The Chadwick Chronicles

One Last Impression of Guatemala

This morning we met Feliciana. We were making ‘Thank You’ cards for our teachers in a cafe and Feliciana came up to our table to sell us today’s newspaper. She was so interested in what we were doing that she started to climb onto a seat so she could see better. She saw a scrap of paper and asked if she could have it. Of course, we said yes and found a few more to give her. She had to leave to sell another paper and later sat on the sidewalk outside the cafe. A few minutes later we noticed that she had taken those four simple strips of paper and had been playing with them. Elise almost immediately began to cry as we painted a picture of her living a life without the simple joy of toys. It’s such a mind blowing thought to think of a 7 or 8 years old girl working on a Saturday and not having a single toy.

Then we watched her for a little while longer. Almost immediately another tourist came up to her and began to almost dance with her, lifting her up as she would jump. The tourist then gave about $13, was shocked to see that she had no pockets or bag to hide the money in, and then walked away. Later we watched as she sat down with other tourists, then nationals, conversing and interacting as natural as their own child almost always resulting in them buying a paper from her. We decided to buy her a ‘happy meal’ that included a toy. When we found her again, she was dancing through the park not far away. She leapt from one person or group to another, always running back to her mother to retrieve another newspaper. Every time we tried to reach her she would disappear into a crowd only to show up in the midst of a new group with all eyes on her. By the time we reached her we had seen several others give her much more than a paper is worth. We even saw the tourist we had seen dance with her earlier return to give her a tiny purse to keep her money in. We needn’t tell you that this girl always had a smile on her face. She brought joy to everyone around her and everyone wanted to repay her for it. When we asked her her name, it was no surprise that her name is Feliciana, a form of the Spanish word for happy. It was such a blessing to know this little girl for such a short time. Feliciana was a pertinent reminder to be joyful in all situations and also that a joyful spirit can bring such blessing to everyone in its path.