Guatemalan Coffee From the Source
When you go to Starbucks and buy your grande cup of Guatemalan coffee, do you ever wonder how it got from Guatemala to your local Starbucks ? I did some research while living and working there and found some interesting information. The area around Lake Atitlan in Guatemala is a coffee grower's dream. Surrounded by three volcanoes and lots of vegetation, coffee beans are shade grown and abundant. Connie, a Mayan woman from San Pedro La Laguna, worked in the internet cafe and her husband's family sold its coffee beans to Anacafe. Sadly, they only received $80 per 100-pound coffee beans. Think about it. The profit margin is substantial, even with the cost to export and sell.
From October until January, coffee season is at its prime and entire Mayan families spend the morning picking coffee beans. It is quite common to see small Mayan girls carrying their baby sibling on their backs, while Mom and Dad pick the coffee beans for their survival. Often barefoot, toothless, dirty and hungry, coffee farmers work hard and long to harvest the coffee, earning a pittance for their labor while Americans sip Guatemalan coffee at $1.75 a cup, without a care for the hands that picked the beans.
Children at War: "Innocent Voices"
Innocent Voices is a compelling documentary about the brutal Civil War in El Salvador, seen through the eyes of Oscar Torres, an 11 year old boy, who miraculously survived to tell his story. The film could easily be set in Guatemala, a neighboring country, as they endured a similar violent Civil War. You can listen to an NPR podcast about "Innocent Voices" here.
During the 1980's, El Salvador's armed forces were recruiting twelve year old boys, abducting them from schools, homes, villages and streets. Chava, the main character, is an 11 year old boy and the "man" of his household, after his father escaped to the United States. Chava has only one year of innocence left before he will be forced to train and fight against his own people, or "guerillas", of the FMLN. The movie follows Chava's journey in this worn torn country, where we see him escape the perils of death at the hands of the military and survive violent gun fire in his village. His story, poignant and touching, is a story worth seeing.
Here is my question: How can a country (or world!) justify the kidnapping and training of children for war? It is absolutely repugnant to me; I grieve over the innocence lost. We must stop this now.
Go rent the movie today.
Clinicas Maya: San Marcos La Laguna
(Source of images: ClinicasMaya.org)
Cindy Waterman, a midwife and nurse by training, moved to Guatemala in the late 1990's and settled into San Pedro La Laguna to fulfill a passion to help Mayan women struggling in poverty. Cindy made a decision to wear the traditional Mayan women clothing in order to bridge the differing cultures and establish connection with the local women. We met in 2001, when I moved to the same village to launch the internet cafe. Cindy's dream: to build a midwifery clinic for Mayan women on "this part of the Lake Atitlan", including the villlages of San Pedro, San Juan, San Pablo, San Marcos, and Tzunana.
Cindy moved to San Marcos La Laguna to run the Clinica Naturalista, a holistic medical clinic serving locals, travelers and expats. Through determination, hard work and sacrifice, Cindy has built a legacy for herself: today, a midwifery clinic is in full bloom. Cindy continues to work tirelessly tending to the needs of the sick and the poor and helping out with various medical clinics around Lake Atitlan. Thankfully, as a result of Cindy's training of local midwives, fewer mothers and babies die during child birth and people are getting treatment for their ailments. Indeed,the combination of Cindy's service, compassion, training and holistic and western medicine work together to make life better for the Mayan people.
I've partnered with Cindy to provide medical supplies to her clinic, every time I travel to Guatemala. Rotaries, churches, and friends have all given medical donations to me to help her clinic thrive. Gathering donations is always on the front of Cindy's mind, as well as donations and long-term, bilingual medical volunteers who can hit the ground running.
Do you want` to help? Contact us!