Helping Out San Pedro

After the tropical storm that passed Guatemala, the department known as Sacapetequez which we are in was greatly affected. Although everyone knows that we are safe, I just want to reassure the readers back home that we are all perfectly fine! Because of the storm, the school where we teach in San Pedro was canceled for the entire week,so on Monday we went to San Pedro to see if we could help out the families who had lost everything. We were the first group to see the the disastruous effects caused by the storm which were saddening,but at the same time surreal. The group began to walk from the school to the homes closest to the top and as we reached our destination point the area got worse and worse. When we reached the top, I was in shock. The earth below us was split in two with trash inside of the crevice, aluminum roofs pushed to the sides, furniture infront of the homes, pieces of wood mounted on top of each other, and the families working to clear and rebuild their homes. I felt as if I was at home watching CNN , but I wasnt. It was hard for me to really accept and internalize what had occurred because it´s one thing to hear about situations and events like this one and another to actually be placed in the situation itself. I was helping out along with everyone else,but it was such an elusive concept to really take in. Personally, when I saw the crumbled homes I didn´t know what to feel because I never saw something such as this up close, and I didnt know how to react to it. Today was the third day working to help clear out the dirt,rocks, mud, and trash,and every day it feels even more worthwhile being here. Something that we are all realizing as a group is that this trip is no longer mainly about us and immersing ourselves in a different culture, but about the families that were greatly affected and our role in restoring what they had. After working there for a couple of days now, I feel that as a group we came together and offered all that we had. It was an experience that I am still dwelling and reflecting on because of the profound impact that it had on the people, on the group,and on me. It was an amazing time and experience and I´m looking forward to returning tomorrow!