Global Guide Issue 1 (2012)

The Land of Luv & Tortillas in 2012

Tzibal Slideshow from Ben Sampson on Vimeo.

Community Constructions

Dear Contributors, Stakeholders, and friends,

An incredible year has passed since OGG first met the small community of Tzibal in 2011 and, in their effort to continue the connections created during one unforgettable week, com- mitted themselves to the construction of the Cancha. Not merely a basketball/football court nor a water-catching roof. The Can- cha is a collaborative project proposed by the Comité de Mujeres, promoted by the COCODE, conceptualized by Baird Sampson Neuert Architects/Blackwell & Associates, and funded in large part by passionate young students from across North America. But most importantly the Cancha and Centro Comunitario will be produced and presided over by the men, women, and children of an isolated but inspirational pueblo.  

This rag-tag consortium of dreamers and doers continues to be connected by friendship and solidarity but many now find themselves cast out and spread across the hemisphere, some by travels, some by studies, and others by professions. So, to all those who remain committed or perhaps just curious, read on, these pages are for you. First you will find a comprehensive up- date including news on the Cancha’s design and construction, other community developments, the state of fundraising and financing, as well as evaluative perspectives and prospects 365 days on. You will also find stories, in word and image, from OG’s most recent visit to the land of luv and tortillas. 

On Behalf of the OG Alumnos and the community of Tzibal, thank you and Bantiox. 

Developments

From its conception in the dirt to its most recent digital rendering by Baird Sampson Neuert and Blackwell & Associates, the Cancha as seen some dramatic changes. Originally envisioned as little more than a slab of concrete measuring 22 x 25 metres, the imaginations of local and international stake- holders now see a community campus encompassing four cuerdas (40 x 40 metres). The official NBA sized court complete with hybrid basketball/soccer posts and Mayan styled bleachers will occupy the lower three-quarters while a tiered community fruit and vegetable garden will occupy the slope above. Freestanding composting latrines and sink facilities will be discretely situated amongst Macadamia and Cypress trees on the facility’s outer edge. The Cancha’s roof will be constructed with an innovative steel cable and polypropelyn rope web onto which aluminum and plastic tiles will be fastened using bamboo purlins. This represents a wholly new and novel intersection of modern design, local materials, and indigenous know-how. Despite the incredible reductions in load due to the minimizing of structural and material costs, the four A-frames that punctuate the Cancha’s four corners have had to be reinforced to support the tension system above. The result is as impressive as it is innovative. 

To accommodate the more ambitious structure and its surroundings, the community and OGG 2011 ponied up Q15,000 (approx. $2000) to purchase more suitable land in close proximity to the school. Despite the reduced grade and increased accessibility however, the site still required a great deal of preparation prior to the commencement of construction. In this regard an appeal was made to the Municipality, economic conditions, the Municipality refused Tzibal’s re- quest for help. So, in place of bulldozers, jackhammers, and gas powered tempers two OGG crews joined with the men, women, and children of Tzibal clearing, tiering, and levelling the Cancha's acreage. But the manual labour was hampered by the local climate, economic and otherwise. Due to a poor growing season and consequent delays to community bean and corn harvests, Tzibal’s men were called away to work for fincas as far as Petén and Mexico. Unsurprisingly in their absence, little progress could be made towards the completion of the Cancha. With added, inflationary pressures, increasing fuel costs, and decreasing government assistance, construction schedules have had to be amended. 

In place of a single sustained effort, the Cancha will now be created in two phases. Phase 1 was inaugurated on August 25, 2012 in small a ceremony attended by the local teachers, the Director of the District School Board, the CO- CODE, members of the community. The uncharacteristically quiet occasion was also marked by the donation of the remaining $10,000 raised by OGG participants.    

During the coming months, the Cancha’s large foot print will be formed and poured. The innovative trusses will be made to order by steelworkers in San Pedro Carcha be- fore being anchored in concrete. And the basketball nets/ football posts will be acquired and attached. Completion of phase 1 is expected in the first quarter of 2013.  

Phase 2 which will include the construction of the roof, and composting toilettes will then extend through the spring and early summer with the Cancha’s inauguration tentatively planned for July/Aug. 2013 to coincide with the OGG “Off the Grid” program.  The new timeline is based on a reassessment of construction schedules and re-evaluation of budgetary projections conducted in collaboration with the community.  Based on these discussions and recent developments we deter- mined that current financing would be insufficient and a renewed fundraising campaign would be necessary to complete all of the Cancha’s component parts. The new campaign, which will launch on Nov. 26, 2012, will therefore seek to raise an additional $5,000 to cover the budgetary shortfall and allow phase 2 construction. An updated detailed budget has been released (below) and donations are currently being accepted at the Cancha's new Causevox page @ www.cancha.causevox.com.    

Your continued support is greatly appreciated

Thank you and Bantiox

Local Headlines

 The Mano Dura grips Campur

President Otto Perez Molina, a man both respected and reviled for his “mano dura” has so far lived up to his slogan. Elected in 2011, the ex-general pulled no punches launching an ambitious expansion of Guatemala’s military and police. Both will see physical increases of 20% and 40% respectively and detachments will be deployed to communities, small and large, across the country. In Campur, soldiers have replaced civil police in a dramatic sign of the Mano Dura’s reach. A fortified barracks has replaced the modest office of the exiled PNC and the sight of green camo is now a common occurrence on the streets of Campur. In the con- text of increasing delinquency reaction has been mixed. Some see the military contingent as a bastion of security while others see only its own misconducts. Either way the Mano Dura shows no signs of softening.

 The COCODITO’s plant new roots

17 year old Alejandro is in most respects an ordinary Guatemalan teenager. A spitting image of his dad, Alfonso, the young Tzibalense man is a mean footballer, a talented drummer, and a charismatic DJ and MC. But Alejandro is also the ambitious leader of the new COCODITO’s. A common Spanish play on popular words, the addition of ITO denotes a smaller, cuter version of the local COCODE or Community Development Council. This small group of impassioned youth aged 12-17 have launched a campaign to ignite the developmental imaginations of their companeros and see those visions of what Tzibal could and should be realized through small scale projects. The first of these mini-proyectos is a tree planting campaign to introduce shade and shelter to the otherwise sun baked or rain soaked road connecting Tzibal to neighbouring Campur. The second project will be to chronicle the COCODITO’s increasingly ambitious campaign. So, stay tuned.

Mining Goes on Trial

At 5am on Saturday July 14, OGG packed up and headed off to San Miguel Ixtahuacàn. There the group joined other international delegations, human rights accompaniers, journalists, and local community members for the first ever International Peoples Health Tribunal.  

Initiated by local stakeholders in San Miguel Ixtahuacàn, the event was coordinated in collaboration with Susana Caxaj, a University of Western graduate student and volunteer with Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN), as well as the local Parrish and FREDEMI (Front in Defense of San Miguel Ixtahuacàn). Also participating were people affected by Goldcorp’s Los Filos mine in Mexico and its San Martín mine in Honduras, as well as representatives from throughout El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama, who provided a regional examination and critique of the resource extraction model and its effects on communities.  

The tribunal was structured to resemble a trial with a panel of 13 judges presiding. For two days they and OGG listened to testimony from scientific experts, human rights organizations, and community leaders directly affected by mining.  Specifically, tribunal heard three cases from three different countries experiencing the (mal)effects of mining operations owned and operated by Canadian gold giant Goldcorp. The tales of contamination, defective and abortive pregnancies, skin malformations, inter and intra community violence, as well as forced evictions and assassinations challenged even the most ardent mining proponent.

The Verdict

After two days of testimony the international panel of distinguished observers which included environmental scientists, psychologists, legal and cultural anthropologists among others delivered a guilty verdict to Goldcorp, the host countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, as well as the Canadian Government for supporting and promoting in various ways irresponsible mining in Mesoamerica. The verdict read “...we find Goldcorp guilty for its activities in Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, which we find to be seriously damaging to the health and the quality of life, the quality of environment, and the right to self-determination of the affected Indigenous and campesino communities.”

“Now we will hear from Izabal”

With that, Raul Caal Coc, a delegate from Chichipate, El Estor, immediately stood up throwing his arms in the air in triumph. For him and the six other delegates from the Department of Izabal in Guatemala’s nickel rich eastern reaches, the opportunity to speak and be heard was a rare victory. On his flank were fellow embattled activists Maria and Angelica Choc. And it was the powerful voices of the two Maya- Q'eqchi women from La Union, El Estor that filled the hall of international judges, expert witnesses, Mesoamerican delegates, and interested onlookers. Their passionate pleas for action also served to punctuate the two days of testimonies from affected communities.   

Angelica began: “we are victims of the Canadian mining companies in our country like many others that are here today… We are Indigenous people, we must protect ourselves.” Angelica Choc is the widow of Adolfo Ich, a prominent community leader from La Union, who in 2009 was gunned down by Mynor Padilla, head of HudBay Nickels security subcontractor. Her and Maria are also the sisters of political prisoner Ramiro Choc, an indigenous and community activist who has been held in federal custody since 2008. Her assured voice continued: “We are defending our mother earth because we know that it is from her that we are able to eat and live… They [the companies] continue to offer projects in our communities... Don’t believe them. The ‘bolsas solidarias’ they offer will not endure over the years but our land, yes, it’s for our children. So we have to defend them now… We are rich… and it is because of that foreign companies have to rob our economic resources, our natural re- sources and everything we have. And how? Violently and without shame. Do you know why they enter? Because they think we are still in the 60’s and 70’s when they massacred our parents and grandparents. They may still have blindfolds on, but today we, our children, our grandchildren no longer have blindfolds on, YES or NO?” the crowd quickly replied “No!”. Angelica then turned her attention to those that had not bothered to attend, those who hide their eyes and cover their ears to the abuses of their corporate citizens. “To the Canadian Government and Canadian authorities” Angelica asked, “hear me in Canada and do not send me back to seek justice in Guatemala. Because in my Guatemala there is no justice.”  

The verdict, read in both Spanish and Mam, inspired cautious smiles and applause from the Izabalense delegation and packed hall. But what now? Raul, Angelica, Maria, Germán, and the women from Lote Ocho would return to Izabal the following day where they will continue to face repression and persecution as local indigenous populations continue the 500 year old fight for land and livelihoods against foreign invasion and corporate dispossession.   

Who is Ramiro Choc?

One delegate notably missing from the Izabalense delegation was Ramiro Choc. Like his sisters, Angelica and Maria Choc, Ramiro is a prominent Q’eqchi’ peasant leader who has dedicated much of his life to the defense of indigenous communities in Eastern and Central Guatemala. But on February 14, 2008 six police officers dragged Ramiro Choc from a public bus en route to Guatemala City and took him to an undisclosed location. There he was unlawfully detained for 5 days and probably would have been made to join the country’s countless disappeared had it not been for a serendipitously timed call to a lawyer — a call Ramiro still believes saved his life. So, instead of suffering the planned disposal, Mr. Choc suddenly reappeared in front of a judge on the trumped up charges of aggravated robbery, land stealing, and kidnapping.   If not so tragic the irony would be comedic. Ramiro and the organizations for whom he worked, the National Indigenous and Peasant Coordinating Committee (CONIC) and Encuentro Campesino, dedicate themselves to defending embattled indigenous communities against the same crimes for which he was accused and subsequently condemned.   Ramiro was in fact convicted for his role in mediating a stand-off between police and an indigenous Garifuna community near Livingston in 2007. Invited by the Department’s Governor, he had travelled to Barrio Buena Vista la Esperanza to help negotiate the release of a group of men forcibly held by the community for trespassing and land theft. But as reward for mediating a nonviolent conclusion to a volatile confrontation - Ramiro was arrested and now, four years later, continues to sleep on a cement floor in the notorious Pavon prison.   Ramiro Choc became eligible for parole in February of 2011 but was unable to pay the extrajudicial fine attached to his sentence making probation and freedom a luxury he simply couldn’t afford. But there is hope. The stubborn determination of his sisters has collided with the dedicated activism of Rights Action and others. And this growing North-South alliance has raised sufficient funds to satisfy the states extortion. But for now, in his cell, Ramiro still waits.

For more information on the International Peoples Health Tribunal and the continuing struggles of San Miguel Ixtahuacàn and Izabal please visit: www.rightsaction.org

In Images...

    

Five Moons over Xela

Xela, Xela, Xelaaaa!* That oh so familiar sound signaled our arrival in, you guessed it, Xela. So, off the chicken bus we poured. Nine passionate and eager participants who had joined us only a day earlier all came rushing out and into the busy bus terminal. Although still jetlagged the group had already endured a whirl-wind 24hr tour of the country’s capitals, old and new, as well as an epic 5hr chicken bus ride up and onto Guatemala’s Western Highlands. They had even overcome a blown tire, albeit with help from a couple of ayudantes that would rival Nascar’s best pit crews. So, after a little urban trek from the Terminal to Escuela Xelaju and our cosy little casita, the group settled in. But before any sleep could be had OG got word that the Chivos, Xela´s beloved football team, would be playing in Guatemala’s National Championship against its rival from the capital, Municipal.   Soccer isn’t a sport here, it´s a way of life. So, OG went and grabbed some grub and prepared for their first cross-cultural lesson. The group of gringos crowded around the TV, cheering on the Chivos with the gusto of any Quetzalteco. And the Goats did not disappoint… After 90 minutes of nail biting, two action packed overtimes followed. But still nothing could be decided on the open pitch, so the Championship came down to penalties. Some participants covered their eyes, while others shouted profanities. A few were visibly confused by the whole ritual. But within minutes they were all on their feet as the Chivos and their Quetzalteco followers stormed onto the field and into the streets to celebrate the city’s fifth championship and the extra cleft moon that would now adorn their jerseys. And what better way to celebrate the new moon than to howl at it. Fireworks blasted and music blared as Parqué Central became party headquarters with a group of gringos and Xela’s newest honour guard right at its heart. 

Here & Back Again

So, it has been 7 months, over 40,000 miles and an additional 14 country stamps but I’m back. Can’t say this was a part of the plan but it’s nice to be back in the land of black sand, tortillas and traje, aka home. The infamous Allie Stote and I hit the ground here in Guatemala one week ago. And in the days that followed we criss-crossed this small funny shaped country by Tuc-tuc, Micro, Pullman, and Chicken bus. We visited Antigua and Operation Groundswell’s amazing partner As Green as it Gets. This coffee cooperative made up of Guatemalan campesinos and one very loveable, albeit pessimistic, ex-pat, continues to forge sustainable livelihoods for its members through creative agricultural practices and a variety of innovative development programs. We then travelled north to Xela where Quetzaltrekkers keeps on trucking ready and willing trekkers to the Guatemala’s highest volcanic and non- volcanic points while supporting some of the country’s most underprivileged children through the Escuela de la Calle (EDELAC) and El Hogar. This year, Quetzaltrekkers will help our crew get on tops of things and in return OGG will be establishing a scholarship fund for QT’ kids. Before skippin’ town we had to stop in a say “hola” to the equally amazing Escuela La Paz where OGG 2012 will be studying Spanish alongside an incredible group of indigenous women.  

1½ hours north of Xela near the small city of Colomba ex-guerilla fighters have traded their tools of war for tools of trade, the coffee trade that is. After arranging some sweet digs with the local coffee farmers and families of Santa Anita La Union, Allie and I turned back south eventually reaching the warm shores of Lago Atitlan and the open arms of San Juan la Laguna and Rupalaj Kistalin. This indigenous Tzitsujil community is increasingly turning its small artisanal and eco-industries into income generating tourist attractions while maintaining its rich cultural and linguistic heritage. But despite the temptations of this laid-back lakeside paradise we journeyed on. First south to Guate then east to Alta Verapaz and the tiny town of Tzibal. There OGG past and present will collide in a crazy construction project called La Cancha (The “Court”). This innovative community centre and basketball/soccer court features a water catching roof, composting toilettes, and organic garden (complete with 20lb radishes!). But after meetings with the COCODE (Development council), on-site coordinator, community teachers, and a night’s rest in a lawn chair we retraced our steps to Guate and the cozy casita of friends Luchy & Fam. And here we waited for OGG 2012 to begin…