In this article our founder Thomas tells you how he spent Christmas 2008 as  “el Gringo Gigante” in Guatemala.

“After graduation from university my two best friends and I went travelling to South and Central America. Before going back to Berlin, I spent two months in Guatemala, where I worked at the Vamos Adelante Foundation.

The organization, which was founded by Nina Jorgensen, is now active in 24 villages in the region of Esquintla in Guatemala. The team, which consists almost exclusively of local women, puts all their heart and an incredible amount of work in improving the living conditions in the villages. 2008 Nina and her team was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit of Germany for their outstanding work.

Well, in 2008 it turned out that Santa Claus could not come by to bring the presents so I stepped in. I’m 1,90 m tall, a little taller than the real Santa Claus so the trousers (see below) were a little short. By the way, 1,90m is also tall enough to go by the nickname “El Gringo Gigante”. As Santa Claus, I hugged a few thousand children in the next two days and said just as often: “HO HO HO Feliz Navidad”. Luckily I wore short pants because it was really burning hot there sitting in the sun all day. A little different from Christmas at home.

Many of the children that were about to get a present and a hug from Santa Claus had other problems though. They saw themselves confronted by a huge gringo with a long white beard. Especially for the really little ones this was too much. They just stood in front of me and broke out in tears. After a friendly hug, most of them realized though that Santa Claus is not so bad after all.

I’ll never forget this Christmas. It was an incredibly rewarding experience and also one of the reasons why with Photocircle we want to give something back to the people and countries we love.

At the beggining of next year, we are planning to do an auction with some of our photographers. With the incoming money, we plan to support the Vamos Adelante Foundation in their outstanding efforts to improve the living conditions of the local communites.

Have a great Christmas,

Your Gringo Gigante “