Guatemala - Construction volunteer after earthquake

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I had the privilege of volunteering on a construction team that was sent to Guatemala to rebuild churches after the massive 1976 earthquake. Although I am an engineer I didn’t have much actual construction experience after I left Thailand in July 1975; and even then I was the construction manager and didn't actually have to build anything. So for the couple months before the trip I took a bricklaying course with the adult education program at the local high school. By early March I was ready to go.

5 March 1977 Saturday. On a Saturday morning I flew from Washington Dulles to New Orleans to Meridian, Mexico to Guatemala City, arriving late afternoon. I was met at the airport by the missionary who was organizing the team. As there were others arriving from all over the U.S., some had already arrived and we waited a few minutes for others. He drove us to our hotel; an older but pleasant one with an inner courtyard where we would have our meals with musical accompanyment. Our rooms were air conditioned and we had private baths. Not bad for your typical mission trip. But our project was in Guatemala City, not the countryside where accommodations were usually more primitive. Our whole team met that evening for a briefing of Guatemalan history, culture, politics, customs, food, and our schedule and what we were going to build. I was pleased to hear that we would be visiting over the two day weekend the old Spanish capital of Antigua and the Iximche Mayan ruins.

6 March 1977 Sunday. On Sunday morning we attended a Spanish speaking service at one of the local churches, which I didn’t understand, but appreciated the warmth and enthusiasm of the people. After church we were taken on a tour of the city and had lunch at a fried chicken chain restaurant. The food was better than KFC so over the next two weeks, we took many lunch breaks at this restaurant. We saw some of the few remaining ruins of the ancient Mayan City of Kaminaljuyu, and the historic center which includes the National Palace of Culture, the Presidential House, the National Congress, the National Library, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Constitution Plaza.

7 – 11 March 1977 Monday through Friday. Right after breakfast we drove to the construction site in a new suburb of Guatemala City. Our foreman explained the work we would be doing; the construction of a two storey reinforced concrete columns and beams, filled with concrete hollow block, with concrete slab on grade. He divided us into teams; one to do the concrete mixing and pouring, one to cut and tie the rebar, one to construct the forms, one to lay the concrete hollow blocks, etc. We all had a chance over the next week to serve on each team. We started work about 8 am and finished by 5 pm with an hour for lunch, usually at the fried chicken restaurant.

12 March 1977 Saturday. We spent the day in Antigua, the old Spanish capital sited at the base of a high conical shaped volcano. Antigua was actually the third capital; the first Mayan capital was Iximche, which we would visit the next day. Uprisings, volcanoes and earthquakes had forced the move of the previous capitals. It wasn’t the volcano that did Antigua in, but an earthquake in 1773 that damaged most of the buildings that forced the capital to move to Guatemala City. Antigua still retains many churches with Baroque architecture. The architectural centerpiece of the town is probably the Cathedral of San Jose, followed by La Merced Church, and the Church and Convent of the Capuchins. We toured these buildings along with many in a state of disrepair. We also saw women weaving cloth dresses, shawls, a handbags, etc, which of course were for sale, so I bought an ankle length dress for Linda.

13 March 1977 Sunday. We drove northwest of Guatemala City to the Mayan city of Iximche. Actually it was the capital of two Mayan Lordships, the Cakchiquesles and the Kakchiquel. The remaining ruins are quite small compared to most Mayan ruins, but I was pleased to have an opportunity so see any Mayan ruins. Iximche had only recently been excavated, but I could still see and recognize the ball courts near the four main plazas of the city. Each plaza had one to three temples and platforms used for religious ceremonies, including human sacrifices (perhaps the loosing team from the ball courts). One of the larger pyramids is the Observatory at one end of the succession of plazas. I climbed every pyramid and platform and sat like a spectator in the seats around the ball courts imagining the games played by Mayan warriors, and contemplated the penalty for the loosing team. We returned to our hotel late that afternoon.

14 – 18 March 1977 Monday through Friday. Our work each day was the same as the previous week. We made good progress so by Friday we had finished the concrete slab first floor the columns from the foundation to the top of the second floor, the beams for the second floor, and had laid the concrete hollow block for the first floor walls. Friday evening we had a farewell dinner with speeches and we were each given a plaque as a memento for our work and visit.

19 March 1977 Saturday. We were taken to the airport where we each took our separate flights home. Linda missed me and liked the souvenirs I brought her.

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Photos

Team having chicken lunch in Guatemala CIty
This turned out to be our favorite restaurant.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Love the old photos!
You've had some wonderful experiences.