Shelton in Xoxlac?

Remember Shelton, Washington U.S.A.

Hiking up the hill to our next installation project, we came across a nice white stucco house -somewhat rare in these parts - with its slat wood kitchen structure off to the side. Over to the right was a recently built concrete basin of some kind covered by a shiny piece of tin, perhaps for storing coffee beans.

A view of the house that Shelton built

As we got a little closer we could see big green block lettering neatly drawn across the front of the house: RECUERDO SEHLTON WASHINGTON U.S.A.  Wait a minute, we didn't know at the time what recuerdo meant, but could that be our own Shelton, Washington?

Dahgo, our helper from Hands for Peacemaking, could see us marveling at the connection and nodded knowingly. At dinner that night he was able to tell us through Willy that first word, Recuerdo, translated to something like "remember."

Woman flips the peace sign, knew some English.

He speculated that perhaps an organization in Shelton provided funding for the house and outbuildings. Others thought, and I tend to agree, that a family member or members found their way to Shelton and were able to make enough extra to send back to Xoxlac to build the nicer house. Unfortunately we were not able to ask the homeowners. We saw a few instances of houses that stood out from the others. In one of these lived a woman who knew some English and dressed in more of a western look, sported an eyebrow stud, and when I took her photo gave me the peace sign. I tried to ask her where she learned English but she didn't understand my question.

A few years ago I wrote a speech for a public official in which I noted a conversation with someone who counts homeless populations in Thurston and Mason Counties. He told me there is a large population of people living in the woods around Shelton from Guatemala, Ecuador and Mexico, finding work where they can. A quick Internet search today turned up an article in the local paper that notes the Guatemalan population of children attending school in Shelton.

Pedro, the head school master for Xoxlac, told us one evening that at any given time there are about 10 people from the village who are working in the United States. So, while it was a surprise to suddenly see a salute to Shelton way out in the boonies of Guatemala, it's perhaps not as remarkable as it struck us at first.

It would be interesting to interview the Shelton population of Guatemalans sometime to see if anyone living there is from Xoxclac or a village nearby, to learn how they made their way and if they plan to go back. My assumption is that a good proportion of them are there without legal documentation, so perhaps would be shy about talking to a stranger. Maybe I'll bring John Kirk, who did so much of the translation for our team throughout our time in the country.

Snohomish County Rotarians bought the HFPM rig

Mission Landcruiser

The connections to the state of Washington on our trip were many. Of course were are all from Washington state, except for Kirk, our stand-in from Salem, Oregon. Hands for Peacemaking is based in Everett, with two of its board members from Marine View Presbyterian in Tacoma. Marco's big Landcruiser was purchased nine years ago by several Rotary clubs and individuals from Snohomish County, says so on the side. Marco himself received his association's degree in business administration with honors from Everett Community College and is putting his skills to work in Barillas masterfully as he coordinates a myriad of on-the-ground details for these missions.

The state of Washington may be our home, but when we are away from home it's nice to see the difference Washingtonians are making in places as far away as Xoxlac.