El Arco - La Antigua Guatemala

Thoughts on Guatemala

I had thought that as soon as we got home I would write up a summary of my thoughts on Guatemala. But then, as often happens, life interfered with my plans.

We were home for a few days, spent a little time with a few of our friends in Costa Rica, and then took off for Florida, where one of our favorite people, Gene’s Uncle Nello, was having spinal surgery. As it turned out, he didn’t need us. A young 93 years old, he was up and about the day after surgery, planning the projects he’s going to do around the house with the new power tools he bought before the surgery. Anyhow, it was a good excuse to visit with him and the Fabulous Aunt Kay – not that we need one! They are our favorite people. By the time we got home again and started settling in, I had lost my momentum. So now I’m trying to remember everything that I desperately wanted to say about Guatemala at the end of our trip.Where to begin? We both fell in love with so many things about Guatemala! We plan to go back again next year for Semana Santa. We hope to visit many of our new friends again. People, and making new friends, are after all the best part of traveling and discovering new places. See my separate write up about people below.The country is indescribably beautiful. From the majesty of beautiful Lake Atitlan surrounded by volcanoes to the architectural wonders of the old colonial capital of Antigua, we seemed always to be in the midst of fabulous things to see. During our first days there, I decided that I want to live in Antigua. By the time we left, I was saying that perhaps I would like to live at Lake Atitlan. But alongside that beauty is grinding poverty. Little children selling trinkets in the street at night and asking for the leftovers off your plate in the restaurants. Barefoot old ladies selling rice drinks in the park. Poverty that can make you feel damned guilty for eating more than tortillas and beans. The injustice of it all is always there. Always in your face.I've never lived anywhere with such obvious police presence. The first thing we saw the night we arrived in the country was a large group of very military looking police at the airport. I don't know what they were looking for, but they certainly made an impression. Everywhere we went, there were police. There were the army guys in olive green, the national civil police dressed in black, security guys dressed in various uniforms, and then there were the tourist police, dressed in grey, who, I was told, were supposed to make me feel safe as a tourist in their country. I used to joke about trying to figure out which ones were dangerous, and wanting to take photos of every type of police, there was nothing funny about it. It is well known that the army was responsible for most of the 200,000 deaths during and after the recent 40 year war. These guys strike terror in the hearts of most people who lived through it.In a country where over half of the children suffer from chronic malnutrition, they have some fabulous highways, and even the roads in the towns are generally very good, way better than any roads we've seen in comparatively wealthy Costa Rica. I was told that in a country where tourism is the number 2 source of income (remittances from residents in the US are number 1), good roads must be a priority. OK, I understand the concept, but it's still hard to see how the money can exist for those beautiful new roads while children are starving.The existence of over 20 languages in one small country is part of the fascination of the country. The varying cultures from village to village are quickly obvious and are a huge part of the mystique for the visitor. One soon learns that there is no such thing as a "Mayan culture." The culture changes, not just from language to language but from village to village. 35% of the population speak no Spanish. How then can the poorest of the people, illiterate and unable to communicate with each other or with the government, fight for basic human rights? My teacher tells me that culture is on a village and family level and that it is unlikely that the indigenous people will ever be able to work together because of this.There are vast numbers of volunteers from many different countries. There are projects to provide clean water to remote villages where the only source of water is unsafe. A major source of illness, if not the major source, is contaminated water. There are groups helping to build "safe stoves" thus lengthening women's lives by reducing the amount of fumes they breath on a daily basis. There is a great group helping to provide family planning services and cervical cancer screening to women. There is an incredible group of people in Guatemala City providing schooling and other services for the children of the people who live and work in the massive city dump. It seems like for every need, there are groups of people trying to help. But the need is so great that no matter how much is done, the problems still seem to be insurmountable.So yes, we will go back. We love the country and the people. But the awesome beauty of the country and the graciousness of the people only make the overwhelming problems of this country even more obvious.Following are a few last articles on Guatemala. For those of you who can’t read Spanish, I apologize. I promised my teachers that all of my writing would not be in English. For those of you who can read Spanish, I apologize for my limited Spanish writing skills and beg your forgiveness for my mistakes. Some of the articles were things that I wrote for my classes and thus have been looked over by my teachers, resulting in, I hope, better grammar. I’ve also included below a list of books that I believe are worth reading. There are many more. I’ll never get through all of them. The statistics section is from notes I had made along the way from various sources. The statistics are startling. The reality of everyday life up close is much more so.

Statistics & Information

Almost 80% of the population live in poverty (less than $2 per day); 60% of those are in extreme poverty.
67% of indigenous children suffer from chronic malnutrition (Unicef)

Of a population of over 12,000,000 people, 45% are indigenous.
50% of the people are Catholic. 40% are evangelicals.
71% of the population are literate.
GDP: $2,200 per capita (2005 est) - but it's really much worse because of the grossly uneven distribution.
50% of the Mayan children, even today, receive no schooling. Less than 30% complete primary school (6th grade).
In Latin America, Guatemala has the lowest life expectancy and the highest infant mortality rate.
A woman is 15 times more likely to die in childbirth in Guatemala than in the U.S. The average woman has 4 to 5 children, and 42% of the population is under 15. Only 43% of women use any form of birth control, including "natural" methods. This falls to 21% among indigenous women. Nearly a third of women report an unmet desire for family planning. Cervical cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths among women of reproductive age.
There were 80,000 new high school graduates last year. There were only 5,000 new jobs.
200,000 people were killed during the 36 year long civil war. Although the peace accords were signed in 1996, violence is still widespread. The murder rate of women has increased dramatically. From the beginning of 2001 to April 2007, 2,300 women and girls were murdered. 70% of these murders are not investigated and no arrests have been made in 97% of the cases, which involve incredible brutality, mutilation, dismemberment, sexual violence. The murder rate overall has doubled since 2000 and is 6 times the rate of the U.S.

Cuentos de Guatemala-La Madre y Su Bebe Asesinado

Unas historias de Guatemala, no quiero recordar. Pero nunca las olvidaré. Esta historia me fue dicho por una mujer de veinte años y pico. Le fue dicho a ella por su padre, quien lo vio con sus propios ojos.

Tres hombres caminaban en la carretera. Un camión los pasó. El camión llevó quizás una docena hombres y una mujer. Fue una escena horrible porque fue obvio que todos habían sido golpeados. En ese tiempo, ser sospechoso de ayudar los guerrilleros fue motivo suficiente para ser asesinado. Pero lo peor fue que la mujer agarraba al bebe a su pecho, tratando de proteger al niño. Mas adelante en la carretera, los tres hombres llegaron momentos después los soldados han matado todos de los hombres y la mujer. Cuando uno de los soldados vio que el bebe estaba vivo y amamantando, él levantó a la madre y le disparó al niño.
Quisiera creer que tales cosas no ocurrían en realidad. Pero yo se que, desafortunadamente, tal cosa fue común durante la guerra.

Cuentos de Guatemala-La Maestra

Hay otra historia sobre una mujer que desafortunadamente no recuerdo bien. Es la historia de una mujer quien quería que los niños de su aldea tuvieran la oportunidad de aprender a leer y a escribir.

Ella enseñaba los niños en la biblioteca de la aldea. Porque el ejercito no quería que ella enseñara a los niños, ella fue acusada de ayudar a las guerrillas.
Finalmente su vida estuvo en riesgo – y ella huyo a la selva. Varias personas de la aldea le trajeron comida en secreto.
Más adelante, por supuesto, ella se unió con las guerrillas, quien la han protegido del ejército.
Posteriormente (pero no se cuantos años después) ella fue torturada y asesinada. Aunque todos en la aldea sabían que ella había muerto, nadie le decía a su padre porque no quería que el supiera como ella murió.

Cuentos de Guatemala-El Hombre en un Hoyo

Durante la guerra, cuando el ejército necesitaba más soldados, reclutaron a unos hombres de una aldea.
Un hombre quien les dijo que no quería estar en el ejército fue convencido en 3 días.
Él fue forzado a estar en un hoyo por 3 días – con muchos cuerpos de hombres muertos.
Después él cambió de opinión.

Babies, Health Care & Traditions

Mi maestro decía que especialmente in el pasado, los Mayas no confiaban en los médicos y en los hospitales públicos. Para dar a luz, las mujeres preferían las comadronas para atender. Si sus hijos estuvieran enfermos, ellas los llevaban al sacerdote maya en vez de un doctor.

Ella me contaba la historia de su hermana mayor, quien se enfermo cuando era niña. Después ella ha tenido diarrea y vomitando por varios días, sus padres tenían miedo. Llevaron a la niña al sacerdote en su aldea y el les dijo que la madre era la causa de la enfermedad de su hija. El les dijo que era porque la madre no respetaba su esposo (quien, a este tiempo, tenia 16 anos) que su hijo estaba enferma. Les dijo que se arrodillaran y él dio a la madre 25 latigazos. El padre, él dio 10 latigazos. No entiendo si las palizas tenían la intención de castigar a los padres o de curar la niña. Como quiera que sea, el doctor les dijo que la niña iba a mejorar el próximo día. 5 días después, los padres temerosos llevaron la niña al doctor. Ella estaba mucho peor. El doctor estaba enojado porque los padres no han llevado a la niña antes. El dijo que era demasiado tarde para hacer algo para la niña y que su madre, de edad de 20 anos, debió haber sabido mejor. El próximo día, la niña murió. Los padres sufrían mucho y no creen en los sacerdotes ahora. Es una de las mas triste historias he oído, pero desafortunadamente creo que ocurría mucho en el pasado y posiblemente todavía ocurre frecuentemente.

Cuentos de Guatemala - Vendedores en Panajachel

Cuando yo llegue en Panajachel, me entristecía ver niños muy jovenes vendiendo tejidos y baratijas en las calles. Entonces vi las ancianas caminando en las calles llevando cargas pesadas de tejidos. Unas de ellas no llevaban zapatos. Yo creía "Esa puede ser mi abuela. Pobrecita!" Pensé que tal vez debo comprar algo de ellas porque fue obvio que necesitaban el dinero.

Unos dias despues, mi actitud cambió. Aprendí que es muy incomido tratar comer la cena en un restaurante cuando constantamente hay varias personas por la mesa, tratando vender algo. Unas me empujan en el brazo para obtener mi atencion!
Mas tarde pensaba que uno no debe comprar de las niñas porque quisas si ellas tienen éxito con sus ventas, nunca irán a la escuela. Creo que es muy triste que la mayoría de ellas nunca asistan escuela. Mejor a comprar de sus abuelas, pienso. Todavía tengo sentimientos mixtos en este tema. A veces quiero comprarles comida. A veces estoy muy frustrada y solo espero que ellas se vayan.
Como muchas cosas en Guatemala, parece que no hay respuestas claras. Solo hay mas preguntas.

Books about Guatemala

The War for the Heart & Soul of a Highland Maya Town, Robert S. Carlsen
Unfinished Conquest, Victor Perera
Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala, Victoria Sanford
Eternal Spring-Eternal Tyranny, Jean-Marie Simon
Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America, Walter Lafeber
Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, Stephen Schlesinger et al
Hombres de Maiz, Miguel Angel Asturias **
A Beauty that Hurts: Life and Death in Guatemala, George Lovell
Guatemala: Never Again!, Archdiocese of Guatemala
I, Rigoberta Menchú, Rigoberta Menchú *
Crossing Borders, Rigoberta Menchú *
Rigoberta Menchú and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans, David Stoll

* Winner of Nobel Peace Prize
** Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature