A series of natural disasters in Guatemala cut short the trip of a lifetime for 31 K-State students.

An earthquake, a volcanic eruption, flooding and the tropical storm Agatha all came at the worst time for students on a faculty-led study abroad experience. The education department required them to leave the country early for safety reasons.

The students left for Guatemala on May 15 to teach English to elementary-school children and earn K-State credit. They were scheduled to return on June 4.

Ashley Schmitter, junior in elementary education, said the natural disasters struck during the group's second week in Guatemala City.

"Overall, the trip was a bit frustrating due to the lack of organization from day one, but communication issues were due to the large number of students that went on the trip in the first place," said Katie Ford, senior in elementary education. "However, from a teaching point of view, the trip was extremely valuable. The children there were so eager to learn and they really stole my heart."

During the short time they were there, the K-State students were able to teach the children because they were very interested in learning English. However, Ford said the U.S. educational system and the Guatemalan educational system had some differences, most notably the style of classroom management.

"The children could get up and walk around the classroom or lay on the floor during a lesson," she said. "What was appropriate is different, but it worked with their culture."
Schmitter said the students from K-State were scattered around the city with different host families who housed the students. There was a communication barrier because not all the Guatemalan families were fluent in English.

The K-State students were able to travel around the city on the breaks to do some shopping and site-seeing. Ironically, during that time, Ford climbed the volcano that would erupt and cover the city in ash three days later.

"The ash looked exactly like black snow and covered the streets and houses," Schmitter said. "It lasted for five hours altogether, however, we were not in any danger of the lava."
After the volcanic eruption, intense flooding soon became the next issue.

Tropical storm Agatha was expected to form into a hurricane and the flooding required the students to leave their host families and spend four nights in hotels in Guatemala City and El Salvador, Ford said. She also said there were breakdowns in communication because not all the host familes had telephone lines.    

"Certain lower areas of the country were flooded, but we were never in any immediate danger and nobody actually felt the earthquake," Ford said. "Our main concern was getting back home - we didn't want to be stuck in the country."

Fortunately for the group, Ford said once they re-congregated at the hotel, communication became much easier. However, the communication brought not only good news but also bad news.

"At the hotel we found out we could be stuck in Guatemala for several weeks, due to road and airport closures," she said.

Ford said the schedule was changing almost every hour and it was a hectic time for everybody.

"This series of events was so unforeseen and so unexpected, I don't blame anyone for the confusion," she said.

The group traveled to El Salvador by bus and then flew back to the U.S.

Schmitter said everyone made it home safely by June 2, two days prior to their expected return date.

"I would do it all over again, and I would love to go back," she said. "Besides the emotions and frustrations, it was a really valuable experience."