Written By Sarah, Latitudes ’19 Guatemala
I had a really hard time deciding where I wanted to go on my latitudes semester, so much so I almost backed out of it entirely, but I’m so glad I didn’t.
For the last two and a half months I have been living in Chimaltenango, Guatemala working with a ministry called One Way Community which offers extra classes after school. We have kids from preschool to sixth grade as well as 3 soccer teams. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I teach art and on Mondays and Wednesdays I help out with the preschool class.
One of my main goals was to expose the kids to as many different materials as possible, as there are not an abundance of art supplies in this area and what is available is pretty expensive. So far we have worked with colored pencils, watercolors, clay, and now acrylic paint. We’ve had one art gallery to show off their awesome work and I am hoping to be able to have another one before I leave. The kids are awesome, sometimes is really chaotic but so worth it, I love it when they are proud of their work and show it off to me or their friends.
I am so glad I chose to go on a Latitudes semester, I loved the change of pace in comparison to the first semester. I have found a family here that I will always be able to come back and visit.
