ENCOUNTERING GOD'S CREATION
- Jul 18
- 2 min read
Saturday, July 18
Today's Journey
After breakfast and morning meditation, the team will travel by lancha across Lake Atitlán to the community of Panajachel. There they will visit the Atitlán Nature Reserve, home to a butterfly habitat with more than a dozen varieties of butterflies, spider monkeys, and coati mundi. Some members of the team may choose to zip line while others hike the nature trails.
Why This Matters
Today's experiences invite our team to appreciate both the extraordinary beauty of Guatemala and the realities faced by many who call it home.
The day's meditation reminds us that Guatemala has the highest rate of chronic malnutrition among children under five in Latin America. Poverty, food insecurity, limited access to safe water, and the effects of climate change continue to shape daily life for many families, particularly in Indigenous communities.
Holding these two realities together—the beauty of creation and the challenges facing God's people—helps us see Guatemala more fully and deepens our understanding of why organizations like ODIM work alongside local communities.
Reflection
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Guatemala has highest rate (approximately 49%) of chronic malnutrition in children under five in all Latin America.
In rural Guatemala, many children (particularly girls) do not complete their basic education, speak only their native Mayan language, and grow up functionally illiterate. Adolescent females marry as young as 12 years of age and have an average of seven children. Illiteracy is 31.1 percent in women 15 years of age and older and reaches 59 percent among indigenous women.
Sololá, in the western highlands of Guatemala, is the second poorest of Guatemala’s 22 departments, where 94% of people live on less than $3.00 per day. 98% of the population of Sololá is indigenous Maya.
“The real weapons of mass destruction are not toxic gases or deadly virus, but poverty and social injustice.”
[Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras]
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