Astrid is the youngest of Estela’s three kids. Her small stature is a clear indication that, like many Guatemalan children, she suffered from malnutrition at an early age, perhaps even before birth. Malnutrition is clearly born of poverty but also of ignorance. Mothers think that if a child is not hungry because they are full of tortillas and bread that all is well. Few of the un and under-educated understand that there is little if any nutrition in such a diet. I first met Astrid when she was five. She had blotchy skin on her face, a further indicator of less than perfect nutrition. However, it quickly became obvious than malnutrition had not adversely effected Astrid’s brain. For lack of resources Astrid had not yet been to school but she was intensely curious about everything and more than ready to start school.
As happens here one feels obliged to do what they can to improve the lives of the less fortunate. Along the way there was some fundraising and networking which provided a small piece of land and a modest house for Astrid’s family who had been sharing a single room with two beds and no bathroom. As you can see from the photo below Astrid’s spunk was obvious at a young age.
Along with her older siblings I was able to rescue all three from the government public schools and get them into a private colegio, which, as it turned out, was only slightly better than the government school.
Astrid quickly became the star in the first grade but in the second grade she was not allowed to outshine the classmate who was the daughter of the director. Perhaps, Astrid’s first encounter with Guatemalan corruption. Gladly, an international school started up and Astrid became one of their first students. It was an intense year as she did not speak English and shortly before she started at the school her father, Alex, was arrested for heinous crimes which resulted in, effectively, a life sentence in prison. Astrid was told that she would have to repeat the sixth grade and her comment was “I am going to graduate from that school if I have to repeat every grade, then I am going to become a professional and go to the prison and tell my father what a jerk he is.”
After spending a summer in the United States Astrid’s curiosity about all things got the best of her when she was fifteen and she turned up pregnant. Despite everyone’s reservations she had a baby at sixteen and never missed a beat at the International School. Her son, Beyker, had the good sense to be a month premature allowing his mom to return to school on schedule in September. Beyker was three when his mom graduated from high school.
The pandemic got in the way of Astrid’s plans to start medical school. She accepted a job with a call center and put her university plans on hold. Once the universities opened up again, after some consideration, Astrid tabled her medical school plan for something more realistic for a single mother. She is now in her third (of five) year of university studying criminology and political crime. Very timely given that Guatemala recently elected the first honest president in some seventy years. Lots of political crime to be investigated. Astrid continues to work most nights for the call center, currently taking calls and abuse from Lyft customers. “Don’t take any of it personally,” she advised Diego, her step-brother, who lasted two weeks with the same call center.
Astrid and Beyker, who is now in the first grade, do their homework together. Beyker uploads his on his mom’s computer. Recently Astrid’s dedication to her call center work paid off in that she was invited to visit the call center’s headquarters in Athens, Greece. Completely unexpected. She was told that she was one of their best employees (perhaps one of the few who lasted more than two months) and the only one invited from Central America. As the most direct route to Greece from Guatemala is through Madrid she has been given permission to stop over in Madrid on her way back to visit Diego who is in his first year at IE University.
We are currently dealing with the challenges of solo international travel for a young woman from a rural village who never expected to leave Guatemala again in her lifetime. She asked me “what is a credit card?” Hopefully, her employer can manage that lack in Athens with the hotel. In Madrid she will have an AirBnB room near Diego’s residence and won’t need a credit card. She had to open a Paypal account so that she could use an e-sim international data plan to stay connected. Hopefully, with euros and dollars in hand and her local debit card and an internet connection she will find her way to Greece and Madrid and back to San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Sacatapequéz, Guatemala. Felicitaciones Astrid! You’ve earned your wings. Buen viaje!
What a journey!