Victoria and Pamela, with Victoria's Mother, Sebastiana

5. Tell us about your family in San Marcos.
I am married to Victoriana, she is indigenous, she speaks Kaqchikel. We have been married for almost 3 years. We have a 2 year old daughter named Pamela Sebastiana; we named her after our mothers. I am American, grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, but studied at Auburn University after receiving my high school diploma. I have two brothers, Kris and Kenneth. Kenneth is a pharmacist living in Huntsville, Alabama. He has three children and is married to a Russian woman named Elena. My younger brother Kris is struggling a bit in life, has been involved in drugs and has never been able to stabilize his life after the death of his 2 year old daughter Emily back in 2001.

6. In your opinion, what are the greatest needs in your village and with the local schools?
Health education, Christian-moral education, respect for property and feelings. We really have a lack of education here in town and it truly as an effect on how people treat one another. There is no true value of education and that is what we need the most that this new generation value and take advantage of their studies and that these students seek to reverse the problems of disunity and problems here in town.

7. What are your prayer requests?
We need prayer for unity, that God's Holy Spirit would breathe it's love in the people. I pray that we look for solutions to the problems we face. I would ask that you pray for my marriage and my family and that my project would be sustainable and that the Lord would continue to use me as an instrument for His peace, His love and His compassion!

Tags: Education, Volunteering, Guatemala, San Marcos La Laguna

In Guatemala, education is divided into Pre-Primaria (párvulos and kindergarten), Primaria (Primary school 1st to 6th grade), Secundaria (Secundary school, 3 years known as Básico), and Diversificado (3 years of High School). For the last several years, children who went to middle school and high school had to pay for tuition to go to school and many families simply could not afford it. Recently, the Guatemalan government passed a law, stating that as of 2009, Guatemala’s public educational system will be free for all children. Globally Minded Works is thrilled for such a move as many more children will have access to education.

When we started Globally Minded Works, we intended to provide child sponsorships to pay for school tuition and books. With free education for all school age children in 2009, such sponsorships are no longer necessary. Therefore, Globally Minded Works will support schools and charitable projects, like water filters.

Ongoing needs for most of the rural schools in Guatemala include: books, supplies, furniture, computers, and even buildings. With donations from people like you, Globally Minded Works aims to fill this gap.

Join our efforts to support education and other
charitable projects in Guatemala by donating to our work.
Thank you for your kind donation to support the Mayan children in Guatemala.

Tags: free, School Sponsorship, Children, Schools, Water Filters

I first met Bonnie Dilger, author of Blood in the Cornfields, in Guatemala and recently we met up with each other in Marin County, California, when she came to visit her daughter.
How long have you lived in Guatemala and what first brought you there?
I've lived in Guatemala approximately thirty years, intermittently, but on a permanent basis for the last twelve. My first experience in Central America found me in El Salvador. It was 1973, and just a few weeks into my trip, my son David called me from Guatemala with an invitation to join him in the tourist town of Panajachel. The thought of touring the mountains of Guatemala was more appealing than the over-crowded city of San Salvador, so I accepted the invitation. I missed him, my youngest, anyway. I had not originally thought that my visit to Lake Atitlan would culminate in so long a stay, but thirty years later, here we are.
What, if any, political changes have you seen and experienced?
The country has had a succession of civilian presidents, beginning in the mid-eighties until the present and following the military dictatorships of decades (and centuries) past. These political changes have affected many reforms for the better in terms of humane behavior on the part of the government. In addition, before the guerrillas (the opposition party to the military-backed government) would sign the Peace Accords with the civilian administration, they mandated equal rights to health and education, and the right to hold public offices for the indigenous Mayas. When I arrived on my first visit to Guatemala (in early 1973), a mere 2% of the population of Santiago Atitlan could read and write. Tuberculosis, dysentery and other illnesses were rampant due to poor nutrition and the villagers' impoverished conditions. Only half of all children born at the time survived beyond the age of six years. These appalling statistics existed throughout Guatemala among the poor, particularly among the Mayan population. In the past few years, many health and education workers have come to the pueblo in attempt to improve living conditions. According to statistics of the students of the San Carlos University, there has been a quantum leap to 76% literacy among the youths in Santiago Atitlan. I don't have any statistics involving the whole country.
What are some of the most pressing needs facing the Mayan people of the Guatemalan Highlands?
There is an ever-present need for food and clothing, plus health care among the poor. Unemployment is high, and due to the confiscation of property that dates back to the Conquistadores, their property rights having been taken away, leaving them without adequte space even to grow their crops. Many non-profit groups and individuals are attempting to address these needs and though much has been done, much remains undone.
Where do you recommend travelers stay around Lake Atitlan, Guatemala City and Antigua?
There are two very comfortable and attractive hotels in Santiago Atitlan, both with moderate prices when compared with U.S. prices. The names are the Posada de Santiago and the Bamboo. Both are located at the edge of Lake Atitlan, affording a glorious view of the lake. Aldous Huxley once visited this part of the world and named Atitlan as the most beautiful area in the world. There are numerous hotels in Antigua.
Have you ever been worried for your life in Guatemala? If so, why?
During the bloody conflict in the early 80's, which lasted for 16 years, it was necessary for me to flee the area where I was living and helping my son in construction of the hotel -- Posada de Santiago. I actually reported the deaths and disappearances in the pueblo, which were then occurring on a daily basis, to all the wrong people in the government, thereby putting myself at extreme risk. I realized I had to leave when I returned to Santiago Atitlan from a visit to Panajachel and found my home broken into, my possessions destroyed and my little dog stabbed. A neighbor took me out of the pueblo in the family helicopter, enabling me to purchase a ticket back to the States in Guatemala City.
Do you feel safe now?
Yes. The military no longer in power. What worries us now is street crime and break-ins among youthful gangs. Government violence is now rare or non-existent.
Tell me about the schools you support in Santiago Atitlan.
I began my experiences with three schools a matter of five years ago. The founders, who had formed committees with the intention of building schools, came to me asking for my help. At the time, I had no resources to speak of, but I promised solidarity with them anyway. The young students had no school supplies, no desks to balance their books, if indeed they had any, really nothing except the desire to learn. They were also sitting in the mud with no roof over their heads. Much has changed since then. They now have desks, school supplies and, at times, we've been able to provide breakfasts for the children. We have one new school due to the help of theformer first lady, Dona Wendy Berger. She sent us the materials that enabled the fathers of the students to build the school. Presently, the second school has a tereno (piece of property) to begin building. A third has no property with which to build. They are looking to me to fulfill this need. At present, I have no resources available to purchase this property. Also, If possible, I would like to build a simple housing structure for the young volunteers who come to teach or provide other services, such as health care. I have to add that I've mainly been a committe of one, working alone. I keep no money, but all donated funds (primarily from private donors who are friends in the States) go directly to the schools.

What is your hope for the children of the Mayans?
A tall order. I want to help every child in the pueblo study and learn. When these three aforementioned schools can operate without me, I would like to start a scholarship program. Our schools only reach the 6th grade. I recently learned that a couple working in the area has started a scholarship program for higher education for students who will become professionals (such as medical students, studying to become accountants, prospective attorneys, etc.) but in between there is need to bridge the gap, such as funds for high school, college, or trade schools.
What changes have you seen in Guatemala since the signing of the Peace Accords Treaty in 1996?
As mentioned above, the Mayan children are in school for the first time in history. Their elders also hold governmental public offices for the first time. Their voices are being heard. I could compare the changes that have occurred in Guatemala with those of the Civil Rights Movement in the States. Many Mayas have held Martin Luther King's identical convictions and carried them out to facilitate freedom and equal rights for their people so that the chains of virtual slavery that have bound countless individuals since the Spanish Conquest in their grip could be broken.

To learn more about Bonnie Dilger, visit her website here.

Tags: Guatemala, Civil War, Human Rights, Education, Mayans

(Title page of the Popol Vuh manuscript, copied and translated in the early 18th century by friar Francisco Ximénez)

The Popol Vuh is one the of most esteemed ancient piece of literature of the Mayan indigenous culture. The ancient text was found in the Guatemalan Highlands, somewhere around 1550 and thought to have been authored by Quiche royalty, some time during the Spanish conquest. The Popol Vuh is the Mayan creation story and, prior to the creation of man made from corn, the adventures of twin gods, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. One of the fascinating parts of the Mayan creation story is the similarity it shares with the biblical account of creation and the flood (Genesis 1-9).

Buy the Popl Vuh here and the Bible here.

Taken from the Popol Vuh: Part I, Chapter 1
This is the account of how all was in suspense, all calm, in silence; all motionless, still, and the expanse of the sky was empty.

This is the first account, the first narrative. There was neither man, nor animal, birds, fishes, crabs, trees, stones, caves, ravines, grasses, nor forests; there was only the sky.

The surface of the earth had not appeared. There was only the calm sea and the great expanse of the sky.

There was nothing brought together, nothing which could make a noise, nor anything which might move, or tremble, or could make noise in the sky.

There was nothing standing; only the calm water, the placid sea, alone and tranquil. Nothing existed.

There was only immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the Creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz, the Forefathers,* were in the water surrounded with light.** They were hidden under green and blue feathers, and were therefore called Gucumatz. By nature they were great sages and great thinkers. In this manner the sky existed and also the heart of

*E Alom, literally, those who conceive and give birth, e Qaholom, those who beget the children. In order to follow the conciseness of the text here the two terms are translated as the "Forefathers."

**They were in the water because the Quiché associated the name Gucumatz with the liquid element. Bishop Núñiez de la Vega says that Gucumatz is a serpent with feathers, which moves in the water. The Cakchiquel Manuscript says that one of the primitive peoples which migrated to Guatemala was called Gucumatz because their salvation was in the water.

Heaven, which is the name of God and thus He is called.

Then came the word. Tepeu and Gucumatz came together in the darkness, in the night, and Tepeu and Gucumatz talked together. They talked then, discussing and deliberating; they agreed, they united their words and their thoughts.

Then while they meditated, it became clear to them that when dawn would break, man must appear. Then they planned the creation, and the growth of the trees and the thickets and the birth of life and the creation of man. Thus it was arranged in the darkness and in the night by the Heart of Heaven who is called Huracán.

The first is called Caculhá Huracán. The second is ChipiCaculhá. The third is Raxa-Caculhá. And these three are the Heart of Heaven.

Then Tepeu and Gucumatz came together; then they conferred about life and light, what they would do so that there would be light and dawn, who it would be who would provide food and sustenance.

Thus let it be done! Let the emptiness be filled! Let the water recede and make a void, let the earth appear and become solid; let it be done. Thus they spoke. Let there be light, let there be dawn in the sky and on the earth! There shall be neither glory nor grandeur in our creation and formation until the human being is made, man is formed. So they spoke.

Then the earth was created by them. So it was, in truth, that they created the earth. Earth! they said, and instantly it was made.

Like the mist, like a cloud, and like a cloud of dust was the creation, when the mountains appeared from the water; and instantly the mountains grew.

Only by a miracle, only by magic art were the mountains and valleys formed; and instantly the groves of cypresses and pines put forth shoots together on the surface of the earth.

And thus Gucumatz was filled with joy, and exclaimed: "Your coming has been fruitful, Heart of Heaven; and you, Huracán, and you, Chipi-Caculhá, Raxa-Caculhá!"

"Our work, our creation shall be finished," they answered.

First the earth was formed, the mountains and the valleys; the currents of water were divided, the rivulets were running freely between the hills, and the water was separated when the high mountains appeared.

Thus was the earth created, when it was formed by the Heart of Heaven, the Heart of Earth, as they are called who first made it fruitful, when the sky was in suspense, and the earth was submerged in the water.

So it was that they made perfect the work, when they did it after thinking and meditating upon it.

Part I, Chapter 2
Then they made the small wild animals, the guardians of the woods, the spirits of the mountains, the deer, the birds, pumas, jaguars, serpents, snakes, vipers, guardians of the thickets.

And the Forefathers asked: "Shall there be only silence and calm under the trees, under the vines? It is well that hereafter there be someone to guard them."

So they said when they meditated and talked. Promptly the deer and the birds were created. Immediately they gave homes to the deer and the birds. "You, deer, shall sleep in the fields by the river bank and in the ravines. Here you shall be amongst the thicket, amongst the pasture; in the woods you shall multiply, you shall walk on four feet and they will support you. Thus be it done!" So it was they spoke.

Then they also assigned homes to the birds big and small. "You shall live in the trees and in the vines. There you shall make your nests; there you shall multiply; there you shall increase in the branches of the trees and in the vines." Thus the deer and the birds were told; they did their duty at once, and all sought their homes and their nests.

And the creation of all the four-footed animals and the birds being finished, they were told by the Creator and the Maker and the Forefathers: "Speak, cry, warble, call, speak each one according to your variety, each, according to your kind." So was it said to the deer, the birds, pumas, jaguars, and serpents.

"Speak, then, our names, praise us, your mother, your father. Invoke then, Huracán, Chipi-Caculhá, Raxa-Caculhá, the Heart of Heaven, the Heart of Earth, the Creator, the Maker, the Forefathers; speak, invoke us, adore us," they were told.

But they could not make them speak like men; they only hissed and screamed and cackled; they were unable to make words, and each screamed in a different way.

When the Creator and the Maker saw that it was impossible for them to talk to each other, they said: "It is impossible for them to say our names, the names of us, their Creators and Makers. This is not well," said the Forefathers to each other.

Then they said to them: "Because it has not been possible for you to talk, you shall be changed. We have changed our minds: Your food, your pasture, your homes, and your nests you shall have; they shall be the ravines and the woods, because it has not been possible for you to adore us or invoke us. There shall be those who adore us, we shall make other [beings] who shall be obedient. Accept your destiny: your flesh shall be torn to pieces. So shall it be. This shall be your lot." So they said, when they made known their will to the large and small animals which are on the face of the earth.

They wished to give them another trial; they wished to make another attempt; they wished to make [all living things] adore them.

But they could not understand each other's speech; they could succeed in nothing, and could do nothing. For this reason they were sacrificed, and the animals which were on earth were condemned to be killed and eaten.

For this reason another attempt had to be made to create and make men by the Creator, the Maker, and the Forefathers.

"Let us try again! Already dawn draws near: Let us make him who shall nourish and sustain us! What shall we do to be invoked, in order to be remembered on earth? We have already tried with our first creations, our first creatures; but we could not make them praise and venerate us. So, then, let us try to make obedient, respectful beings who will nourish and sustain us." Thus they spoke.

Then was the creation and the formation. Of earth, of mud, they made [man's] flesh. But they saw that it was not good. It melted away, it was soft, did not move, had no strength, it fell down, it was limp, it could not move its head, its face fell to one side, its sight was blurred, it could not look behind. At first it spoke, but had no mind. Quickly it soaked in the water and could not stand.

And the Creator and the Maker said: "Let us try again because our creatures will not be able to walk nor multiply. Let us consider this," they said.

Then they broke up and destroyed their work and their creation. And they said: "What shall we do to perfect it, in order that our worshipers, our invokers, will be successful?"

Thus they spoke when they conferred again: "Let us say again to Xpiyacoc, Xmucané, Hunahpú-Vuch, Hunahpú-Utiú: 'Cast your lot again. Try to create again.' " In this manner the Creator and the Maker spoke to Xpiyacoc and Xmucané.

Then they spoke to those soothsayers, the Grandmother of the day, the Grandmother of the Dawn, as they were called by the Creator and the Maker, and whose names were Xpiyacoc and Xmucané.

And said Huracán, Tepeu, and Gucumatz when they spoke to the soothsayer, to the Maker, who are the diviners: "You must work together and find the means so that man, whom we shall make, man, whom we are going to make, will nourish and sustain us, invoke and remember us."

"Enter, then, into council, grandmother, grandfather, our grandmother, our grandfather, Xpiyacoc, Xmucané, make light, make dawn, have us invoked, have us adored, have us remembered by created man, by made man, by mortal man. Thus be it done.

"Let your nature be known, Hunahpú-Vuch, Hunahpú-Utiú, twice mother, twice father, Nim-Ac, Nima-Tziís, the master of emeralds, the worker in jewels, the sculptor, the carver, the maker of beautiful plates, the maker of green gourds, the master of resin, the master Toltecat,* grandmother of the sun, grandmother of dawn, as you will be called by our works and our creatures.

*Here the text seems to enumerate the usual occupations of the men of that time. The author calls upon ahqual, who is evidently the one who carves emeralds or green stones; ahyamanic, the jeweler or silversmith; ahchut, engraver or sculptor; ahtzalam, carver or cabinetmaker; ahraxalac, he who fashions green or beautiful plates; ahraxazel, he who makes the beautiful green vases or gourds (called Xicalli in Náhuatl,)--the word raxá has both meanings; ahgol, he who makes the resin or copal; and, finally, ahtoltecat, he who, without doubt, was the silversmith. The Tolteca were in fact, skilled silversmiths who, according to the legend, were taught the art by Quetzalcoatl himself.

"Cast the lot with your grains of corn and the tzité.** Do it thus, and we shall know if we are to make, or carve his mouth and eyes out of wood." Thus the diviners were told.

**Erythrina corallodendron. Tzité, arbol de pito in Guatemala; Tzompanquahuitl in the Mexican language. It is used in both countries to make fences. Its fruit is a pod which contains red grains resembling a bean which the Indians used, as they still do, together with grains of corn, in their fortunetelling and witchcraft. In his Informe contra Idolorum Cultores, Sánchez de Aguilar says that the Maya Indians "cast lots with a large handful of corn." As is seen, the practice which is still observed by the Maya-Quiché is of respectable antiquity.

They went down at once to make their divination, and cast their lots with the corn and the tzité. "Fate! Creature!'' said an old woman and an old man. And this old man was the one who cast the lots with Tzité, the one called Xpiyacoc. And the old woman was the diviner, the maker, called Chiracán Xmucané.

Beginning the divination, they said: "Get together, grasp each other! Speak, that we may hear." They said, "Say if it is well that the wood be got together and that it be carved by the Creator and the Maker, and if this [man of wood] is he who must nourish and sustain us when there is light when it is day!

"Thou, corn; thou, tzité; thou, fate; thou, creature; get together, take each other," they said to the corn, to the tzité, to fate, to the creature. "Come to sacrifice here, Heart of Heaven; do not punish Tepeu and Gucumatz!''

Then they talked and spoke the truth: "Your figures of wood shall come out well; they shall speak and talk on earth."

"So may it be," they answered when they spoke.

And instantly the figures were made of wood. They looked like men, talked like men, and populated the surface of the earth.

They existed and multiplied; they had daughters, they had sons, these wooden figures; but they did not have souls, nor minds, they did not remember their Creator, their Maker; they walked on all fours, aimlessly.

They no longer remembered the Heart of Heaven and therefore they fell out of favor. It was merely a trial, an attempt at man. At first they spoke, but their face was without expression; their feet and hands had no strength; they had no blood, nor substance, nor moisture, nor flesh; their cheeks were dry, their feet and hands were dry, and their flesh was yellow.

Therefore, they no longer thought of their Creator nor their Maker, nor of those who made them and cared for them.

These were the first men who existed in great numbers on the face of the earth.

Part I, Chapter 3
Immediately the wooden figures were annihilated, destroyed, broken up, and killed.

A flood was brought about by the Heart of Heaven; a great flood was formed which fell on the heads of the wooden creatures.

Of tzité, the flesh of man was made, but when woman was fashioned by the Creator and the Maker, her flesh was made of rushes. These were the materials the Creator and the Maker wanted to use in making them.

But those that they had made, that they had created, did not think, did not speak with their Creator, their Maker. And for this reason they were killed, they were deluged. A heavy resin fell from the sky. The one called Xecotcovach came and gouged out their eyes; Camalotz came and cut off their heads; Cotzbalam came and devoured their flesh. Tucumbalam came, too, and broke and mangled their bones and their nerves, and ground and crumbled their bones.

This was to punish them because they had not thought of their mother, nor their father, the Heart of Heaven, called Huracán. And for this reason the face of the earth was darkened and a black rain began to fall, by day and by night.

Then came the small animals and the large animals, and sticks and stones struck their faces. And all began to speak: their earthen jars, their griddles, their plates, their pots, their grinding stones, all rose up and struck their faces.

"You have done us much harm; you ate us, and now we shall kill you," said their dogs and birds of the barnyard.

And the grinding stones said: "We were tormented by you; every day, every day, at night, at dawn, all the time our faces went holi, holi, huqui, huqui, because of you. This was the tribute we paid you. But now that you are no longer men, you shall feel our strength. We shall grind and tear your flesh to pieces," said their grinding stones.

And then their dogs spoke and said: "Why did you give us nothing to eat? You scarcely looked at us, but you chased us and threw us out. You always had a stick ready to strike us while you were eating.

"Thus it was that you treated us. You did not speak to us. Perhaps we shall not kill you now; but why did you not look ahead, why did you not think about yourselves? Now we shall destroy you, now you shall feel the teeth of our mouths; we shall devour you," said the dogs, and then, they destroyed their faces.

And at the same time, their griddles and pots spoke: "Pain and suffering you have caused us. Our mouths and our faces were blackened with soot; we were always put on the fire and you burned us as though we felt no pain. Now you shall feel it, we shall burn you," said their pots, and they all destroyed their [the wooden men's] faces. The stones of the hearth, which were heaped together, hurled themselves straight from the fire against their heads causing them pain.

The desperate ones [the men of wood] ran as quickly as they could; they wanted to climb to the tops of the houses, and the houses fell down and threw them to the ground; they wanted to climb to the treetops, and the trees cast them far away; they wanted to enter the caverns, and the caverns repelled them.

So was the ruin of the men who had been created and formed, the men made to be destroyed and annihilated; the mouths and faces of all of them were mangled.

And it is said that their descendants are the monkeys which now live in the forests; these are all that remain of them because their flesh was made only of wood by the Creator and the Maker.

And therefore the monkey looks like man, and is an example of a generation of men which were created and made but were only wooden figures.

Tags: Mayan, Mayan Indians, Popol Vuh, Creation, Bible, Maya

(This image is a memorial of the Santiago Atitlan massacre.)

Through a fellow Twitterer, Worldstechpod, I found out about an interview he conducted with Guatemalan human rights investigators and Benetech, regarding Guatemala's violent 36-year bitter Civil War. Thousands of archived papers from the 1950's onward were discovered in a warehouse, evidence of a very brutal war that killed thousands of innocent Mayans, suspected to be guerillas, or communists. Because these documents needed to be scanned and digitalized for historical safe-keeping, Benetech stepped in and offered their assistance.

The interview is now online, at FRONTLINE/World. You can see an amazing video about the secret files here.

See the timeline of Guatemalan's violent history (1944 - 2008) here.

The brutal civil war resulted in the deaths or "disappearance" of more than 200,000 Mayans, intellectuals, human rights activists and more. More than 40 villages were wiped off the map. It was a devastating time of Guatemalan history, with the origins closely tied to the US.

Recommended readings:
1. Silence on the Mountain by Daniel Wilkinson
2. Searching for Everado by Jennifer Harbury
3. Unfinished Conquest: The Guatemalan Tragedy by Victor Perera
4. The Art of Political Murder by Francisco Goldman

Tags: Guatemala Civil War, Guerilla, Mayan Indians, Benetech, War, FRONTLINE/World, Human Rights

Once upon a time, I was the American Director for a school in Guatemala. I left knowing I'd continue to be involved with education and helping the Mayans around Lake Atitlan. Globally Minded Works, Inc. was created to help support education through sponsorships of students, teachers and schools. It is my hope that we can raise enough money to support several impoverished schools and families in the Highlands in Guatemala.

The school year in Guatemala is from January to October and young children go to elementary school in the afternoon and older students attend middle school in the afternoon. During November and December, many Mayan children help their parents harvest coffee beans for export. Many Guatemalan Mayans are very poor and struggle greatly to send their older children to middle school as they are responsible for paying tuition and books. Elementary school is compulsory and free, though most schools are in dire need of everything, including school supplies and an adequate building.

Schools around Lake Atitlan are in varying degree of need. Yet, most, if not all, are in need of ongoing support as the communities are poor and the schools don't get enough help (if at all) from the government. Teacher salaries are always in jeopardy and it not uncommon for salaries to be withheld for several months at a time! Globally Minded Works seeks to partner with communities in Guatemala, one child, one teacher, one school at a time.

Bookmark us and come back as our online donation feature is coming soon!

Tags: Education, Guatemala, Child Sponsorship, Globally Minded Works, Teacher Sponsorship, School Sponsorship

Tags: Travel, Mayan ruins

Tags: Joyce Maynard, Books, Lake Atitlan, San Marcos La Laguna, PlanetOutreach

Tags: Lake Atitlan, Guatemala