Sienna Project 2019
Society & Culture, Practice & Voice

Sienna Project 2019: Greetings from Guatemala




This is my first time to be in Guatemala. I’m spending the next week with this awesome crew from All Souls and Tulsa. We are in Guatemala to build the 12th school for the Sienna Project.

The Sienna Project: A living legacy

The Sienna Project was started by my father, mother and brother-in-law after our daughter Sienna died in 2006. I am thrilled to finally have the opportunity to be here, excited for the adventure, and my heart is full to bursting knowing that not only Sienna’s legacy lives on in this very meaningful way, but that all these people’s lives are changed as well.

Sienna Project Guatemala CityWe traveled from Guatemala City to Chichicastenango, a small town in the mountain region near where we will be building the school.

On the drive up, our team shared “small world” stories as we got to know each other. We realized one couple in the group had bought their house from someone else in the group but they hadn’t met. Another person realized he lived two doors down from someone else in the group. It’s such a small world that they had to go to Guatemala to meet each other!

We’re all tired but excited to explore tomorrow looking especially forward to the famous open air market in Chichicastenango. More pictures and stories to come!


Over a three-day period, the group from Tulsa, Oklahoma, along with a team of local builders, will build the foundation and “body” of the school, fully-equipped with large windows, rooms, and a playground.

Last year, Rev. Marlin Lavanhar traveled with the 2018 Seinna Project team. Read more from Marlin’s experience connecting with the families and children in Panajxit, a small farming community in the mountains of Quiché, Guatemala.

1 Comments

  1. Capturing Moments: Photography as Meditation - BeyondBelief

    […] about her travels with All Souls including the Pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago and with the Sienna Project building a school in the Guatemala Highlands in honor of her late daughter […]

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