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The work we do in the "Santa Madre" Homeless Shelter of Antigua Guatemala, and in the
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Volunteers Architect Knut Jauer and Richarcd Schmaltz
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The "Santa Madre" Homeless Shelter is currently in need of healthy individuals capable of helping us to physically build the Homeless Shelter. No experience or special skills are needed.
Beginning June 1st, 2003, we will be in need of all types of direct-service volunteers, able to work with the homeless. These positions include:
Night Shift
Care-givers
Counselors
Food preparation, service, and clean-up
Reception and security
Housekeeping
Day Shift
Counselors
Legal advocates
Housekeeping & maintenance
If you are interested, please contact Patrick Atkinson at .
Some things to expect in your volunteer experience are:
- Encountering immense human suffering and misery,
- Participating in different lifestyles and cultural experiences,
- Recognizing the simple, yet beautiful things in life,
- Gradually becoming aware of the common bonds between people,
- Sharing,
- Closely interacting and developing relationships with the Guatemalan people,
- Becoming fatigued, frustrated, and perhaps emotionally overwhelmed
In your volunteer experiences, you’ll learn to expect the unexpected.
You may be exhausted from a very long day of interacting with people, and looking forward to a good sleep – only to be kept awake all night by loud, yelping dogs, or maybe a sudden emergency that needs to be dealth with, while doing family or school visits.
You may find that you need to jam 20 people into a small commuter bus made for 10.
You may travel a long distance in order to do something very important with the people - and find out that all you can do is sit and wait for the day to go by. Plans and schedules can change at any minute.
These are just a few examples of how life can be different in the third world, and of the frustrations and unexpected circumstances that could very well arise during your trip. The bottom line is that life in Guatemala is something very foreign to many of us, and can be quite tough at times, emotionally as well as physically. But there is also no question that such experiences can be wonderfully enriching.
For most newcomers to a different culture, the three key words to a successful experience are:
Patience
Humor
Prayer
Learn to relinquish control and to simply listen to, interact with, and learn from the people of Guatemala.
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Project founder and volunteer Patrick Atkinson
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Journaling
We feel it is very important for every participant to keep a personal journal. The short time that you will spend in Guatemala is very intense and can tend to numb people while they are actually in Guatemala. A journal can serve as an excellent document for recording your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and questions so that you may continue to reflect and learn from them long after your volunteer experience is over.
When keeping your journal:
Keep it up to date. Write everyday. Date all entired. (We recommend you keep a second notepad of a journal small enough to carry in your pocket or day pack so that you can record your thoughts as they happen. Often you may not recall the details of the day’s experiences when you sit down to write after dinner).
We suggest you record different scenarios; the weather, place, how you feel, who is there. (Be both specific and descriptive, use your own words, This does not have to be a masterpiece ready for publication, just meaningful for you
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