Today marked an important lesson for the success of all of us embarking on this journey. Learning some helpful phrases and methods of communication when dealing with locals in the region of Zacapa and Guatemala. Understanding the basics of the region and the history of the people there aided us in some of the angles we are planning on taking once we land in Guatemala, but today really started to fill our arenal of tools we can use to be effective international journalists. Afterall, we are agents of communication.
We got a greater sense of what our surroundings would be like on the trip and how the people of Guatemala would interact with us.
Today also marked the day we had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the class and describe our process and our methods of documenting the trip. We let the students know that we had some ideas already in mind about doing stories on the “Lucky Iron Fish” and feminine hygiene products implemented in Guatemala. We let them know that we are excited about our professional relationship we plan on forming, and that they are all welcome to bring forth perspectives of their own while we make our stories.
We look forward to next week where we will learn to measure blood sugar of patients in Guatemala. Though the other students will be the ones conducting these tests on the patients, the information is always useful to journalists like us who want to know and express the purpose of this trip and what the program is doing.