Going back a few days...  we presented at Brillo del Sol after our 2 days of volunteer work.  The presentation keeps improving and our audiences continue to respond positively.

We spent the afternoon in town... Christiane and Roger danced to marimba music, while Dr Petersen got his shoes shined.

The next day we piled in a car to drive to the coast in route to the southern campus of UVG. We enjoyed the day swimming, eating Pappas fritas and exploring the black sand beach before the storm blew in...

Today we visited UVG at Santa Lucia!

Dr. Petersen gave another demonstration on how to administer Story Champs. All of the participants did muy, muy bien!

Gwynn did an excellent job presenting Dr. Petersen's research on language. Even with all of the noise from the rain.

UVG provided us with both breakfast and lunch. Que delicioso!

Here, Allie, Mike, and Jennifer help Dr. Petersen demonstrate Story Champs Large Group intervention, while Gwynn gives the instructions.

While at UVG, it rained, and rained, and rained. It's a good thing we all remembered our rain coats.

While on our way back to Antigua, we stopped to have some authentic Guatemalan cuisine (McDonald's). Jennifer can't get enough of those papas fritas!

And neither could Dr. Petersen! 

After visiting two wonderful universities in Guatemala City, last Tuesday night, we found ourselves in route to Antigua, home to Brillo de Sol. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Letti Lopez, the director of this elementary school, along with a few of its students and faculty. Following our first day at Brillo de Sol, we decided to begin by administering evaluations to the children, all of which took about two hours to complete between the seven of us. It was a great experience for us all, and the time spent with the children was very memorable! 

Our third day at Brillo de Sol consisted of performing another set of evaluations from a different program which had just recently been introduced to the staff by a group from the University of Redlands in California. It was very exciting how encouraging everyone was to receive these evaluations of their students. Overall, these two days seemed to be a huge success, as seems to be the theme of this campaign! 

Behind us is pictured the beautiful city of Antigua, full of historic buildings, friendly people, wonderful food, and of course, many volcanos.

This is a picture of just some of the wonderful students and great staff that make up Brillo de Sol, with whom we have made many lasting memories.

Here, Joel, or otherwise known as Batman, and his sponsor (madrina) Ms Dechert are chatting away before we all head off to begin the language evaluations. 

In this picture, Dr. Petersen is engaged in a fairly intense memory card game with the children of Brillo de Sol. 

** As of right now the internet connection seems to be very... very weak (due to the pouring rain outside), so it is taking what feels like hours to upload pictures; therefore, we will be uploading more pictures of our time at Brillo de Sol in the next couple days! 

 Well, we made it! It was an interesting series of events upon arrival. Gwynn and Jennifer got in with no issues after their two weeks of Spanish immersion in Costa Rica. Christiane and Roger were delayed due to weather and got in quite late. Lastly, poor Doug, Mike, and Allie were met with mechanical issues, and we rerouted multiple times only to get in at 5am they day after they were expected.

 After everyone arrived, there was just enough time to catch a few Z's, get fueled up on delicious Guatemlan cuisine, and practice the presentation. Unfortunately, due to the flight issues, our suitcase with the majority of our presentation materials did not make it on time; however, we made it work and had our first presentation at the Universidad del Valle in Guatemala City (UVG) on day one.

 What a response from UVG!  We were joined by several faculty members, administrators, and students, all of whom actively participated and expressed sincere interest in Dr. Petersen's research, and the evaluation/intervention programs that we introduced.

 They enjoyed it so much so, that they asked us to return the following day, provide a brief additional training, and talk about possibilities for future collaboration between our departments and institutions.

 

 Of course, we obliged, and scheduled in a second meeting, which fit in PERFECTLY right before our next presentation at the the Universidad de Rafael Landivar. Yes, it was certainly a busy day, but we were able to improve upon our presentation and make wonderful personal and professional connections with several professionals and students in Guatemala!

 During our third presentation, at the second university, Ms. Christiane Dechert went boldly where she has never gone before... she joined the presentation, COMPLETELY IN SPANISH!

Thank You FundMyTravel.com!

The world of crowd-funding is truly amazing. So many individuals from near and far have contributed to our campaign in order to make this trip a reality. Each day as notifications "ping" into our inbox, it is with great excitement that we open up each and every message from our donors and other supporters. Some are brief well-wishes, some words of inspiration, and others questions about our journey... it feels great to have that connection with everyone who is making this a reality, and we are thrilled to be sharing this journey with all of you.

Today another incredible thing happened, www.fundmytravel.com named us as a "featured campaign" on both their website AND their Facebook page!  Of all of the amazing adventures out there...  we were very honored to earn this recognition.

We are counting down the days to when we can work with so many talented speech-language pathologists and other professionals in Guatemala. We are also excited to join this very spirited group at the Brillo de Sol school!

The Crew!

Here's our story, click the link below to check us out at FundMyTravel:     

 Contar cuentos es nuestra vida 

We are a group of students from the Department of Communication Disorders at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY, that share a common background as Spanish-speakers working towards becoming bilingual speech-language pathologists (SLPs). This upcoming May and June, we are participating in a trip to Guatemala where we will volunteer speech-language services (assessments and treatment) at a non-profit private school called Brillo de Sol. We will also deliver professional development presentations to local SLPs and university instructors. This program is the first of its kind in our department, and we look forward to building lasting relationships with schools and organizations in Guatemala.

Brillo de Sol was specifically founded to serve disabled children. There are only a few schools of this sort in Guatemala, because the country does not benefit from legislation that provides individuals with disabilities the right to adequate services in public schools. Most of the students attending this school are of Mayan origin, and have failed in the public school system. Brillo de Sol is one of few places that provides these students the education and vocational skills needed for employment when they graduate. Without the support of this school, many Guatemalans with disabilities are more prone to homelessness, substance abuse, and exclusion from economic opportunities.

With the guidance of our professor Dr. Doug Petersen, PhD, CCC-SLP, and our clinical supervisor Ms. Christiane Dechert, M.A., CCC-SLP, we will establish contacts and explore possibilities for several international collaborative projects. We will also assist in the instruction of international professionals and university instructors on the administration of narrative language assessment and intervention. This will allow us to collaborate with local universities to discuss cross-cultural and cross-curricular issues that impact populations in Guatemala and abroad.

By supporting our campaign, you will enable us to gain critical experiences interacting with other professionals and providing services in a second language (Spanish). You will help us to provide training, resources, and necessary services to many individuals spanning various communities in Guatemala. You will also provide much needed sponsorships for individuals who would otherwise not be able to attend school.

·         Donors who contribute $50 will receive a handmade postcard from a Brillo de Sol student.

·         Donors who contribute $100 or more will receive a Brillo de Sol T-shirt.

·         Any and all donations are greatly appreciated, and will gain you access to our blog which will be updated with pictures and journal entries along the way!