Being Los Padrinos

I started writing this and then life happened! This was from the beginning of December 2012. The school year here culminates the end of November/beginning of December. Although it’s late I still think it is worth sharing about this experience…

A couple weeks ago on a Friday night I ran into my Guatemalan boss, Sandra, in the Dispensa Familiar’s (the Guatemalan equivalent of Walmart) parking lot. She said there was something she had been meaning to talk to me about and please forgive her for talking to me here- in the parking lot, but… I was thinking “Oh my gosh! Am I being fired or something? In the parking lot of the Dispensa!?”. Haha. Sometimes Guatemalans crack me up. She ended up asking me if Dan and I would be willing to be the padrinos for an upcoming graduation ceremony.

At Mayan Families we use the words padrino (for a man) and madrina (for a woman) to refer to the children’s sponsors. Literally, the words translate as godfather and godmother (the plural los padrinos means godparents). The goal is for each student to have a padrino or madrina so they can continue studying year after year. Some very lucky students get the chance to meet their sponsor if s/he comes to visit, but it’s oftentimes luck of the draw.

Although Dan and I work full time in the Education/Student Sponsorship Program we are not sponsors so I was a little confused as to exactly why Sandra was asking us. Even though I didn’t fully get it I figured that it was an honor to be asked so I immediately said yes (without even checking with Dan. Whoops!). The following Monday I discovered that each of Mayan Families’ seven Preschool Nutritional Centers would be having a graduation ceremony for the students moving on from Preschool to Kindergarten in 2013 (as mentioned above the school year here runs January- November). Now if you don’t already know this you should know that Guatemalans love parties! They love parades and really any reason to celebrate so it should have not surprised me that they would have an incredibly formal graduation ceremony for preschoolers.

All the kiddos waiting for their diplomas

Dan and I were asked to be the padrinos for the Mayan Families Preschool graduation here in Panajachel- the town where we live and where Mayan Families is located. We were asked to dress in our finest attire and arrive around 8:30 am to the preschool. On the day of the graduation we walked in and I quickly observed that all of the little ones were decked out in full caps and gowns. And wait, what was that? A wall covered in cut out metallic letters SPELLING OUT OUR NAMES! Lol. Here is a pic in case you don’t believe me! ;)

The backdrop of the graduation ceremony- HANDMADE by the teachers!

I eventually figured out that even though we are not officially sponsors we were acting as representatives for all of the sponsors who for obvious reasons could not be there. We had a pretty big role in the ceremony. We had to walk in with the students in a procession then we sat on opposite ends of the stage until it was time to give out the diplomas. We did that together hugging each student, congratulating him/her, then taking a bunch of photos with him/her. (My cheeks hurt so bad afterwards from smiling so much!!!) We also gave each student a present which included a stuffed animal and big piece of candy- another photo opp. So many photos! Also included in the ceremony was listening to the Guatemalan anthem (twice! It is the longest anthem ever. See here if you don’t believe me), said the Guatemalan pledge of allegiance (well Dan and I listened) and my favorite part- gave our awesome commencement speeches. Yes, we had to give speeches in Spanish in front of all the students, parents, teachers, and other Mayan Families representatives (the director, our Guatemalan boss, etc.)! Too bad I don’t have a video of it. ;) I thought they were pretty inspiring until I heard the Guatemalans’ speeches which were way better. I think we did pretty well though for being extranjeros!

After the ceremony we took some more photos and were served a delicious typical lunch. Oh and I cannot forget that we were thanked during the ceremony and given really sweet presents of traditional fabric woven on a back strap loom!

After the ceremony with our presents

All in all, it was a special, memorable experience and even though I had to chuckle a few times at the formality of it all, it was really sweet of them to ask us to be the sponsors. I hope this is the beginning of a lifetime of learning for all of the students that graduated! :)

If you’re interested in sponsoring a student please see here. I am particularly working hard on trying to find sponsors for University students. If we do not find sponsors for these students in the next week or so they will not be able to study this year. For more info please email me at rachel[at]mayanfamilies[dot]org or my personal email address. Thanks!