Ellen Holste speaks to students about Peace Corps experience in Guatemala
Ellen Holste speaks to students about Peace Corps experience
Caption: Ellen Holste displays a colorful huipil (pronounced "weepell") during a talk with students from St. Mary’s School last week. Holste is a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala and shared some of her experiences over the past year with the students.
Humboldt High School graduate Ellen Holste spoke to fourth, fifth and sixth graders at St. Mary's School last week about her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. She also spoke to Taft fourth and fifth graders this week.
Holste, a 1999 HHS graduate and graduate of Augustana College, has been in Guatemala about a year, and after a few weeks at home, she'll return for another year and three months of service.
Holste has been working primarily in agriculture production, helping residents grow vegetable gardens, build greenhouses and also teaching them recipes to cook the vegetables they grow.
Holste is the daughter of Dan and Jean Holste of Humboldt. Her sister, Diane, accompanied her during the talk at St. Mary's.
Ellen said she spent the first three months in training, learning Spanish and learning about the Guatemala culture. For the past nine months, she has lived and worked in Tejutla, San Marcos, which is a mountainous region.
Guatemala's climate allows crops to be grown all year round. From May to November is the wet season where crops grow well. From December to April, it's the dry season and only irrigated gardens or fields grow well.
Guatemala, about the size of Tennessee, is located just south of Mexico and is part of Latin America. The country has a mix of mountains, rain forests, cropland, volcanoes and more. She has climbed dormant volcanoes and has experienced small earthquakes.
The majority of Guatemala people work in agriculture. Corn, beans and squash are grown in the same field. The bean plant grows up the corn stalk, and squash provides ground cover. They export coffee, bananas, cardamom (spice) and macadamia nuts.
Corn is used to make tortillas, which are served at nearly every meal. Lunch is the big meal of the day.
Holste showed students examples of the currency used in Guatemala, and also had purses, a flag and more to show students. A blanket called a huipil, made from regional designs and used in women's clothing was especially colorful. Each region has a different design and quilts are made that incorporate many of these regional designs.
