​​​The beginning....

  In spring, 2010, a group of men answered an invitation to travel to Guatemala and volunteer on a school construction project. The work was hard, and the heat was blistering.

Roaming the impoverished village in which they worked, were a few pigs, the livestock of the locals. The pigs wore cumbersome triangles of sticks crudely tied around their necks to prevent them from wandering into village homes.  On one afternoon, a member of the group, took a break and walked down the hill to be alone. He was exhausted, sore from the hard work, and weak from the hot midday sun. He missed his family and was emotionally drained from the poverty that he witnessed throughout the village. He was at his lowest.

As he sat there, he realized that one of the pigs had approached and stood nearby. The pig wore a yoke around its neck. He and the pig rested for a while, as though comforting each other for the burdens which they each carried. He named his pig Arnold. 

​​​​As the week progressed, other members of the group noticed a pig standing nearby when they were at their lowest…tired, sore, or in pain. They each found comfort in its presence. Arnold came to represent compassion, kindness and an outreach to others.