Batch of Chocolate

It's hard to believe that it's been 2 years, this month,
since I visited the village of Batzchocola, Guatemala.

Batzchocola (prounounced similar to "Batch Chocolate")
is a village of 250 people.

Almost all of the adults in the village experienced many horrific tragedies
during the 90's in the Guatemalan Civil War.

They were forced out of their village,
which was located within a couple miles of their current village,
and traveled throughout the jungle for about four years.

FOUR YEARS.

Of hiding in the jungle.
Of sleeping in trees so you can't be found at night.
Of eating verrrrry little, and only once per day,
before sunrise - so Guerillas can't see the smoke from your fire.
Of wearing out your clothes and resigning to wearing a trash bag to cover yourself.
Of watching those you love: young, old and in between -
die because of starvation, brutality, untreated sickness, and many other things.

I'm going to spend the next couple days telling you about their lives now.
They are inspiring.
They are loving.
They are overcomers.
They'll make you smile.

Here are some of the faces that have stories to tell.
The pain you could once see has been replaced with joy.

This is Miguel.

He is the Director of Commerce for the village.

At the Town Hall Meeting, everyone got a good laugh about something!

This is one of the eldest women in the village.

She endured, without a doubt, many of the worst tragedies during the war.

You would NEVER know it!

She is the smiley-est, huggy-est, touchy-est, lovely-est lady...

Here she is shucking the bark off sugar cane with a machete.

She had just cut it out of the jungle about 10 feet away from us,

and thought we'd want some for a snack.

She was right!

This is her "new" husband Jorge.

He is one of the eldest men in the village.

He works harder and carries heavier loads than any of us could even attempt!

This is Juana.

She is the Mayor's wife, and is baking fresh bread in celebration of our visit.

Need I say more?

As I'll share with you,

their village has been made possible by a Non-Profit Group called Agros.

They are the BEST example of creating sustainable living,

and breaking the cycle of poverty for those in need,

that I have yet to hear of.

http://www.agros.com/

An interesting side note is that the neighboring village is called Trappachitos -
which was easy to prounounce when we thought of "Frappucino".

Great, Frappucino and Batch of Chocolate.

Could we BE any more AmeriCAN?