runs a rehab center for X-gang members.
Tomorrow we are leaving at 6 a.m. to travel to Chichicostanango (sp). Its a three hour bus ride. We are meeting with Pray America and interviewing them and talking with them about their ministry. I will up date you more on that later.
Well, I had better get some sleep. We have been reduced to 8 team members. There are pros and cons to this but the most regretful thing is that when a team member would leave we would see something the next day that they would have greatly appreciated.
Continue to pray for us as we travel and witness some amazing acts of love God is doing in the lives of His people. Scott’s blog summed it up well.
Where words fail, film reveals.
Peace,
Major
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Breakin’ In
Last night when I stared to go to bed, after everyone else, for some reason my key wouldnt work. I would turn the lock and it would just keep turning. Over and over again, Click, Click, Click, Click. This clicking woke the Hotel clerk and he tried helping me. He couldnt get it either. So, I wasnt crazy or simple machine deficient. So, we stared talking, me in my broken Spanish and he in his broken English, about how to get into the room. He suggested I sleep in another room. I told him I had to leave in the morning by 7:45. So, we devised a plan.
I had left the bathroom window open. I climbed up on the table below my window. I was too broad to fit through the window…but he wasnt. So he tried climbing through but there was nowhere for him to put his hands or anything once he was in. He thought he had a ladder in the back so he comes back with this thing that looks like something you would grow flowers on. Its about 6 feet long by about ten inches wide. It had thin metal rungs on it. We placed that in the bathroom and wedged it on the corner of the bathroom floor and shower. He stared in head first with me holding his legs the whole way in. That didnt work so becasue the top of the ladder was moving. I asked him for permission to break down the door or window if he fell in and hurt himself. He said, “Jes!” I said, “In America we call 911 for emergencies. Who should I call if you hurt yourself?” He quickly replied, “Call my mom!” We both laughed.
We eventually ended up with him going into this twelve foot by ten inch window feet first, then he turned himself over, all the time I am holding his arms so he can balance while standing on a plastic table. He made it in and then went to the door and couldnt get it open, but he finally did. Then we tried the key again and it worked perfectly fine.
I came in today and the female clerk showed me how to work the lock. She said that this was the only room with a messed up lock. So, I wasnt crazy.
Major
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Struggle -> Life
What an amazing trip we have had so far! I can hardly believe we only have a few days left before we head back to the US. We have been so busy, this morning is the first opportunity that I have had to sit down and write about our experiences. I have not tallied up the numbers yet, but when we leave on Sunday we will probably have interviewed over 40 people – maybe even more. Each of these people have amazing stories which connect to one another through various themes: struggle, survival, transformation, faith, hope love, and life.
Many of the needs and conditions in Guatemala (gang violence, orphaned children, displaced people, extreme poverty, fear) are a result of the civil war which ravaged the country for over thirty years (1960 – 1996). Fathers were killed, mothers were raped, young men were drafted into the army and children fled alone. Many of these children traveled to the US seeking a better life. They lived on the streets and ended up joining gangs out of necessity for survival. Survival … I have never had to survive like some of the men, women and children that we have met over the past two weeks. Struggle is not bound to a gender or place. It exists in urban ghettos, hospital beds, wheel chairs, and rural mountain villages … in ways that I would never have even dreamed about in my worst nightmares. Yet, in the middle of all this struggle, we have witnessed amazing beauty.
We have witnessed: a woman risk her life to care for the forgotten people in the most dangerous ghetto in Guatemala City … a former gang member become a pastor and open a rehab center for drug addicts … a woman feed children in her community and start a school to give them a better opportunity … a man care for the physically disabled who are hidden away their entire lives in a hospital … the list could go on. In the midst of struggle, we have witnessed men and women serving and giving their lives away for the sake of others. If I did not know their stories, I would ask why? Why do these people care? Why do these people give? I would ask those questions if I did not know their stories. However, I do know their stories … struggle, survival, transformation, faith, hope, love and life. Each of these people have reached the end of themselves and come face to face with a compassionate God who has cradled them in his arms, stripped away their burden and transformed them. These people care and give because they are responding to their own transformation; they respond with love because they have life. They aren’t thumping Bibles, they are living out the truth of transformation … caring for and loving others as Christ loved them. It is a beautiful picture of scandalous grace which flows downhill and pools up in the lowest places.
peace,
el scotto
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Live Blog…sort of
Live blog
8:45 Left hotel.
9:00 Stopped at gas station. There was an 8 year old boy selling ripped DVD’s so we all looked through the movies he had and took his picture with him holding up his DVD’s, his name was Marcos.
9:31 Arrived in Guatemala City…headed to the orphanage Casa Barnebe.
9:45 Arrived at Casa Barnebe.
9:45 – 10:00 Scouted shot locations for interviews.
10:00 – 10:30 Set up two teams for interviews.
10:30 – 12:30 Shot interviews with the Director and one teacher.
12:30 – 1:00 We broke for lunch. Myra prepared lunches for us and it was sort of a Pimento Chicken sandwich. Again, delish.
1:00 – 3:00 We shot two more interviews and are now in the process of shooting B-Roll.
3:00 to 5:00 We shot B-Roll and one more interveiw with Pedro, the husband of the director.
5:00 AND THATS A WRAP.
Now we are off to shoot another sunset on our way into Guatemala City.
We arrived at a site along the side of the road, in front of a hotel and there was a great shot of the sunset. However, after we started rolling the hotel manager told us we couldnt, mainly because part of their building was in the shot. So, we moved just down the road to a three story fifties diner. There was a perfect shot of the sunset there. Some of us were a bit chilly so we bought coffee. Some of us bought milkshakes. Since traffic was bad we would have gotten back to Antigua late so we stopped and ate. Once we were back on the road we arrived back to Antigua and now we are all dumping our photos to an external hard drive.
What a day. We got some great interviews and and Marko and Mary got tons of B-Roll. And the surprise of the day was when Cesar showed up at Casa Bernabe!!!
Well, better get back to logging footage and uploading photos.
Buenas Noches,
Major
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Unexpected Blessings
After having a few days “semi” off we were back at it yesterday. Many of us felt like we were moving in slow motion. The prior week had finally caught up with us. The great thing about filming in Antigua is that most of our shot locations are no more than twenty minutes away.
Yesterday we filmed at Kairos, a school that Myra and her mother have started, in the city of Cuidad Vieja. The school was started from these two women feeding children in the city who were left at home all day because their parents were gone to work. Now they feed over fifty kids a week. As I type this Myra and her mother are preparing our breakfast this morning. They are catering our breakfast and lunch this week. Which leads me back into yesterday.
It was a little after noon once we wrapped at the school and we were headed over to Myras parents house. Once there we were treated with the best meal thus far in Guatemala. Myras mother, Hermalinda Garcia, was grilling flank steak outside. She had prepared potatoes and grilled green beans (perfectly crisp) in a nice gravy sauce, with french bread and tortillas, fresh guacamole, and fresh salsa. It was amazingly delicious.
Once we wrapped shooting at their house we drove up into the city to interview a few families who attended the school. We met this one family whos father works as a Baker. He hopes to open his own store some day. He and his wife have three adorable children. After the interview he asked if we had somewhere to be because he wanted to bless us with a cake. We offered to pay him for the cake, what we would usually pay for the cakes in the states. He told us to come back in about twenty minutes. When we arrived back to their home he had a table set up outside his house with a table cloth on it. He had made fresh pastries for us. Some looked like rolls and others looked like a turnover. Filled with apple and strawberry topped with powdered sugar. They were so flaky and delicious. Marko said he had had pastries in Italy and these were better. I was given the task of carrying the cake down the hill and holding it on the bus. If you know anything about the roads in Guatemala you know they are a bit bumpy. And I didnt have anything to cover the cake with, it was just on a plate. Needless to say, the cake made it back in one piece.
What a blessing. We were all struggling and tired yesterday and God decided to bless us with this sweet family. By the time we reached the Hotel we were all feeling much better and went out for dinner. Then it was early to bed for most of us.
Myra and her mother just left breakfast for us. It was fresh scrambled eggs with back beans in a black bean sauce and again, delicious. Everyone seems to be rested and we are about to head out. No time to post pictures to the blog. Keep us in your prayers and we will update later this evening.
Peace,
Major
Monday, January 12, 2009
“On Their Behalf”
We spent all day with Mayra in Cuidad Vieja (a few miles outside of Antigua). She has a feeding program for the children left behind while parents go to work… and, she is also starting a school next month. An amazing woman and family, serving the little ones in her community.
Cuidad Vieja
Mayra
The house for the feeding program, “On Their Behalf” that Mayra started with her 71 year old mother.
The arts and crafts room.
So much love comes from so little.
I’m humbled and blessed from our day today.
Kristin
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Day of Rest
We wrapped our shoot in Guatemala City yesterday and headed to Antuiga. Antuiga is a beautiful city. One could get lost in the beauty of the cobble stone streets, the Spanish architecture, the splashes of color each building has to offer and pleasant faces that greet you. Roughly fourty five minutes from Guatemala City is this peaceful oasis nestled under the shadow of three volcanoes. The visual beauty is left dead when trying to describe it with words. So I will include a few photos. Here is one we were greeted to yesterday at sunset. What an amazing God we serve.
This morning I awoke to someone in the hotel cleaning and playing loud music. Theres nothing like Spanish Pop to get you out of bed. Since it was 6:45 I thought I might as well get up and see what this city has to offer today. Its our day off. I have been walking the streets and meeting some interesting people. There was an old beggar lady who stopped me and asked for money. She couldnt have been more than four feet tall. When I said to her, No Gracias, she hit me on the leg and kept walking. I chuckled at her assertiveness, and should have given her something for her boldness. I then met this nice gentleman, Hosea, who told me about the city. Between his broken English and my broken Spanish we had a nice conversation and he pointed me in the direction of the market and told me how long it would take to hike up the volcanoes.
I am now sitting in a cafe in the town center enjoying some coffee and listening to Sigur Ros. I needed some time for myself and with God this morning. Prayer time this morning brought a peaceful security as I walked the streets of this foreign city. There’s nothing like milling around the inner thoughts, frustrations and joys with your best friend and then just walking and listening to him.
Today is our day off. By mid week our team of eighteen will be reduced to about seven. Some unfortunately have to leave us. We have a lot of work to do here this week but we have worked hard and last night we went to a great restaurant where we ate and then danced. Here are our dancing partners. And yes, I have video of most all of it.
Peace,
Major