Intro to Articles

While we were visiting the states in January we gave a presentation on Peace Corps and our work here to the Logansport Rotary Club. We were also interviewed by a columnist from the local paper. The editor of my hometown newspaper, The Pharos-Tribune, was at this presentation and saw the write-up. He checked out our blog and then asked if I would be interested in writing a monthly guest column for the Pharos, to continue to share our stories with friends from home. I accepted the invitation and have been writing articles since February. Besides, it came with the interesting challenge that I had to limit my word count. Our faithful readers know that this, for me, is definitely a fun little challenge.

A few friends who are not from Logansport knew about the articles and asked if I could put them on the blog too, because they don’t get the paper. Right when that happened, our blog started experiencing massive hits in a few days- almost all from adoptive parents of Guatemalan children who are trying to learn about the country and its culture. I think/hope the information in the articles is really pertinent to this latter group, especially since some have expressed their interest in helping Guatemala in some form or another.

The articles operate under the same disclaimer as the blog. They do not represent the Peace Corps, rather they are based on our personal experience and observation. I’ve always felt that keeping the blog was a lot of responsibility, but even more so now that large numbers of people we do not know personally are reading it for cultural insight. On one hand, this makes me really happy. One of our personal goals here is to share as much as we can with those who are interested. Not everyone can spend two years in a foreign, remote area living like we do. But everyone is capable of doing something to aid in development. I hope to make people more aware of development issues. Perhaps we can create a dialogue about these issues, and discuss possible approaches or methods? On the other hand, I would like add to the disclaimer: WE ARE NOT EXPERTS ON ANYTHING. We read things that are available to us and we live with the Q’anjob’al people teaching preventive health and learning about their customs and culture. Please keep in mind that you are not reading an official report or expert opinions here. That said, I hope you all continue to enjoy the blog, pictures, and articles.