Felix moves for gaia: Cooking for Guatemala
Part 2
It’s time for an update!
Félix has been quite busy these days in Guatemala, where he is developing the project ‘Felix cooks for Guatemala’ to help people that are affected by recent volcanic eruptions. Up until now, our chef organized four sessions of selling crêpes on the streets in order to collect money for the (food) events he organizes. “I think a bigger campaign, with the right timing and communication, could be really lucrative for our project. We notice that the crêpes sell really well!” according to Félix.
A couple of days ago, Félix and his collaborators went to the market to collect about 5 to 10 kilos of fresh vegetables that otherwise would have been thrown away. They used these vegetables for a small charity diner at their hostel. They sold the plates for a symbolic amount of 30 quetzals for the benefit of the project. Also, two of Félix’s most active project collaborators bought footballs. “Footballs are one of the first things every child we meet at shelters mentions when we ask what they are in need of”, says Félix. “In fact, all these kids have nothing to do during the day, as their school is used as an emergency shelter. So they play football most of the time in the main square, where a part of the camp is settled. These kids love football, can’t watch the world cup and using poor plastic balls is their only option. So we used 100 quetzals from the crêpe revenue to buy two balls for them.”
On June 21, Félix met Amy, a girl from the States who’s been in Guatemala for a long time already, and the group of people she hangs out with. Félix: “We spent all day in a clinic in Escuintla to help classifying medicines. Amy has been helping the people of the clinic for 10 days already, and developed an Excel classification schedule in an attempt to organize it all.”
“I’ve managed to establish great contacts here, it’s become a really small world. Travelers keep settling here, so it’s getting easier to get in contact with people who might be interested in helping as well.”
“In the camp in Escuintla, a great amount of donations (primary goods) is stored. Which is great, but it takes quite some time before everything is sorted, piled up, and eventually distributed. More or less 10 locals were trying to sort everything, while a group of 20 military men was watching. There was no efficient organization. So we decided to collect fresh food at the market and share it directly with people who needed it most.”
Stay tuned for more updates and don’t forget to donate through https://bunq.me/felixcooksforguatemala! And follow Félix’s project on www.instagram.com/felixcooksforguatemala. Are you traveling in the area of Antigua Guatemala and Escuintla and do you want to help Félix collect donations and organize (food) events for victims of the eruption? Find Félix’s phone number in his Instagram bio!
