A four year old child responding to an inquiry about how to solve problems or conflicts made a comment about bringing a machete. This begs the question, what has he seen? La Limonada is one of the most dangerous and poverty-stricken areas of Guatemala City, and seventy percent of the children have been physically, emotionally or sexually abused. Nevertheless, the children there have the same needs as children in the safest gated communities of America.

Monday through Thursday, 200 children can separate themselves from life in the slum, if only for a couple of hours. Many of them receive their only meals of the day there, in addition to a safe learning environment. As with Safe Passage near the trash dump, the school in La Limonada is an oasis in a slum.

The school’s walls, filled with rainbows, beach scenes and exotic animals, are a stark contrast to the grays of cinder block and cement and the reddish brown of rusting sheet metal characteristic of the area.

Following an earthquake in the area that is now the slum, many people were displaced. With free room, some came to setup temporary houses; others followed suit, and the houses became permanent. Now, sixty thousand people live in La Limonada.

The school is set in a ravine. Looking up the hills, the shacks appear stacked atop one another. In some cases, the houses are stacked.

From the top floor of the school, I looked out the window. I saw houses a foot from a ravine that dropped into the creek, which smelled of sewage. The source of the smell was readily apparent. Pipes from the houses spilled their water into the creek; a boy poured a bucket of waste into the trash-filled, murky, brown water. I saw the same people and dogs walking around the block over and over, among them a teenager sniffing glue.

But there are small beauties interspersed among the not-so-aesthetically-pleasing setting. There’s a great deal of foliage between or crawling up the houses; green is everywhere. There are hummingbirds flying around fruit trees. And there is the school.

As we headed into the slum and towards the school, we had to back up to allow another van to get around us. The car before it came within inches of us as it passed. We parked at the end of the narrow street, and Liz Herrera, Central American BuildaBridge Institute Coordinator, escorted us to the building.

We dropped our things off in the library. There was a carpet covering part of the floor. It was slightly dirty, but shoes were not allowed. A giraffe was painted on the wall. A television, computer and vhs player were in the room. However, the reward for good behavior at the school was reading time.

Waiting for the children to finish breakfast, several members of our group set up their classes. I had the opportunity to speak with one of the translators working in the school, Luis Pedro.

“I am a miracle,” he said. Five years ago, he was mugged in one of the wealthiest parts of the city but survived the bullet wound to his head. While he was paralyzed for a year, the only physical remnant of his injury is a large scar on the back of his head. Despite this incidence, he says he is not afraid and feels that he must serve others.

The children could hear the music as they climbed the stairs. The teachers sang the theme song of the week as they found their seats on the bench. The room was painted the same pastel orange and green found on buildings throughout the city. There were posters, bookshelves, benches and tables around the room. When all of the children were seated, Herrera introduced all of us. She said all of our names, and the children shouted them back. Then, line by line, Eastern graduate student David Melby-Gibbons sang the theme song, and the children parroted. By the end of the week, the goal is for everyone to know the song.

Soon thereafter, groups broke off into classes that they will attend for the rest of the week. Eastern graduate students Celmali Jaime, Leah Samuelson, Aleea Slappy and Melby-Gibbons led classes in dance, visual art, drama and music, respectively. BuildaBridge intern Erica Breitbarth co-teaches music, and Shannon Cassadayho, a former BuildaBridge intern and ESL teacher, co-teaches drama.

Each class begins with the song, motto and rules, and the class ends with the song and motto. Many of the day’s activities were dedicated to introductory activities. Often, the children shared their names, the rest of the group repeating the name with an accompanying motion. Other activities were related to the theme of the day, think it out. The idea of thinking for oneself before confronting another was stressed throughout the day. Think it out is one of the four steps connected to the larger theme of the week, peace-making.

After a long break, the children arrived for their lunch shortly before the 2-4 p.m. shift. The free time allowed discussion of the morning’s successes and failures.

The teachers agreed that, in general, the afternoon classes went smoother than those in the morning. Samuelson noted, however, that it was difficult for the children to embrace creative expression because all of their previous artistic instruction has been dedicated to methodology, such as how to paint or how to draw correctly. Jaime found that it took a little longer to get the afternoon group of preteens to focus because of some flirting.

Throughout the year, groups like BuildaBridge come to La Limonada to lend a hand at the school that Tita ­­Evertsz started eight years ago. The children attend the school January through November. They must make a commitment to come every day, and a parent must come for a Saturday conference once a month.

After visiting places like La Limonada, it’s difficult to avoid describing the scene sensationally. Going to places like La Limonada is a sensational experience.