Farewell, Unión Victoria

Endings are tough, especially an ending like this. By the time this is updated to the blog, we will have finish our time in BVS and left Unión Victoria. This is quite a moment in our lives. We have been living in this community for 2 years. We made friends, connections and put down roots. Upon arriving in March of 2007 we weren’t sure what to expect, but now that we have closed/finished this chapter we will be very sad to say goodbye to a group of people who amaze, challenge and inspire us in ways we had never thought were possible.

While in UV our eyes where opened to the realities of our world and the misguidance of our good intentions. Like many in our culture would be, we were eager to get started helping out upon arriving in Guatemala. We were in fact in Brethren Volunteer “Service” but our mentors in this adventure anticipating our eagerness encouraged us to be patient and humble. Therefore much of our time in the community was spent being served and being taught. For the first several weeks we were given meals every day in the homes of Rosa and Miguel, Miguel and Juana and many others. We were given a house to live in and Pedro Gusaro hooked up our electricity. Every morning Augustina and Sinforoso would send tortillas over to our house with their daughter Rosita. Weekly Maria and Antonio would invite us into the kitchen for coffee as we returned from work at the school. Maria, Jauna Chavez and Magdalena taught Becky how to weave and Sinforoso taught Aaron how to plant coffee seedlings. On almost a daily basis our neighbors would stop by to chat and give us tortillas, squash, oranges and/or bananas.






In late night conversations and daily life we learned about their struggles and hardships and shared our own. That cultural exchange was one of the most powerful elements of our experience in Guatemala. Listening to first hand accounts of the war against the indigenous people (which our own government supported) was heartbreaking and healing.

As we grew and found our place in the community we were able to lend a hand in several community work projects like wood stoves, the tree nursery and rabbit projects. But these were small parts of what took place during the last 2 years. Far more important than any work we did are the transformations that continue to take place as indigenous people are treated respectfully and children are educated, communities are strengthened and relationships developed.

As we return to the states we look forward to seeing our friends and family and we anticipate active rolls in building and strengthening our local community with a global perspective.

We thank all of you for you support through these last few years. We love you all deeply.

Becky and Aaron








This is what we are about
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

Ken Untener
US Catholic Bishop

At the end of this week Pedro will lose his job according to his father who has been keeping us updated on his situation since he left for the states last year. He has been working at a restaurant earning about $3.30 an hour working 12 hour shifts for almost a year now. But his employer as far as he knows doesn’t want to give his more experienced immigrant workers raises so at the end of this pay period will be letting them all go. Most likely the risk of being fined for employing illegal workers outweighs the savings in their lower wages. Pedro hoped to get work papers and his parents recently sent his Guatemalan ID in the mail. On Friday his ID arrived however, this week Pedro is training several African American’s to do his job. His father Gaspar talked to him yesterday but, he didn’t want to talk, “I’ll call when I find work again,” he said sadly.

While Gaspar was visiting us today our conversation turned to labor rights in Guatemala. Last year Guatemalans overwhelmingly elected Alvaro Colom president of the republic. He ran on the theme of solidarity and justice. These ideas appealed to the rural poor and indigenous people of Guatemala who have suffered for most of the countries existence. Holding to a promise made during his campaign this past month he raised the minimum wage for laborers from about Q35 ($5) a day to Q59 ($7). However, the good intentions of the president will do nothing for most workers. On Finca (Plantation) Pacayal one of the largest coffee fincas in the municipality of Pochuta (the municipality which UV is part of) all of the workers were immediately fired. People from all over the country who have worked and lived for years on the finca but owned nothing were told to go home. Home. The new workers being trucked in on cattle trucks with their families and the clothes on their back will not be paid by the day but are being forced to sign monthly contracts which will surly pay no higher then the wage earned by workers they replaced.

Last Sunday, in the D Revista a magazine published in Guatemala’s Prensa Libre (Free Press) newspaper one of the feature stories was about our very own municipality of Pochuta. The article boasted of the beauty of the landscape. It praised the fine produce and coffee that come from our region and the wonderful climate that we enjoy. It also featured many photographs of the vistas seen from one of the coffee plantations near us. The plantation was Finca Pacayal. The article made no reference to the firings of the people that had spent their lives working that finca or the struggles their children faced as they left home to find work for themselves. Nor did the author notice the injustice that is the finca system itself. He also failed to mention our part in this saga and how we justify our actions and ignorances.

Those omissions and unanswered questions continue to nag me as we finish our time in Guatemala. If our democracy, our economic system, our way of life in the States is so superior or advanced why are a select few the only ones that truly benefit? Some of these questions have been at least partially answered for me. Many still remain.

What if the Agrarian Reforms of President Arbenz had been allowed to mature and the rural poor given a say in their countries development? What if the US hadn’t funded the murder of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children? (A few of whose remains I have personally witnessed exhumed from clandestine graves) What if Christians stood up against war? What if citizens of western countries held their governments responsible for there actions? These are the questions we are supposed to ask ourselves, questions that cannot be ignored. But, often questions not posed because we are never in a place to hear them.

For the past 2 years, while serving in BVS, these are the questions that we have been confronted with in our neighbor’s kitchens, in the backs of pickup trucks, and while working in coffee fields. These are the questions of the majority, those not reaping the benefits of our freedom, our free trade, and our security. We can only begin to serve once we start asking these types of questions of ourselves. They are questions we have struggled with and hope to struggle with for a long time.

Christmas in UV.

This year we are spending Christmas in UV. It was a hard decision to make, being away from our family for the holidays but we really felt like being here for Christmas would be an interesting experience and meaningful for us and the families here in the community. The excitement is certainly building. This past week we have been attending "Posadas" which are a tradition in Latin America. A "posada" is a reenactment of Mary and Joseph's search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. Each night the "posada" is at a different family's house with the procession starting at the house from the night before. Families walk to the "posada" carrying candles and a small nativity in search of a place for Mary and Joseph to stay. Upon arriving at the house the group outside calls out to those inside for permission to stay the night. At first they are turned away, then told to stay out with the animals, then once the family realizes that the baby is Jesus they open the door welcoming everyone into the house. Last night we were able to join in the celebration with our violin and mandolin. After several songs there was a time of prayer and a rather long sermon by the catacist then the family served pineapple punch and the kids shot off fireworks. Tonight will be the last "posada" and Christmas Eve or "Noche Buena" the procession will arrive in the church for a midnight mass. Christmas eve and Christmas Day we have been invited to visit several friends around the community and we will surely be making and eating lots of tomales.

We hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays! May it be a time of joy and hope for you and yours as it will be here in Union Victoria, Guatemala!

Brand OBAMA beats APPLE as best advertising campaign of 2008.

World-renowned scholar and MIT professor Noam Chomsky puts the recent “historic” US election in a global perspective. He questions the functionality of our democracy and his candidness on the power of marketing and corporate money over the complicity of the population in US politics is very informative.

Listen to his very important speech on Democracy Now:

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/24/noam_chomsky_what_next_the_elections