OG on the Ground in Guatemala (Quoted from OG Guatemala’s Blog post)

On July 5^th, Jay and I were stoked to meet the rest of the crew in Guatemala City and officially kick off the second ever Operation Groundswell Guatemala program. After a day of flight arrivals in the capital, the eleven of us (Allie, Allison, Ben, Chelsea, Eva, James, Japleen, Jay, Laura, Nikki, Porschia) met local friend Luchy and her family before settling into their guest house for our two day stay in the country’s capital. As we shared our hopes and expectations for the coming six weeks and got cozy in side-by-side sleeping bags, OG Guatemala began to change from a pile of applications and group of young like minded strangers into the family of friends that would be sharing the next 6 weeks together.

The OG crew with Luchy and her mother

A meeting the next day with Grahame Russell, director of Canadian NGO, Rights Action, shed an ominous light on the impacts of Canadian mining companies in Guatemala and the need for local leadership in the global economy. Our next stop was the Canadian Embassy, where we met the Chargé d’Affairs as well as the head of the Canadian International Development Agency’s Guatemalan program, to hear about Canada’s approaches to international trade and development. Given what everyone had just learned in the morning with Rights Action, participants were eager to challenge the Canadian diplomats on their perceived complicity with regard to the ecological and social destruction caused mining. The Embassy’s response, that respect for Guatemala’s sovereignty trumped Canadian responsibilities to ensure the ethical mining practices of its companies, however, left the group feeling frustrated and perhaps a little disillusioned. Needing a quick pick-me-up, OGG took to the nearest median to learn and demonstrate the legendary game of Samurai, a tradition of spontaneous ninjistics practiced by OG teams worldwide.


Leaving Guatemala City behind on day three, we headed to Antigua via chicken bus. For those not familiar,  term "chicken bus" refers to Central America's myriad fleets of inter-city and long-distance public buses, typically retired American school buses painted in flamboyant colors and designs. Chicken bus fares are cheap, though for a reason. The nickname allegedly derives from the passengers themselves, who are packed together like chickens (sometimes as many as four to a seat). However, the occasional feathered traveler might also be found!

Chicken Bus!