Cooperative Xuaan Chi Ya

Last Friday, I returned to San Juan for a meeting with Elmy Hernandez, director of the Xuaan Chi Ya cooperative to continue on some Nest outreach that Kate, another Nest Fellow, began earlier in the summer. You can read about Kate’s visit to Xuaan Chi Ya here, on her blog: http://theweschnest.blogspot.com/2011/05/san-pedro.html

Whirlwind week!

It’s been a crazy week, full of community visits, traveling, and exploring new places. My apologies for such a long delay between blog posts – there never seems to be enough hours in the day here, and my internet has also been spotty thanks to the low pressure system that’s been sitting over us for the past week or so. Silly me, just because it didn’t torrentially rain for two days last week, I thought that rainy season might be over…but this week’s monsoons have proven that that’s clearly not the case…

Halfway point!

So tomorrow marks exactly one month since I arrived in Guatemala. Bad news for all of you back home: I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to leave. There’s something about Guatemala, and the people who live here, that just sticks with you and doesn’t let you ever forget.

Darcy and I have had a wonderful time over the past week spending time with new friends and exploring the lake. We’ve made a great group of friends here – locals, volunteers, visitors – and almost every evening, we gather at our friends café to play bilingual scrabble. We were considering taking some Spanish lessons at one point, but we realized that spending a few hours each evening playing scrabble and just talking with friends is about as good of language practice as we’re going to be able to get! Not to mention the amazing coffee that I’m slowly becoming addicted to…

Two Weeks and Counting!

With only two weeks to go until I leave for Guatemala, I’m beginning to finalize my packing list and logistics for the trip! After meeting in Houston, Darcy and I will fly together to Guatemala City, and then drive about 3 hours to Panajachel, which will be our new home for the following two months. We will be met by Andrea, our site supervisor, who works with Nest’s partner organization in Panajachel, Oxlajuj B’atz’ (Thirteen Threads). Andrea will help us get settled in our apartment and get oriented with Oxlajuj B’atz’ and with Panajachel before we begin our work as Nest Fellows. 

From that point on, Darcy and I will be busy working through the different projects that we’ve been assigned for the summer. In Panajachel, Nest works with Oxlajuj B’atz in generating a more robust market for the goods produced by Mayan Indian weavers, in a sustainable manner and without the use of middlemen. Some of the projects I will be working on to support this mission include:

Whose Volunteer Experience is this Anyway?

Crystal Hayling, a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Effective Philanthropy, recently published an article on the Center for Effective Philanthropy's blog entitled, "Whose Volunteer Experience is this Anyway?" in which she considers who really benefits from service projects, and how much of the focus of service projects should be on "making a difference" and how much should be on personal growth.

Hayling writes:

“I love feeling that I’m making a difference, whether it is buying green products or volunteering or contributing to organizations I love. By doing these things I create a sense of community, connection, and empathy that benefits me as well as those on the other end of that support. The act of giving is mutually beneficial. But at the end of the day, it’s not only about me. Giving, volunteering, and the work done to support nonprofits becomes transformative when the goal is something much larger than just one person’s pride or fame or even self-actualization.”

Investigating Fair Trade through Global Exchange

Through my "Ethics, Methods, and Pragmatics of Global Practice Course," which I am taking this semester in preparation for my experience as a Nest Fellow, I have been conducting a number of "Methods Workshops" to practice skills and techniques that I may use this summer in Guatemala, such as taking fieldnotes, interviewing, conducting surveys, and visual documentation. For these workshops, I've visited Global Exchange, a Fair Trade store in downtown Berkeley, to explore the relationship between the store, its customers, and its employees, and to investigate the extent to which the customers and employees identify with and/or support the ideals and principles behind the Fair Trade movement that the store is founded upon.

Through these Methods Workshops, what struck me most about Global Exchange was how much effort the store makes to fulfill its mission statement - "building people-to-people ties" - by posting signs about posters about Fair Trade around the store, including informational tags on each product detailing where, how, why and by whom it was produced, and providing informational cards, flyers, and pamphlets about the store, the Fair Trade movement, and partner organizations for customers both to look at and take home with them. As you can see in the pictures below, to me, all of these initiatives demonstrate Global Exchange's dedication not just to providing access to Fair Trade goods but also to inform its clientele about the Fair Trade movement and the developing world, and to help connect consumers to the products they are purchasing and the producers who made them.

Posters on the front window present information about Global Exchange's support of World Fair Trade Day, held the second Saturday of May. In 2011, for the second year, Global Exchange will offer a "Fair Trade Coffee Break" to customers and passersby, by distributing Fair Trade coffee and chocolate as well as information about Fair Trade at tables outside of the store.

Before entering the store, customers are greeted by a
hand-written sign, explaining the store's mission statement
and its connection with Fair Trade.

Nearby (or attached to) each product is an informational tag, with details
such as how and why the product was made, where the product comes from,
and who the producers of the product are.

A stack of information cards accompanies many of the products sold at

Global Exchange, that customers can take home to share with their friends and family

or to remember important details about their favorite products.