Hello Everyone,
Here's what I learned today:
* 14 million people live in Guatemala. That's about 1/5 of the US population
* This year is an election year, so 10 political parties/candidates are posting their platforms and propaganda. There is graffiti everywhere and UVG works to take it off because it destroys the natural landscape.
* Guatemala has no government funded public libraries. UVG allows students of all ages from the 25 schools near Lake Atitlán to use its resources. This morning, the kids from the villages climbed up the mountain to come to story hour with the university students.
This photo is the view from the top of the campus. It over looks the pueblo of Sololá and Lake Atitlán.I wanted to write a little bit about the history of this university, as Guatemala has experienced some tumultuous times in the 20th century. Universidad del Valle - Altiplano is in its 11th year of operation and was actually a former military base. From the mid 60s, five different guerilla groups controlled this country and established military bases throughout the mountains. In 1996, the paramilitary groups gave up their causes and Guatemala began to rebuild. Founders of this university were given this base and the promise that the government would not interfere with operation and the mission of this school. Slowly they began converting it into a campus that specializes in forestry and tourism. This is quite appropriate because Lake Atitlán is highly sought out by tourists for its biodiversity. During the conversion, they found artillery shells and human remains of those who were tortured and killed during times of instability. The evidence of this time in Guatemala's history is still present as the infrastructure of school itself still looks like a base with segregated yards and sections. There are also emblems from the government posted all over. In coming months, the university wishes to convert these emblems into signs of peace and stability that signify that Guatemala is moving forward through education.
In this photo, you can kind of see how the buildings are in a line and very ordered. The road is the central road on the campus.
In this photo, you can kind of see how the buildings are in a line and very ordered. The road is the central road on the campus. Thank you for the comments as I always love to hear from my readers. Right now, I'm still happy as a clam and a little sunburned!
Love,
C
2 comments:
You are doing an awesome job with the updates and pictures..thank you. It is very interesting learning all this things about Guatemala.
Thank you!! :) You know how much I love everything that is related to Spanish, so writing about it is my pleasure!
Post a Comment