Fruit from the trees.
The last few days have been full of oranges, people telling stories, bruises, pickup trucks, green, and some of the images below. They are in no particular order, and definitely not chronological.
Andres' family's refrigerator which lies waiting for the day electricity will return to the village. It has been 3 years.
This kitty appeared one day minus an eye, but keeps on keepin' on.
Front yard. Xalbal, Ixcán. Andres' house. I felt at home. I ate coconuts and oranges right from the trees. It was the best.
Sunset in Concepcion Huista in the plaza.
Adelaide, my co-instructor, took this picture of Grandma Margarita in Venecia when we went to to the coast almost a month ago.
Also in Venecia, this is the bathroom. And what Don Rodolfo hopes to turn into a toilet surrounded by walls someday. Photo by Adelaide.
Don Rodolfo down in front, Doña Esperanza on the right. Two sisters Noemí on the far left, then Paola. Big white sister in the middle there. Photo by Adelaide.
Concepcion Huista. Photo by Adelaide.
Concepcion Huista from Doña Rosa's patio. Photo by Adelaide.
First morning in Concepcion the sun came out. I gave a talk on the roof. Photo by Adelaide.
I'll let some of my students speak. Leah got "Yak of the week." And Ruthie did well, too, here. Some pictures have been posted on our adventures, both here and here. But best part is Adelaide's yak here.
In short, I've brought my group to the Ixcán, with thanks to Adelaide and the connections of Andres. We met very special people. Many of them were refugees in Mexico for many years during Guatemala's war but in the last village we visited called Primavera, they were folks who created CPRs, or Communities of Populations in Resistance, and lived in the mountains for 14 years avoiding the army who would kill them. They fled because villages were being decimated by the Guatemalan army during the early 80s. The Ixcán was a major military target. On March 14, 1982 the community of Cuarto Pueblo was massacred with 400+ killed in one day. The people were forced to dig their own giant pit for the army to throw their dead bodies into. Children, women, men, elders, everyone. We visited Cuarto Pueblo the other day and met Francisco, originally from Concepcion Huista, and as he showed us the cemetery where there are piles of bone fragments in a bag from the exhumation of the mass graves, told us he was 8 on this day in 1982. He parents were massacred and he fled to the mountains and didn't return until 12 years later. Then he showed us where the mass grave was, the church with bullet holes and where the salon was where they rounded up all the people. It was market day and people had come from far away. Of course, the army knew that.
In the 70s an American Maryknoll priest named Guillermo Woods gave land to poor and landless indigenous farmers from various parts of Guatemala. The land was the Ixcán. But it was a contested area between Guerrillas and Army and after a few years the farmers were caught in the crossfire. Hundreds of thousands were displaced at this time - either to the mountains in CPRs or to Mexico as refugees. Yesterday we heard the story of 2 Mam woman who told of suffering and hunger in the mountains. People recalled deciding to leave because they could smell burning flesh - the army massacring nearby villages. But the 2 Mam woman were crying once they told us about their loved ones having to pick up guns in order to defend themselves.
Actual numbers are unknown but at least 200,000 people died during Guatemala's violent inner conflict, but so many more died as refugees, in the mountains, were sick, displaced, hungry, resistant, brave and hunted down by an Army practicing "scorched earth" tactics. The story is long, as everyone told us, and requires bouts of crying, confusion, laughing, pride and tragedy. It was incredible to be in the presence of the folks we met. A whole community of people who lived in the mountains of Guatemala for 14 years, moving every week or 15 days because the Army was coming. They eventually built a whole system of health, education, food, communication, security and leadership out there. We hardly scratched the surface after a couple of hours of stories from several people in various communities. There are incredible Guatemalans out there.
In short, I've brought my group to the Ixcán, with thanks to Adelaide and the connections of Andres. We met very special people. Many of them were refugees in Mexico for many years during Guatemala's war but in the last village we visited called Primavera, they were folks who created CPRs, or Communities of Populations in Resistance, and lived in the mountains for 14 years avoiding the army who would kill them. They fled because villages were being decimated by the Guatemalan army during the early 80s. The Ixcán was a major military target. On March 14, 1982 the community of Cuarto Pueblo was massacred with 400+ killed in one day. The people were forced to dig their own giant pit for the army to throw their dead bodies into. Children, women, men, elders, everyone. We visited Cuarto Pueblo the other day and met Francisco, originally from Concepcion Huista, and as he showed us the cemetery where there are piles of bone fragments in a bag from the exhumation of the mass graves, told us he was 8 on this day in 1982. He parents were massacred and he fled to the mountains and didn't return until 12 years later. Then he showed us where the mass grave was, the church with bullet holes and where the salon was where they rounded up all the people. It was market day and people had come from far away. Of course, the army knew that.
In the 70s an American Maryknoll priest named Guillermo Woods gave land to poor and landless indigenous farmers from various parts of Guatemala. The land was the Ixcán. But it was a contested area between Guerrillas and Army and after a few years the farmers were caught in the crossfire. Hundreds of thousands were displaced at this time - either to the mountains in CPRs or to Mexico as refugees. Yesterday we heard the story of 2 Mam woman who told of suffering and hunger in the mountains. People recalled deciding to leave because they could smell burning flesh - the army massacring nearby villages. But the 2 Mam woman were crying once they told us about their loved ones having to pick up guns in order to defend themselves.
Actual numbers are unknown but at least 200,000 people died during Guatemala's violent inner conflict, but so many more died as refugees, in the mountains, were sick, displaced, hungry, resistant, brave and hunted down by an Army practicing "scorched earth" tactics. The story is long, as everyone told us, and requires bouts of crying, confusion, laughing, pride and tragedy. It was incredible to be in the presence of the folks we met. A whole community of people who lived in the mountains of Guatemala for 14 years, moving every week or 15 days because the Army was coming. They eventually built a whole system of health, education, food, communication, security and leadership out there. We hardly scratched the surface after a couple of hours of stories from several people in various communities. There are incredible Guatemalans out there.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment