Has anyone Visited Guatemala. Cancel Title is required

Has anyone Visited Guatemala? If so, please be kind to share your story and experience.  How was the process of setting up the meeting? How did it go as far as with where you stayed and how you got there. Where did you meet your child? How was the surroundings? I'd like to hear all the details. I think it could be useful for me as I am considering visiting my Response Child Valery who is 7 years old and lives in Guatemala.

I've visited twice and loved it!  The families are so happy to meet you, invite you into their home and share a small sign of their appreciation (food, a scarf, drawings, etc).  It's really fun to meet your child/teen in person and get to take them to do something that they've probably never done - I highly recommend the amusement park as it was a big hit!  Also, become accustomed to the idea that the kids seem to universally want McDonald's, pizza, fried chicken . . . basically, foreign food that they don't commonly eat!

I stayed in Guatemala City both times and it was ok.  The first place that I stayed didn't have much to do (bed & breakfast) since it isn't really safe to go out alone at night as a white woman, but there were nice options for dinner.  The second place that I stayed was a fancier hotel with more things to do (swimming, bar, etc), but the food was priced more at American rates.  If I returned, I'd stay at the second place over the first though simply because there was A/C and my first trip I was bitten by a few mosquitoes, which is nothing to mess around with in a country with dengue fever!  I might actually stay in Antigua next time though because it's a little more touristy and you're not necessarily staying in a hotel with armed guards and razor wire around the top.  Having said that, I never felt particularly unsafe in Guatemala and, when my tour guides learned why I was in the country, they seemed to go out of their way to be very kind to me because the people know that the children in their country really need help.

Feel free to ask anything else - I've been twice and plan to return next year, so I'm happy to answer (my profile pic is actually from Guatemala).

Hey, Nicky!

I just returned from my 7th trip to Guatemala (5th time with CI sponsor visits), and I'm happy to answer any questions. First, do you know where Valery lives in Guatemala? That could make a lot of difference as far as responding to the questions you've posed.

Hello! Thank you for your response. At the moment I am not sure where in Guatemala Valery lives 

Thank you so much for your reply! If it is alright to ask, I would like to know more about how you chose to spend time with your sponsored kid and how was the interaction over all. What kind of activities did you do? How long did you spend with your kid(s)? Do you speak the langauge of were you need of a translator if so how was the experience? 

Thank you very much for you time and for sharing your experiences with me.

Nicky08Es said: Thank you so much for your reply! If it is alright to ask, I would like to know more about how you chose to spend time with your sponsored kid and how was the interaction over all. What kind of activities did you do? How long did you spend with your kid(s)? Do you speak the langauge of were you need of a translator if so how was the experience? 

Thank you very much for you time and for sharing your experiences with me.

I've only been twice, with Mack. We visited a whole lot of children. I have 4 in Guatemala and Mack has a bunch. House visits are always good if they're practical. You need to find out if the option is available. Some live in an area where house visits are not allowed, as it's not considered safe. What you can do depends on where you are. Guatemala City has an amusement park which is nice. This year we went to an Xtreme park. CI can always give suggestions as to places you can visit. You may decide to take them shopping. There is always a lunch. Little ones may want a restaurant with a playground. How long you have may depend on how many children you're visiting and how many family members join you. If you're just visiting one child, you should get a full day. Yes, CI always provided a translator. How was the experience? One word: Awesome. The kids feel very special.

Nicky08Es said: Thank you so much for your reply! If it is alright to ask, I would like to know more about how you chose to spend time with your sponsored kid and how was the interaction over all. What kind of activities did you do? How long did you spend with your kid(s)? Do you speak the langauge of were you need of a translator if so how was the experience? 

Thank you very much for you time and for sharing your experiences with me.

Sorry, I thought I answered this!  I speak a little Spanish, enough that I could carry on a small conversation with Juan when we were riding bikes or I was on rides with the kids (without the translator), but it wouldn't have been completely necessary.  The staff will usually suggest an activity, but this does depend on where the child lives - if somewhere further away, like Patulul, you'll spend several hours driving, so you're pretty much limited to lunch and a home visit . . . although, next time I'm going to see if we can do lunch and shopping since I've seen the home twice already.  The only upside to repeated home visits is to note if anything, like a roof, has deteriorated.

If you're interested in the full details, I have a blog about my visits with my kids and some of the touristy activities I did as well.  I can send you the link via a post to your profile if you're interested.

In regards to overall interaction, the families all seem to be proud of their country and their homes - they take good care of what they have.  Because of this, I've kept my home photos to a minimum because it feels a little exploitative to want to photograph everything . . . although, I feel like that would help me target projects later!  They've all been very grateful and sweet, although some of the kids have been quite shy.  It's a big deal to the kids when a sponsor visits and, when you go through the center, it's nearly like your visiting royalty with the way the other kids ooh and ah.  I even had one really young girl who was convinced I was her sponsor and ran up to hug me and give me her candy - I didn't have the heart to explain that I wasn't her sponsor!  She had to have been about four, so she was content just thinking she saw her sponsor. :-)

The families so far have been very conscious of the cost of things and buying only what was allowed and I've had to insist that I want them to get what they need and throw in a few goodies - Lovely went back for a few personal hygiene items after I made it clear that I didn't bring gifts this time because I wanted them to treat themselves to what they REALLY need, not what I think they need.  The only exceptions have been when the kids were older and the family wanted to buy them a more expensive, really good quality pair of shoes to look nice for work.  Both of teens who graduated the program had mothers who expressed this wish and it makes sense to me - you need to look your best for interviews!  I may have just gotten lucky, but I've never felt like the family was trying to take advantage of the offer to do more, although the staff will try to keep it reasonable and I've had to insist, "no, seriously.  I want the 25 kg bag unless we can't get it to their house easily and it will be a hardship for them to carry it."  I have nothing bad to say about my visits and you learn a lot about the family situation.

Hello Macky
  Planning on a sponsor visit to Guatemala.
 Child is in Patulul area. Do you have any idea about accommodation in Patulul area. 
I had an online chat with CI. Suggestions given were in Guatemala City and Antigua.

I lived in Guatemala between October of last year and April this year (I didn't do a sponsor visit, though). I spent half of that time in Antigua, which is where most tourists stay. Antigua has good hotels and restaurants and English is much more widely spoken there than in the rest of the country. 

Patulul is way off the tourist track and about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Antigua Guatemala. You would have to take local buses to get there, which would involve at least one or two transfers, so unless you speak good enough Spanish to be completely self-sufficient, I don't recommend trying to find accommodation in that area.

Random fact: The volcano in the background on my profile photo is Volcán Atitlán, located less than 20km north of Patulul.

Thanks for the info Gabor