… Once
change begins, it cannot be stopped. You cannot uneducate the
person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who
feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid
anymore” -- Cesar Chavez
WHO WE ARE
In the early
1980’s, the Guatemalan military combined urban repression with a
horrific ‘scorched earth’ campaign in rural areas. In 1999, the U.
N. Commission for Historical Clarification concluded that State
armed forces and its paramilitaries were responsible for 93% of the
deaths and disappearances of 200,000 people, acts of genocide
toward the indigenous Mayan, and flight of one million people to
the mountains, refugee camps in Mexico, or slums of Guatemala
City.
By 1993, as violence diminished, refugees began returning to
rebuild their lives and communities. As they sought to find remains
of their families and to gather evidence to hold accountable those
responsible for the massacres, they were threatened and many were
killed. Since 2000, this violence has increased against indigenous
Mayans, exhumation teams, and other organizations working for
justice and human rights. So, those threatened turned to the
international community for help. To learn more, click on
A Primer on Guatemala.
In response, organizations from 11 countries began to place
long-term volunteers, known as accompaniers, side-by-side with
rural people, communities, and organizations to deter human rights
violations. Since 2000, a U.S. grassroots organization, NISGUA -- Network in Solidarity with
the People of Guatemala -- has sent accompaniers to Guatemala as
part of this international network.
In 2006, UUCA became part of NISGUA’s network of 10 Sponsoring
Communities by agreeing to support accompaniment. Through the
Partners for Accompaniers in Guatemala (PAG) project, we have
supported five young people to accompany indigenous Mayans and
rural communities – threatened for developing evidence for genocide
trials, for opposing transnational mining operations that devastate
their ancestral lands and water supplies, and organizing against
inundation of their land and villages due to hydroelectric power
reservoirs. (More info on PAG from Sutton's).
The term, accompaniment, is perhaps best understood by
reading the words (translated by NISGUA) of a Mayan witness in a
genocide trial:
“Your presence lets us do the work that we need to do, and not
always be afraid. There are so many people who don’t want to see
justice here, who don’t want to see healing. The work is ours, it
is our country, it is for us to do, but you open the space for us
to do that work. We need your presence.”
And, in a letter to UUCA from returned accompanier, Tad: "It's
5:30 a.m. I awake snug in my sleeping bag, which rests on a stack
of empty coffee sacks covering a cold cement floor. I crawl out and
walk over to my cell phone alarm. It's still dark as I rummage
through my backpack to find my sweatshirt and something to eat. I
am happy with bread and left-over black beans.
My partner and I have 10 more families to visit today in Chichupac,
and it will be a busy day due to important meetings in the clinic,
the site of the brutal January 8, 1982 army massacre. The community
is in the same area as that of former Armed Civilian Patrol members
who were conscripted as participants in the massacre. We gobble
down our food and pack the essentials: water, snacks, petty cash,
camera, tape recorder, rain jacket, letters of support, and food
for families we will be eating with."
A home in Chichupac
"Maria and Nicolas (not their real names) are an elderly couple
who tell me of fleeing to the mountains (in 1982) and starving
there for two entire years without a house, cooked food, or a
change of clothes. I hear of the death of loved ones and of their
life under military rule after accepting an amnesty plan by the
government. They also tell me (of) death threats that Chichupac
received when they started the genocide cases (against former
military dictators) some seven years ago. As I thank them for their
story, they, in turn, thank me for my presence: 'We are no longer
scared since the accompaniers started coming,' says Nicolas. 'We no
longer receive the death threats like before. The army leaves us
alone.”
In addition to accompaniment work, PAG partners with Arlington
County’s Buckingham Outreach Center (six blocks from UUCA) by
providing volunteers from the church to empower immigrant clients
through, for example, mentoring, computer training, arts and jobs
exchanges, English instruction, after-school tutoring, and
providing opportunities to showcase their skills in the arts and to
speak before English-speaking audiences. (More info from Nancy Hall or Sue Randall.
SOME EXAMPLES OF OUR WORK IN 2008-2010
• Sponsored accompaniers Ali, Jeff, and Tad in genocide
trial villages, Tracey in communities opposing gold mining, and
Carrie in emergencies throughout Guatemala.
• Educational series on Mayan culture, reasons for
immigration, human and environmental consequences of gold mining by
transnational corporations, U.S. policies in Central America
• Small group conversations with immigrants.
• Educational talks by returned accompaniers.
• Social justice delegations led by UU Service Committee.
(www.uusc.org
).
• Support of Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA (www.ghrc-usa.org)
• Advocacy with three U.S. Representatives and one Senator.
Five letter-writing campaigns focused on: femicide, nearly
irreversible damage to Mayan lands and water by Canadian mining
corporations, threats to scientists exhuming massacre sites, and
immigrant services from the Guatemalan Embassy.
• International potluck dinners.
• Help at Buckingham/Gates Center with after-school
programs, ESL, computer training, GED tutoring, leadership
mentoring.
• Collaborative dances between Mayan dancers and UUCA Sacred
Dance troup.
• Arts Festival with Buckingham dancers, chefs, and
weavers.
• Jobs bank pairing immigrants with UUCA’ers needing
help.
• Buckingham and UUCA children’s choir .
FINANCIAL AND VOLUNTEER NEEDS
The work of PAG in Guatemala and here at home depends on support
from individuals. Because accompaniers receive only a modest
stipend ($300/mo), they are essentially donating their time for
6-12 months. PAG also provides emergency medical coverage, a
portion of their airfare, $500 for U.S. re-entry, and
administrative support to NISGUA.
All in all, $9500 is needed for one year of
accompaniment and for work with local immigrants. As $500 comes
directly from the church’s budget, PAG must raise $9000 annually.
Your generous donation of $25, $170, or $750 would support this
focused social justice work for one day, one week, or one month,
respectively!
To donate, bring or mail your check made out to UUCA and putting
"PAG" in the memo line, UUCA’s address is 4444 Arlington Blvd.,
Arlington, VA 22204. (For information, contact the Suttons.
Welcome to Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA
For members, friends and inquiring friends: Please, pick up your keys, or Sign In credentials, on Sundays after each service or contact Sarah Masters, for them.
• Our Congregational Covenant: We embrace a diversity of opinions, viewpoints, and beliefs. By participating here, you agree to uphold our covenant. Continue reading
A home in Chichupac
