The story amazingly continues...

So now that I have been in Guatemala, at the Lake, for a fair amount of time, I feel like my purpose and help here is really coming into realization.

I have now been visiting the community of Tzununa on a regular basis and an Art, as well as Dance project really seem to be coming along.

In the village of Tzununa we discovered an old building, which, if renovated, could be perfect for a dance studio, where I would like to come back to and teach ballet and other types of Dance- maybe even theater!!

The women of Tzununa have now signed ( or actually gave us their thumb prints, due to the lack of women who can write in these villages) an agreement to cooperate with us in the education of their children about recycling and nutrition. We are preparing leaflets and presentations ( which entail me dressed up as a big garbage monster- slightly embarrassing), which we will use to teach the kids at all local schools.

We are starting on Monday in Sao Pablo and plan to travel around the Lake to make our impact bigger and more varied.

Aside from that we are doing health checks in the communities, where the Guatemalan government has not managed to get qualified nurses to visit yet. Our progress seems minimal at the time but when put in perspective- every change is a step closer to that greater good!

Ecolibri- our volunteer organization is now in full swing and we are working on a website, which should be ready by the end of the month. With only a hand-full of us, who are serious staff of this organization, it seems really hard but still very real and thus fully worth it.

I now live in a house on the hill of Sao Marco and around my volunteerism, I continue to work evenings at Fe, the restaurant, and do yoga and meditation. Doing yoga 3 times a week is really proving to be beneficial, and combined with meditation provides the ideal balance with my full-on and sometimes super emotional days in the communities.

Dita and I have now also seriously begun on a side project of fair trade fashion.

1000 faces - that is the name of our project/business.
We are making a collection of skirts, which are beneficial for the communities around the lake in ALL ways!!

each skirt is made from recycled clothes, from local 2nd-hand stores, therefore encouraging recycling and giving money back into the community. The skirts also provide locals with work, as we like to work with women in Tzununa to help us with delicate stitching and sowing!
And lastly, and VERY importantly, with every skirt you buy, 10% goes towards feeding a child in Tzununa with Ujuxte ( the highly nutritious mayan nut) for a MONTH!!!!

We have now made about 13 skirts and are looking at making 3 collections ( with 12 pieces each) in the next week.

Although fashion can be viewed as a superficial aspect of our modern lives, it is undeniable, that we all value fashion and use it as a staple for our life-style and personality.

These skirts say one thing: I use fashion to help others!!! If I am going to wear a skirt, I would like it to have another purpose than just quenching my hunger for fashion- I am PRO recycling, PRO support and PRO feeding the children of Tzununa!!

It´s funny. how when things are meant to be they just work out. Some people call it coincidence, i now believe it to be synchronization. I would not have thought that i would still be here ( almost 2 months later), that i would be setting up a volunteer organization and a business and that I would be this fortunate to really re-connect with nature, humanity and most importantly my inner self.

I now have to go and cook some cous-cous with shitake mushrooms and zuchini - after all, we have to take advantage of the riches of this country to its full extent!!