Living in Guatemala

I am living in many different worlds. First, I live in the United States and am still connected to the culture there. Second, I live in the human rights sector of Guatemala of highly educated and intellectual Guatemalans and foreign activists. Third, I live in a world poverty and injustice. Fourthly, I live in the world of popular Guatemalan/Latin American culture.

Pastoral de la Mujer (women) is one pastoral within the entire Catholic diocese of San Marcos. Within the Casadicosisana there is a Pastoral de Salud (health), Pastoral de la Tierra (earth), Pastoral de Educacíon, among others, including the Recovery of the Historical Memory (REMI). REMI conducted interviews of the survivors of the civil war, the guerrillas, and the civil patrols, and the army. REMI then created a comprehensive evaluation on what happened during the war, and how Guatemala needs to move forward, while respecting the memory of the war. Today, REMI is still active in ensuring the historical memory of the war is preserved, although I am still learning about how they function. While I am don´t always understand the intricacies of intelligent conversations, I generally understand the gist of each conversation and am exposed to many different ideas.

As part of my work, we go out into smaller communities and work with women who have not been exposed to ideas of women´s rights. During my first community visit to Tectitan, a newer community, Elvia and I played an icebreaker with the women of the community. In the icebreaker all the women had to stand up and introduce themselves while saying one thing they had to offer the community. I struck that most of the women offered material items they have, such as their homes. Very few women offered their skills, probably because they don´t realize that they have skills that can benefit others. The first project I was given was to create a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and insert all the data for a new education project in Tajumulco, (one of the parochials in San Marcos). The project is providing funding for girls to either stay in school, or start school for the first time. The ages ranged from 13-24 and most of the girls could not read or write. Then when I visited Tajumulco, Eliva and I ate breakfast with the women who helps cook and clean for the parochial. She was telling us that her small income of 200 quetzales supports her 3 children and parents. Her oldest daughter is 13 and does not go to school because she can´t afford the costs of the uniform, books, and school supplies. Plus the daughter helps her with her work. Then during the meeting with the women, Elvia taught the women about the different types of violence (physical, psychological, sexual, inter-familiar, and paternal). While they women have probably been exposed to all these types of violence, either directly or indirectly, they did not know how to explain the different types. It has been interesting to compare these newer communities to the older community of San Jose, which Pastoral de la Mujer has been working with for 9 years. The women in that community are outspoken and most of the women participate in the conversations that happen and have strong opinions that they are not afraid to share.

Elvia´s parents, sister, and one brother, live in a small puebo called Santa Teresa. Her family there still wears the indigenous traje, don´t have indoor plumbing, and keep chickens, pigs, and have one cow and one horse. There was day when we spent the morning and afternoon with her family in Santa Teresa because it was her other sister (who lives in San Marcos and also works with Pastoral de la Mujer), Terri´s, birthday. We spent the day talking with her family and playing with Elvia´s nieces and nephews. I found I have a great party trick, I can do a backbend and all the children crawl under my bridge and never get tired, even though I do! We went home that evening to eat and then get ready to go to the discotecca. Elvia is an independent and educated woman. She is 33 years old, unmarried, has been working for Pastoral de la Mujer for 9 years, and is currently studying human rights in the university in Xela. We often go out at night with her friends, in fact my first night in San Marcos we went to a bar and took tequila shots.
I am being exposed to many different aspects of Guatemalan culture, and I think it will help me learn how to keep my feet in the world of the center and the world of the marginalized.