Guatemala Bloggers Trip
A little over two weeks from now, I’ll be heading to Guatemala with Lemonade International as part of its inaugural bloggers trip. Together with four other bloggers, I’ll be doing a bit of storytelling as we spend three days in a Guatemala City neighborhood called La Limonada, notorious to some as the largest urban slum in Central America, while considered by others a “cathedral in the street.”
Look for new posts each day we’re in La Limonada (April 15, 16, and 17), and a few others before and after the trip. In the meantime, though, I want to introduce you to the rest of the team to help you follow along.
Katie Høiland
I may be biased, but Katie is the rock star of the team – by a long shot. Not only does she have a great last name, she’s also really smart and pretty and has a heart of gold. She worked for many years with a large Christian community development organization, and like me, she’s been drawn to the Lemonade International’s focused and holistic development work in one specific community. Though she’s traveled near and far, she’s never been to Guatemala, so I’m grateful we’ll have the opportunity to visit not only La Limonada in the city where I was born, but also stay on to do some sightseeing in my old stomping grounds around the country.
Katie’s blog is here and you can follow her on Twitter @katienoelle.
Paul Burkhart
Paul has been a good friend of ours for several years. I met him at a coffee shop in Richmond, Virginia in early 2008, and Katie met him in Philadelphia later that year. He then had a hand in connecting the two of us via Twitter in 2010, so we owe him one. Paul is a prolific blogger who thinks deeply and wears his heart on his sleeve. Though he’s well acquainted with the lives of the broken through his work as a social worker in inner city Philadelphia, this will be his first experience (to my knowledge) in the developing world. I can’t wait to read his thoughts on what he sees and experiences.
Paul’s blog is here and you can follow him on Twitter @presbypaul.
Scott Bennett
Scott is a Spanish professor and a humanitarian photographer who has done great work for a variety of organizations, including Plant With Purpose. Scott and I connected online a while back, and met in person when he was in town last summer with his wife, who is Guatemalan. I’ve been really impressed with Scott’s sincere commitment to capture the beauty and dignity of his subjects, rather than exploiting them with the camera. He has graciously agreed to let the rest of us use his photos in our blog posts, for which we’re tremendously grateful.
Scott’s blog is here and you can follow him on Twitter @scottmbennett.
Dana Byers
Dana is the president and co-founder of BlueDoor.tv, and also serves with LifeChurch.tv. Her blog focuses on helping people create and maintain margin in their lives so they can focus on what matters most. I look forward to meeting her next month, along with her husband Chris and their two kids. It’s a special opportunity for the family, as Guatemala is their daughter’s home country and this will be her first memorable experience there. It’ll be fun to experience La Limonada together with the Byers family.
Dana’s blog is here and you can follow her on Twitter @danalbyers.
It’s a great honor to be joining this team in helping to tell the story of how lives are being changed in La Limonada, and I’d invite you to join us, albeit vicariously, as we do. If you have any questions you’ve always wanted to ask about child sponsorship, holistic mission, and community development work, now’s your chance. Send them my way and I’ll share some answers while in La Limonada.