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

It´s Summertime!

An Ixil woman dresses Liza Klassen -one of the group participants- in their traditional clothes.

This past summer MCC Guatemala/El salvador had the pleasure to host again the Enlace group from  MCC Ontario. Enlace is a 4-5 week program that seeks to connect youth and young adults with the Guatemalan and Salvadorian communities. As part of the journey, the participants take Spanish lessons, learn about the context and history of Guatemala and El Salvador, live with indigenous families and serve along with the native people in the communities they visit.

This summer, the enlace team had 7 participants: Cameron Adams, Daniel Brenneman, Liza Klassen, Margaret MacDonald, Anneke Pries-Klassen, Caitie Walker and Lindsey Werner. The group came along with two enthusiastic, adventurous and with a great sense of humor leaders: Leah Martin and Andrew Jones.

The journey started in CASAS -Central American Study and Service- where the group took a week of spanish classes and participated in activities to learn about History and Injustice in Guatemala. One of those activities was the ¨contrast tour¨ where the group is taken to the national cemetery to discuss historical facts, the city dump –where people live and work under extremely poor conditions- and a luxurious mall to experience the gaps and imperfections of the local economy and witness at a non-intrusive level the inequality and injustice in the country.  
During the second stage of the trip, the group visited the MCC office for Guatemala and El Salvador where they met with the Representatives of the country program and me (Nancy) to learn about the work and the partnerships that the MCC has throughout G & ES. The day after the MCC in country orientation we left to Comitancillo, a community located in the department of San marcos (Yes, and country of Guatemala) to visit and serve in the rebuilding project that the Dioceses of San Marcos is coordinating after this community was severely hit by an earthquake this last November.

Anneke – an 18 year old Enlace participant- remembers: ¨Before we started the labor portion of the day we had a really neat experience of watching the house foundations be blessed. The town officials started the prayer although everyone from the community quickly joined in, creating a blur of the Mam language. It was a very spiritually moving moment. It ended with the town officials sprinkling water on the ground. Through this experience we have been able to interact with many local people and the children.¨   

From left to right: Andrew Jones, me (Nancy Sabas), Don Juan Marroquin (the future benefitiary of the house) and Cameron Adams having taken a picture together. 

The group spent 4 days serving in Comitancillo and ended their time there with a delicious meal prepared by the community using some vegetables of their own harvest and acknowledging their gratitude to the group. We moved later to La vega del Volcán community where I had the joy to witness the project completed that one of the past work and learn groups- the Rockway Mennonite collegiate- started and funded: A road in the middle of the rough ways in the community.
Margareth MacDonald wrote about her experience in La vega del Volcán: ¨ We had a tour of the community’s co-operative supported aquaculture project: raising trouts. We were led around the village to see all the trout pools, some of which MCC helped to build. It was really nice to see others' work pay off and that it really made a change in some peoples' lives. The trout production not only allows people to make a stable living but it also makes their land more valuable to them as it is a source of sustenance and profit. We then tucked in for trout for lunch, which was delicious.¨

The group also was part of an unforgettable cultural sharing time with the school students, and had a meeting with project coordinator Juan Pablo Morales, and MCC worker John Vanderheide to discuss about the megaprojects issue.  The last day in San marcos the group hiked one of the stunning volcanos that surround the area: Tacaná (Also the second highest peak in Central America). 

The ¨Rockway road¨ was a project supported by the Rockway Mennonite Collegiate team in La Vega del volcán.

The 3^rd stage of the trip was visiting the department of Nebaj. During this time the group immersed in one of the most meaningful, rewarding and sometimes uncomfortable experiences: Living like a local. The participants stayed with indigenous host families and spent 3 days putting themselves on their ¨shoes¨ and experiencing a normal daily routine of a Mayan Ixil family.  Margareth continues sharing: ¨ The beds were uncomfortable and the washrooms were definitely not the same but while eating dinner with this family who didn’t speak the same language I realized how much I was enjoying myself. My first host family lived in a small two bedroom house with seven people living in it, yet they were so willing to let us outsiders in to their lives.¨

Liza Klassen -one of the participant´s of the enlace group- is helping to build a greenhouse in the community of Vicalama, Nebaj.

The canadian group plays hockey on a cultural sharing activity with the Youth of Xepiun, Nebaj.

The last part of the trip was a visit to our partners in El Salvador. Cameron Adams talks about his experience: ¨ Monday night was spent at ANADES, one of MCC´s largest partner organizations in El Salvador. We then travelled to San Martin, where we visited with the community of La Linea – a community of squatters living along an abandoned railroad line. The pastor, Jaime, showed us around the community, then took us to a large farm owned by the Baptist Church in the area. Many members of the community work on the farm, harvesting bananas, avocados and coffee beans. The end goal is to move the entire community to an unused piece of the farm property, but it is a work in progress.¨

The group also visited our partners in Perquín: CEBES and one of the ANADES´ daycares. Nearby Perquín, there is a monument called El mozote where groups are taken to listen to stories of the massacre that took place in that community during the armed conflict.
The last day of the trip the group spent some time debriefing and sharing their reflections. It was a happy/sad time for me because this is the time to say goodbye but also to know more about the impact that the journey had on them and the hope that it brings.
¨ When life gives you corn, make a tortilla…. and atol… and a tamalito… and various other types of corn that you can eat!¨ Daniel jokes.
To know more about the enlace program visit:
http://enlace2013.wordpress.com/
http://mcco.ca/yya/enlace

The Enlace group poses for a picture with their ¨graphic binnacle¨ of the trip on their last day in Guatemala.

Cam, and me finally understood how to make the wirework!. The Enlace group visited the San marcos diocesis´ project of building houses after the earthquake disaster in 2012.

Building a greenhouse was one of the projects that the group made and funded.

Margareth Mcdonald is almost ready to look as an authentic ixil woman!

Guatemala´s city dump. Photo taken by Stanley Toews.

Incubating a wish

Candida has bright eyes and a shy smile. She raises by herself three children and she thanks God for the beans that she and her family have every day as a meal. Beans are the only thing she can hardly afford by working as a street vendor. I don´t think I could ever forget that hopeless smile she once gave us before saying: ¨Sometimes when I am blessed enough, my family and i can have chicken as a meal twice a month.¨   

Today, I want to bring you a story about chickens.

La linea, or ¨the line¨ community  in El salvador where the Baptist Church ¨Disciples of Christ¨ (IBDC) is located, inherited its name from the abandoned railway line that was built on that place and stopped being used after the bridges surrounding the area were destroyed during the civil war in the 80´s. In addition to the war, In 1986 El salvador faced also an earthquake disaster that left many people homeless and without many options but to resettle in La linea, an extremely vulnerable area.

In November of 2009, La linea was heavily affected by the Ida hurricane creating landslides and destroying or burying many houses including the IBDC church building. Nowadays this community not only faces poverty, but also a high rate of violence and the lack of legal rights to stay on the land.

You may be wondering at this point:  where do the chickens fit in this story? 

Families in La linea have very rough living situations. For some of them having chicken or any other meat in their meals is an indulgency that can´t be had more often than once every two months.

Under that context, IBDC is strongly committed with their community and above all of the struggles that La linea goes through, it has been actively working with MCC to bring hope. Part of their projects has been the purchase of a land to resettle 200 families from la linea and grant them the legal rights to possess it and support small business initiaves to transform it into a sustainable community.  But that is not the only project that the church is working at.

The IBDC youth also started a project supported by MCC called ¨Capacity Building for Sustainable Development and Peace¨ where they learned about the breeding boilers business.  ¨With the experience that the youth gained raising chickens, we wanted to help the families to build their own chicken farms too and support them with the knowledge that we now have¨ - said Vladimir Ramos, one of the youth leaders of IBDC - ¨This whole idea was an initiative of the youth where the leaders provide complementary support to boost the project. We are all deeply engaged with our community¨.

Last april, The Rosthern Junior Collegiate (RJC) group from Saskatchewan, Canada visited the community, the new purchased land, their current chicken project and spent a wonderful time sharing with the IBDC youth. RJC also supported the IBDC youth to get started with their project of building chicken farms for the families, and were invited to the families´ houses to spend time together and listen to their stories, being Candida´s story one of them.

This story is not over yet. Let´s take a part in its ending.

Find out more about what IBDC is doing at:

   

  http://ibdc-iglesia.blogspot.com/

RJC and IBDC youth sharing together

William and Valdimir (IBDC youth members) explaining how to breed broilers to Theodora´s family.  

IBDC youth distributing chickens.

Isaac and Ramon helping out to build Candida´s chicken farm

Alfredo and Vladimir helping out to build Concepción´s family chicken farm.

IBDC Youth leaders accompanying Candida and her children ( From left to right: Vladimir Ramos, Tania, Silvia Yaneth, Edwin Alexander and Candida Martinez.)

Dolores Funez Escobar and her family.

IBDC chicken project.

vaccinating chickens.

Silvia and Yesenia distributing the chickens with the local families.

This is not about them. It is about us.

Westgate students celebrating their work done.

¨This isn´t about them.  It is about us.¨ - Said one of the Work and learn team members of the Westgate Mennonite collegiate who visited the Bezaleel school in Altaverapaz while exhaustingly looking back the half done soccer field that they spent the last two days working at- ¨We could have had hired other people to build the soccer field that the children need at school  and we wouldn´t  even have had to travel all the way here. But this isn´t just about them, It is about us!¨.

Bezaleel is a mennonite school of residential k´ekchi´ students supported by MCC that offers educational classes during the morning and vocational/technical classes in the afternoon. It is located in Alta Verapaz, one of the most isolated regions of Guatemala with very limited access to health and formal education beyond the sixth grade. Bezaleel also provides their students with bible classes, education about human rights and equality and a bilingual educational system (Spanish- k´ekchi´).

Rockway group helping to build a road in La vega del Volcán.

The Guatemalan MCC´s connecting peoples program works together with partners organizations all over Guatemala such as Bezaleel and many other more who are strongly committed to bring relief and development to their communities.  Every year different  Work and Learn teams from North America come to visit these projects and witness themselves the hard work of inspiring people who are making a difference in their local communities and play a part with them in their projects,  exchange experiences and stories, discover  a different culture and the Guatemalan natural beauty, build cross-cultural relationships and put themselves in the shoes of the local people by being hosted in their houses and immersed to their living situations.

During the last three months, the connecting people´s program had the privilege of receiving four WAL teams: The Westgate Mennonite Collegiate from Winnipeg, Rockway Mennonite Collegiate from Ontario, Foothills Church from Alberta and the Rosthern Junior Collegiate (RJC) from Saskatchewan.  Each group had its uniqueness and left their own mark in the different programs that MCC works with all over Guatemala and El Salvador.

RJC group having fun with the children of ANADES´ daycare program.

 

¨It is very inspiring to see people so young being concerned about the needs of their community and working hard for it. That is something I will take home with me.¨ Said Valerie one of the RJC group members after listening to the Youth of IBDC (Baptist Church ¨Disciples of Christ¨) in La linea, El Salvador talking about  their initiative to raise chickens as a way to provide incomes, food, and business ideas to the widows and elderly people in their community.  

However, not every place the WAL teams visit is inspiring. For instance, The city dump located in zone 6 it is a necessary but unpleasant place to visit to win a deep understanding of inequality and injustice in Guatemala: ¨Even though I didn´t enjoy seeing the tons of garbage and witnessing the people trying to make their living out of it in extremely poor conditions, I would repeat again this experience as a reminder of my responsibility to do something¨. Said Nate, a youth from the Foothills Church group during their debriefing time.

You can advocate for Guatemala and El Salvador. This is not about them, It is about us.

 

Foothills church group during their fun day in Antigua Guatemala.

 

For more information:

Rockway students having fun with the local community children.

http://www.bezaleelschool.org/history.php

RJC Painting Anades´ daycare building.

 

Anadesa´s Land progression

 ------

My name is Nancy Sabas. 26 year- old and born in Honduras.

I am the new connecting people´s coordinator for the Guatemala/El Salvador program. I organize the Work and Learn (WAL) team visits and accompany them during the trip. I arrange the logistics and lodging, help with translations, facilitate in- country orientations and - the duty I like the best-: meeting wonderful people in every community we visit and witnessing the strong multicultural connections being made. Each trip is fascinating, life-changing, rewarding and full of unpredictable adventures. I´m living my dream. Want to join me?