High School students from Seton Catholic College Preparatory travel to the small community of Buenos Aires, Guatemala

Never would any of the 19 kids from Seton Catholic College Prep have known they would receive such an amazing experience as they flew to beautiful Guatemala City, into Momostenango by bus through rushing streets filled with dogs, cars, kids and laughter, and finally into the small community of Buenos Aires. After a long day of traveling the last thing we expected was to be welcomed with open arms by the community with rows of families holding sparklers lighting up the darkness and cheerful smiles. 

To backtrack a little bit our group is from Seton Catholic College Preparatory High School in Vancouver, Washington. 19 kids with 3 chaperones; Kendra, Antonio, and Aaron, as well as Rachel from the Peace Corps, joined to rally the group together and make it a successful trip. Not many had been on a Courts for Kids trip before and there were many assumptions or “single stories” created before reaching the village. From shy kids and challenging language barriers, to different food and living situations, many were worried of the outcome. However, all of this dissipated into thin air when our vans rolled in. The kids immediately began talking to us and we had to ask them to slow down so we could try to communicate with our broken Spanish. The cooks had a meal ready and hot, and rooms with air mattresses were already prepared.

Our group leader, Pedro Pablo had begun one of his first talks with us saying to call him Peter because we are now his family. We immediately took this on, and so did the community who quickly made us feel at home with meals made with love three times a day, sharing their culture in everything they did, and even taking the time to light up the school with electricity so we could see after the sun set. 

With the high elevation, it was decided it would be wise to take a day of rest to acclimate and join the families in a day of getting to know each other. We learned traditional Guatemalan games such as spinning tops or “trompos”, yoyos, jacks, and beautiful kite making activities. This was our first experience of the beautiful intricate culture that incorporated the kids into their history as well so it was passed down the generations. 

The next three days were work days and consisted of traveling from the sand and rock piles in assembly lines in between the workers of Buenos Aires who volunteered their own time to make a court that would affect families to come. As these days began around 8:30 and ended around lunch time, time passed by quickly as our group played Black Magic, the Umbrella Game, the Green Glass Door Game, and a few fun mind and word games in between breaks and passing buckets. One of the highlights was high fiving the kids or sometimes swerving them which they loved as they ran past back and forth a million times to drop off the empty buckets. Even with a UV of 14, the scorching sun felt like nothing with the nice cover of clouds and an occasional breeze and drizzle on top of the heavy clothing and sunscreen.

Even with the exciting work days the true values received from this trip came after lunch when the kids came up the steep hills to hike into the school groups that we called home for the week. Hours of games such as war, speed, Uno, highest number game, Jenga, hackeysack, Mafia, hide and seek, the name game, and Kemps filled the vacant times with the kids screaming laughter. The language barrier that had been a mountain in our heads became a small bump in reality as the days went by too quickly. When the women of the village dressed us in their own colorful outfits consisting of the guipil, corte, and faja, we experienced a real culture that is very much cherished by the people. Colorful decor and music filled the air as the kids in costumes and dresses danced for us in the story of the mono. They read us poems confidently in front of our group. Learning about the Mayan language K’iche through the different speeches and poems was super valuable especially since its slowly not being spoken as much. Another amazing cultural experience was traveling though the Fair of Momos after going to Mass in the city, passing through the vendors with fruits, meats, jewelry, and an assortment of intricate handmade creations. Without the court the outside, games of soccer, cat and rat, and many others were played in the fields with us. The kids taught us some of their school lessons as we planted a variety of vegetables such as celery, radish, onions, cabbage, and celery. A nice break from our sore bodies was traveling to the hot springs which are the showers for many in the community and making our way through the stores.

Throughout the week we experienced how hardworking and loving these people are, because everything they do is not for themselves but for the people surrounding them. We learned how the men and women had to walk miles up hills after going to the market just to bring the weekly food supply to their families. However, we learned this at the end of the very same hike that they have to take, after our much grumbling about fatigue and the vertical elevation climb. It just comes to show how much the Buenos Aires people sacrifice that we never even have to think about in our daily lives. A lot of these market foods create the traditional dishes made with foods grown locally such as rice, beans, eggs, tamalitos, tortillas, papaya, passion fruit, tea, and hibiscus water. They were served graciously every day and very much appreciated. Acts of service like these are things our group hope to bring home and never forget the gratefulness.

Each morning challenges were passed out the group to create a closer environment with us and the families in Buenos Aires. They were as serious as asking a person what are things that stress them as community members out or facts about the currency of Guatemalan Quetzales. Or on the other side of that scale, they could be gifting everyone toilet paper for stomach problems and creating huge conga lines with kids. 

Returning home, many of us have reflected on how the use of phones hinders our connections with people and nature. It takes away from the beautiful value we get from actually getting to know someone by talking to them, rather than seeing another perspective often fake from social media. Many assumed having no online usage for 10 days would be a struggle, but quickly learned that turning to the technology in the pocket is only 1% of the joy found in a world filled with 200% more excitement once you open your eyes to reality. It was surprisingly easy to not be glued to a phone and we all found the connections made with the kids and adults were a million times more valuable than anything materialistic.

The people of Buenos Aires found joy in the little things of their community. With having to work hard to provide lives for their kids, they have created a family in their village that puts others first. You can see it in the way they treat each other that there is nothing but love and attention to be given. We have so much to be grateful for and it’s an incredible reminder we lose these values when life’s necessities get easy.

If the world had just 10% of what this community values most, it would be 100% a better place. Our group was so lucky to experience this 10% for such a short but special time. We will never ever forget all of the kids and adults we met, shout out to every single one! We cannot express how thankful we are for the kindness and patience shown and never will be able because that’s how amazing of an experience it was. The Courts for Kids organization wouldn’t be a possibility without their efforts combined. The lessons we learned we will take back home and will carry throughout our entire lives and never be lost. Thank you Courts for Kids.

~ Violet Heidt , Seton Catholic Junior ’27

Volunteer Quotes:

“This community tough me so many things but the most important is the value of having a tight community and family.”
~ Charlotte Hayward

“The community of Buenos Aires taught me the importance of genuine kindness. They demonstrated every day when they greeted us with a smile and a “Buenos días” and never failed to stop for a conversation despite the struggles of the language barrier.”
~ Kingsley Williams

“The moment that will be stuck with me forever is the moment the last buckets went down and the mixer stopped. Everyone came together high fiving or hugging but everyone was smiling.”
~ Hayden Erickson

“The most difficult part about going home by far was saying goodbye to the community. After being with them for almost a week we built strong and tight-knit relationships, even with the language barrier the interactions we had with everyone allowed us to teach as well as learn.”
~ CJ moore

“In Guatemala I saw numerous examples of kindness and welcoming behavior which set good examples for me to take back home to my house. Despite having little, they offered so much in ways that cannot be measured by money or possession.”
~ Bailey Brown

“This community changed me as a person.”
~ Remy Jenniges

Community Quotes:

“I want to express our gratitude, words fail to express, to Court for Kids and the student volunteers for supporting us in the construction of our multi-sport court, which will be a very important resource for our kids. The volunteers' stay left us with many fond memories, and we wish them many blessings.”
~ Marvin Estuardo Son, School teacher

“We've long dreamed of having a court for our community, but we knew it would be very difficult and impossible to achieve on our own. However, thanks to Court for Kids, this dream became possible today. We no longer have to dream anymore because this is a reality. We are very grateful to all the people who have made it possible to have this court, which will be of great benefit to the community.”
~María Veronica Ambrosio, School teacher

“As parents of the kids, we are very grateful because this is a great opportunity for the development of our community and a huge benefit for all of us, not just the kids. We are truly grateful for all the help provided to us.”
~ Oscar Ambrosio Boror, Community member

”We are a very small community with many needs. A project like the one we have today would have been impossible on our own. However, we are very grateful to the people who came to help us. We enjoyed their stay these past few days, and I hope they took away a good impression of us. God bless them and keep them safe.”
~ Sixto Cuyuch, Community member