2011 Calendar

The beginning of 2011 looks to be full of new adventure and a lot of work! :) We look forward to hosting a few new groups and reconnecting with old friends. Please see below for a schedule of activities for Jan-May 2011.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank Learning Tour – January 17-31

Westgate Mennonite Collegiate - February 10-24

Rockway Mennonite Collegiate - March 4-17

Rosthern Junior College - March 20-April 2

Immigration Learning Tour - April 27-May 10

MCC seeks constituents across the U.S. who are interested in issues of immigration & the church, limit is 10 participants; if interested please visit www.mcc.org

Semana de Servicio

Comité Central Menonita Semana de Servicio “Toma tu Lugar en la Mesa del Señor!”

“This service week provided a rare opportunity to not only meet youth from all over Guatemala and El Salvador, but also a chance to hear about the lives and work that each is doing in their own communities. It was beautiful and inspiring to be a part of an intercambio like this, which connected youth from an array of indigenous groups and ladino communities”, recalls a SALT service worker in Guatemala.

Each year the Mennonite Central Committee’s Guatemala/El Salvador team invites four or five youth from each partner organization to participate in a week of service and learning. This year over forty-five youth from all over Guatemala and El Salvador traveled to the area of Cuisnhauat in El Salvador.

The youth were brought together to learn about Food Security in Central America, engage the local culture by participating in home stays, share their experiences in their respective communities and work together in service projects to benefit the people of Cuisnhauat.

After enjoying freshly made hot pupusas on Wednesday night, the Service Week started out with a brief orientation and the night finished with get-to-know you games before heading out to the home stays. Each day began with devotions, followed by a time of learning, sharing and finishing with the service portion.

We spent time discussing and making collages of the media’s message and influence on our purchasing and food habits. We listened to speakers from San Marcos and Totonicapan talk about the work they do with food security in their cooperatives, which proved to be quite enlightening for all. The youth were also able to donate time and money to help the community build a wall next to the river, to prevent flooding, and repair roofs of two different families. But don’t fret! We were able to find time for fun playing soccer and taking a dip in the river.

Our time concluded with a night of cultural fun at ANADES’s coffee finca getting a coffee tour, swimming in the river and enjoying a camp fire. On Saturday, we said our goodbyes and headed back for the long journey to our respective communities, eager to share all that was learned.

Thus, this time, provided the youth an opportunity to learn more about food security and how they can help their own communities be more sustainable, all the while expanding their world view and making new friends. A big thanks to Toby and Yasmin, who organized this week for all of us!

And thank you to Anne Barkett for the article and the fotos!

Blessings at Year End

I remember with gratitude the fruits of the labors of others, which I have shared as a part of the normal experience of daily living.

I remember the beautiful things that I have seen, heard, and felt - some, as a result of definite seeking on my part, and many that came unheralded into my path, warming my heart and rejoicing my spirit.

I remember the moments of distress that proved to be groundless and those that taught me profoundly about the evilness of evil and the goodness of good.

I remember the new people I have met, from whom I have caught glimpses of the meaning of my own life and the true character of human dignity.

I remember the dreams that haunted me during the year, keeping me ever mindful of goals and hopes which I did not realize but from which I drew inspiration to sustain my life and keep steady my purposes.

I remember the awareness of the spirit of God that sought me out in my aloneness and gave me a sense of assurance that undercut my despair and confirmed my life with new courage and abiding hope.

Howard Thurman


picture courtesy of Leslie Hammer

giving thanks

Gratitude begets justice.

When the Spirit roars through, we know how deeply we have been blessed.

We cry out in thanks to our Creator.

The praise that most pleases God is not burnt offerings or pretty words.

When we walk with our sisters and brothers who are shackled by oppression, hunger and lack of opportunity,

God gives thanks.

Gratitude begets justice!

Rainbow Mennonite

The visit from Rainbow Mennonite Church in early October was short but full of many great experiences. Not only did they bring with them the end of the rainy season, as we had an entire week of sunny, clear skies during their visit, but also a lot of energy and interest in the context and reality of Guatemala. It was so nice to work with "older" adults for a change (although I love our high school groups, don't get me wrong!) We fit in a lot of activities in just one week, with a visit to ANADESA in Santiago Atitlan and a new agricultural program in Totonicapan. I'll let the pictures tell the rest!

Thank you to Jana and Mitch for the pictures!

ready to start the adventure

The group spent a number of days visiting the community in Panabaj, spending time with the children's program, learning about the history of the armed conflict, working on a stove project, cleaning Panabaj's Peace Park, and finally finishing the cleanup from Tropical Storm Agatha!

For more information on the ONIL stove project that ANADESA has partnered with, please visit: Cojolya or write to social@cojolya.org

much appreciated help with the mud at the community school

A couple of the group members decided to purchase wood as a thank you gift for their host family; fun idea that got the whole group involved!

The group also had the chance to visit a new MCC partner in a community outside of Totonicapan. The various community agricultural programs are managed mostly by women and have been very successful so far; a really great place to visit to see yet another part of the diverse context of Guatemala.

helping with the start of a water catcher

farewells and applauses for all after a special meal shared with the local community

What are you afraid of?

"My neighbor is hungry"

I was hungry and you fed your animals with my food.

I was hungry and your transnationals planted your winter tomatoes on our best land.

I was hungry and you wouldn’t give up your steak from South America.

I was hungry but they grew tea for you where rice might grow for my daily meal.

I was hungry but you turned our sugarcane and manioc into fuel for your cars.

I was hungry but the waste from your factories is poisoning the fishing grounds of the earth.

I was hungry but with your money, you bought up my food.

I was hungry while my land grows exotic fruits for your table.

What are you afraid of?

Forgoing excessive and harmful consumption?
Having to change your attitudes?

The power of the politicians?

The work involved in achieving greater self-sufficiency?

The disappointing looks of your neighbors?

What are you afraid of?

I was hungry but you gave me no food.

taken from Earth Keepers

by chance

song written by youth from San Miguel

¿Acaso eres tú q’ a los mineros enviaste?
Violentan el vientre de la Madre Tierra.
Llevan el oro, destruyendo los cerros.
Un gramo de sangre vale mas de mil kilos de oro.

¿Qué pasa con mi pueblo?
Y tu, mi Dios, ¿Dónde te escondes?
El miedo nos paraliza.
Mi pueblo esta vendido y no se de cuenta.

El agua se agota, tiene color de infierno.
Se levanta el aire ya contaminado.
Buscamos milagros – a última hora,
Buscando sanar a los enfermos y danos mortales.

Un pueblo pobre es fácil comprarlos.
Regalos apagan sospechas y dudas.
Los sueldos se llevan las cantinas del pueblo,
Hogares oscuros quedan y dividida mi gente.

Creaste un jardín – y no un desierto.
Queremos progreso con respeto al ambiente.
El hambre de oro come más y más tierra.
Y, Tú mí Dios, te preguntas:
¿Qué esta haciendo mí pueblo?

By chance is it you who sent the miners?
They violate the womb of Mother Earth.
They take the gold, destroying the hills.
One gram of blood is worth more than a thousand kilograms of gold.

What’s happening with my people?
And you, my God, where have you hidden?
We are paralyzed by fear.
My people have been sold and they don’t realize it.

The water is depleted; it is the color of hell.
The air rises, now contaminated.
We search for miracles at the last minute.
Seeking to heal the sick and the mortal damages.

It is easy to buy a poor people.
Gifts turn away suspicions and doubts.
The towns’ bars eat up salaries.
Homes remain in darkness, my people divided.

You created a garden and not a desert.
We want progress that respects the environment.
The hunger for gold eats more and more land.
And you, my God, ask yourself:
What are my people doing?