Testimony for an ending year

By Nancy Sabas

A year has gone by and can not help to fill a cliché and write a conventional blog post with end-of- year reflections. Joy, melancholy and almost-despair with a sudden rise of hope seem to invade every person that intends to look back and think about what they witnessed. That is exactly who i am: a naive witness being  constantly transformed by the love received from the poor in the rural communities, the neighbors in a turbulent city and the anger toward an oppressive and unjust  system.

As a witness i recall several moments during this last year in Guatemala that had a strong impact in me:

I witnessed the willingness of the work and learn groups to come and step out of their comfort zones to experience what Guatemalans and Salvadorans live day by day.  As they learn i have learned and keep learning over again. The work and learn groups have taken me to a journey that went beyond what i could have ever imagined. I am grateful for all of the fleeting friendships made in each tour and for blessing me with their company and their sights. I do believe that every one of them played the perfect part in the perfect place and time in the communities they visited and also in my life.

I witnessed the reactions and commotion that the Ex-president Rios Montt trial brought to Guatemala last March. A country polarized with opinions: some of them claiming for dignity and justice for the genocide victims, others denying any genocide and many others diminishing the importance and/or being indifferent. I witnessed my neighbors, local friends and even the taxi driver carefully listening to the news on the radio last May 10th, the day Rios Montt was convicted for Genocide and crimes against humanity. I saw them celebrating and regaining trust on a Justice system that had disappointed them so many times. I also saw their despair when the media announced that he was released from prison 3 days later with a promise to repeat the trial next January.

I witnessed in a 3 hour hike one of the most stunning natural sceneries: the Sonmentir tzi kaj naab valley, an important source of water for the local community now threathened by goldmining exploration in Nebaj.

I witnessed the courage and determination of the Ixil people to defend their sacred territory and make their communal land rights be respected by the Guatemalan government and foreign goldmining and hydroelectric companies despite threats, human rights violations, political instability and military presence.

I witnessed cross-cultural exchanges and relationships being built regardless of differences. I saw love overcoming culture and status barriers. I saw generous people offering the few they had to strangers. I witnessed people showing solidarity and compassion to a foreign community. I saw people who never had the chance to attend school teaching strong lessons to highly educated people. I saw people advocating in their home countries for a country that is not their own.

                                                                                   

I met several children who are separated from their parents when they left to immigrate to North America due to the lack of employment in their communities. I also met people who are working hard on creating alternatives to avoid immigration and develop sustainable communities such as the Catholic Diocese of San Marcos.

As a Honduran, a recent event that impacted me were the elections in my home country, even though I wasn´t a direct witness and had to Inform myself with the news on the media and the testimonies from my family and friends back home. Again (after the 2009 coup), my country is divided by opinions. Strong denounces of fraud and lack of transparency seem to be unheard and denied from the international community while the people are drawn to protest on the streets where they become easy targets for the military. The number of murdered Journalists and left wing activists is alarming.  The question we all ask is where Democracy is and how the current government is different from a dictatorship.

In this setting, a new year brings more challenges which can only be approached by becoming more aware and committed to take action. As an American or Canadian citizen you can take action advocating for Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras by expressing your concerns to your congress calling, sending letters and articles about these issues, discussing these topics at your local church and spreading the news. These are only a few examples of things you can do.

Citizens in Honduras express their discomfort towards the new elections in many ways. Movements such as the ¨Camisas Negras¨ - a call to people to dress in black t-shirts as a protest against the elected president-, concerts, banners, manifestations, the writing of articles and poems are flourishing:

This is your justice

¨Today is the last day of the holy fake justice,

 For tomorrow the tyrant will triumph or perhaps a new villain;

 Either way sin shall be victorious.

 Meanwhile, go and make sure you remember the feel of these bars for your freedom lies on the other side.¨

 Taken from Los Dos ejes: http://dosejes.tumblr.com/post/67907091172/esta-es-tu-justicia

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Testimonio de un año que termina

Por Nancy Sabas


Un año ha pasado y no puede evitar llenar un cliché y escribir un blog convencional con reflexiones de fin de año. Alegría, melancolía y casi desesperación con una repentina alza de la esperanza parece invadir a cada persona que tiene la intención de mirar hacia atrás y meditar en lo que presenciaron. Y eso es exactamente lo que soy: una ingenua testigo siendo constantemente transformada por el amor recibido de los pobres en las comunidades rurales, los vecinos de una ciudad turbulenta y el enojo ante un sistema opresivo e injusto.
Como testigo, recuerdo varios momentos durante este último año en Guatemala, que tuvieron un fuerte impacto en mí:
Fui testigo de la disposición de los grupos de aprendizaje y servicio para venir y salir de su zona de confort para experimentar lo que los guatemaltecos y salvadoreños viven día a día. A medida que aprenden yo también he aprendido y sigo aprendiendo de nuevo. Los grupos de trabajo y aprendizaje me han llevado a un viaje que iba más allá de lo que jamás hubiera imaginado. Estoy muy agradecida por todas las amistades fugaces realizadas en cada gira y por bendecirme con su compañía y sus impresiones. Creo en que cada uno de ellos hizo el papel perfecto en el lugar y el momento perfecto en las comunidades visitadas y también en mi vida.

Fui testigo de las reacciones y la conmoción que el juicio del Ex- presidente Ríos Montt trajo a Guatemala el marzo pasado. Un país polarizado de opiniones: Unos reclamando la dignidad y la justicia para las víctimas del genocidio , otros negando cualquier genocidio y muchos otros la disminuyendo su importancia y / o indiferentes. Presencié a mis vecinos, amigos locales e incluso el conductor del taxi escuchando atentamente las noticias en la radio el pasado 10 de mayo, el día en que Ríos Montt fue declarado culpable de genocidio y crímenes contra la humanidad . Los vi celebrar y recuperar la confianza en un sistema de justicia que los había decepcionado tantas veces. También vi su desesperanza cuando los medios de comunicación anunciaron que él fue liberado de la prisión de 3 días más tarde con la promesa de repetir el juicio el próximo mes de enero.

Fui testigo en una caminata de 3 horas de uno de los paisajes naturales más impresionantes: el llano Sonmentir tzi kaj naab, una importante fuente de agua para la comunidad local ahora amenazada por exploraciones de mina en Nebaj.

Fui testigo de la valentía y la determinación del pueblo Ixil para defender su sagrado territorio y que sus derechos a las tierras comunales sean respetados por el gobierno guatemalteco y las empresas de extracción de oro e hidroeléctricas extranjeras  a pesar de las amenazas, violaciones de los derechos humanos, la inestabilidad política y la presencia militar.

Fui testigo de los intercambios interculturales y las amistades que se construyeron a pesar de las diferencias. Vi al amor superar la cultura y barreras de clase. Vi a personas generosas ofreciendo lo poco que tenían a extraños. Fui testigo de personas que mostraron su solidaridad y compasión a una comunidad extranjera. Vi a personas que nunca tuvieron la oportunidad de asistir a la escuela enseñarle fuertes lecciones a gente con educación alta. Vi a  gente abogando en sus países de origen por un país que no es el suyo.
                                                                                  
Conocí a varios niños que se separaron de sus padres cuando éstos se emigraron a América del Norte debido a la falta de empleo en sus comunidades. También conocí a personas que están trabajando duro en la creación de alternativas para evitar la inmigración y el desarrollo de comunidades sostenibles, como por ejemplo, la Diócesis de San Marcos.
Como hondureña, un evento reciente que me impactó fueron las elecciones en mi país de origen, a pesar de que no era una testigo directa y me tuve que conformar con las noticias en los medios de comunicación y los testimonios de mi familia y amigos en casa. Una vez más (después del golpe de Estado del 2009), mi país está dividido en opiniones. Fuertes denuncias de fraude y falta de transparencia parecen ser ignoradas y negadas por parte de la comunidad internacional, provocando a las personas salir a protestar en las calles donde se convierten en un blanco fácil para los militares. El número de periodistas y activistas de izquierda asesinados es alarmante. La pregunta que todos nos hacemos es donde está la democracia y cómo nuestro gobierno actual se diferencia de una dictadura.
En este contexto, un nuevo año trae más retos que sólo pueden ser abordados a través de la consciencia y compromiso a hacer algo. Como ciudadano estadounidense o canadiense puedes tomar acción abogando por Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras expresando tus preocupaciones, enviando cartas y artículos sobre estos temas a tu congreso, discutiendo estos temas en tu iglesia local y difundir de la noticia. Estos apenas son algunos ejemplos de cosas que puedes hacer.

Los ciudadanos de Honduras expresan su malestar hacia las nuevas elecciones de muchas formas. Movimientos como el de ¨ Camisas Negras ¨ - un llamado a la gente para vestirse con camisetas negras en señal de protesta contra el presidente electo - , conciertos, pancartas, manifestaciones, la redacción de artículos y poemas están floreciendo.

 

Let´s hear some MR stories!

The Mennonite Central Committee benefits hundreds of people by shipping overseas humanitarian aid to countries all over the globe who are facing poverty, oppression, natural disasters and war through the department of Material Resources and Meat canning. Hundreds of workers and volunteers take part in this gigantic process every year to make this labor happen.
This year, 14 participants - workers and volunteers of these departments- visited Guatemala and El Salvador on a 10 day trip to experience the end process of their work and take back these stories to their fellow workers and home communities.
The trip started in El Salvador visiting the different partner organizations that work along with MCC G&ES in responding to their community needs. Among them are ANADES, The Baptist Church ¨Disciples of Chirst¨ (IBDC)  and Comunidades eclesiales de Base de El Salvador (CEBES).

The MR visit to Guatemala and El Salvador. Photo taken by Stanley Toews.

ANADES (Asociación Nuevo Amanecer de El Salvador) is a non profit organization formed by the basic ecclesial communities in El salvador that supports children and women´s rights and responds to those who are excluded and marginalized in the Salvadorian society. ANADES has many preschool/daycare programs throughout the country and the Material Resource group visited two of them located in the municipality of Perquin, Morazan and San Salvador. Linda Dickinson, the material resources coordinator in MCC Alberta, reflected on her experience: "We visited a daycare in Perquin - they've received canned meat and school kits over the years.¨
The MR group also visited IBDC, its farm and the communities where they work. Part of the trip was visiting specific families to listen to their stories. Many of them were affected by the hurricane Ida in 2009 and are now living in vulnerable shanties. Wendy Kropf-Cotter, the material resources coordinator in MCC Ontario, wrote about her experience there:
¨MCC has helped La Linea by providing school kits, hygiene kits and some relief kits. We also send canned meat to this partner. When the meat first arrived, the people tried eating it right out of the can, and were disappointed in the product. The church leadership realized that the ladies didn’t know what to make with this meat, and so they called the women together and asked them all to create recipes using it. They rallied and came up with many delicious recipes.
After our time at La Linea, we travelled to to Rancho Finca Canaan (The Promised Land) to spend an afternoon with many from the congregation and spend the night. Seven women were asked to cook their MCC meat recipes and provide us with a sampling. We were so blessed by the generosity of those who have so very little. The sharing of this food was a moving experience, as we watched each woman prepare her dish, and pass it around for our tasting and comments. Tacos, lasagna, empanadas, stuffed peppers and three versions of pupusas were received with great praise by the MCC staff. The women beamed with pleasure.¨
¨ We went to Perquin and met a group of women who work together to overcome trauma from the war and who encourage each other to make handicrafts that they can sell and supplement their incomes with.¨ shared Arthur Mann, the Material Aid Resource Centre Coordinator, referring to the time he spent with CEBES.
The MR group also participated in activities that engaged them with the historical background of Guatemala and El Salvador such as visiting the Monseñor Romero Center and Martyrs museum, El mozote, and the national cemetery of Guatemala City.  ¨We learned a lot about the conflict that El Salvador has just come through. Benito (El mozote tour guide) took us to a memorial that commemorates the lives of over 1,000 people brutally killed by the military in 1981. People are making sure that we remember so that this will not happen again¨. Arthur added.



Women from CEBES show their sewing work used as a trauma healing tool to represent their memories of the civil war. Photo taken by Stanley Toews.

The second part of the trip was spent in Guatemala city and Santiago Atitlan with some of the MCC partner organizations in those areas: AMAR (Academia Menonita de Artes y Recreación, which stands for Mennonite Academy of Arts and Recreation) and ANADESA (Asociación Nuevo Amanecer de Santiago Atitlan).

ANADESA is currently working in many different projects, and providing workshops and classes for women in the communities of Panabaj, Tzanchaj, and Chukmuk is one of them.  Andrew Keeler, one of members of the meat canning team, commented: “It was neat to see how the projects used the meat and other resources to enhance the community. It’s not just handed out and forgotten.”

¨ We are all different, and yet we are all the same, and together we share what we have with each other. This might mean money or goods, or time or community or friendship.¨ Wendy reflected from the devotions held at IBDC.

Photo taken by Stanley Toews.

For more information:

http://www.mcc.org/stories/news/connecting-through-canned-meat

http://www.anades.org/


Special thanks to James Wheeler for making this video!

 

INVITATION TO COB WORKSHOP IN THE MAYAN HIGHLANDS

COMPLETE COB WORKSHOP
March 5th-12th, 2014
In the Mayan Highlands of Guatemala

WHAT IS COB?
Earth is probably still the world's commonest building material. The word cob comes from an old English root meaning a lump or rounded mass. Cob building uses hands and feet to form lumps of earth mixed with sand and straw, a sensory and aesthetic experience similar to sculpting with clay. Cob is easy to learn and inexpensive to build. Because there are no forms, ramming, cement or rectilinear bricks, cob lends itself to organic shapes: curved walls, arches and niches. Earth homes are cool in summer, warm in winter. Cob's resistance to rain and cold makes it ideally suited to cold climates like the Pacific Northwest, and to desert conditions.
Cob has been used for millennia even in the harsh climates of coastal Britain, at the latitude of the Aleutians. Thousands of comfortable and picturesque cob homes in England have been continuously occupied for many centuries and now command very high market values. With recent rises in the price of lumber and increasing interest in natural and environmentally safe building practices, cob is enjoying a renaissance. This ancient technology doesn't contribute to deforestation, pollution or mining nor depend on manufactured materials or power tools. Earth is non-toxic and completely recyclable. In this age of environmental degradation, dwindling natural resources, and chemical toxins hidden in our homes, doesn't it make sense to return to nature's most abundant, cheap and healthy building material?
From the “Cob Cottage Company”

SITE OF THE WORKSHOP
The small Mayan village of Nebaj is located about 5 hours north of Guatemala city amidst beautiful, green mountains and abundant rivers and springs. It is home to the Mayan Ixil people who have occupied this ancestral territory for 2,500 years. Although the Mayan Ixil people have a very rooted cultural legacy, migration to the United States (mostly by young men) in recent years has begun to bring many aspects of western civilization into Nebaj. One such aspect is related to housing as many Ixil families have given up traditional adobe homes to build “modern” and supposedly superior cement cinder block houses with money sent back from migrants in the US.
The “complete cob workshop” is designed to teach natural building techniques to folks from “the north” who are interested in discovering how to live more sustainably through learning how to build their own homes.
It is also an opportunity to introduce building with cob to young people in the Ixil region of Guatemala as a complement to traditional adobe homes and as a way to stimulate pride in native, vernacular architecture.

THE WORKSHOP
The six day workshop will cover:
 Considerations on picking a house site including passive solar design
 Building a rubble trench and natural rock and lime mortar foundation
 Building cob and “cob-wood” (cob with cordwood) walls
 Putting in windows and doors
 Making natural adobe bricks the ancient-Mayan way
 Creating a poured adobe floor
 Plastering/Sculpting and other creative ways to
enliven up your cob walls
 Putting on an anchored roof
 Building a composting toilet with wattle and daub technique
During the workshop, we will be working on three different houses. The main construction will be of a cultural center in a small village located about 20 minutes from Nebaj. The cultural center will be used as a community space for local youth to gather and meet and to share and to learn. We will also be working on another recently finished cob building that serves as an office for a local youth network. At this house we will be re-plastering (both with cob and lime) the finished walls. Lastly, we will work on a poured adobe floor at another recently built cob house in the community.
The workshop, apart from participants from the United States/Canada, will be open to 15-20 local, Ixil youth interested in learning natural building with cob. The more feet we have mixing cob, the faster the walls will go up!
The workshop will be led by Tobias Roberts and Yasmin Méndez who work in the Ixil region of Guatemala with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). MCC has been working in Guatemala since 1976 in a variety of development, relief, and peace-building projects around the country. In the Ixil region, MCC has supported local, Mayan organizations in small agricultural projects and in efforts to protect traditional lifestyles and defend the rights of the Mayan- Ixil people over their ancestral lands.
Tobias participated in a cob workshop led by Diane Jennings of “Disputanta Cob” in Kentucky in May 2011 and with his wife Yasmin have since built numerous cob ovens, stoves, benches, and a complete cob house that is now the offices for a local network of Ixil youth. They have also been involved in building wattle and daub chicken coops with groups of Ixil youth involved in raising small animals. Local Mayan-Ixil adobe builders will also be involved in leading the part of the workshop related to making adobe bricks.
Guatemala has gained international notoriety as a country reeling with violence from youth gangs and drug trafficking. However, the vast majority of this violence is confined to the urban areas of the country. The town of Nebaj where the workshop will be held is a quiet, peaceful town where violence of any type is a rarity. Workshop participants will be picked up directly from the airport and driven (by van) to the small town of Nebaj which is about 4-5 hours north of Guatemala City. Furthermore, workshop participants will be given the choice between camping near the sight of the construction of the cultural center (free), staying with local
families (free) or staying in a local hotel in the town of Nebaj ($5.00 USD per night).

AGENDA
March 5: Arrival by air to Guatemala City (no later than 100 pm), and van ride to the town of Nebaj. March 6 AM: Picking a house site, passive solar design, and construction of rubble trench and stone/lime mortar foundation
PM: Begin construction of cob-walls and “cob-wood” walls
March 7 AM: Continued construction of cob walls and “cob-wood” walls PM: Creative/Artistic opportunities for sculpting, creating niches and other means to enliven your cob walls
March 8 AM: Continued construction of cob walls and “cob-wood” walls and installation of windows and doors. PM: Making natural adobe bricks and building with them.
March 9 AM: Continued construction of cob walls and “cob-wood” walls PM: Plastering and sculpting
March 10 AM: Pouring and adobe floor PM: Pouring and adobe floor and wattle and daub composting toilet
March 11 AM: Continued construction of cob walls and “cob-wood” walls and sculpting interior walls PM: Putting on the anchored roof
March 12 AM: Returning to Guatemala City PM: Flights leaving no earlier than 1:00 PM

Those that wish to stay after the workshop to travel around Guatemala, we are willing to drop you off anywhere between Nebaj and Guatemala City. Some beautiful tourist sites between Nebaj and Guatemala City to consider would be Lake Atitlan or Antigua (Google them). Of course, any expenses for optional tourist travel are your own and you would be responsible for getting back to the airport by yourself. There are buses and/or shuttles that will take you directly to the airport from both Lake Atitlán and Antigua.
We will begin each day with breakfast a 7:00 AM and begin work around 8:00 AM. We will break for lunch around noon and finish working around 5:00 PM each day of the workshop.


COSTS
$300.00 USD for individuals wanting to camp near the construction site (must bring your own camping gear) or wanting to stay with local, host families
$340.00 USD for individuals wanting to spend the nights at a nearby hotel with hot water available
The price of the complete cob course covers three meals a day, spring water available all day long, transportation from the airport in Guatemala City to Nebaj and vice versa by van, local transportation to the different construction sites, and all construction costs for the cob workshop including all tools to be used. Workshop participants will also receive a copy of the book “Building with Cob: A step by step guide” by Adam Weisman and Katy Bryce and a DVD with a slide show of photos of assorted cob buildings around the world. Furthermore, workshop participants will have the priceless opportunity to experience the wonderful hospitality of the local Ixil people as well as the opportunity to bathe in the traditional wood-fired sauna baths in the homes of local families.
Due to the cost of round trip airfare that workshop participants must cover themselves, we have aimed to make this course as reasonably priced as possible. The cost of the course covers only the necessary expenses related to food, lodging and construction costs.

If you have further questions regarding the workshop or to receive details about how to deposit the course fee to secure your spot in the cob construction workshop, contact Tobias Roberts at: tobiasroberts20@hotmail.com or at the Guatemalan phone number: 011 502 4808 2561