Yesterday, as part of our orientation process we went on what they call a Contrast Tour. There's a weird juxtaposition that exists in this country (and others in central/south America) between the rich and the poor. From what I can tell the majority of people in Guatemala live in poverty, and something like 60% of those people are indigenous. The purpose of the Contrast Tour was to show us in a tangible way the difference between these two groups of people. We started off by going to the national cemetery, which served more as a history lesson than a normal walk through a cemetery would be. First of all, I have never seen so many gigantic mausoleums in one place. They're like miniature cathedrals all throughout the cemetery. It'a also expensive to have someone buried here, so the poor people, as in the majority of people, would not be able to bury their family members in this cemetery.
A small monument in the National Cemetery. Most are like small houses!
Within the cemetery are monuments and graves for some of the prominent political figures in Guatemala's history. Pre-civil war, post-civil war, and several from the 36 years in between. It's always interesting to me as I travel to hear about the involvement the U.S. played in the civil wars and fights in these countries. It's not a good picture, and not what you hear in the history books...
After walking through the cemetery and learning a bit more about this country's history, we walked to a place that overlooks the largest garbage dump in Guatemala. It collects a third of the country's trash, I think. Something like that. We were told the Americans came and taught the Guatemalans to make trash. They have yet to teach them to recycle properly. So instead of recycling bins and plants, Guatemala's largest garbage dump has guajeros. Guajeros are people whose only source of income comes from whatever they can dig out of the trash and sell. There are thousands of people who get up every day and walk to the dump, so that they can dig through the garbage and find recyclables and other things to sell. When a garbage truck comes in the guajeros put their hands on the trucks as a way of claiming the garbage inside. Only those who have their hands on the trucks can dig through the piles of garbage that come out of them. They're mostly looking for glass and plastics, but really they'll collect anything they can sell. It used to be that these people not only worked in the dump, but lived there too. They would take their children in, and either leave them in a box until they got done working, or have them come help dig through the trash with them. There's been some regulation, due to deaths and injuries and fires caused by extreme buildups of methane gas. Now guajeros are no longer able to live in the dump, nor are children under the age of 14 allowed to work in the dump. Still, it's a horrible place to live and work. The average daily income for a guajero is approx. 10 quetzales. It's about 7.5ish quetzales to the dollar, so you do the math. Their daily income is practically nothing.
After looking at the dump came the contrast portion of the tour. We were then taken to a mall that the higher class populations shop at, and were given 10 quetzales, or one day's wages for the typical guajero. We were then told to go buy something for 10q. Here's what we were able to purchase: an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen, a candy bar, or a few very small coffee type drinks. Like I said, weird juxtaposition of rich and poor in this country. Humbling too, to be reminded of how much I actually have. I'm not rich by anyone's standards, but I definitely can afford to buy more than an ice cream cone. And I don't have to dig through trash to make a living.
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