Day 2!

Waking up to the crow of roosters, we ate a delicious breakfast of porridge, beans, and bananas. Afterwards, we started off the tours with a quick look at the elementary school affiliated with the mission. Kids ran around us as we learned about the different teaching methods used in the school, both in the upper and lower level curricula. Moving on to the mission’s women’s center, we watched a traditional weaving demonstration and learned about the different programs offered to turn local women into independent members of their culture. These programs helped better the women and their economic stability within the community. We continued to the hospital, where we toured the operation room, learned about the equipment utilized in the hospital’s procedures, all while discussing how far American contributions have gone to better the hospital and the community it is a part of. A wide majority of the space, machines, and medical personnel were generously donated from across America, all contributing to the prosperity of the community. The last place we toured was the coffee production facility where we learned about the different strategies used to harvest and prepare the coffee beans for selling. The mission works to pay the community well for this locally grown crop, working to circulate more money into the community.
After lunch, we had the opportunity to speak with a native named Andres about his experience of social injustice in Guatemala. He was a former Mayan slave, who found refuge with work in the mission. He taught us a lot about Guatemala’s history while passing on his own life’s experiences. We then went back to the mission to watch a documentary on its founder, Father Greg.
To satisfy our sweet teeth, after dinner we roasted marshmallows over our hotel’s campfire to end the day. We reflected on the opportunity for growth that this trip presents, and how we should grasp that opportunity while we can.




Boat Day

Hi everyone! We just wrapped up a fantastic first day in Guatemala! We started off the morning by going to mass which was a great learning opportunity given that it was all in Spanish! After breakfast, which was awesome by the way, we hopped on a boat and drove across Lake Atitlan to our first stop, Santiago. The views on the boat were stunning! In Santiago, we visited the church of Father Stan Rother who was martyred. We got to shop around for a little bit and then continued on to another city, Panajachel, where we ate a fantastic lunch at Sunset Cafe. After lunch we did some more shopping and exploring. We came back to the mission for dinner and walked around San Lucas. After a long, exciting day, we are tired and ready for bed but excited for the days to come

Bienvenido a Guatemala

Buenos Noches!
After 16 hours of traveling, we have officially arrived to our final destination in San Lucas Toliman. We were greeted by our lovely drivers from the San Lucas mission, who were kind enough to drive us 3 hours to San Lucas. After arriving at our hotel, we were met by the long term volunteers who were so happy to see us. We enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal at the mission and we are now unwinding and getting ready for bed. We are ready for our journey and can't wait for more adventures!

Meet our group!

Student Co-Leaders:

Conner Wasser Kane- My name is Conner Wasser Kane. I am one of the student leaders for the Guatemala ABST. I am a Junior Pre-Med/Bio Major  and at Gannon I am involved heavily in service and through IFC with promoting safe and fun social life here.  I participated on the Guatemala ABST as a freshman and immediately knew that I wanted to be able to facilitate in creating a great experience for others students such as I had when I went. With that I became a trip leader and have led a trip to Merida Mexico as well as now this Guatemala trip. The ABST program gave me so many great opportunities to help a wide variety of people and am thankful for it every single day!

Madison Wall- Hi! My names Madi. I'm from Buffalo, NY. I am a sophomore nursing major. On campus I am also involved with the travel program and Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. I went on the Guatemala ABST last year and I am so excited to begin this new journey and lead a group of students. I have had so much fun these past few months getting to know everyone in our group and I'm excited to grow our connections even further during this trip.

Faculty Accompaniers:

Mark Kennelly- My name is Mark Kennelley.  I have a beautiful wife (Kelly) and three children (Isabella, Caesar and Mateo).  I am also the Grounds Manager at Gannon University where I oversee the Campus Grounds and work cross-functionally with the Athletics, Custodial and Maintenance Departments.  I love helping people, learning about new cultures and being outdoors so when I was asked to accompany this group to Guatemala, it was an easy decision.

Kaitlyn Falk- Kaitlyn Falk is a 2016 Gannon  graduate from the Nutrition and Human Performance program. She served for two years in the AmeriCorps at Gannon and has since been on staff at Gannon, serving previously  as the Wellness Coordinator and currently as the Community  School Coordinator at Strong Vincent Middle School. 

Group Members:

Hannah Cedzo- My name is Hannah Cedzo. I am a first year Sport and Exercise Science Pre-Physical therapy student.  I am from Erie PA.  I am very excited to be a part of this trip. I choose to go on this Guatemala trip because it combines my two favorite passions, travel and service. My goal in life is to travel as much as possible so that I can learn so many new cultures. I am excited that we will be immersed in the culture for a whole week! The biggest passion of mine is helping people and doing service. I am eager to experience traveling to a new country and giving back to the community!

Tara Czarnecki- My name is Tara Czarnecki and I am a junior studying Communication Arts, Digital Graphics/Media. I am a goalie on the Gannon's Women's Soccer Club, and part of the Environmental Club as well. The reason why I wanted to go on an ABST is to learn about different cultures, to travel and to learn more about myself. 

Brittany Miller- I’m Brittany and I am a sophomore, criminal justice major from Cleveland. In my free time I like to dive, bullet journal, and write blogs for the Gannon Edge (check us out!!!) I wanted to travel to Guatemala because I wanted to experience new culture and get to know more students on campus. 

Emily Schneggenburger- Hi! My name is Emily Schneggenburger and I am a freshman Physical Therapy major from Buffalo, NY! I am so excited to travel to Guatemala through Gannon’s ABST program and learn something new about the people, their culture, and the world. I love working alongside others and know that this will be an opportunity of a lifetime! I can’t wait to get started and report back to all of you what we are doing and learning in Guatemala! 

Emilie Farrell- Hi! My name is Emilie Farrell and I am a first-year nursing student. This is my first trip to a third world country. I chose to go to Guatemala because after watching a documentary about how they live I decided that I wanted to do service there someday. After seeing that Guatemala was available as an ABST, I signed up before even talking to my parents about it!

Ashley Cumberledge- Ashley Cumberledge is a freshman physician assistant major at Gannon University. She participates in the American Sign Language club, GUSPAS, and the honors program. This ABST trip will be her first time traveling outside of the country and flying on an airplane.

Scott Zanella- My name is Scott Zanella, and I am a freshman Biology major as well as an affiliate to LECOM. When I am not studying, I am normally playing video games, eating, or writing for the Gannon Knight newspaper. I chose to participate in the ABST program because I wanted to immerse myself in a culture other than my own, while also working to put good out into the world. In Guatemala, I am most excited to form relationships both with my peers and with the people we will be working with. I have only been out of the country one other time on a school trip to Germany, so I am extremely excited for this new experience!

Bridget Marks- Hi I’m Bridget Marks and I am a Freshman PA major from Cleveland! I am so excited to go to Guatemala to learn about their culture and way of living, as well as growing closer to the other members on this trip!

Ally Cowell- Hi I’m Ally Cowell, a freshman physician assistant major from Pittsburgh, PA! I am so excited for Guatemala to experience a new culture and grow in my friendships with my group.

Rebecca Wertz- Hi my name is Rebecca Wertz and I’m a freshman nursing major. I running, traveling, and hanging out with my friends. I wanted to go on an ABST because I love to travel and try new things! I’m so excited to attend the ABST trip to Guatemala and Im excited to create new memories to a place that I have never been to before and step outside my comfort zone!

Rise Up! (Team 2)

Early bird gets the worm...again!

This morning the entire group decided to parttake in the morning hike to see the beautiful sunrise. We left the hotel at 4:30 a.m. and powered through the struggles of being out of shape. Coming together as a group, we somehow managed to make it to the top and saw the beauty of creation. Thankfully the way down was much easier than the way up!

After the hike, we immediately went to set up the dishes and start breakfast as we prepared for our service. We then shared a delicious and healthy breakfast, and group bonded while washing all of the dishes. Hailey spent her morning with some of the students from group one working at the school. The remainder of the group took a lengthy drive in the back in the truck to help move bricks at the site of a new house. The warm sunshine, gentle breeze, and beautiful mountain views made for a perfect day of service. 

We then returned to the mission to fuel up on some lunch. Not long after that, we all headed to the Juan Ana cafe to learn more about the coffee making process in Guatemala.  Father Greg started this coffee business in his parents namesake as a way to bring some economic stability to the Guatemalan people. They purchase coffee beans from Guatemalan families for a fair price, dry and roast them, and then package them to sell. One of the workers provided an interesting demonstration of how to roast the beans and prepare this rich coffee in two different ways. The best part was the taste test! We then got our hands dirty and spent some time separated the best coffee beans for use. 

By this point in the day, a lot of us were sun burned and sleepy. We luckily got a well needed couple of hours of downtime to rest. After this, we all headed over to the church for an Ash Wednesday mass done by our very own Father Michael! It was a culturally enriching experience filled with music, the chatter of children, and the tangible emotion of the Guatemalan people. 

After this, we all headed to the top floor of our hotel for a cozy bonfire and some delicious pizza. Simply enjoying each others company and reflecting on the beauty of our day in front of the burning embers was the perfect end to a wonderful day! 

Please enjoy some pictures from our beautiful sunrise hike! 

The View is Worth it (Group 1)

We started the day bright and early at 4:30 this morning. We drove to a nearby mountain and hiked up it. The hike took around an hour to complete and was moderately strenuous. But once we got to the top, we were able to see the sun rising over the mountains. We enjoyed the scenery and then headed back down the mountain. According to our group member’s Fitbit, the hike up and down the mountain was 2.6 miles total and the equivalent to 76 flights of stairs. 

We then headed back to the mission for breakfast. For our morning service, most of he group went to help at a stone house tying rhubarb and making a concrete floor. A few members of our group went to a nearby school and did some lite construction work there. After this, we headed back to the mission for lunch. 

In the afternoon, we learned about the process for making coffee from locals. They showed us how coffee gets from the plant into the drink. The process was more in depth than we expected. We learned that dark roasted and medium roasted coffee get roasted at the same temperature, but for different amounts of time. Most of the group was surprised to learn that dark roast coffee has less caffeine than medium roast coffee. As part of the presentation, we each got to try a sample of the coffee that we had just watched be made from start to finish. After the presentation, we headed next door to sort coffee beans for an hour. 

Later in the evening, we attended mass for Ash Wednesday with Fr. Kesicki as the celebrant. Those who wished to receive ashes had the opportunity to do so. There was a large group of people crowded outside the back of the church, as Ash Wednesday is an important day in Latin American culture. From mass, our group picked up pizzas from a local shop that we had preordered earlier in the afternoon. We took the pizza back to the mission to share with the other Gannon groups present. The fourth floor, or roof, of our hotel has a fire pit on it. The staff at the hotel started a fire for us as we sat around and enjoyed each other’s company. Since we had been awake since 4:30am, our groups headed the bed relatively early.  

What will you do? (Team 2)

What will YOU do?

Another day of service, another day of exploration and reaching out into the community. We are growing so much closer as a group as well as with the San Lucas community.

After another delicious breakfast, the group was split up into two different work sites. Kishan, Grace, and Father Micheal were delighted to go back to the same wood house building project as the previous day, getting to further their relationship with Rene. Resilient in pouring concrete and shoveling throughout the morning, the group enjoyed a gracious snack and orange soda from the family. The moment with the family touched our hearts. We held a special moment with the community when Father Michael was asked to bless the new house we were working on by the family and we gathered to do the blessing ceremony. The rest of the group drove deep into the mountains, enjoying the incredible Guatemalan landscape from the bed of a pickup truck to serve at a block house. As they mixed and laid down cement, they were constantly distracted by the adorable and friendly little girls that lived in the home. We played catch and tag initiated through hand gestures because of the language barrier, but just as we learned yesterday, our smile resounded through the language barriers and our other nonverbal communications landed us in an understanding of what was needed.

After lunch, a very friendly long term volunteer named Cecilia took us on a mission to find the best ice cream in San Lucas, Brownimos. We got to experience the hustle bustle of the market, especially busy due to the Latin American holiday, Carnival. During this day, people run around cracking confetti filled eggs on strangers’ heads, and our group was no exception from this tradition. The competition in Jon and Kishan truly came out during the fun and games of Carnival. Then, we got back to the mission just in time to hear the history of San Lucas through the amazing story telling skills of Andres. He informed us about the way the Spanish took over the Mayans, the civil war, and the way Father Greg changed their lives.

To continue learning about the mission and how it came to be, we watched a video about the story of Father Greg. We better learned his impact, his visionary lifestyle, and the state he found and left the community in. After, we got into vans and headed up the mountains to experience something truly fulfilling. From the great height, we watched the sunset behind the distant mountains across the beautiful lake Atitlan.

The beauty of the country truly astonishes us as we go through day by day. Our groups are invested into the community and feeling the love of the Mayan culture oozing into us. As we’re moving towards the rest of the week, we look forward to continuing to develop our relationships. What we will do this week is continue our service, our passion for learning, and living the mission of San Lucas.