Man's wordly experience continues after Peace Corps
Landscape Photo
A couple years studying Spanish in high school and another year of learning French in college may have helped Laurie adjust to picking up another language. Before he was placed in a Guatemalan village, he went through Peace Corps training. However, he still found it hard to communicate and resorted to using hand signals combined with words to converse with the family he initially stayed with for a few weeks. Three months of culture shock followed.
For the past two-and-a-half years, Laurie has worked and lived in a small village called Salacuim. His house consists of wood walls, a tin roof and concrete floor. Laurie's focus is helping villagers to learn and carry out basic science principles that are lacking in their educational system. He was assigned to train teachers in 45 different schools on how to use and implement an environmental education guide that would allow them to use hands-on learning in their classrooms.
'The teachers aren't familiar with basic science principles,' Laurie said. 'For them, it's hard because they're taught to stay in their classroom and not waste time.'
The program encouraged teachers to take their students outside the classroom and to teach children by way of hands-on experiences. For example, Laurie said he would show students how to plant trees or he would take them to the river to study fish. And, although the program was exciting, it also was sad, because not every teacher followed through with the guide.
Even though there was some heartache and disappointment, there was great joy in helping the villagers of Salacium. In one instance, Laurie was approached by a group of males between the ages of 15 and 25 who wanted to build a library. He began hosting meetings in his home and helped the group to sell things like bananas covered in chocolate to help raise money. After about a year, the group had received enough money and support from the community that construction began on a small library. Books were donated from organizations and people including Laurie's parents, Scott and Kathy, and West Salem High School.
'It wasn't just a building with books, it was a higher meaning,' Laurie said.
Many children in Guatemala have influenced Laurie's life, but eighteen-year-old Carlos is especially unforgettable. The intelligent young man has been supporting his family since his father left five years ago. The teenager is looking for a way to further his education.
'It's tough. There's no such thing as Stafford loans in Guatemala,' Laurie said. 'These kids have no way to go to school. They stay home and work in the fields. They only raise corn, beans and cattle. When market prices go down, they're on the edge.'
Children are very open to education, Laurie explained, but their parents are still stuck in the mentality of the Civil War of the 1980s. The adults are reserved and don't talk much. But thanks to a new job, Laurie hopes to open the doors for education and self-development in Guatemala.
When Laurie's time was up with the Peace Corps he didn't feel like he saw the fruit of his labor. As the next round of volunteers started arriving to replace Laurie, he started to feel like he was leaving loose ends. His experience with the Peace Corps led him to another opportunity --n development promoter for Project Laguna Lachua, an organization that promotes conservation, development, ecotourism and education.
The goal is to train locals to be stewards of their environment while preserving Laguna Lachua National Park with the participation of the various communities of indigenous Q' eck' chi. Laurie is building the organization's Web site, www.lachua.org.
In a two-story ranch-style house with a satellite dish to power the Internet and a roof made of palm leaves that require staff to cover all equipment during rain storms, he will begin putting his other skills learned from the Peace Corps to use. Laurie will be responsible for promoting the area through eco-tourism, getting agencies to buy easements along the edge of the park and trying to get a beer company to put up a sign encouraging water protection.
Laurie said he hopes to raise awareness about the importance of the Guatemalan National Park Laguna Lachua to not only the local economy, but to the earth as well.
With the cooperation of staff at West Salem High School, Laurie will be able to give students and interested residents the opportunity to experience his project first-hand through a cross-cultural program stationed at the high school. Through a display of photographs and local crafts like weavings or food to reflect the Guatemalan culture, Laurie hopes to relay the lifestyle of the indigenous tribes in Latin America.
The local man also plans to develop a newsletter for visitors to access on the Project Laguna Lachua Web site, although it's still in the works. In addition, there will be the option for people to donate toward the project or to help a child. Laurie stresses that the program is completely optional and is only meant to bring the culture and lifestyle of Guatemalans to light in his hometown.
Laurie's opportunity with the Peace Corps and his experience with Project Laguna Lachua has led him to several observations about himself. After living in Guatemala for a couple years, he can now say that, 'No matter where I go in the world, all humans have the same emotions, the same feelings.'
Laurie said he is unsure when he'll move back to the U.S. to live permanently, but said he is open to the idea.
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