By Pastor Ken Herfst

It is difficult to describe the euphoria we felt when, after months of meetings and negotiations, the phone call finally came: “we are bringing the heavy equipment over tomorrow.” As it turned out, tomorrow wasn’t quite tomorrow. However, a few days later, the heavy equipment arrived and streets are now roughed in. Lots have been measured, marked, and distributed among the 40 families. Gravel for the streets will be taken from a local road expansion project at no cost. While most similar projects require that the community pays for the fuel needed to drive the heavy equipment, we negotiated with the government and they are committed to paying that bill. Another branch of the government will be processing land titles for the new owners at no cost to the families or us. All of this is an indication of significant progress.

Heavy equipment on the new main street

During a recent visit to the site, we noticed the beginnings of the typical problems that plague this kind of project: not everyone was pulling their weight in work that required group involvement; some families had second thoughts, etc. So we visited the families in El Cedro again and listened to their concerns. In a way, their concerns were typical… and the solutions were relatively simple.

Some people had animals that needed to be fed and no one to feed them other than immediate family members. In the event that one cannot work on the group project, it is customary to pay someone else to cover for you. Some folks were unable to find someone from the El Cedro community who was willing to go down to the coast to take their place (a four hour trip).

After listening to their concerns, we made the following suggestions: take turns caring for one another’s animals; find someone to cover for you from the ar

ea of the farm, rather than from El Cedro; and form work gangs to distribute the work more fairly. The rationale is pretty obvious. Compare the price of the chicken or pig and the price of a house: which is more important? We urged them to think in terms of “community” rather than “individuals” and by the end of the meeting most people were convinced. They agreed to work together to encourage the stragglers. A project committee has been formed and we trust that together we will be able to deal with issues as they arise.

We might smile at the families’ concerns, but it gives an insight into the life of most rural Guatemalans. Their immediate concern is food. For years they have lived hand-to-mouth, and sometimes it is hard to see past that reality. Planning for the more distant future is still an abstract concept for some and we trust that as we work together over the next few months, we’ll have ample opportunity to address their concerns.

We anticipate house construction to begin within the next month.

A building inspector will visit the community regularly in an effort to maintain our building standards. A counselor will also visit to facilitate the transition for the families. Leaving ancestral lands can be traumatic. Nevertheless, living conditions and the risk of future disasters in El Cedro are such that these families have no choice. Thankfully, the families are prepared to make the move and appreciate Word and Deed’s generosity in providing them with hope.

The community leader (L) with Samuel (R) looking at the village design.

Pastor Ken Herfst teaches missiology at the Presbyterian Seminary in San Felipe, Guatemala. He is also involved in the reconstruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan.