United Methodist Volunteers in Mission
Linworth United Methodist Church, Columbus, Ohio
Aldea Valle de Candelaria, San Lorenzo, Suchetipéquez, Guatemala
February 2023

Click on a date below to see the photos from that day. Click on any thumbnail to see a larger view of a photo.

• Saturday, 2/11/2023 - We fly from Columbus, OH and Tampa, FL to Guatemala City and then drive to Mazatenango.
• Sunday, 2/12/2023 - We shop for groceries in the morning and relax at the pool. In the afternoon we go to San Antonio Barrio Uno to worship with Pastor Manuel and his congregation. We also visit a special, dear friend.
• Monday, 2/13/2023 - Today is our first day on the project. The foundation has been completed before our arrival. The community has a wonderful welcoming ceremony. We are introduced to the professional workers, and we begin work on the walls for the middle school restroom. Today we tie rebar cages and finish laying six courses of concrete block on the rear wall of the restrooms.
• Tuesday, 2/14/2023 - We finish laying six courses of concrete block for the interior restroom walls and three courses for the lavatory walls. Rebar cages are placed and tied above all six course walls.
• Wedesday, 2/15/2023 - We complete tying the rebar cages and put up forms for the bond beams and the outside corner columns. The bucket brigade gets in full gear to pour the bond beams atop the walls.
• Thursday, 2/16/2023 - We complete the forms for the front columns and doorways as well as the forms for the lavatory walls. After a lunch break, one last bucket brigade completes the concrete pour. Once again the community outdoes themselves with a Gratitude Program. We are treated like royalty, but we did so little. They shower us with parting gifts that are deeply humbling. They even treat us to some traditional Guatemalan dished prepared by the middle school students!
• Friday, 2/17/2023 - Today we go to San Antonio to attend the 2023 scholarship kickoff program. In the past the Living Heritage Foundation held this program in a conference room at the Bambu, but they have gotten too expensive. After private school in San Antonio let us use their facilities, and a parent of one of the scholarship students catered the event. It is a particularly joyous time for Sally and me, because we get to see our five scholarship students who we have not seen since February 2020.
• Weekend - The team relaxes in Antigua before flying home.