Kaqchikel Presbytery women's group and the villages of Bola de Oro, Cerro Alto and Labor de Falla

Breaking the Silence's oldest partnership is with Mayan women's groups in the villages of Bola de Oro, Cerro Alto and Labor de Falla, near the city of Chimaltenango, and with their support organization, the Kaqchikel Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala. The Presbytery does not construct buildings or establish traditional worship services. Instead they create informal worshipping communities and community-based self-help groups. They make no distinctions on the basis of religious affiliation. Those who are willing to work with their neighbours for survival and reconstruction are welcome. Our partnership is rooted in the history of the internal armed conflict in Guatemala. The Chimaltenango region was hard hit by the violence. During that time Pastor Vitalino Similox and his spouse, Margarita Valiente, courageously served their Kaqchikel brothers and sisters.Working along with them were Pascual Serech, Manuel Saquic and Lucio Martinez, all of whom would later die for their human rights work.



Kathryn Anderson visited the Presbytery in 1989, on behalf of Tatamagouche Centre.She returned home with a commitment to a longterm mutual relationship. We assumed Tatamagouche Centre would take the next step by sending a delegation to Guatemala. The Presbytery thought otherwise. In early 1990 they announced that they were was sending two Mayan women to the Maritimes for a month. A few weeks later, two women, both of whom had been displaced, stepped off the plane. They were amazingly flexible, open to doing whatever we suggested, from public speaking, to demonstrating their extraordinary embroidery and weaving skills, to participating in a feast of lobster and wine. They shared personal stories of suffering, struggle and courage with enormous dignity. Josefina Inay recalls that time. I talked with them about the strength of individuals, churches and NGOs who were struggling in order that these humiliations (her emphasis) would no longer be permitted.

In 1991 the first Breaking the Silence delegation toured Guatemala. We were anguished as we slept on the floor in the same rooms with malnourished and ill children, whose parents had no money for food and medicine. We saw the Presbytery sharing awareness and organization, education, health and human rights. They were supporting women in rural communities to form groups and undertake projects from literacy to crafts to agricultural projects. We accompanied Josefina to a few of the groups, where she connected Biblical reflection with awareness of their human rights as Mayans and as women. A visit to women's groups in Bola de Oro and Cerro Alto made painfully clear the depth of poverty and all-pervasive fear.

Delegates played with children with potbellies and dark hair tinged red, sure signs of parasites and malnutrition. Army rucks full of soldiers passed by as Dona Francisca, an elderly white-haired woman, stood in the yard pointing to the spot where she had witnessed the murder of her husband and son in 1982. She told the group the army had woken them from their sleep, first shooting her husband who died immediately. Her son was bludgeoned to death and died slowly. When they were killed, she went to Chimaltenango and met Margarita Valiente who said, "Let's go back to Bola de Oro and start something together." Soon after the women's group in Bola de Oro started up.A pig-rearing project was a first effort, housed at Dona Francisca's. The women's determination to work together to survive, their love for their children, and their refusal to give in to fear challenged the delegation to reflect on the nature of hope, and the resiliency of the human spirit.

When the Peace Accords were signed at the end of 1996, we re-committed ourselves to longterm solidarity with Guatemala. As we visited the Presbytery and the three villages over the next three years, we came to know the women's groups much better. We were able to spend longer periods with them, even staying overnight, something that was impossible during the period of violence. This led to the decision to formalize our relationship in the year 2000, with a mutual commitment to friendship, exchange and support for projects initiated by the women's groups. Since the fall of 2003, we have also had an Intern present in the community, living and working with the women's groups.

In the spring of 2006, three representatives of the village women's groups toured the Maritimes, sharing their struggles and hopes. As BTS looks back, we are amazed to find that visits of a few hours have turned into rich relationships with individuals, families, a school and, in the case of Labor de Falla, an entire community.

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