Guatemala

Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day; give him a chance to take his goat to the love shack, and his family will have fresh milk forever more.

I’m in Guatemala, scouting for a new public television special about hunger, hope, and development. And I just found another example of an NGO making a big difference. Agros International uses a smart approach to development that results in healthy, self-sustaining communities — and by sharing know-how and capital here in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala, they have kickstarted a local business and helped villagers supplement a simple diet with dairy.

Exploring this humble yet thriving enterprise, I saw a vivid example of the vast potential in turning loose the pent-up energy of countries south of our border. Standing among those goats, I saw what can happen when you mix together a little American brain power, love, and money. That used to be the American model, and the American inspiration — but today, fear has got our goat.

—

Join our traveling community — connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

I’m in Guatemala, scouting for a new public television special about development aid. Looking for vivid, slice-of-life ways to illustrate the points I make in the script, I’ve visited many families. And today, I hit the script-writing jackpot. I was introduced to an industrious teacher and his wife, a hardworking farmer, by Agros International, an NGO that helps families attain economic self-sufficiency and own their land.

Join me on a little tour a household that has all the elements of a nice home in the poor world. I found this family particularly inspiring.

Join our traveling community — connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

I just took my first ride in a helicopter. While it was pretty expensive ($3,000 for three rides), we decided to travel like the Guatemalan elites for the last part of our journey, to reach the most remote communities on our itinerary and still have a little time to explore. A 45-minute hop in a chopper saved us ten arduous hours on windy mountain roads. Our skilled pilot masterfully flew around clouds, snuck over saddles just before they were socked in, and slipped up one canyon and down the next beneath the encroaching whiteouts, eventually getting to our destination in the remote Huehuetenango region, in the highlands of western Guatemala.

The ride came with some political insight. Check this out.

Join our traveling community — connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

We now know that smart nutrition (not just “enough calories”) in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life is critical for brain development. A child who isn’t nourished adequately during this period will be “stunted” and never reach their full potential. It’s devastating for a family to watch this happen — and there are implications for the broader society, as well. From a purely economic point of view, that person will become a drain on that society’s economy for decades, rather than a contributor.

While this presents an economic and educational challenge, that challenge is easily met — and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is helping lead the charge. I was honored to join the director of the WFP in Guatemala, Laura Melo, as she visited a community mothers’ meeting. Guatemala has the worst stunting problem in our hemisphere, but with smart development — in this case, investment in “human capital” — that is changing.

Many Americans know only one thing about the United Nations: They hate it. What I’d give to have those people stand here with me and witness the value of this smart and practical work.

(We visited a similar WFP health post in Ethiopia last week. You can watch a video from that visit here.)

There’s not much tourism in Guatemala…except on the dreamy Lake Atitlán. I would imagine most visitors skip Guatemala City altogether and go straight to the country’s high-altitude resort lake. Atitlán is like Oregon’s Crater Lake — a caldera surrounded by volcanic peaks. At 5,100 feet above sea level, the weather is very comfortable. The terrain is so rugged, and the roads are so treacherous, that the only efficient way to travel around the lake is by boat. For the cost of my Uber ride to the airport in Seattle, we had the services of a fast boat for several hours. A pounding trip across the lake took me back to my childhood days, boating with my family…a nice break from the intensity of this trip’s learning mission.

—

Join our traveling community — connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.