FUNCEDESCRI hopes that the community designed and managed education programs they are enabling will promote better agricultural practices for health and the environment, and a more localized economic system that will better support the communities.

written by  cjones on July 4, 2008 from Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
from the travel blog: so-journ
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Also just received some great news from Yanapuma in their bi-monthly newsletter. Turns out that a couple of weeks ago they arranged a visit by a group of Tsa'chila from the Búa community to Finca Sarita, the organic agroforestry farm I visited in March (see blog entry on April 2). Apparently, the community members were very impressed, and as I had hoped this could lead to continued exchange of knowledge about more sustainable agricultural practices that could greatly benefit the Búa community and their land.

I had first learned about Finca Sarita from people I met at Rio Muchacho last November. Then after my visit in March and discussions there with Servio (the owner) about the needs of the Búa community, I met with people in Búa and Yanapuma staff in Quito to discuss how the farm could serve as an model and valuable source of agricultural and community development knowledge for the Tsa'chila communities, particularly Búa. My intention in all this was to bring Servio and the Sarampión community together with the Búa community through the assistance of Yanapuma. I believed, as did others at Yanapuma, that seeing a real-life example of a better alternative could be more helpful and motivating than hearing about one in a series of workshops.

written by  cjones on July 8, 2008 from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
from the travel blog: so-journ
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Plaza in Todos Santos

During that period anyone who criticized the rich or the government was likely to be branded as a guerrilla supporter and terrorized or killed, often in the most horrific way possible to shock and intimidate the rest of the population. A lot like what has been happening in Colombia more recently.

Another disturbing aspect of the film was the enlistment of evangelicals in paramilitary militias to fight against guerrillas and anyone who was construed to be a sympathizer, including Catholics who were branded as sympathizers because of similarity between Catholic social teaching and the rhetoric of the guerrillas in regard to helping the poor. From the interviews in the film it appeared that many people may have converted to evangelicalism out of fear of further reprisals by the government. In the video clips of church services, I could see a lot of shouting and frenzied singing but not much evidence of humility or love for one's neighbor as oneself.

For fools speak foolishness
and make evil plans.
They practice ungodliness
and spread false teachings about the Lord.
They deprive the hungry of food
and give no water to the thirsty.

The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil.
They plot crooked schemes.
They lie to convict the poor,
even when the cause of the poor is just.

Isaiah 32:6 & 7

written by  cjones on July 22, 2008 from Todos Santos Cuchumatan, Guatemala
from the travel blog: so-journ
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Trail along the north shore

San Pedro on the far shore

On Thursday I met Julio, a teacher at the Spanish school who is also the husband of Vila, my teacher from last year. He invited me over to their house so after class the next day, I went there with him and he and Vila described the work they're doing to help the kids in the community. She stopped teaching at the Spanish school and is now running a free preschool in their very small house.

In addition to working with a local NGO to help kids do their homework (which apparently many local parents don't help with), he has started building a library in his house to lend books to kids and encourage them to read. According to him the kids don't have another place to borrow books since the public library doesn't lend books but only allows them to be used for 2 hours at a time in the library. He also meets regularly with the kids to discuss the books they're reading.

I was really inspired by this couple who has so little and spends their time and the very little money they have to help the local kids. They also have a child of their own - a boy about 3 or 4 years old. Julio is trying to build his library and keep multiple copies of some books so the kids can read and discuss them together. He has worked out an arrangement with a local owner of a tourist restaurant and internet cafe that sells and exchanges books in English. For 2 used books in English the owner purchases one book in Spanish and donates this to Julio's library.

If anyone is interested in contributing used books to this project - in Spanish or in English - let me know and I'll send the address to mail them to.

written by  cjones on August 2, 2008 from San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala
from the travel blog: so-journ
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There will be one center at the headquarters in San Lucas Sacatepequez and 3 other centers in indigenous communities in different areas of the country. In each community, the people speak a different indigenous language and very few read or speak much Spanish. However, each center will employ 4 "tecnicos" who are bilingual in Spanish and the local dialect. There will be a computer center in each community, but none of these will have internet access, at least initially. Two of these are in a location with electrical service, and alternative energy sources such as solar are being investigated for the third. Communication among the centers in the communities will need to be accomplished by mobile phone or by using the internet service (internet cafe) in a nearby town. Because of the time involved with traveling to town and expense of using the internet, it will be probably be practical for the tecnicos in the communities to access the internet only once or twice per week.

In the center at the headquarters, there will be internet access, a training facility, and access to translators to translate the materials from one community into the dialect of the others (with Spanish being the standard interchange language).

Initially at least, the content of the media developed at the centers is expected to have to do with topics such as food sovereignty (i.e. production for local consumption), sustainable development alternatives, agriculture, conservation, nutrition, etc. The idea is to facilitate sharing of experiences and knowledge among the communities and to allow them to work together to build an alternative economy that is better for the people. FUNCEDESCRI does not intend to direct the content of the media, but rather to provide the tools to allow the communities to plan, design, and manage the media production and distribution process themselves.

written by  cjones on August 13, 2008 from San Lucas Sacatepequez, Guatemala
from the travel blog: so-journ
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This afternoon I visited 2 museums commemorating Oscar Romero, the renowned archbishop of this country who was killed in 1980 for his defense of the rights of the poor, and the 6 Jesuit priests and 2 assistants who were massacred by the army at the Universidad Centroamericana in 1989. Both of the museums were on the sites where the killings occurred (Romero was gunned down while performing mass at the church on the grounds of the hospital where he lived). Those events felt especially real and haunting at the university after I was shown some very graphic photos of the murdered and mutilated bodies in the living quarters I had just visited. The army responsible for these killings and for other massacres of entire villages of up to 1000 people - men, women and children - was secretly backed by the US government. In fact, several officials indicted in the "Iran Contra Affair" were subsequently appointed to high-ranking positions by the current administration, but few people in our country have learned about this.

written by  cjones on August 21, 2008 from San Salvador, El Salvador
from the travel blog: so-journ
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