Cemetery and City Dump

We visited the Cemetery and City Dump last week. You might think that is a really odd thing to do as a tourist destination. It's even weirder that the two are right beside each other. But, there is a reason for it.

First, we stopped at the cemetery. There are lots of extravagant graves that are privately owned by families. There were pyramids, statues, and all kinds of things. These are for the very rich people. We soon got where the rest of the Guatemalans are buried. It's stacks and stacks of little graves on top of each other....kind of like the drawers we have in the states. Guatemalans pay $2 per year for the grave. If their family doesn't pay, they chisel out the grave and toss the caskets and everything into the dump!!! There are piles and piles along the edge of the dump. It's sooo sad!

The dump is a whole different story. It's a huge valley that they made a dump. It's slowly getting filled up. It's estimated that over 10,000 people live in the dump. There are little cardboard and plastic houses, mangy dogs, and vultures everywhere. It smelled like dead bodies....so horrible. It's such a disturbing thought...it's really hard to comprehend. We just stood there for a while trying to take it all in. I took a ton of pictures so watch the slide show.

Sis. L told us about a man who started coming to their church. They found out a little bit later that he lived in the dump. This man told his neighbors about the church and started winning them to God. The man paid his tithes faithfully every week...1 Q ($0.13). God began to bless him and he got a job as a mechanic. He was so excited! His family could move out of the dump. God continued to bless him and he now owns 4 mechanic shops. One of the neighbors he witnessed too got the Holy Ghost, went to Bible school, and is now one of the pastors here! God really does know exactly where we are and exactly what we can become!

P.S. You can view the captions by clicking and then rolling your mouse over the pictures.