San Cristobal menos 2

This weekend Allie and I went to drop off our bags in Antigua to Juancho's house, had ridiculously expensive bagels and bought an extensive amount of chocolate in the 2 hours between the two 3.5 hour bus rides to and back from Antigua, and we also got to see Colleen. She gave us a really interesting lengthy article from the New Yorker that I started but haven't finished. It's about lawyer that made a video before being murdered saying that if he died it was because of the guatemalan president. If you're up for reading 15 pages on this really interesting course of events, it's a pretty riveting read, so here's the link: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/04/110404fa_fact_grann

I've been pretty stressed out for the past two days for stuff that's been going on in the office and the awkwardness of leaving, doing poorly in salsa class, and the family being real stingy about toilet paper, internet, and the house, but everything is going to be alright because I made banana-peach crumbles for everyone. I was supposed to meet with Valeria but then her son got chicken pox. I think the universe just doesn't want us to meet. But she asked me if I wanted a recommendation letter and she'd gladly write one, she also thanked me profusely for the work I did, complimenting me enthusiastically on it. Hurray!

Also yesterday night Allie and Kate and I went to see a movie here called Amores Perros. It's a really good mexican film about dog fights, the degradation of stagnating lives, and the contrast between ruthlessness and sensibility within human beings. Several stories intertwine and connect through the coincidence of time and people's relationships to dogs.

We're leaving Xela Thursday morning, and I'm very excited about exploring the Chiapas region of Mexico. I started reading articles Adelaide copied for us from the Zapatista reader, all about the history and struggle of the indigenous people living there and the semi-successful revolution that occured, I'm stoked to see where it all happened!

Here is a tentative itinerary, subject to change and variations obviously, of our expedition to Mexico and Belize:

April 21 to 27 - San Cristobal de las Casas: visit to Cañon Sumidero, Acteal (massacre site), Oventic (Zapatista community open to foreigners), San Juan Chamula (indigenous pueblo near San Cristobal), talk with a teacher from CIDECI, the indigenous education center.

April 27 to 28 - overnight 17hour bus ride to Cancun, and boat to Isla Holbox

April 28 to May 1st - Chill in Isla Holbox, snorkel, beach...

May 1 to 3 - Tulum: visit ruins!

May 3 to 6 - Sartaneja: jungle, mangrove, cenotes (caves) trips

May 6 to 8 - Hopkins Village: Garifuna culture, learn some garifuna drumming, taste their cultural dishes, chill in the fishing village, possible take a snorkel trip

May 8 to 9 - travel back to Antigua

May 9 to 11 - Antigua and Earth Lodge: bagels, chocolate, indian store, and more antigua gringo goodies, and wishing we had more time

May 12 - Plane to Miami at 7 am, regreso a Nueva York a las 5 de la noche.

Ay ay ay, que rapido pasa el tiempo...

SOA, another US negative effect over Latin America

I don't mention the School Of the Americas (SOA) in my article for EntreMundos about the effects of US foreign policy over Guatemala extensively, but here's an article about how Latin America hopes Obama will close the SOA, which would benefit both the US and Latin America - for the former by limiting spending on something unnecessary that has a ridiculous history of training future dictators and human rights abusing military officials, and for the latter for obvious reasons.

The article is from the SOA Watch, soaw.org:

http://www.soaw.org/category-table/3622-latin-america-hopes-that-obama-closes-the-school-of-the-americas

Adios!

I will not have my computer anymore starting tomorrow, so blog posts will become a lot shorter and way more sporadic. We are going to San Cristobal de las Casas next Thursday and then have decided to go to the Tulum ruins and Sian Ka'an Biosphere Eco reserve for a bit, spend some time in some unknown lagoon near the belizean border, then go snorkel on a belizean island called Caye Caulker and perhaps spend some time in the mangroves in Sartaneja, and then explore Garifuna culture in one of the last proud and roots-embracing garifuna village called Hopkins in Southern Belize. It's going to be an incredible journey full of beautiful things and crazy adventures, I'm very excited to leave the stationary life and get on the road. I will keep you informed as much as I can, especially in San Cristobal where we're going to meet with very interesting people and organizations and spend some time in Zapatista communities.

Here are some pictures of Xela street art, mainly done by this one real nifty graffiti artist named Javier who just wants to make Xela more beautiful:

The other articles I wrote for EntreMundos

Here's the article about Armando and Chico Mendes that I wrote. He is in desperate need of donations right now, so if any of you feel compelled by his story, just ask me how to donate:

Up in the corn fields of Pachaj, in Cantel (6km outside Xela), Armando Lopez has created an inspiring environmental project to combat the degradation of the environment and stand up against government manipulation and unjust land exploitation.

Armando created The Chico Mendes Reforestation Project in 1998 to contribute to the reforestation of the 75% deforested Guatemalan Western Highland Mountains. He started his project right after Bill 40-39 began to be discussed within the Guatemalan government. This law is a result of the Meso-American Barrier Reef System (MBRS) project, implemented in 1997 upon request by the Central-American Commission for the Environment and Development (CCAD) to the World Bank. It is designed amongst other things to strengthen and reform local and national capacity and institutions to maintain water quality and prevent contamination. “With the law 40-39, a tax on water and public service utilities, the government would be able to finance a ten year reforestation project: this is a seemingly beneficial program, however it will lead to the privatization of our forests and Guatemala’s white gold” says Armando. Through such a program, Armando fears the government will claim not only the forests they plant, but the land and water sources as well. What is more, Armando explains, the government could sell the forest and water sources to Gallo or Coca-Cola to make bottled water, forcing the inhabitants of the mountains to pay for the water they have always used on top of increased taxes. According to Armando, the government could also put these forests up for sale on the carbon market. Indeed, engineers can evaluate how much oxygen trees emit and countries that need to compensate for their excessive carbon dioxide production and maintain the levels of their oxygen production quota can do so by buying other countries’ forests. In addition to masking the damage they are really costing the planet, these countries would be ignoring the land and natural resource rights of the people who have lived there for centuries.

Chico Mendes was an environmental activist in Brazil that has greatly inspired Armando. Mendes worked to keep tropical rainforests intact and for sustainable harvests, creating forest reserves and fighting against the cutting down and transformation of forestland into cattle pastures. Armando hopes to plant 100,000 trees in the next 3 years to compensate for the transformation of forests into agricultural fields, and protect Xela’s mountains’ white gold from the profit-seeking foreign investors and mining companies. He has received threats, and suspects that a recent forest fire that burned 5000 trees was done on purpose against his political activity.

Through his ecological project, Armando seeks to protect the indigenous population from further discrimination and rights abuses and attain justice in land use. “They may cut our branches, they may cut our trunks, but they will never cut our roots” he repeats, alluding to the ancestral right to land indigenous people have. It is with such community initiatives that people can finally have a voice and stand up for themselves against governmental abuse, and it is with people like Armando that change can begin.

He grows cypress, laurel, and pine tree seeds using organic fertilizer within a seedbed while waiting for the planting season to refill the highlands. He is always looking for volunteers to help out and donations to maintain and advance the project.

And here is the one about ecology. Unfortunately, the news is kinda dated by now, I'm not sure how Valeria thought that would work with the magazine being published in May but hey, I did the work and handed it in before the deadline and she's the editor. 

The movie Crude is about the Chevron-Ecuador issue, and the situation in Japan has significantly worsened.

After the Japanese earthquake and tsunami on March 10^th, a whole new batch of conspiracy theories about Project HAARP as the cause of natural disasters is being discussed. In the last year, a dozen environmental disasters have occurred, from the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile to Hurricane Agatha in Central America devastating the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The elevated frequency of these types of phenomena in recent years is proved to be due to climate change. While it is hard to control or be prepared for such damaging natural occurrences, we can decide to change the way we live today and take fast and sweeping action to mitigate global warming and its subsequent destructive consequences. It is in our power to prevent man-made disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; and it’s up to us to decide when to stop violating the planet and its inhabitants to divert our energy and capacities to building a sustainable world. Environmental activists all around the world have been suffering from tremendous increased targeted violence, as foreign investors and free trade promoting governments clash with communities and organizations vouching for the respect of human rights and environmental protection. Here is a selection of environmental news, laws, and disasters from around the world that demonstrates the importance of fighting for the development of new energies and improving our currently flawed system.

On March 10^th 2011, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 explosion of the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine. Electricity and back-up power were knocked out because of the quake and inundation, preventing the cooling system of the reactors to function properly and causing partial meltdowns and explosions in two reactors. Radioactive steam was being released and radiation levels outside the plant have been recorded at 800 times the allowed hourly limit; over 200,000 people have been evacuated from the area near the affected plants. Although the government and Japanese nuclear experts are saying the levels of radiation pose no health risks, released radioactive material such as cesium 137 can be accumulated by moss and mushrooms and remain in the environment for decades before its radioactivity disappears, negatively affecting the ecosystem and food chain. This disaster is causing the world to reevaluate not only the safety and solidity of its nuclear plants, but also the view that nuclear energy might be a solution to climate change. It is interesting to note that significant disasters involving today’s three main sources of energy - coal, oil, and nuclear - have happened in the past year.

Source: lemonde.fr and nytimes.com

On February 15^th 2011, a judge’s decision in Ecuador marked the first time a US Company faced judgment in a foreign court over environmental crimes. In one of the largest judgments ever handed down on an environmental case, the Chevron Corporation was ordered to pay $9 billion to clear-up oil pollution and cover health care costs for the affected communities in Ecuador, with a further $8.6 billion if Chevron did not issue an apology to the plaintiffs in the next 15 days. The lawsuit began in 1993 when Ecuadorian communities affected by oil pollution sued Texaco in New York. Texaco, bought by Chevron in 2001, produced oil in Ecuador from 1964 to 1990 and caused one of the largest oil-related environmental catastrophe in the world, including dumping oil-drilling waste, contaminating forests, and causing illnesses (cancer and birth defects especially) and deaths. Although a decision has been reached, the legal battle is far from over as Chevron has announced its intent to appeal the judgment.

Source: ciel.org

Gold mining is becoming the new financial means for Colombian rebel groups. Because of the increasing eradication of coca plantations, insurgent and paramilitary groups have started using gold as their financial lifeblood. The result is a gold rush, where people leave their homes, coca and other agricultural fields to tear up forests and create a mine. The price of gold is very high so a worker can make $1000 a month, three times the Colombian minimum wage. However, in addition to causing destructive deforestation, the opening of new mines has made the Antioquia department one of Colombia’s most environmentally devastated regions. Miners use liquid mercury to separate gold from river sediments, giving the region one of the highest mercury pollution rates anywhere, where 67 tons of the chemicals are released into the air each year. The workers are subject to the risks of mercury exposure, which damages the brain and central nervous system, and have to pay a protection price to work at the mine.

Source: nytimes.com

An Agip oil spill and fire occurred in the community Emago-Kugbo Nigeria on January 22^nd 2011 , and was only partly successfully extinguished 5 days later. This is not the first spill/fire, but has had particularly devastating effects, namely on the water source of the community. Oil slicks have appeared in the community river, people’s only source of water for drinking, bathing, washing, and making it difficult to navigate and ruining fishermen livelihoods. The air is also polluted due to the use of toxic chemicals to extract oil and burn it. Illnesses and deaths have spread throughout the impacted communities, but neither Agip nor the government have made significant efforts to clean up and remediate the affected areas. Shell and other oil companies have exploited oil since 1957 in a total area the size of Denmark in Nigeria, negatively affecting 1500 communities, and causing the pollution of the Niger Delta.

Source: eraction.org

Violence in Central America

Here's an interesting article I got off of Colleen's blog (if you haven't realized, she puts a lot of interesting stuff on there) from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/18558254?story_id=18558254&fsrc=rss

and here is the article I wrote for EntreMundos about the effects of US policy on Guatemala:

A gringa friend of mine volunteering in Pachaj, Cantel, was cursed out the other day by an elderly man shouting in broken English “Yankee! Go home! Gringo! Green go!”. Why such animosity toward a twenty year old American girl? She hadn’t done anything to provoke him. After the shock of the moment, she understood that the man was angered by what her skin color represents. While tourists and travelers propagate an image of the country they’re from, the widespread opinion of Guatemalans about Americans stems largely from the effects the United States has over Guatemala. In today’s world, these are carried out through foreign policy and globalization.

Our planet is interconnected and increasingly globalized due to technologies, multinational firms and many international free trade agreements. As a political, military, economical and socio-cultural superpower, the US is a key player in world politics and diplomacy and has incredible influence over the fluctuations of the world economy. Therefore, its policies and political decisions affect everyone in some way and have significant effects over small developing countries like Guatemala. To be sure, globalization and the US provide a lot of good things and are not solely responsible for Guatemala’s woes. But historically, US involvement in the region has had devastating effects over the people of Central America and current policies have contributed to the widening inequality gap.

             

In the early 1900s, the US controlled Guatemalan land through the United Fruits Company and created Banana Republics throughout most of Central America, exploiting thousands of people and denying their land and labor rights to provide for the growing consumerism culture in the United States; in the mid to late 20^th century the US sponsored military dictatorships in the region, trained and financed counter-insurgency paramilitaries through the School of the Americas, and contributed to the murder of hundreds of thousands of people under the pretext of “maintaining political stability” to contain a “communist threat” so close to the American nation. Today, the US still supports human rights violating governments throughout the world, such as Pakistan, for its geopolitical and economic interests.

In his State of the Union Address in January, Obama promised to put more emphasis on Central and Latin American policy and started the process in March by traveling to El Salvador. While his plans towards the region are still unclear, several critical points need to be addressed in order for the US to improve its relationship with Central American countries and be an actor for positive change in the region: mainly, DR-CAFTA, foreign assistance, and immigration policy.

CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement), signed in 2006, has failed to provide the benefits it promised Guatemala. Poverty rates in rural areas still surpass 70% and imports of US corn, rice, and other commodities have increased, to the detriment of Guatemalan agricultural exports. CAFTA has also facilitated investment in megaprojects such as open-pit mines and dams, which are environmentally devastating and widely opposed by local populations, but doesn’t have adequate monitoring to ensure implementation rules are respected. Consequently, the Guatemalan government and foreign companies disrespect popular consultation that is a United Nations (UN) and International Labor Organization (ILO) guaranteed indigenous right. Moreover intellectual property rights under CAFTA directly impede on people’s right to health care as it extends US medicine patents for 20 years in CAFTA signatories. The controversial free trade agreement also allows investors to sue governments to obtain compensation for measures like environmental and labor protection regulations, which they claim diminish their investments’ value. CAFTA should be reformed to help the developing countries share the benefits with the US by allowing the countries to pass regulations to protect their farmers from subsidized US agricultural imports and ensure livelihood security and rural development; effectively enforce labor and land rights; and safeguard the sovereignty of nations over their natural resources to accomplish a just sustainable development.

Another significant mainstay of US foreign policy toward Guatemala is assistance. As the Obama Administration seeks to reduce the deficit without raising taxes or reducing defense spending, foreign assistance programs are at stake. According to the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), assistance to Central America will drop by 12% from 2009 levels while maintaining economic development aid and increasing aid for health programs. Of the pledged $200 million in new aid for 2012, $100 million will go to the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), Obama’s framework for law enforcement, security and administration-of-justice aid to mainly combat drug trafficking and organized crime. However, the government and judicial branch are imbued with corruption due to the infiltration of narco and organized crime entities within the governing structure and system. Thus, it is uncertain how much of the financial aid would actually attain its intended destination and how much would contribute to the continuation of the cycle of impunity and injustice. While the CARSI seems like it could help Guatemala reach more security and stability, giving direct aid to the police and military without adequate regulations and human rights conditions could result in abuse and further the already widespread fear of armed authorities.

Reforming its assistance structure and public policy toward Guatemala could help the US build a more human rights focused foreign policy toward the region. Considering its involvement in the 36-year civil war, the US has an obligation to support efforts to bring executors of mass atrocities to justice. By supporting the CICIG (International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala) and human rights defenders, pressuring and influencing the Guatemalan government to combat violence against women and prosecute police and military officials who commit abuses, Obama’s administration could reverse the historical trend of a US policy toward Latin America that neglects human rights.

US-Guatemala relations are established not only through official agreements and policies, but also through the socio-cultural impact of globalization. The consumerism culture and spread of telecommunication media has generated the growth of westernization here: McDonald’s have popped up all over cities, most indigenous men and young people have stopped wearing the traditional costume, breaking up families and accentuating discrimination. The popularization of western culture has also contributed to the immigration wave, and thus affected the two countries’ relationship.

Immigration reform is one the most controversial issues being debated in the US. So far the US has decided to reinforce its borders and harshen consequences for deterrence purposes. People immigrate in search of better prospects up North to have a job and make money. Why is that lacking here? Because most of the land is owned by the few, people are exploited, there is modern slavery, Foreign Direct Investment is more important than people, corruption permeates everything, subsistence farmers can’t survive because of subsidized crops from the US ruling the market, and environmental effects and privatization of water ruin livelihoods. Only a comprehensive policy that tries to fix the causes of the problem will be effective.

The American President’s current discourse favors business and innovation and his 2011 budget maintains high levels of military spending to gain a successful bipartisan leadership. Let’s hope this won’t keep him from seeing the negative consequences of the current system and pursue a not just free but also fair trade, not only a reformed policy but also a moral one. 

Tambien la Lluvia

Everyone should go watch this movie!

About a film within a film that shows that not much has changed since Christopher Columbus came and the Americas were colonized...with Gael Garcia Bernal, which is a reason in itself to go see this film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbdOnGNBMAo

Health, women, and Guate

Here's a really interesting short documentary Colleen sent me about illegal abortions in Guatemala:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZdPaZo2w_E&feature=relmfu

Drama at the office

I went to Xecaracoj Tuesday afternoon for the last time. It felt a little weird when I looked around at Dona Viki’s house and said goodbye to the ladies to think that was most probably the last time they would ever see me and I them. Several people here have commented to me how volunteers can just come, spend a while, and go home, leaving a community of people that keep on going with their hardships while returning home or continuing on to new travel experiences. Viki asked me if another person like me would come replace me, just like I’d replaced the previous gringa Ariel. Gringos must seem like a weird bunch to Guatemalans, and not without reason I have to admit.

There’s been a lot of drama at the office the past two weeks, and most of it has been secretive and amongst Elba, Mariella and Lesli versus Eunice. Eunice apparently quit, though considering her tears and desire to keep on being a volunteer and 4-year work with the OMM she certainly grew attached to the place, and I have a hard time believing Tita didn’t just fire her for her repeated recent absence, disorganization and forgetfulness. This affects the three interns greatly because now they don’t have a supervisor that is supposed to report to their school and direct them in their internship. Because of the OMM’s screw-ups, the groups have been unsettled: Llanos de la Cruz (it’s unclear to me because no matter how much I ask and how clear I am no one wants to tell me what’s really going on) might have decided to not associate themselves with the OMM anymore, or suspend the current projects for the time being. In Xecaracoj, last week some lady from somewhere else came and said she wanted to teach the ladies how to make bread. She has an oven, which was a very attractive aspect for many ladies because the group’s been promised a stove project by the OMM but it’s still pending, and wanted to do her workshop on Tuesday, the same day as the OMM. However that’s the OMM day, and the ladies won’t do two workshops the same day, so it was agreed upon after the lady left that the bread workshop would be on Monday. They tried calling her to let her know many times but she never answered, and when she finally did on Monday, she wasn’t able to come that day. So the ladies had all gathered that day and didn’t want to come on Tuesday to the OMM workshop because they’re really busy with sewing especially, preparing all kinds of things to sell during Semana Santa, and couldn’t afford to waste another day. As a result, only three ladies showed up today at Dona Viki’s. We all sat around and talked, about plants and how Viki doesn’t trust doctors, about how she chose to drop school and start making money long ago when business was good, and about politics. According to Viki, Efrain Rios Montt, the arguably bloodiest and most ruthless ex-dictator the country suffered under, is backing Sandra Torres. Although she’s a woman and it would be great for this country to be governed by a lady, she’s certainly not the right one but is definitely using all the poverty-alleviation and free food programs she’s created to get votes. But as Dona Viki says, our children and grandchildren are going to have to pay for those programs. They are at loss of word when asked whom they’re going to vote for, because no one is desirable amongst the candidates – Rigoberta Menchu apparently isn’t running again. Mariella was also interviewing Viki and her daughter about their education and health practices. Viki went up to fifth grade because she liked selling stuff more. She now sells vegetables and flowers at the market. She only goes to the doctor’s when she’s sick. She doesn’t know any contraceptive methods, but only has four kids. She is afraid of the hospital and doesn’t trust doctors because her daughter-in-law fell once and the doctors took an x-ray and said her elbow was fractured and they’d have to cut it or something, but Viki took her home and made a plant concoction that cured her immediately. She’s never been a victim of violence and has a pretty good healthy relationship with her husband. I talked to her daughter Vivian in the car; she’s 26 and has a 9-year-old son. She didn’t mention she had a husband. She also takes care of her brother’s daughter because his wife died in childbirth a couple years ago. She also wanted to move to the US illegally when she was a teenager but her parents wouldn’t let her. 

Anyways, as the drama pans out and stuff gets rearranged to adapt to Eunice's absence I feel a little awkward being there since I don't actually do anything really, but I'll make cake next week for a little goodbye treat, and everything will be alright. 

Also, for our expedition, we've decided to go to the Yucatan after San Cristobal, and we may not even go to Belize, or just pass through. Those white beaches are calling us after 2 1/2 months of city and work and a week of zapatista investigation...

Movies

There's an international film festival going on in Xela, and they're showing documentaries that touch upon social justice themes in Guatemala, Burma, Ecuador, Mexico, Liberia and South Africa from American, Swedish, Mexican, and Finnish directors. Here are the sites of some of those movies:

http://praythedevilbacktohell.com/index.php

http://presuntoculpable.org/

http://www.crudethemovie.com/

http://www.burmavjmovie.com

http://skylightpictures.com/

and I'm hopefully going to go the screening of Long Night's Journey Into Day this evening.

It's all really interesting stuff! Also there's the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival going on in New York City from June 16 to June 30th that's showing some of the movies on skylightpictures.com and other documentaries - it looks like it's going to be really interesting, I certainly hope to go!

Art day

Sunday I went to San Jose Chiquilaja with Guadalupe, the artist I met, because she invited me to accompany her to her class. Turns out she was teaching there as part of the government program Escuelas Abiertas, or Open Schools, set up by Sandra Torres. It gives children, youth and adults the opportunity to take advantage of workshops and classes like painting, crafts, karate, computer, music, communication, k'iche (the indigenous language spoken here)..for free during the weekend. Its purpose is to reduce delinquency by giving kids something to do, a creative outlet, and a free meal.
We got there around 8:30 and set up the classroom, she put up some drawings on the wall for the kids to inspire themselves. Not alot of kids came that day, because it's sunday so there is church, and because it's the planting season, and many kids are out in the fields with their parents planting. So we basically talked until 4pm. She also teaches in the cultural center in Xela, and explained to me how one can really tell the difference between rural and urban kids. In Xela, they're alot less timid, alot more open, so alot more creative and imaginative. Here, kids are extremely shy and not used to let their creative artistic imagination roam free because of the campesino nature of their parents' work and the cultural norms of such a lifestyle. Therefore, the kids mostly just copy the drawings she hangs up on the board. When she started doing this work a year and a half ago, she felt really discouraged because she felt like she couldn't teach the kids properly, she felt like she had imparted nothing to them. But as time went on she got used to the character of the class. Each class is one hour, kids come and go as they please, and can take advantage of as many workshops as they want. Almost twenty kids came total in the morning and only three in the afternoon, and most copied one of the drawings. It could be a lost case, but I suggested to Lupe that she just show the drawings at the start of the session and then turn them around to have the kids think for themselves and begin training that imaginative process.
The program is government funded, but it doesn't have much of a budget, so the supplies are lacking or terrible quality. There are currently 217 Escuelas Abiertas in Guatemala, in 15 different departments. The idea comes from Brazil, and Guatemala is the second or third country in the Americas to have implemented it. Sandra Torres also created other programs like Bolsas Solidarias which give families free food items like corn, cooking oil, flour, beans; Comedores Solidarios which is basically a soup kitchen, and Mi Familia Progresa, which gives women 300Q per child. These programs have good intentions, but logical negative consequences. Besides people who aren't in need taking advantage of the system, these poverty-alleviation programs are making people get used to receiving all kinds of things for free and so expecting everything else to be free, and feeling entitled to receiving things for free, inducing a general "gimme" mentality. According to the other teachers, women and adults more generally have been demanding to take home supplies and asking why they weren't being given the supplies; what is being given in this program is knowledge, skill-building, teaching, but the recipients aren't trained to view that as a positive thing with a longer term perspective. Sustainability isn't being generated and long-term poverty alleviation will not come about unless that becomes a goal implemented government programs have.

Besides being an artist, Lupe is passionate about the Mayan religion, mayan teachings, and spiritual life. She practices reikki, a japanese energy-funneling practice, and is a healer. She works with energies to open people's shakras, the energy points in our bodies (there are 7, one at the top of our head (the lead shakra), one between our eyebrows called the third eye (wisdom and soul), one in our throat (communication), one on our heart (love), one below our rib cage (relation to the other), one below our belly button (reproduction), and finally one in our reproductive organs that is our connection to Mother Earth). She also explained the mayan days to me, namely what my nahual, or mayan sign, meant. Mine is Imox, and is the sign of water. Imox is the sign of eccentric personalities and the most artistic and creative one. In addition to your sign, you get a number from 1 to 13 when you are born. If the number is pair, then you are stable, and if the number is low than you don't have much characteristics of your sign's meaning. A low number can also represent instability. The number you have is supposed to be a secret and very important, if it becomes known you become more vulnerable. The mayan tradition is all really interesting - apparently they predicted the earthquake in Japan and the rumors about 2012 are wrong. According to Lupe, the Maya said that the Earth would enter a period of rebirth or regeneration in 2012 and would be finished with that process in 2014, but in no way does that mean an end-of-the-world tragedy.
I also spoke to this 12 year old girl that was guatemalan but had lived in Texas all her life and moved last year to Guate. She was really excited to speak english again. Her dad still lives there working as a mechanic and her mom is here working as a second-hand store vendor. Her brother was the music teacher, 20 years old and has a different father. I also spoke to this other guy that got deported from LA almost 2 years ago. He lived in the US for nearly 18 years, and likes it alot better than Guatemala. He moved when he was 19 and worked as a mechanic, in a car wash, and as a security guard. Now he works here as a security guard and is trying to remake his life and explore his homeland. He was there taking karate classes (the karate teacher was probably the funniest and goofiest man I've ever met in Guatemala) and spoke really well in english. He is learning French and hopes to go to France or Quebec someday. He was extremely cultured, had read the Koran and the Hindu sacred texts, talked to me about scientology and thought the fraternity shirt he was wearing, so greek letters, was russian. He was really interesting and talked to me about all these books he'd read. The most unexpected encounter...

This morning I went to the office and turns out Tita fired Eunice for the confusion and disorder that happened over the past couple weeks. It was pretty sad, we had the meeting with her too. And they wished me happy birthday and gave me lipstick. Eunice read us what the mayan day was today, and it was the day of courage and rebirth, perfect for my birthday! Thank you all for the wishes and cards :) Now I'm off to buying a chocolate cookie to celebrate. My family made pizza as a surprise for me yesterday night because they know it's one of my favorite foods, it was so sweet!

witness for peace and colombia

Here is an email I got from Adelaide, she worked for Witness for Peace in Colombia a few years ago. Check out witnessforpeace.org to see what they do.

You know the truth about Colombia.

While politicians in Washington claim all is well in Colombia, you know the United Nations has declared it the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, with over five million internally displaced people.
It's time Congress heard the truth.

While President Obama and Colombian President Santos claim a free trade dealwill help the economies of both countries,you know that free trade boosts corporate profits at the expense of workers, the poor and the environment.

While the Pentagon claims $6 billion in military aid has stabilized Colombia’s security situation, you know that the U.S.-backed Colombian military is the worst human rights violator in the hemisphere and 30,000 civilians have been killed. Another 3.3 million have been driven from their homes by the conflict since U.S. military aid began in 2000.

While drug warriors say planes dumping chemicals on Colombian farms have dramatically reduced drug production, you know that despite destroying the livelihood of thousands of Colombian farmers and over three million acres of land in the world’s second most bio-diverse country, there has been no significant reduction in coca production.
Now is your chance to tell Washington the truth. Join tens of thousands from across the United States today in a National Day of Action for Peace in Colombia by contacting your representatives in Washington to call for peace and economic justice for Colombia.

First, here are talking points and call your representatives in Washington before they vote on an aid package to Colombia and the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement.

Here are talking points for your to reference during your conversation:

I am calling because I am concerned about U.S. foreign policy and trade policy with Colombia. I have followed both U.S. relations with Colombia and that country's internal conflict closely.

I believe that U.S. policy should:

• Forge economic ties that spur people-centered development and help create opportunities for the rural poor and endangered workers. The protection of human rights defenders, community and religious leaders and people working for land return must be a priority. I do not believe the U.S. government should move forward with a free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia.  Experience indicates that the FTA will exacerbate Colombia’s human rights and humanitarian crisis.  Already union leaders are being assassinated, the land rights of farmers and indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities are being undermined and millions of people have been violently robbed of their homes. The recently signed "Action Plan" will not lead to any significant lasting change on these key concerns.
  
• Support negotiations for a peaceful end to the armed conflict. After 50 years of war, with a new Colombian Administration there is now a window of opportunity to reach a peace agreement that the U.S. can support. I do not believe that the U.S. should continue military solutions to the conflict. Our military strategy in Colombia has only fueled violence and displacement.  It is not a “success” that should be replicated elsewhere.  Demilitarization of U.S. policy should begin by cancelling U.S. contracts for construction on Colombian military bases and suspending assistance to the Colombian military.
  
• Prioritize social and humanitarian funding to protect and assist internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.   The U.S. should promote lasting solutions for the Colombian refugees and IDPs.
  
• Invest in drug prevention and rehabilitation programs to reduce demand for drugs here at home.  Congress should also increase funding and accountability for programs that promote sustainable economic development in Colombia. The United States should ensure that such programs are designed in consultation with Colombian small-scale farmers, indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities and not be carried out in partnership with the military. I do not believe in the continuation of inhumane and ineffective forced eradication programs, including aerial fumigation.  A decade has proven that these programs displace farmers, threaten food crops, and jeopardize human health and the environment even as they fail to reduce coca production.

Then click here to send an email message to your representatives in Washington.

When tens of thousands speak with one voice, Washington must listen. Please join us.

In peace,

Jess Hunter-Bowman
Associate Director
Witness for Peace

The week!

This week I've been sick with a cold, but life goes on! I went to Xecaracoj on Tuesday and kept having to blow my nose, so I decided not to go to Llanos on Wednesday and not go to the office on Thursday either, since I don't usually go there anyways on Thursdays. But I got a call from Tita asking where I was and slightly scolding me because I haven't been very present. There's drama going on at the office because of Eunice's repeated absences due to the two workshop trainings she went to in a row and the discontentment of some of the community's with the OMM because of unaccomplished or unfinished things and Eunice's absence and unfulfilled promises about countless things. Everyone has been a little stressed and no one really knows the full story, or at least have been reluctant to let me in on all that's been happening. The atmosphere is not so great as a result, and people are stressed. I'm definitely done there, it was really nice to spend time with Lesli and Elba but I've been pretty disappointed with the work the OMM does, the efficacy, and the disastrous organization and coordination. Xecaracoj has threatened to disassociate themselves from the OMM and find another women's organization to help their community, such as Nuevos Horizontes. The latter organization is a family shelter from domestic violence and women's rights and support system non profit that hosts a large number of foreign volunteers. Folks from the OMM have bashed it a couple times, dismissing it as pretending to help but not actually doing anything and stealing other organizations' funds and activities. When I heard them say stuff like that I was actually pretty shocked because if they claim they are helping women for the pure sake of helping and with the true desire and value to better women's situation, they should be in solidarity with other organizations that strive toward the same goal. The competitive undertones of their comments seemed inappropriate to me and reflected jealousy, especially because Nuevos seems to run well, get a whole lot of funding and donations, and actually have an impact and help families and women victims of abuse. Throughout my time at the OMM I've realized that organization, punctuality, coordination, deadlines, commitment, and communication were lacking within the staff and with the communities, and they really need to work on all that. However it is only 5 years old and a very progressive initiative for Guatemala and Xela to have a women's office funded by the government - and entirely Guatemalan-run, which is both a blessing and a disadvantage; the latter because of the hora chapin (guatemalan time) and slowness customs, and the limited experience in organizational skills; the former because only in a grassroots way can Guatemala actually change and sustainability be fostered.

This week I've been mainly focused on my Entremundos work, which included translating 2 articles from spanish to english and 5 from english to spanish, distributing Entremundos issues to different places and neighborhoods in Xela, interviewing people for an article, and reducing my big article. Distribution has been really fun, I just walk around Xela with alot of Entremundos magazines and go into cafes, hostels, restaurants, bookstores, gringo hang-outs, and ask to leave some copies. People like to engage in conversation which is really cool; I met the French owners of the french restaurant from Montpellier, and they talked to me about "le mal du pays" and expat life in Xela, how they can't find mustard or cheese. I also made an amazing rencontre which I'm really excited about. I was supposed to leave some Entremundos magazines in this cultural center, so I went in and saw they gave painting classes and art on the walls. I asked the two ladies who had done the art and one of them, Guadalupe, said it was her. We got to talking, and she told me she went to art school here in Xela but is one of the only four women in this city that paint professionally and exhibit their art, it's largely a male dominated field in Guatemala. She's traveled abroad in South America to go to workshops and other art-related activities, and teaches here in Xela and in an aldea, to young children, adolescents, and adults. She was really excited to meet a fellow female painter, as was I, and invited me to come with her to the aldea so I'm going Sunday, and she invited me to her studio to make art next week! I'm really excited about this, I've been looking for somewhere to make art and people that make art here, and in the past week have met two. The other one is this street-art artist that paints and spray paints beautiful murals on the walls of Xela streets, he might teach me how to spray paint the week after this one!
Friday night was Kate's benefit party for TRAMA textiles, a women's weaving coop, that I helped her advertise all over town, it was extremely fun. And today I'm going to Pachaj to see my host family from my past trip and Armando.
Life is happy :)

Xecaracoj

 Cow just chillin' on the roadside and lady transporting some heavy stuff on her head

 Desolate maiz

 It's the dry season.

 Xecaracoj ladies

 Dreadlocked dog outside Dona Viki's house, clearly cared for.

 The Xecaracoj group in Dona Viki's patio

 Ladies doing a dinamica

Building a stove for a family as part of Pop Wuj, the organization Allie is working for and about which I'm writing an article (not in Xecaracoj)

Beautiful sunset (dedicace a Myriam)

 Church and rainbow!

 Yes, that is a very large rainbow

 Cool clouds

 Cooler clouds

 The dog on my roof

 It's blurry, but it's chickens on trees!

Probably one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen.

Photos!

 Volcan Santa Maria

 House in Llanos

 Tigo water tower thing

 Gals I work with (Lesli and Elba are the non gringos)

 Lesli y Anna

 Decked out lady in Chichi

Chichi main church - also typical Chichi tourist picture

Mucho tiempo!

It has been quite a while, I apologize.

I have been extremely busy in the past few days. To summarize: Friday we left Xela (and permanent internet access) to go to the lake, where we stayed in San Marcos again. Friday night we went to the performance of Dr. Sativo y La Voz Popular, a famous Guatemalan reggae-cumbia musician. There's this popular song of his that I've heard on all my Dragons trips called Guatemaya (check it out it's quite catchy), and it was nice to see it performed. Saturday we took a boat to Pana...to go paragliding! It was amazing to be flying above the most beautiful lake, with the volcano vista. The paraglider I was flying with was really into acrobatic tricks so we did a couple loopings and spiraling. He also let me direct the wing. He spends most of his time in the himalayas and uses his wing to travel, flying from mountain to mountain rather than going through the long winding bus rides. He lives off paragliding and is able to travel with the money he makes. Isn't that an amazing way of life? Pretty cool. We shopped a little in Pana, my travel companions got hair wraps from a lady that was breast feeding in the craziest way I've ever seen, and we returned worn out to San Marcos. We met some crazy androgynous Canadians at our hostel, the friendliest place where everyone staying there without exception owns cool pants. Sunday we went to see Keith again, the chocolate guru, for a second chocolate ceremony. This time it wasn't private so it was quite different. It was really interesting to do it a second time, and I definitely felt more of those energies that I had been so skeptical about and unable to experience the first time. Keith reiterated the same discourse though, which made it seem like he follows a model in all his ceremonies and gave it a phony feel at first, which is to get rid of all the junk that society and our parents impose upon us that prevent us from being who we are truly. The chocolate is supposed to facilitate our access to who we really are to help us live more fulfilled genuine lives. People cried and an older lady got rid of this pain in her back that was caused by repressed grief over her dog that died recently by opening up to the love energies we were all sending her and understanding what was bothering her and preventing her from being happy. It was all rather fascinating, it was very real for the people that felt it but I still was a bit removed from it all, just trying to meditate a little and let the cacao work its magic. That night we left for San Pedro to take an early morning bus Monday, and we met this dutch man that said he could recognize any european - they're easier to distinguish than american people from different states - and then we had him guess where I was from. He had a hard time but finally guessed Switzerland. It was really funny, such a random and safe guess at the same time, for the three nationalities that converge in Switzerland.
That night, we watched the documentary Flow, about water. It was amazing, very informative, and quite scary and depressing about all the harm we're doing to our dwindling fresh water supplies and the unjust and limited access of poorer populations to potable water.
Monday we returned to Xela in spite of the teacher's strike (apparently teachers strike every year here, for the increase in salary by 8% they are supposed to receive but don't without pressure, and it can last from a week to 2 months - the kids end up losing) where I discovered I was sick, not too great on the GI spectrum, and I have a cold. I was supposed to have salsa class but my teacher flaked on me, again. So I did some distribution work for EntreMundos. Last week I put the translated annual report into publisher and took a hundred copies of the magazine to pass around town, I was supposed to be done by now, but I've been too busy.
This week, I have to translate 5 articles into english, write 2 more articles, edit the one I already wrote, work on the photo bank, distribute magazines, plan our itinerary and budget for our expedition to Chiapas, and go to the communities with the office. So much to do, so little time! There is only 2 weeks of internship left, oh how time flies...