Guatemala Reflection: Perspective Transformation

Stereotypes are much harder to hold onto when you have a chance to live with a group of people for an extended period of time. I came to a clearer understanding of many things about Hispanic cultures during my time in Guatemala City. I was struck by many of the similarities where I thought there were differences.

For example, I had the opportunity to visit many different types of homes in Guatemala. One day, a family from the church opened their home up to the mission team for lunch. I was stunned at how spacious it was! They had a hammock in their dining room, a pond/pool in their foyer, an outdoor pool for swimming, and a yard filled with different varieties of fruit trees, sugar cane, and coffee plants.

A view of the backyard.

A couple of weeks later, we visited another neighborhood nestled under a bridge in Zone 17. If I had one word to describe this neighborhood, it would be “squalor.” This community works 6 days a week cleaning cow parts (particularly intestines) to re-sell. The one day a week they don’t work, they all get high on drugs. There were mangy chickens, turkeys, and dogs roaming around. The street was littered with cow parts. The level of poverty was shocking and sobering.

El Pinito.

Photo Credit: Jessie Bullard.

In America, the situation isn’t too different. Similar homes and neighborhoods can be found here as well. Our climate, government, and language are different from those in Guatemala. But if you remove those barriers, there are not many differences left.

My values were challenged in many ways by living in a Hispanic culture. I was inspired by their focus on people. They are a task-oriented culture versus a time-oriented one. It may take them longer to accomplish something than they intended, but finishing the task well is more important than doing it quickly. That can be a difficult culture to work in at times, but when it comes to focusing on people, I can learn a lot. I want to take time to invest in *people* over projects.

A team member stopping to talk with some Guatemalan women in the street while VBS went on.

To be continued . . .