Guatemala: Human Rights and the Environment

Pre-Guatemala

At the airport: We had a torta (Mexican sandwich) emergency(we were told we couldn't take our tortas on the plane with us, so we began to eat our tortas like mad...but then realized we had a good hour before we had to board the plane)...
SJGELA left for Guatemala City May 4th. We met up with Ruth and Fidel, CGE staff in Guatemala, at the airport (along with Gloria, fidel’s daughter who stayed with us to practice her English). We spent the first few days in Guatemala City then we left for the East coast Wednesday, staying with families in Livingston one evening and sleeping in the jungle along the Río Dulce at Ak’tenamit (cooperative school for indigenous youth living along the river). The next evening before our long road trip back to the capital, we survived the four-hour, sometimes six-hour winding mountainous van rides. Our group really came together during our time in Guatemala. We had discussed our hopes and fears before leaving – not only with regards to the content of our visits, talking about the 36-year long civil war in Guatemala, but also how we as SJGELA would survive together in such close quarters! We supported one another, we listened, and we definitely came back to Mexico on may 12^th exhausted and overwhelmed. Fortunately, we’re still debriefing and preparing for our return to the States, and despite the rush to finish up final projects, things are looking up.

Political & Economic Update

Our first evening in Guatemala a speaker came to la Casa de los Amigos, where we stayed while we were in the capital, for this talk. He shared information with us about Guatemala to situate us politically, socially, culturally, and historically. During our debriefing most of us agreed that this talk deeply moved all of us. He began by conceding that we all understand reality from different perspectives, with different lenses and that he carries with him various lenses; those of a theologian, a psychologist, an historian, a marxist, and a christian for peace. I think we could dedicate a whole blog to this speaker, but there are still several more talks and visits to mention...However, he did share a few stories with us that we all continue to discuss, and I think it is appropriate to spread at least one of those stories through this medium. He was expressing the importance of women in society, and how women organize much more easier because they organize from the heart, and then he told us about "mamá nieves".

"Mamá nieves" is 54 years old and has 12 kids. She now has eight kids – four are in la "mara salvatrucha", an urban gang, and four of them are in la "mara dieciocho" (another gang). Mamá nieves is a woman who defends gang members in her community where almost every family is affected by gang violence. "Mamá nieves" doesn’t have a lot; every morning she sells coffee and tortillas from her wheelbarrow in her neighborhood. When she makes beans at home, first she feeds her family, then she leaves the other food out for all those who pass by. It’s “la comida de la comunidad” and all kinds of people eat it: the police, the gang members...While she lives in a neighborhood where violence is a daily reality, she has a lot of hope, and believes that we are all invited to do small things for all of humanity... and that is resistance.

Speakers Galore in Guatemala

We moved from meeting to meeting: Victor spoke with us about mining; Leonorilda spoke with us about gender and women’s rights;

Calixta invited us to participate in a Mayan ceremony; there was lots of smoke involved - and the four candles: white, black, yellow, and red represent the four directions.

SJGELA after the ceremony at Iximche.

A representative from FAMDEGUA (Association of the Family Members of the Detained & Disappeared in Guatemala) spoke with us; we met a woman from the URNG (the Guatemalan guerrilla movement that signed peace accords with the government in 1995 that is now a political party); another woman from CONAVIGUA (National Widow's Association) took us to meet with four women whose husbands had recently been exhumed and their bodies returned to their families.

We also visited the largest garbage dump in Central America.

We toured the Dole shipping plant at Puertos Barrios on the Atlantic Coast.

This is the SJGELA at the plant.

We met Gloria and her cousin in Livingston to learn more about Garifuna culture and spirituality.

We traveled by boat while we were along the coast - from Puertos Barrios to Livingston, from Livingston to Siete Altares, from Siete Altares to Ak'tenamit...

SJGELA at Siete Altares with Gloria's cousin who spoke with us about garifuna history and spirituality.

Then we traveled to Ak’tenamit where Sandino was a great host, and we were fortunate enough to see "Proyeto Payaso", o "Payasos sin Fronteras, skits designed to share information about HIV/AIDS with those who do not have access to that information.

Ak’tenamit

Ak’tenamit was founded in 1992 because villages along the Río Dulce did not have access to basic services such as education and health care. Fifteen years later, Ak’tenamit provides services to 32 of the 100+ indigenous villages along the Río Dulce focusing on community development. Ak’tenamit offers programs in health, education, income generation (sustainable agriculture, vocational training, and eco-tourism), environmental conservation, community development, gender equity, and Mayan culture. While we were there, we ate in the restaurant/cafeteria where students studying tourism work to prepare the food, and attend to visitors in order to gain practical lived experience about the career they are studying. We walked around with Sandino and learned about their sustainable agriculture projects and how the students help to grow what they eat. We learned about the yuca plant and how the yuca feeds the 400+ students who study at Ak’tenamit. we had an amazing time walking around with Sandino learning more about the students, the school, and future projects – we’re all excited for a return so that we can all sleep together in hammocks and bathe in the river...o.k., also so we can spend more time at the school talking with the students there.

Showing us how to sleep in hammocks without hurting our backs...we tried to perfect the position but most of us weren't successful!

Debriefing and bringing it back

Obviously we have a lot to think about after all of these amazing visits. As a group, we talked about what we felt were some of the common themes, and we all agreed that many of the people we met with were working towards breaking the silence around fear and violence while working toward justice and reconciliation. and the struggle for peoples’ rights to their culture is familiar to the majority of Guatemaltecas (e.g. Garífunas y indígenas).

Right now we are in our last week and focusing on how we will be able to share these experiences when we get back to our communities in the U.S. Many of us are still struggling about how we will do this, and at what levels we should be doing our work. We met with young activists from Cuernavaca this week. Most of us feel relieved after hearing about their decisions to do the work they do. It helped us to realize the many opportunities we have in our own communities, and gives us hope that other young people are working toward social justice – and we are learning from their strength.