Antigua

I thought I would share a bit about Antigua. It is a captivating city and an old one. 1543 is generally accepted as it's founding date. Antigua, at 5,049 feet, resides in a valley surrounded by three volcanoes - Acatenango, Agua, and Fuego. Only Fuego is active. That being said, the City has experienced it's share of calamities - earthquakes, floods and volcanic eruptions.


Antigua was the colonial Capitol during the Spanish era. Colonial Guatemala encompassed Chiapas (Mexico), part of Yucatan, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It was included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site list in 1979. Historical preservation occurred in fits and starts beginning in the 1800's. After 1986 and the civil war in Guatemala, Antigua suddenly began to blossom with an infusion of restaurants, hotels and shops.

Enjoy these photos of this charming colonial city. Hopefully one day you will be able visit too.

 View of Agua volcano from a typical Antigua street

San Jose el Viejo

 The Arch of Santa Catalina

 Church of La Merced

 Herman's Pedro's Hospital (where the clinic is located)

 Mayan Guatemalans in a doorway

Opening Day

The past couple of days have been quite eventful for the Faces of Hope volunteer team. Yesterday was the opening day of clinic when all the families came to the hospital to register their child for surgery.

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After filling out numerous forms and and taking identification photos, the patients were examined by the pediatricians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and then finally the dentists. All in all the clinic saw around 90 hopeful children, and although some had to be turned away due to various ailments and sicknesses, the majority were accepted as candidates for surgery.

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Thank you to Ron Lykins with Los Gatos Morning Rotary for taking most of the wonderful photos on today's post. Here he is with a young patient.

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It was an exciting day for everyone and once the volunteers arrived back at the hotel they were ready for a nice meal. My daughter Leah and I joined one of the surgeons and another mother/daughter do for dinner at the Panza Verde Restaurant. It was in a beautiful building and it made a wonderful ending to an exciting day

The Day Before Opening Day of the Clinic

The day before the opening day of the clinic, families are already gathering at the Casa de Fe. This is where they will set up home while they are in Antigua awaiting their loved one's surgery. The Casa de Fe team spent an adventurous morning shopping at the outdoor market to supply the Casa with food for the week.





The Cupertino Rotary Club tile has finally been installed at the Casa de Fey. Don Fox and Paula Chu are happy to be back in Antigua.

Getting Ready

Helene is busy preparing for her trip to Guatemala, for Faces of Hope. We are all looking forward to hearing and seeing some of her experiences along they way as she blogs for us. What a great experience and it's great we can experience it vicariously through this blog thanks to Helene. Hopefully it will inspire more Cupertino Rotarians to go.

Here is a sample of one of the quilts I am bringing. Also, thanks to Jerra and George Tyson, I am bringing toys, coloring books, soaps and shampoos to share all around.