Migration and Stengthening Local Economies

The MCC Guatemala/El Salvador program is currently working on an advocacy tool-kit that focuses on the following key advocacy areas that we have identified as integral parts of the Connecting Peoples work here: 

Migration and Strengthening Local Economies

Violence and Protection for Vulnerable Populations
(see here for more on this topic)

Mega-Projects and Respect for Communities and the Environment

In the coming months, we plan to share the tool-kit with you and hope that it will provide you with information and ideas on how you can continue working on these issues in your home communities.

Back in March, we spent time with the Rockway group in the area of Cotzal, Quiche near Nebaj, an experience that impacted me for many reasons, especially considering it was the first time we had taken a group there.  Part of the time included connecting with a group of youth who are starting a small, community bakery; by youth, I mean young people - mostly 14 and 15 year old girls and by small, I mean building a brick-oven in a roughly 6 by 6 foot space.  Often with these new and small initiatives, one never really knows where they will end up - how much of a long-term impact they will have on these young peoples' lives, and whether or not they will actually become strong enough reasons for the youth to stay in their communities and avoid the temptation to migrate.  During Rockway's visit, we shared time with a young man (a boy really) Jacinto, from another community in Nebaj where a similar bakery was started last year and is still going strong.  Unfortunately, a few weeks after seeing Jacinto, I found out that he had decided to take the increasingly dangerous trip through Mexico in attempts of making a life for himself in the U.S., without official documents of any kind.  Hearing this news hit me like a strong punch in the stomach and I have since been anxious and worried to hear whether or not Jacinto is able to survive the trip (and of course, cannot even imagine the worry of his family).  Stories like this, ones in which you are personally connected to the people and places from where these immigrants come, certainly give a new face to the "immigration debate" that is so strong in the north.  (Read this reflection by MCC SALT participant, Kelly, for another look at this debate)  These kinds of stories also continue to reinforce the need for small initiatives, like these community bakeries, in Guatemala and other parts of Central America.  More and more young people will continue to leave their home communities and migrate if they do not have viable economic and educational opportunities that give them a reason to stay.  Even though there are young people like Jacinto, who decided to leave even though there is such a project in his community, there are more and more young people that haven't left because of these same projects.  In now three different communities in the Nebaj/Cotzal area, there are small, youth-led projects that are flourishing, projects that are giving youth hope in themselves and in the futures that are possible without migration.  

 up and running stove that Rockway helped build (Cotzal)

 

 

 bread-making workshop and new flyer advertising their products (Cotzal)

small store that will be part of the bakery in Jacinto's community (Nebaj)

MCC U.S.is planning a learning tour to Guatemala in early October that will focus on immigration and the importance of these types of projects; visit here to learn more about  the "Alternatives to Migration" Learning  Tour.