Ciudad de Felicidad

       

     A few times so far, we have visited an orphanage called the "Ciudad de Felicidad"  (city of happiness) high in the hills in the outskirts of Esquipulas.  In 2006, the benedictine community here in Esquipulas donated 24 hectares of land to the religious community of Martha and Maria.  With the extraordinary work of a lay Italian brother named Andres, the sisters of Martha and Maria, and the work of past Benedictine Volunteer Corps Volunteers, they have built the beginnings of an actual City of Happiness.  

 

     In itself the orphanage is an impressive place.  The Mountains surrounding the area give a real sense of connection with the nature of the area. The fact that the orphanage is only still in its infancy and therefore quite rustic help further this wilderness sense.  The beautiful views of the sorrounding mountains and towns, tropical forest vegetation, and surrounding farms give the place a sense of isolation while the close knit groups of houses really give a sense of community to the place.  It's not hard to imagine an actual city springing up here eventually!

     15 hectares of the land has been designated to grow coffee beans and bananas.  These are being grown so that eventually the rphanage will be able to afford some nicer things for the children.  Right now, the operating costs are payed for completely by donations. As a side note, Guatemalan coffee is regularly rated as some of the best in the world, and Esquipulas is considered a perfect microclimate for coffee growing (and I can attest, the coffee here is wonderful!)

     In Central America, adolescent street gangs are a growing problem coupled with malnutrition and drug use/trade.  The idea of the City of Happiness is to take these children off of the streets and give them a family-like environment as opposed to the typical orphanage experience here in Guatemala.  Each of the houses is home to 9-12 children, and has one "house mother," a nun.  The children
sleep in bunk beds, and each house has a kitchen and dining room where everyone eats as a family.  Below is a picture of the "City" as it is now used, taken from the chapel.  32 kids live there now, and they are just finishing building 4 more houses, but don't have enough nuns to fill them.

The last three groups of volunteers to come to Esquipulas have all worked extensively with the Ciudad de Felicidad, both in just spending time playing with the kids, and in helping with projects at the orphanage.  The picture on the left is a library that a group a few years ago built using old pop bottles filled with trash as an insulating material in the walls.


The next year, the volunteers made this play set for the kids in the community.

     Kenan and I have decided to attempt a project as well.  Partially because we are a little bored here, and partially because we came to do something good, and have finally found something worth our time.  Hopefully mostly because of the last reason.  Aside from algebra lessons every Friday with one of the nuns, we have decided to help start the building of a health center that will serve not only the children, but also the poor members of the local community.  The city of Esquipulas does not have a hospital, and the nearest one is an hour away (when the roads are operational).  Because of the cost of seeing a doctor and the inconvenience of going to the nearest hospital in Chiquimula, most people never see a doctor, and can some even die without ever knowing why. 
     Twice every year, a group from Doctors Without Borders comes to Esquipulas to help the people here.  The idea is that they could split their work between their current site and the new health center while they are in town.  While they are not around, two of the nuns, who are nurses, could work at the health center.  While the government would almost definitely not give any funding, one of the doctors who comes every year told Andrés that if the health center is built, a group he is a part of would be able to donate old medical equipment, and medicine would be donated by Caritas International.  All told, the health center would be operated almost completely by donations, and free of charge to the people.  What little cost there would be (electricity, water, etc.) would be payed for by people buying medicines, but the cost of those medicines would be kept as low as possible.

The potential site of the health center. 

     The problem I have is that the work for the health center is almost all just fundraising.  While I don't mind working with my hands, the idea of asking people for money makes me uncomfortable.  I've been trying to avoid it by looking for grants from companies and foundations, but apparently there's some sort of financial crisis back in the USA?  Who knew? Because of this financial crisis, a lot of organizations have stopped or slowed there charitable giving to a snails pace, and I haven't had any luck yet. 

 

     One quick story before I go.  I was at the City of God giving a little math lesson to one of the nuns, and began playing with some of the kids once we finished.  I asked one of the kids to show me the chapel, and he gladly obliged, making sure everyone we saw along the way knew that he was giving me a tour.   When we got closer to the chapel, he told me that that's where Jesus lives.  We got next to the chapel and he peeked inside the window and got all excited because he could see Jesus!  (it was a crucifix).  On the hill we could see the basilica where I am staying, and I asked him if he knew who lived there.  He replied "Big Jesus!"  I didn't have the heart to tell him that the answer I was thinking of was "me."