By Julian J. Ramos / Staff Writer / jramos@syvnews.com Santa Ynez Valley News
A group of Dunn School students did more than just build homes in Central America during their winter break last month.
They learned from the people of Guatemala, among the most impoverished in the Americas, that they are not poor people, as they have hearts to love and lots of generosity.
The 10 high school students who went on the trip are known on the Los Olivos campus as the “Antiqua Ten,” named after a city in the central highlands of Guatemala.
Each of them said the 10-day visit was life-changing and they’d do it again.
Led by Spanish teachers Alejandra Santos and Ulises Castaneda, the students are seniors Stephen Anderson and Brandon Yau; juniors Scott Goodman, Yong Hwan Kim, Samantha Ko, Jaehong Lee, Ohm Sirimongkolkasem, Emma VanSteenwyk and Tiffany Vanichviroon; and sophomore Erielle Webber.
Castaneda’s son Balam Castaneda, a Dunn eighth-grader, also participated.
The students built parts of four homes in the town of San Mateo through the group Constru Casa, which is dedicated to offering basic homes to poor families to improve their living conditions and health.
The Los Olivos Rotary Club donated money to Constru Casa, which requires donors to help build the homes, and a number of local Rotarians also participated.
Alice Berg, Dunn’s head of learning strategies and a Los Olivos Rotary Club member, and her husband Steve were part of the delegation.
More than half of the population in Guatemala lives in poverty, according to Constru Casa, which in English translates to “build a home.”
Of those people, most live in make-shift dwellings made of corn stalk walls, dirt floors, and roofs made of cardboard and plastic or wood and corrugated iron.
Over the course of two weeks from late February to early March, Rotarians and the students built four homes. The Dunn group finished up the second half of one home and left three others half-built to be finished by the next crew.
Each three-room, one-bathroom home is made of 1,200 concrete blocks with a corrugated iron roof and concrete floor. At least one family member is required to work on building the house, among other requirements that the family must satisfy before getting the home.
Each house costs about $3,600 to build.
Castaneda, one of the teacher-leaders, described the trip as “very rewarding” and life-changing for himself.
“I’ve never been that up close to poverty,” he said. “That really had an impact on me.”
Castaneda said he was proud of each student as he saw their hard work and dedication to the project. They saw the need to do something and did it without complaints or hesitation, he said.
His son, Balam, was “not the same boy who got on the airplane” after they returned home, he said.
Castaneda said he will encourage all Dunn students to travel the world and give back to the communities they visit.
“You need to initiate that,” he said
Students submitted applications for the trip, and they were chosen by a committee, Castaneda said. Each student volunteered and agreed to forfeit his or her vacation, he said.
Only two of the students had any formal Spanish instruction.
Although there may have been a language barrier, Sirimongkolkasem and other students said the kindness and generosity of the Guatemalans needed no translation.
Webber said she was most touched by a visit to a school and the joyful reception from the young students, who sang and danced for them.
The heartfelt welcome made her cry, she said.
“They didn’t know how to repay us,” she said of the many gestures, big and small, of thanks.
Students worked from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for five days. They carried blocks and concrete and used no electric tools.
In their free time, the group went sight-seeing to places that included Pacaya volcano, Lake Atitlan and Mayan ruins.
The students agreed they would go back to Guatemala and would encourage their peers to take a similar humanitarian trip.
Established in 1957, Dunn is a co-ed, college-prep boarding and day school.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following was written by Sophomore Emma VanSteenwyk:
My Trip to Guatemala
By Emma Van Steenwyk
Guatemala is a small country about two thirds the size of California, population of 13,276,517. It’s mostly mountains. Formerly a Mayan Civilization, it’s capitol is Guatemala City, built near the ruins of Kaminaljuyu. The city of Antigua, where we stayed, was built within ruins, still using the ancient cobblestone streets. Guatemala won its independence from Spain in 1821 and has been through a number of revolutions since then. It only recently had its first free election, in 1945. Natural disasters are common, with the capitol moved multiple times due to earthquakes, volcanic activity, and mudslides. There are about eight Quetzals per American dollar, and about six more colors on a bill.
What we did in Guatemala was build. We dug trenches and chipped holes in cinderblocks. For every foot of finished trenched we managed, an elderly man had dug two. We carried as many cinderblocks as we could down the hill, while a woman walked past us with two cinderblocks on her head, one in her arms, and her child on her back. I can’t put into words how much respect I had for these people.
One Quetzal can buy an entire sliced mango, complete with salt and chili powder. Thirty Quetzals, after much bargaining, can buy a handmade flute off of a street vendor. But what we gained in Guatemala was not something you could buy, not even something you can price. What we learned in Guatemala was more than how to drive a hard bargain or walk on cobblestone streets. What we learned is not something you can put into textbooks or even put into words. But mostly, what we created in Guatemala was not just a concrete house, it was more than that. It was more than a roof and some walls; it was more than a home for people who had never had one before. Even though many people in the hillside town of San Mateo can’t get running water, even though many cannot eat, Senora Martin told us, they are not poor people. They have their feet to carry them, their arms to work, their heads to think, and their hearts to love.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch a video shot during the trip
