Blog End

Hi,

I'm back in Vancouver now and my blog is now closed.


Christina

vacation

i am on vacation in northern guatemala right now. just about to take a bus to san ignacio, belize. waiting for the bus forever here... but i will be getting out of guatemala for the first time in two months. next week i go back to vancouver, its tough to believe. before then, i have to get rid of all my furniture, which we are donating to the conavigua office, where people live and stay while they are in the capital. lots of work travelling.

this past week there was enough activity to fill my year. i went to antigua for two days where i hiked the volcano, pacaya, it was about a six hour hike including going up and down the volcano. there was hot flowing magma on the side near the top that was rolling down the hill. it was incredible. we did not go to the to that day because it was misty, rainy, and unsafe. there was grey sut covering my hair and body, a glimpse of things to come. i also got to roast a marshmellow and hot dog on a piece of hot magma.

after antigua, we went to el retiro lodge near semuc champey, in a small community called lanquin. the lodge was beautiful, had delicious food, and was next to a beautiful river in the subtropic rainforest. i was really blown away by the experience of semuc champey. while at semuc we went swimming and exploring in a cave, tubing down a river, jumped off a bridge into the water, climbed down a waterfall, hiked up to a beautiful look-out point to see the rivers, and swam across a river. it was the best experience of my life.

yesterday, we went to tikal near flores in northern guatemala. tikal is one of the oldest, largest, and most grandiose ruins in all of guatemala. every gring@ that comes here goes to tikal. we woke at 430 to get the bus out to tikal to see the sun rise but it was not possible because the mist followed us there. we sat on top of temple two and watched the sun peak out from out of the mist on top of the canopy and watched birds fly by us. the wildlife in tikal is overabundant because of its park status. there were toucans, howler and spider monkies, tarantulas, and tons of ants.

now i am off to san ignacio, still waiting for the bus, which is in a perpetual state of tardyness. i cannot wait to get out of guatemala and go to belize where everyone speaks my first language and go caving, tubing, swimming, and perhaps ziplining. who knows. i hope this week is a safe, fun, expanding, and i make some good connections with people and the place.

seeya soon friends,

christina

Workshop

Wow. Our last act of duty is done with the Mojomayas. As of yesterday we gave our workshop about Indigenous History and Struggle in Canada. We got to the office at 11am and we waited for a few of the Mojos who were out and about. We decided to go to the nearby Typicos Mercado to buy gifts for our secret Valentine. I bought three fresh coconuts on the street for Me, Letty, and Enma and we drank and ate them in our workshop. I love buying fresh coconut on the street, they cut and stick straws in them, and it tastes delicious and sweet. All for under a buck.


Back to our workshop, we were not able to use a projector as initially discussed because the Board of Directors (Junta Directiva) was using it upstairs. We gave our presentation sin projector and in the office of the Mojomayas. It was incredibly difficult to fit everything we had prepared into our shortened timeframe and to explain complicated ideas with a new and unfamiliar vocabulary in another language but a great learning experience. I learned about working with other people to deliver workshops in another language, gaging interest level, and working with little to no resources.

On March 17th to 20th we will be giving a workshop about Learning from Mayan Cultural Continuity during our internship for the provincial Aboriginal youth conference, Gathering Our Voices, in Kelowna.

it's Come Down to the Last WEEK.

It is the last week of our internship program! We began in the middle of August and now it’s February. Much has changed for the three of us during the course of this internship; we’ve shared many unforgettable memories and made a lot of connections with each other, our co-workers, and the landscape in Guatemala. For nearly the past five months we have lived in this apartment without an oven, fridge, and more recently hot water in the shower. From the first night at the radio station in Guatemala City and taking a cold shower my limits were tested and I had to say to myself, “You’re in Guatemala now, that’s why you came here”. The cold shower was a wake-up call for me, and something I had never had to endure before coming here, and a regular occurrence in many people’s lives here.

I feel fortunate for my jaunt in Guatemala and look forward to finishing off this internship and traveling for the next two weeks around Guatemala and Belize. This week will be short but packed with a lot of activity. Tomorrow we travel to Chichichastenango (ChiChi for short) for our last Mayan ceremony with the Mojomayas at 5am, returning by the afternoon. Tuesday we are going to deliver our workshop to the Mojomayas about Indigenous Struggle in Canada with a broad overview. Wednesday we travel to Champerrico with the Mojos, about a five hour drive from the city, we leave at 5am! Wednesday we are having a despedida lunch with the Mojos. Then on Thursday Heather is coming in to Guatemala to travel around with me.

My travel plans are as follows: hike Pacaya Volcano in Antigua, go to Semuc Champey, go to the Mayan ruins of Tikal, San Ignacio in Belize, Placencia in Belize, and then come back to the city to sort house stuff out. We have decided to donate all our furniture including: beds, table and chairs, and kitchen stuff to the Mojomayas and Conavigua for their use.

Honestly, I cannot believe that I am in my final week of my internship placement. In less than three weeks I will be back in Canada. I’m going to enjoy the last few weeks in Guatemala and take a much-deserved break. I went to school for a year straight to finish my degree and handed-in my last essay via e-mail while in my first week of training in Victoria. It’s time for a vacation lady!

Rabinal

This past weekend I went to Rabinal in the state of Baja Verapaz, about four hours outside the city and 1000m in elevation. On my way to meet my travel-buddies I was greeted by some passing goats on the street of Guatemala City, I've seen these goats in the past on the streets near my office and finally this time I had my camera. Apparently, the goat's milk is sold to people on the street. I soon met-up with the Breaking the Silence Network delegation, which is a group of students and professionals who are involved with the Tatamagoush Centre and want to experientally learn more about the situation in Guatemala.

The delegation arrived the night before and they set-off with me on their first bus trip of their two week stay here. We arrived to meet our friends and two other interns that live and work in Rabinal, Colin and Erin, who had made us lunch and then I set off to the market at the Parque Central where I bought some cool painted wooden bowls.

Sunday afternoon, the delegation, interns, and coordinators met-up with Jesús Tecu Osorio, a Maya-Achí speaking survivor of the Río Negro Massacre of 1982, who shared with us some of Rabinal and neighboring community’s history as represented in the monuments dedicated to those murdered in the massacres, these monuments allow the community and foreigners to remember the lives of those that passed and speak out against the government's desire for everyone to forget. Jesus is the director of the Rabinal Legal Aid Clinic, where Colin is interning for six months, and is working to bring cases of genocide concerning the massacres forward to an Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

There were many monuments in a poorer of the community’s two graveyards. In many of the graves there were no markers but raised beds of land with rocks on top of them in order to burn candles. I felt privileged to have Don Jesús share with us his knowledge and history but also bewildered because I do not understand why the Guatemalan government would want to murder people within their country. I definitely want to read more about the history of Rabinal.

Afterwards I went to dinner with the delegates and two international human rights accompaniers who are working in the area accompanying campasinos (farmers). We ate the most delicious comidas.

Later we went back to Colin’s house and had a great time. He has a cool place with a patio over looking the surrounding mountains and streets. At the top of one of the mountains are a Maya- Atchi ruins of Cawinal. The next morning I actually saw two oxen pulling a barrel or plow or something, I don't know about these things I grew-up in the city! Colin is a farm boy though and even his family uses antique tractors.

The next morning the delegate and interns hiked to the top at 6:30am. I enjoyed eating home made pepusas and laying in the hammock though before heading back to the city. It’s finally mango season and on the way back I got a bag of mango and chopped coconut because there are always venders coming on the bus selling fruit, nuts, and surprise herbal concoctions that cure everything. I loved going to Rabinal and hopefully I can go back again to visit my friends and see more of it.

Last Week of January

This past week was a test of endurance. Last Friday we went up to Huehuetenango on a two-day trip. The bus ride was eight hours and we stayed over night in Huehuetenango (the city). We paid our respects to our friends while we were there and came back quickly to meet our boss, Carl, at the airport that evening. Carl stayed for four days and left on Wednesday. It is comforting to have the full support of the BCAAFC and Carl here in Guatemala. The girls and I get on pretty-well on our own here but there’s a warmth in knowing that there are others out there that support the struggle that we are going through here how little or big it may be.

On Monday and Tuesday we had a team meeting with the Mojos & Carl. They chose a new Mojomaya regional leader for Huehue, Fabiana, who joined us on the second day of the IBIS workshop yesterday.

Wednesday the IBIS workshops carried on as scheduled and there were about 12 youth in total that came from the far reaches of the country with a majority from Alta Verapaz, Quiche, and Ixil region.

The first day we started with a Mayan ceremony where we lit candles that were aligned for the four directions and flowers all around in the shape of a medicine wheel. For most of the day they discussed the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention169, which reinforces the rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. These rights are the most basic human rights that continue to be dismissed by corporations and governments. These youth were keen to learn about the convention but shy because it was their first day in this workshop and being exposed to new ideas that reinforce some of their beliefs. At the end of the first day I led the closing prayer, or reflection of the day.

The second day of workshops was incredibly fun and engaging. We started the day with an opening prayer led by youth. Then we went into a workshop about youth engagement in workshops where she showed the youth a few innovative ways to draw youth into activities with little resources. A few examples she used was: making animals or objects with paper, using flower and juice dye to make plastacine and then flowers that were put onto paper, making balls out of paper, and also a string game where everyone received a strand and then it was cut to open a path for discussion.

Later that night we had a Mayan ceremony because it was Efrain and Rosa Amanda’s Mayan birthday according to the Mayan calendar. The ceremony was very strong and everyone was connecting with their ancestors, this strong connection coincided with a very bright flame, which is a way of communicating with ancestors. We remembered our friends, family, and those with illnesses during this time. This may be one of the last ceremonies I take part in here.

After dinner we had a cultural night where the youth were put in charge of planning and leading it. They did an excellent job at leading the night. The Mojomayas, Alana, some youth, and myself shared a dance, song, drama, and dynamicas. The dynamicas were hilarious there was one where we had to change dance partners and the one left without a partner danced with a broom. Alana had put together a presentation with many images of and by plains Indigenous people from Canada with pow wow songs. It was beautiful and the youth learned something new about Indigenous peoples. I shared two songs from the Tsimshian and when I was singing and drumming the songs I felt the same strength that I used to feel when I performed with the La Kaen dancers. I have not participated in my dance group in a few years but have been listening to our songs but I want to practice and get involved with the La Kaen dancers again when I get back. I feel this incredible sense of strength from my family and people that is enhanced here because we are around other strong Indigenous-Maya people that continue to speak their language, participate in ceremony, and have a strong sense of family and community belonging; although, these help them to be resilient against adversities they are the most disadvantaged against outside negative forces from government, corporations, and drug cartels. Fighting these issues is integral to the structure of the Mayan Youth Movement (Mojomayas) and Conavigua and why these leaders continue the struggle. There is no other way but forward.