TODAY in Guatemala

2011-05-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

AT LAST!

I'm finally getting down to the business of reporting what I have been doing here in Guatemala.

First: A huge thank you to all the wonderful friends who answered the call for donations for the children who attend the hospital in Santiago. I was able to deliver a large duffel bag of baby blankets and clothes, lots of kid's vitamins, crayons, coloring books and other medications as well as yummy chocolate for the staff! The hospital was most appreciative of the thoughtfulness and generosity of all those who donated.

LtoR: Lyn Dickey and Karin Bergstresser

A momentous event happened this past week. Most of you will remember the devastation that occurred in Panabaj after the mudslides that Hurricane Stan caused.

Concepción and the remains of her home

Two of the surviving Panabaj families, Diego and Mercedes and Gregorio and Concepción were built houses in a cooperative venture between The Ayudamos Foundation and Cojolya. They were told then that we would hold title for five years and then the titles would be transferred to their names and they would own the property free and clear. Well, five years sped by and it was time for the property to be turned over to the families. This photo is of the families when the houses were being built, including some of our volunteers.

The houses near completion

This week, Atun (representative of Cojolya) and I spent many hours waiting outside the Muni office with the families, attempting to get the process completed. The first day we waited about five hours and were not able to even get the process started. It was a wonderful day anyway because it seems at some point in the day everyone in Santiago passes by the Muni offices and I was re-acquainted with many friends and had lots of great visits while we were waiting. By the time we actually did get into the office itself, their computers crashed and that was that. We were back the next day as well and the day after that....Finally, the new titles were issued and they were presented to the families.

Presenting titles to the families

The families gifted me with a local painting of Lake Atitlan as well as a beautiful rebosa that they had woven for me. I was also treated to a delightful lunch. Good times!

2011-02-19T12:41:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my other post, I am returning to Guatemala on March 29th. I have been following the progress of the Hospitalito Atitlan and Ayudamos would like to help them in some way upon our return.

They have a wish list of non-medical items that I am posting here in the hopes that our supporters will consider donating these items. I have had to edit the list as to what I am able to hand carry. Please contact me if you are interested in sending me away with a full bag of goodies for this hospital and the babies and children they serve:

Children’s Multi-vitamins
Socks for babies and children
Receiving blankets for babies
Baby clothes
Cloth diapers
Sponges
Plastic Ziplock bags, ESPECIALLY JUMBO and SNACK size
Crayons and coloring books
Chocolate (boosts staff morale)

Please Note: The vitamins must NOT be expired or even near the expiry date in order for the hospital to accept them.
The baby clothes can be new AND gently used. Preemie and newborn clothes are great because babies there tend to be smaller than here in Canada.

Please contact me as soon as possible so we can arrange for pickup.
Thank you all for considering to support this integral community service in Santiago Atitlan!
Check them out here: www.hospitalitoatitlan.org

Saludos, Sandra

2011-02-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

It is almost two years to the day of my last post. I was involved in a very traumatic incident in Guatemala and the past two years have basically been a time of grieving and working through some issues caused by the event.

I am happy to report that I am feeling better and now am planning to return to the country at the end of March. Ayudamos will continue to support educational projects and so it is my purpose to find a project that fits our mandate and goals.

I will post photos and continue to blog when I am back in Santiago to advise you of what Ayudamos will be doing in 2011.

2009-02-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 5, 2009

This past couple of weeks, things have slowed down a bit for me workwise and so I took the opportunity to act as a translator for a Canadian medical team, Médicos en Acción. The group is based in Kamloops, BC, but brought nurses, doctors and team helpers from all over British Columbia and Alberta. I went with them to Recantacaj, Nahuala, about an hour drive from Panajachel. There were two translators in each exam room, Quiché to Spanish and Spanish to English. The community was very welcoming and we had a great time getting to know many of the residents who came to seek medical attention. The community organizers Fe y Amor had a lovely going away party for us, with Folklorico Dancing, a Marimba band and gifts to thank the team for the work they did in the community. Check out the website for Médicos here: http://www.medicos-en-accion.com/ They are a wonderful group of new friends and deserve to be applauded and supported for the wonderful work they are doing here in Guatemala.

2009-01-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

January 29, 2009

Well, the new school year is off to a roaring start. We were very fortunate to receive another grant from THE WILD ROSE FOUNDATION of Alberta and so this year were able to take on new projects and children within our school. The past month I have been here has been spent taking applications from families, conducting home visits and reviewing the progress of last year's students. I am happy to report all of our 2008 students were promoted to the next grade. They have all been attending school faithfully and working hard at achieving passing grades. We have added 5 new students to last year's 16, bringing our total to 21!

Our new music classroom is now in use even though they have very few instruments at this point. We have just placed an order for many new instruments and they should be delivered in the next month or so.

As a result of receiving the matching grant, we were able to hire three more full time teachers; in music, physical education and English. We are the only primary school to offer three languages in the lake area. It will definitely give our students an advantage.

We have also ordered 20 new desks to be made locally for our new music classroom. It was lovely the other day when I heard the sounds coming out of the classroom; children singing and simple rhythm instruments keeping time. It really is rewarding to see the results of the work we are doing here.

Next week all our children will present me with their uniforms as many have grown out of their pantalones and will require bigger sizes. We will get them ordered right away as they take a lot of pride in their school clothes and the sense of belonging that comes with them. They wear sweat pants and t-shirts that identify them as students of La Escuela Bilingue Integral Santiaguito.

Also, in the next week, we will be working out a schedule for the volunteering that our children do in the community. More on that then!

2008-01-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

January 25, 2008

Yesterday was the final day of work in Santiago, at least for this trip. The kids are attending school every day now and are settling in to their new routines. Several of them surprised me by presenting me with cards, letters and drawings. They wrote them in Spanish and read them out loud to me. It was a very touching moment. One of our students, Elena, who is now 13 and in Grade 2, read her card to me which was carefully printed. It moved me to tears, because just last year she didn't speak a word of Spanish so to hear her read her card was very special.

The construction work is progressing on the new music classroom. I am always humbled by how hard the construction work is here. Two men (one really no more than a boy) mixing, lime, cement and gravel on the ground with a shovel, as though they were mixing a large mud pie. They have formed the foundation for the classroom and have worked many long days to get the base of the classroom made. When it is finished it will be a lovely addition to the school. It is in the garden area and I can envision many afternoons working in my office and listening to the sounds of students attempting to master their instruments.

I have a couple of days to get myself organized for my return to Canada. I will miss the beautiful hot weather we have been having this past couple of weeks.

2008-01-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

January 21, 2008

It is hard to imagine I have been here over three weeks and this is my first blog. It has been a very busy time so I will try and recap the highlights of our activities.

Vivian Pritchard of Calgary came with me for the first two weeks. El Norte was blowing fiercely (and coldly!) and for several days the lanchas did not run across the lake. We made good use of our "down" time by shopping for Ayudamos' upcoming sales. We have bought a lot of different and beautiful things and we look forward to sharing them with you during our new sales season.

Our second week was spent in Santiago, making home visits to the new applicants of our program. That was a very interesting event and it made us glad we took the time to see the homes. Also, that week Juanita, Vivian and I bought the school supplies for our kids. You don't really go inside a store per se, there is just a window and a counter and you tell the person what you want. Luckily they had big boxes, because we bought nearly all our supplies for the 16 students there.

A meeting was organized with our scholarship recipients and their parents, and Francisco Sojuel, the director of ADISA, which is a centre for children and adults with disabilities. We have made it a condition of the scholarship program that the children volunteer one day a month in community service. They will be working at ADISA to satisfy this requirement, in order to build awareness and compassion for persons with disabilities.

Vivian left at the end of the second week and another volunteer from Calgary, Becky Cardwell, came to see the projects of Ayudamos. Of course, I put her to work right away! We spent two days sorting the school supplies and getting them ready for the individual students and their grade requirements. We had beautiful new backpacks that were donated by the students of BISHOP PINKHAM JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL in Calgary. All our new students receive a backpack along with their school supplies. Our students from last year still had useable packs from last year so we were able to re-use them.

We are also evaluating the school uniforms from last year, to see which are still useable, before we purchase new ones.

Ayudamos is building Escuela Santiaguito a new music classroom. I will be taking some photos this week and uploading them to this site, so you can see the progress.

Thanks so much to our scholarship supporters for making this program possible. You are donating futures to our children.

Gracias y Maltioux

Sandra

2007-10-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

October 5, 2007

Well, after much planning and plotting, the Women's Centre of El Remate was officially opened on October 4! It was a great, hot day, with lots of smiles and great food, cooked by the Asociación Mujeres IxCanaan. The financing was provided by The Ayudamos Foundation, Friends of IxCanaan (a local Calgary group headed by Dr. Bob Dickson), and The Wild Rose Foundation of Alberta.

The hard work was done by Anne Lossing and the women themselves. Anne, our partner (and former Calgarian) acted as Project Manager and administered the funds, kept careful financial records and oversaw the construction from the planning stage to the handing over of the keys last September. Without her, the project would have been impossible. Muchas gracias, Ana! The women broke ground, literally, with pick axes, planted trees and plants, cleared rocks, built fences and did what ever needed doing.

There were approximately 100 people in attendance to celebrate with the women, including the heads of other's women's groups around Lake Peten Itza. The women got the local Coca-Cola group to donate some beverages, a small tent and tables and chairs. The Camino Real Tikal (a local hotel) donated a large cake. The women cooked a local specialty Pollo Guisado which was muy delicioso!

After a couple of short speeches by, The Mayor's representative, Juana, the President of AMUIXCANAAN and me, Juana and I jointly cut the ribbon.

This has been a very positive step forward for an already hardworking group of women. They are unstoppable!

There were too many photos to post, so please view the web album by clicking here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ayudamos/GrandOpening

2007-10-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

October 4, 2007

I have been remiss in keeping up this blog, for a variety of reasons, including power outages, too much rain, sickness and a bit of fatigue at the end of the day. But, enough excuses!

While in Santiago, I conducted interviews with parents of new applicants to our Scholarship Program, including meeting with the families of our existing scholarship students. I will do home visits with the families in early January before the start of the school year. I was disappointed to learn we had another drop out, a young girl, whose family needs her at home to work in order to help the family. We arranged meetings with the father, twice, but he didn't show up either time. That is the tragic reality here and a difficult problem to suitably address. I think if all goes as planned we will have 17 students in our scholarship program come January, the start of the new school year.

I have been fortunate to have the assistance of Juanita Tacaxoy. She was our first scholarship student and works in a variety of jobs in Santiago. When I am working in there I hire her to work full time with me, doing all the Tzu T'juil translation with our families. She is more than willing to do anything that is needed. She is invaluable in getting things organized and working with the families. We have a great friendship and a strong working relationship.

I moved my office from one space to another in the school, which worked out better for the school. We had a new permanent sign painted for the office, by Juan Sisay, a great grandson of the famous artist, who is an artist in his own right. I have included the pictures here.

As part of our infrastructure program, we have committed to building a music room for the budding music program in the school and will look to fundraising to purchase instruments that are needed.

I also met with Francisco Sojuel who has a community work program where children donate one day a month, during the school year in order to aid the community. It is a program that develops leadership in children, a sense of responsibility to the community and a co-operative spirit. He will accept all of our scholarship students into this program, so that they can 'pay it forward' to the community. All the families agreed to this condition.

2007-09-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 10, 2007

There is never a dull moment in Guatemala! We dodged a bullet with Hurricane Felix, we prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. We have had a lot of heavy rainfall everyday since I've been here, which has been 8 days now. Today is the first day we haven't had a downfall by early afternoon. Hopefully, the climate is returning to normal for what is the rainy season.

Despite the heavy rainfall the Presidential elections went ahead as scheduled on September 9th. The press has referred to this election year as the "bloodiest" in modern memory with 50 murders associated to the candidates. By that, I mean, family, friends and campaign workers of the candidates, and in some cases, the candidates themselves. The election itself went more or less without incident and the skies over Atitlan were blue and sunny until mid afternoon.

Again, this election saw hundreds of patient voters waiting at the polls for their turn to cast their ballots. I was sorry that I hadn't volunteered with the Organization of American States to act as an International Observer as I had in the previous election, but had a very interesting opportunity anyway. I was invited to join the Canadian Ambassador to Guatemala, Kenneth Cook (l) and my friend Carlisle Johnson (r), local radio journalist as they went to various polling stations around Lake Atitlan. I have included some pictures of the day we spent observing the electoral process in the communities that are near and dear to me, including our project area, Santiago Atitlan.

2007-05-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

May 5, 2007

After many months of planning, the Women's Centre in El Remate has finally broke ground! It is very exciting to see the enthusiasm of the women of Grupo Femenino as they work just as hard as many of the labourers to see their dreams realized.

We hope that the centre will be completed within 4 to 5 months. Funding for this project came from another Calgary group, Friends of Ix-Canaan, us, The Ayudamos Foundation and the Wild Rose Foundation of Alberta.

We are now investigating some economic strategies for the women that will allow them to earn a living wage to support their families. I have included some of the pictures I took almost a week ago that show the beginnings of the construction project.

Our project partner, Anne Lossing of El Remate will continue to update us with pictures and so I will post the photos on our blog to keep you informed as to our progress.

2007-04-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

April 28, 2007

Well, all the children are doing well in the scholarship program . It was great to see them again and read their report cards. They are doing well with their studies and with their attendance too . While I was there the children received their new school uniforms. They will use these for sports activities and parades. They were very excited to try them on as you can see in this picture.

The bathrooms we finished for the school are now ready for use. The school did a great job in finishing the project. They have installed two showers and two new toilet areas as well as a deeply dug pozo for black water.

In February at the Calgary Teacher's Convention I met a Guatemalan teacher, Eric Noriega, who teaches Fourth grade at La Escuela Collingwood in NW Calgary. He had a great idea to exchange letters with the grade 4 class at Escuela Bilingue Santiaguito. His fourth grade class, wrote and then typed wonderful letters, including a head shot of each student. The letters were then laminated and I delivered them to the grade 4 class in Santiago. My suitcase is full of wonderful letters and pictures, on their way to Calgary to exchange with Mr. Noriega's class.

The children of the 4th grade in the Escuela Santiaguito and their teacher are pictured here.

2007-01-17T18:58:00.000-08:00

1/17/07 Ayudamos has opened its first office in Santiago Atitlan at the Santiaguito school. Vivian helped me find the beautiful furniture that is shown in this picture. Believe it or not, this hand made carved furniture costs less than metal office furniture! Already, I have had numerous moms and other people drop in to say hello and check out what Ayudamos is doing there. In fact we are already having new families apply for the next school year in 2008. It is very productive for us to have a permanent space to work in. We are hoping to have another intern working with the foundation this coming spring, so that person will also have a great space to work in; close to the kids and close to nature.

2007-01-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

1/17/07 And then there were eight. Shown here is our new scholarship student, Maria Quieju Petzey. She was a very happy little girl on her first day of school. You can see her excitement when she received her knapsack full of school supplies as well. She is in pre-primeria (kindergarten). Ayudamos has now fulfilled its committment to eight scholarship for this pilot project.

2007-01-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

1/14/07 Well, our long anticipated Scholarship program is off the ground! This week on January 8th, school officially began, but the formal classes don't begin until tomorrow, January 15th. It has been a very busy couple of weeks since I arrived with volunteer, Vivian Pritchard. Not much was happening until after New Year's Day. Some of you will remember that Ayudamos is opening its first in-country office in the Escuela Santiaguito and so Vivian and I spent one day buying furniture and having it driven from Los Encuentros to Santiago. Vivian's time here was just 10 days and so last Sunday, I said goodbye to her. She was a terrific help to me in that first week.

The days prior to the start of school, we visited the families whose children would be receiving scholarships. We were very disappointed to learn that 3 of our 8 children decided they didn't want to go to school. They were three of our older students, Carlos, Pedro and Dolores. They decided they were earning money and so didn't want to go. That is the sad reality here and not much can disuade families from the prospect of having money in their hands today.

The good news is that the young sister of Carlos and Pedro was very excited to go and is in fact in 3rd grade. Her mother asked if we would sponsor her instead, which we did. Word spread and we had another family apply for a scholarship for their granddaughter. After a home visit and interview, we added Deny to our group. Tomorrow I will be interviewing another family in their home and we will likely be up to our 8 students again.

Bishop Pinkham Jr. High School in Calgary is doing a fundraiser for Ayudamos and one of their projects was to provide knapsacks and school supplies for our scholarship students. On Friday, 7 of our 8 children received their packs and supplies. The kids were very excited and their parents even showed up for them to receive their knapsacks.

Also, Bishop Pinkham students, remember all the great pictures you drew and sent along with me? I showed them to the Director, Gaspar Reanda and his idea is to create an Art Gallery outside of my office in the large salon, so that the entire school can come and look at the pictures of life in Calgary and Canada. I am really proud to show these beautiful pictures off. I will never forget your enthusiasm for this project and these children who are beginning school. You all are true global citizens!

Keeping checking this blog spot, Bishop Pinkham, as I will be posting the pictures of the Art Gallery when we have it all in place.

2006-09-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

9/30/06 I was in El Remate, Peten this past week to meet with the women's group and with our partner Anne Lossing. Anne and I completed some financial work and met with the local contractor to discuss the building for the women's group. The women's group had to legalize themselves and so, Juana, the president, Anne and I went to one of the local lawyers to proceed with the legalization. The new formal name of the women's group is, "Asociación Coalición Femenina Ix-Canaan El Remate, Guardianes de la Selva". Quite a mouthful, but will likely commonly be known as Coalición Femenina. The process of legalization should take about three weeks, at which time, the land titles will be formally in the name of the coalition. Then, the work can officially begin on the site. Stay posted for our progress on our Women's Centre!

2006-09-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

9/19/06 We have a new partnership in Santiago Atiltan, with an innovative and systems thinking school, Escuela Bilingüe Integral Santiaguito. The school has accepted our eight scholarship students for our scholarship program which begins in the new school year of January 2007. Most of our students have never attended school and half of them are 13 years old. The reason it is so important for our students to attend this program is that only two of them speak Spanish and most schools are only teaching in that language. Santiaguito is teaching in both languages which gives an advantage to monolingual speakers who are already disadvantaged by a late start. The Administrative Director, Professor Gaspar Reanda Pablo is a warm and accepting man with a great vision for the future of the school. They teach the regular curriculum that the public schools do, but in addition, teach the children traditional Maya handicrafts, respect for the environment, and in particular a knowledge of the lake that keeps them alive. The school is lucky enough to have beautiful gardens reaching down to the lake. The children learn about the trees and flowers, plant gardens and use compost. It is a cooperative school and has a lot of involvement from the parents as well.

The short term goal of the school is to create a music department and the long term is to have Basico education as well. As of now, the school goes from K to 6, Basico would be our grades 7 to 9.

Ayudamos is fortunate to have a permanent office space in Santiago now as well, at the school. We will have a small office in order to have a location for families to contact us, for me to work when there, and hopefully to have another intern or volunteer help with this program.

2006-09-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well, after almost two months of hard work, the two houses will be ready for the families to move in next week. When we left Santiago, yesterday, Saturday, the doors, windows and glass were being installed. The families are very excited to be in their new homes and look forward to having a permanent roof over their heads. The houses are complete with pozo for black water and running water in the houses themselves. The families have been living in rental housing since last November when Ayudamos arrived with Emergency Funding to assist the 'damnificados' from Panabaj. As usual, when having to say goodbye to the families, there were a lot of heartfelt speeches and a few tears shed. It is always bittersweet when a project comes to an end, but as usual there are more right around the corner.

2006-09-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

We had a unique opportunity today to visit Maria, the goddess wife of Maximon, the local deity of the Maya Tzu T´juil. We were invited to the home of a friend of mine whose family is hosting, Maria, that is taking care of her for the year, feeding, clothing and guarding her. We bought flowers as a gift for her and were given warm beer to drink by the by now, drunken cofradia priest. We were all sitting in a small warm, smoky room, filled with incense and worshippers while next door the hired marimba band played its tinkly music. There were gourds and bananas hanging from the ceiling with paper streamers. The priest took Maria from where she was resting so we could see her better, the incense they were burning added a very mystical atmosphere to the party. It was a unique opportunity to participate in the culture and traditions of these hospitable people.

2006-09-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

Life has been a whirlwind this past summer. After spending five weeks here in July and August I returned home for only two weeks returning again to Guatemala at the end of August with two volunteers, Norm Smith and Linda Powell. We are finishing up the houses that are being built for two of the Panabaj families and Linda and Norm having been working hard to finish the houses before they leave on the 21 of September. I have included the pictures of how things looked when we arrived last week and the progress that has been made since then. It really is amazing once the pozo and water lines were dug, how quickly the block began to rise and the shape of the house began to show itself. The two families are related through the husbands, Diego and Gregorio who worked tirelessly and hauled approximately 500 pounds of cement, block, wood, lamina, rock and sand each day for approximately 2 months. This is likely where the term "sweat equity" came from.

2006-08-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I flew back to El Remate for an overnight with Guatemalan architect, Luis Mendoza, who has offered his services to our women's project in El Remate. We spent the day with the President and Vice-President of the Grupo Femenino and Anne Lossing, our local partner, to articulate the needs of the women's centre to Luis, while he did the things that architects do..... He will be providing plans for our centre on a volunteer basis, which something basically unheard of here in Guatemala. Of course I have promised to visit the women's prison, COF, this afternoon, with him as his project there is looking for help from a foreign NGO. Quid pro quo. There are about 500 residents in that particular facility. The government doesn't provide health or dental care and the food provided is mostly lacking in nutrition. It should be a very interesting experience.

I have read numerous articles on the state of the justice system here. Apparently, people can be put in prison for up to two years without charges or trial. The women's prison also accommodates children of the incarcerated women....they sleep in the cells with them. Another unique opportunity to see a part of life here in Guatemala. I have heard many different opinions on this type of work from friends, supporters and other NGOs here in Guatemala. It never fails to spur an opinion or judgement....

2006-08-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today is Indigenous Pueblos Day here in Guatemala and the Prensa Libre has printed a big article about racism and exclusion of Indigenous Peoples. They have also included several statistics that in some cases, seem hugely incorrect in which certain situations are either over or under estimated.

For example, the article states that 41% of the population of Guatemala is Indigenous, when according to many other sources, it is more accurately 60% of the population. The under reporting of this statistic is likely due to the denial that many Indigenous people have regarding their heritage. They have learned to hide their true identities as a result of overt racism between their group and the Ladinos here. As a result there is a gradual erosion of Indigenous culture, clothing, language and customs.

Prensa Libre reports that 74% of Indigenous people are poor, with 24% being extremely poor. They don't specify if the 74% includes the 24% extremely poor, because if it does, that leaves only 2% living above the poverty line, whatever that would be here. Whatever the case, it is an abysmal statistic.

Also, out of 10 Indigenous students only 3 will complete 6 years of education. The rest drop out well before that for a variety of reasons. Another 23% will never have any schooling at all! It isn't surprising then that only 0.3% will have access to University. They claim that 53% of Indigenous people between the ages of 15 and 64 years can read and write. This definitely seems like an optimistic statistic.

In health issues, only 5% of the Indigenous population have access to health care. Due to abject poverty 7 out of 10 children are under size for their ages.

But in true political fashion, the government forms committees to investigate the situation, the press dutifully reports the findings and the Indigenous remain poor and disenfranchised.

2006-08-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

These pictures are of our new housing site in Santiago Atitlan. As many of you know we are now building houses for two of the families from Panabaj who lost literally everything in the mudslides of last October.

The pile of rocks seen here, have been removed from the pozo that is halfway to being finished. The pozo will be the septic hole for the two families.

When I visited the site two weeks ago, the worker pictured inside the pozo was only about a metre into the ground. With only a shovel and a hammer to break the rocks, he has single handedly dug this huge pit. It is back breaking work, but he always has a smile for me!

The foundations of the pozo have begun as well, and within the next few weeks, the rocks that have been unearthed will have a new function, to line the walls of the pozo.

I return home on August 15 and return again to Guatemala on the 30th of August for another month of work here.

It is our hope that the families will be able to move into their homes by the end of September.

2006-07-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

Just a further note.... this blog is directly linked to the Ayudamos website. Unfortunately, because I am working on a Spanish keyboard, the punctuation does not translate properly from the blog site to the web site. When reading the blogs on the website, click the details button which will take you directly to the blog site and proper punctuation!

Chau
Sandra

2006-07-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

July 29, 2006

I have been here just shy of three weeks and am finally in a position to sit and write about what has been happening here over the past 18 days.

The first week was spent trying to get the title change for the land purchase in Santiago for our Panabaj houses. As I assumed, it wasn’t as simple as everyone seemed to think it would be. Atun and I went to the Muni offices, had a meeting with the Mayor, Diego Esquina Mendoza, who hand wrote some sort of permission to apply for the change to title. While I was there I asked him about the water situation in Santiago. He confirmed that a group had come to his pueblo after the mudslides and had chlorinated the water supply. He also indicated that 75% of the people did not like it. I have no idea how he arrived at that figure, but "word on the street" corresponds to that dislike. I have been in touch with a couple of Rotary Groups in the U.S. who are eager to do something with the water supply for Santiago Atitlan. I am hoping this week to conclude the business on the land title change, now that I have all my documents translated as per the latest request by the Muni.

I left the following week for my trip to El Remate in The Peten where our next project has been confirmed. The Ayudamos Foundation is partnering with Proyecto Ix-Canaan and Grupo Femenino to build a co-operative work centre, kitchen, bathrooms, storage room, daycare and playground. Our on the ground partner is Anne Lossing, former Calgarian (via New Brunswick) who, along with her husband, Dr. Enrique Chapetón and Eduardo Cofiño, High Commissioner to The Peten, have built an environmental and social vision for the area and community of El Remate. Out new project will be funded partially by a Calgary group of donors, led by Dr. Bob Dickson, grant funds and personal donations. Construction is scheduled to begin October 1, 2006.

I have also met with an accomplished Indigenous Author and Human Rights worker, Julio Cochoy. He is set to publish his second book in the Fall of this year. His first book chronicles the stories of the victims of his pueblo, Santa Lucia Utatlan. He is an economist by trade but now works for the Procuraduria de los Derechos Humanos, a human rights group in Guatemala City. His second book deals with the immigration issues of Guatemalan workers in the United States.

Speaking of Human Rights, many of you have probably noticed the new Suggested Reading List on our web page, and the book, "Disappeared: A Journalist Silenced" which is the story of murdered journalist, Irma Flaquer. Her story is still being told because at the time of her kidnapping (and assumed murder), in October 1980, she was the first, white, middle class, Guatemalan female journalist who was "disappeared". Her eldest son, Fernando, was murdered during her kidnapping, her youngest son; Sergio, was 23 at the time and working on a kibbutz in Israel. He had been sent there for his safety after an earlier attempt on Irma’s life.

The government essentially admitted responsibility for her disappearance, or in the vernacular of the legal documents, 'failing to protect her and her rights' as well as failing to properly investigate the incident. It is widely accepted that the government and the military were responsible for this action, even though propaganda at the time tried to implicate the guerillas in the disappearance. (For further information go to https://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cases/67-03.html to read the official legal documents.)

Through a series of happenstances I had the opportunity to meet with Sergio Valle Flaquer in Antigua, Irma’s surviving son, a broken but sweet-spirited man. The pain that surrounded his past 26 years was almost palpable. His life has been defined and swallowed by this tragedy. He was generous with his time and happy to talk with someone who knew his mother’s story. When I left our meeting I thought of the other estimated 260,000, families whose loved ones, either had disappeared or were found murdered and the exponential impact of a national catastrophe such as this.

Even though this country always moves me in many ways, through its beauty, its relaxed atmosphere and its sweet, gentle indigenous population, the pain is always nearby, just below the surface.