reading — World News, Travel and Social Action

There is a strong relationship between educational advances and communities being lifted out of poverty. In the case of Guatemala during the COVID-19 pandemic, this link has manifested itself much more directly.

Clothes washing in Quetzaltenango. Lon&Queta. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Guatemala, boasting a distinctly Mayan heritage and a landscape peppered with volcanoes, offers an inspiring experience to the open-minded traveler. However, despite the bright and bustling aspects of the nation, a substantial portion of Guatemala’s residents live in poverty. Standing as the fifth-poorest country in Latin America, Guatemala has taken a particular hit with COVID-19 regulations restricting economic functions. In addition, Guatemala has the sixth-highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world; nearly half of the population of children suffers from stunting due to malnourishment. The statistic increases notably in rural areas with a malnourishment rate reaching 70%.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only aggravated the poverty predicament, with Indigenous populations facing the bulk of the damage. The government has fallen dramatically short on providing health care and financial support, causing the creatively resilient Guatemalan people to snap into action. In Quetzaltenango, resident Bonifaz Díaz has created an innovative method to provide support to his neighbors in need: he set up a book-barter system. Every day, Díaz bikes with hefty sacks of books donated to his organization, 32 Volcanoes, and trades them for food donations from food secure families. Although a simple concept, this has been no easy task. The arduous job surely keeps Díaz in shape; he has cycled over 1,200 miles feeding families, and has traveled as far as 37 miles for a single delivery.

Stay-at-home orders have diminished the town’s morale, but Díaz is determined to hold up hope. The number of children supported by his project has tripled during the pandemic, but luckily two more bikers have offered their help. Most families offer a bag of Incaparina, an inexpensive but protein-packed cereal mix made from corn and soy. A bag provides about a week’s worth of servings, but the low price point is still out of reach for many. About 97% of residents live on a dollar a day or less, so even cheap food made to fight malnourishment cannot completely solve the problem. The bright-red Incaparina bags are commonly the only source of nutrients on families’ shelves, but it has proven to keep malnourishment at bay for some.

By creating a system that allows families to benefit themselves while helping others, many hope that this program will continue to bear far-reaching results. The poverty problem cannot be solved by a single person or fixed in one day, but with every resident lending a hand, considerable headway can be made.

Ella is an undergraduate student at Vassar College pursuing a degree in Hispanic Studies. She wants to assist in the field of immigration law and hopes to utilize Spanish in her future projects. In her free time she enjoys cooking, writing poetry, and learning about cosmetics.

As the pandemic continues on, many have rekindled their love for reading to pass the time. Books are a world of their own that can take the reader on a journey beyond their bedroom or couch, giving the brain a break from the turbulent world outside. Thankfully for book lovers, imaginary places in text can easily come to life through literary tours.

These tours take readers through famous writers’ homes, the towns they lived in, and the places that inspired them. They are guided by literary experts who detail the history and biography of the authors while highlighting the settings of the books and sometimes even poetry, always making sure to address the location’s significance in reference to the text. These types of tours are available on almost every continent and whatever genre is your preference, there is a tour for you.

For fans of classic British writers, readers can take advantage of tours in the United Kingdom such as the “Jane Austen Tour,” the “Charles Dickens Tour,” and even visits to the house that the Brontes were raised in. Some of these tours even include stays in hotels the authors frequented, such as a stay at the five-star Brown’s Hotel–the oldest hotel in London–on the “Agatha Christie Tour.” It is said that Christie was a regular guest at the hotel and some believe that Brown’s inspired her novel “At Bertram’s Hotel.”

Brown's Hotel. cgespino. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida. faungg. CC BY-ND 2.0.

Those who enjoy modernist American writings can visit the home, and now museum, of Ernest Hemingway in Old Town Key West, Florida. While it is an independent tour with guides ready for questions, the Hemingway Home is more than just an estate. After touring the home, one can meet some of the 40 cats that roam the garden surrounding the house, famously known as “Hemingway’s cats” for their extra paw appendage. The rooms and gardens of the Hemingway Home are where he crafted some of his greatest works, and the beauty of Key West makes it apparent what drove his inspiration.

Bookworms with an appreciation for Japanese culture can take a tour guided by Asian Art Tours called “Japan from Cover to Cover.” Travelers are provided with transportation, public or private based on your preference, with the tour beginning in Tokyo. Spanning 10 days, each day introduces visitors not only to a place of literary significance, like Matsue Castle, a favorite spot of renowned author Lafcadio Hearn, but also to a notable writer currently living in Japan. They range in occupation, from journalist to haiku poet to a professor of Japanese folklore. The tour ends with a trip to the Adachi Museum of Art. This tour is remarkable as it completely immerses participants in Japanese culture through firsthand experience.

Adachi Museum of Art. naoyafujii. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Literary tours are something to look forward to in a post-pandemic world, and they bring greater life to the books we fall in love with. They are a way to bring further appreciation to favorite novels and poems, all while providing scenery and knowledge unique to books themselves.