Two Co-partners’
board members made their first project visits in April. Following are their
accounts.
Guatemala Journal by Donna Breslin
Chichicastenango, Guatemala was our destination. Our goal
was
to find out first hand how our sheep raising project was going. Last year Co-partners had bought 20
female sheep for 10 members of the Asociación para el
Desarrollo Indígena de El K’iché (ADIK) and 2 males (machos)
to be shared for mating. Each first-born
was to be given to a new member to raise.
With that obligation met, the women would own their sheep.
We arrived at National Airport at 5 am,
boarded at 7, changed planes in Miami, arrived in Guatemala City, took a taxi,
rode on a bus for 4 hours (that’s another story) and arrived, 14 1/2 hours
later. I can report the roads were much
better than I had expected; I had assumed they would have potholes, like home
in DC.
The Maya Inn
was also much nicer than I had expected.
The rooms are spacious with large windows, en suite bathroom, and a
fireplace. There are lovely gardens with
tropical plants and parrots. Everything
is impeccably clean and pretty.
Members
of ADIK
The next day we walked to the ADIK meeting at the home of Ana
Saur, the treasurer. The women were
dressed in colorful traditional blouses (huipils) and wrap skirts. In our honor, pine needles were strewn on the
floor, corn stalks adorned vertical beams, and balloons hung from the
ceiling. After brief speeches and a
traditional dance performance, the discussion of the project began. The main concern was that only 6 lambs had
been born when 20 were anticipated. Two
had died, so there were only 4 to pass on.
The members participated in the discussion and suggested ideas,
including switching to raising chickens.
It
was interesting to see the interest, determination, and problem solving in the
group. We tried to tell them how much
they, and we, had learned in this first year, even though the outcome was less
than expected. With more experience and
training, they are sure to do better in the future.
We left them a check for $250 to pay for: 3
more machos, trade-in of 1 aggressive macho, vaccine and
vitamins, the replacement of two ewes that had died, and classes by a local
expert in sheep-raising and the feasibility of chickens.
After a delicious lunch of soup, chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, we
tried to take photos of the group with an uncooperative ewe and lamb (who do
not appear in the picture at left).
La Nueva Esperenza: Hope and Opportunity for Young and Old by Jeannette
Rodriguez
Hope: In spite of limited resources, LNE members make the best of
what they have. They produce soap from olives, sew their own clothes, and grow
vegetables and fruit to eat or sell. The lives of these women are filled with
physically demanding chores, like carrying water and cooking on an open fire,
but they always greet you with a warm hello and
smile.
Hospitality: To visit the houses of two group members, Mauricia
and Evelia, Donna and I took a ride in a pickup truck on an unpaved road that
was so rocky I though the pickup might fall apart. At the end of the road, we
had to walk for about a kilometer up a steep hill. The heat, distance and
condition of the road didn’t faze Mauricia and Evelia. They seemed as light as
feathers the way they walked up the hill, even though they were carrying mandados
or requests from the market for their neighbors. I was puzzled, but hesitant to ask, about a
heavy car battery that Evelia carried on her head. She explained that because
they didn’t have electricity, the battery is used to operate their TV!
Evelia showed us her sewing
machine and referred to it as “my machete”. Apparently, because men in rural areas use
their machetes to earn a living working in the fields, Evelia refers to the
tool she uses to earn a living by the same name.
Although Mauricia and Evelia
have little, they invited us to broiled plantain and hot cocoa. In hot and
humid weather, the cocoa seemed out of season, but we accepted and found it to
be the richest we’d ever tasted.
Young & old working
together: It was interesting to see young girls, mothers, and grandmothers
working together to learn income-producing skills. The women, we were told,
were there not only to learn but also to socialize. Their domestic chores take
up all their time and the distance between houses is too long for visiting, so
Saturday meetings are their only opportunity to spend leisure time with other
women.
Trying to get ahead against great odds: Delmy, the young
mother of a 6 year-old, is studying to
become a teacher. She has 3 years to go and a lot of obstacles to overcome. She
lacks support from her family, who would prefer that she quit school to care
for her paralyzed brother. She does not have books because they are either
unavailable or too expensive. She has to travel for almost 3 hours each way to
get to school. Because getting to classes takes so long, she has little time to
do the
chores,
which as a woman, she is expected to complete. At night, she must care for her
son before she can do her homework by the light of a candle or lantern. The
pressure to quit is great, but so is her desire to build a better future for
herself and her family.
World Bazaar Grosses $500
by Archer Heinzen
This year Co-partners
began to contact returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) from El Salvador to
see if they’d be interested in supporting the work in their country of service.
Forty-some letters were sent out and seven contributions were received! Since the response demonstrated a willingness
by RPCVs to support projects in their former countries, the Co-partners’ board
decided to sponsor an exhibit and crafts sale at the World Bazaar of Peace
Corps’ 40th Anniversary to be held in Washington, D.C.
We held a free raffle of a
Guatemalan weaving that enabled us to collect names and addresses of entrants
who might be interested in contributing to or working with Co-partners.
The sale grossed over $500. We judged it a great success.
Jeannette
Rodriguez Working at the Bazaar
Thank
you, Co-partners’ volunteers:
Co-partners of Campesinas, Board of Directors
Archer Heinzen,
Chairperson Donna Breslin
Jeannette
Rodríguez, Secretary Julia
González
Jim
Heinzen, Treasurer
El Salvador Volunteers
Rosa
Irma Mendoza Juan René
Guzman
Guatemala Volunteers
Catalina
Ventura Tomasa Guarcas
Sis
La Nueva Esperanza, Board of Directors
Rosa
Flores, Pres. Maria Gloribel Flores, Sec.
Elisa
Mercado, V-Pres. María Eduvina Peña, Treas.
Asociación para el Desarrollo
Indígena de El K’iché
Board of Directors
Juana Dominguez, Pres. Ana Suar, Treasurer
