Cross+Cultural+Commmunication

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 * Cross-Cultural Communication **

Through the development of this project we spoke to two individuals familiar with San Pablo and the Guateca program. We spoke to Wendy, a Guatemalan Gueteca student working with Las Mujeres to understand the desires and hesitations of the community. We also interviewed Rory Aaronson, a past Californian Guateca student about his cultural understandings and experiences.

From our communication experiences, we learned that community involvement is the best option. Creating relationships with the locals to share with them is the most culturally-sensitive way to implement these technologies.


 * Communication with Wendy **
 * Email Correspondence through the quarter **

San Pablans didn’t quite inquire much about Guateca construction during the first Guateca Program in which he went to
 * Interview with Rory **
 * Meeting with Kirsten and Victoria with Rory Aronson: 10/29/12**

There are only a few places with traffic, church, and the tienda/store to post any information

120 households, 1000 people roughly

The women are very busy with domestic duties and the men should be targeted for immersing them in Guateca endeavors.

A progressive family took him in and he stayed with them.

The education of adults is low; father works a lot

No street signs

Community meetings regularly happen with about 30 to 40 people

The church is a good place for the community to gather and could be a potential place to post information

The younger youth are the most excited and inquisitive about the projects of Guateca (ages 6 to 11); those around 15 to 16 graduate school to start work

If the youth don’t go to a university, they start working on the farm/land

Community leaders need to be the ones pitching ideas/leading meetings because they are trusted and respected by the people. Ex. Wendy, Yoni, Ulysses, Mace, and Christian

Local students in college at a neighboring city; they have Saturday classes

Apprenticeship programs for the younger students include woodshop, sewing, bread making, and appropriate tech could be led as well

The Guateca website provides graphs, analysis, etc. on app. techs. and it is too much physics and not impressive for people who need to understand it.

A booklet/manual could be profitable. Include diagram/pics, materials list, how you can assemble it, trouble-shooting –essentially, “dumbing it down”

How could the booklet be used? Simple form for what each app. tech. is doing, how you can incorporate them into your daily life; needs to be well done/simplified; booklet should be laminated and in Guateca house, laminated pages so that people could do a self-tour if need be

Hard to navigate Guateca website; important that it be trimmed down to be read easily

Full report should be online of who/what numbers can be contacted of people who worked on app. techs. specifically in Guatemala

The goal is trying to spread these technologies and right now they are not immediately accessible to anyone who is NOT involved in Guateca.

How can this booklet, or other thing, be applied here to disseminate information in a digestible way?