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Raft River students learn about life in Guatemala

Members of the Pokomchi people of Guatemala, showed traditional items and tools to students at Raft River Elementary School on Dec. 2
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Sebastian Suram Cal helps Clayton Sollows pick up a bundle of wood using a “sling” or tumpline. This allows the weight of the load to be packed in line with the spine instead of directly on the shoulders. Everybody packs wood; children typically pack about 10 kg loads and women up to 45 kg. The men can carry up to 90 kg. Women usually carry their loads directly on their heads

Sebastian Suram Cal and Glenda Mo de Suram, members of the Pokomchi people of Guatemala, showed some of their traditional items and tools to students at Raft River Elementary School on Friday, Dec. 2. They also brought along stories of their lives in their country, which lies immediately south of Mexico

The Pokomchi (Poqomchi) are of Mayan descent and live in San Cristobal Verapaz in the central part of Guatemala. Bill and Linda Brierly, who founded the Hope of the Pokomchi ministry to help enable these impoverished people become more self-reliant, sponsored their visit to Clearwater.

Linda showed the students a video presentation on the Pokomchi’s living conditions. Houses are made of wood with thatched roofs. This is in a country where rains fall 10 months of the year and that has termites that will eat anything made of wood. Whenever they can get it, metal is used to build things.

Even with all the rainfall, the people have difficulty in obtaining water, sometimes having to carry it (in buckets on their heads) for several miles. One of the projects the Hope of the Pokomchi works on is the development of large (4000 l) holding tanks to hold water collected off a large metal roof. This system decreases the threat of waterborne diseases found in natural water supplies and saves time spent looking for water.

The Pokomchi brought with them bags handmade from recycled materials, traditional jewellery, items made from the strands of native plants and bags of coffee (an export crop).  They were selling these items, and others, to raise funds to pay for the water systems and other things needed by their people.

There will be a family oriented event, tentatively to be held on Friday, Feb. 3, as a fundraiser for a nursing school in Guatemala. The event will also serve to provide people with the opportunity to learn about the Pokomchi and the work that Hope of the Pokomchi is doing.

– Grant Gale