"Hermanamiento in Action"

As SJA co-chair Vickie Hempe said at the evening party "It's payback time!". The three SJA delegations to TNII had very busy agendas set by their hosts. After a day of resting from a red eye flight, SJA's committee had a full Friday planned. First stop for all delegates except Sandra and Carlos(they attended Chaska High School with their teenage hosts) was a visit to Holland Elementary School in Northeast Minneapolis. Holland has a student body that is about 50% Spanish. The delegates were serenaded by 1st grades musicians. After a quick tour of Northeast churches, the group returned to SJA to tour the new Grace House.

Polly, the director, is fluent in Spanish. The groups exchanged institutional differences in the treatment of AIDS in our two countries. Hospitals in Guatemala do not admit patients diagnosed with the HIV virus and care is or isn't done in the homes. Both Bernardo and Jackie exchanged e-mail addresses with Polly and are interested in the concept of a "Grace House" in Guatemala.

The word for the day was "Vamos" as SJA hosts rushed from site to site. Next stop was lunch with the staff in Hospitality Hall. Sometimes delegations from both North and South experience trouble adapting to the food in their host countries. The Guatemalans appear not to be tired of hotdishes and potlucks(YET!). While in Hospitality Hall, the delegates were able to see the framed quilt(pictured below/right) that they helped to create. Take a moment sometime to read the captions to the right of the quilt explaining the pieces that were created by Bernardo, Gregorio, Amparo(Hilda's mom) and Maximina.

Next stop, Hennepin Technical College where parishioner Frank Durocher led the a tour of the facilities. A highlight of the tour was the computer lab where the delegates were able to see these pages.

Then, it was back to SJA for creation of cardboard templates that will be used in the construction of the alfombra for Easter Sunday. Pictured cutting out a template are Gregorio(left) and Paul.An alfombra is a carpet of sawdust used during Holy Week processionals in Guatemala. Our "processional" will be held after the 11 o'clock mass. Join us!

The last stop of the day was a fiesta for all SJA delegates, host families, and of course our guests. It was fun to "see old friends"! It was, of course, potluck and held at Alex and Jeff's home. The party even did the Hokey Pokey. During the delegations, it is a custom to exchange "talent shows" to share each others culture. Our 1st two delegations were not ready for that task, but our 3rd(including some elementary teachers) taught our friends "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and the American classic, "The Hokey Pokey". P.S. Padre Jorge does a great Hokey Pokey!

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