I was invited by Agros to return to the village of Trapachitos- the community in the Ixil (Ish-eel) triangle that I had visited on my previous two trips to Guatemala. I had come to know the stories and love people of this small village in the North Eastarn part of Guatemala. This area was one of the hardest hit by massacres and brutality during the civil war, and reminders can be found in churches, villages and on the faces of those who have lived to tell about it. It also remains one of the poorest regions in all of Guatemala. Though Trapachitos now has a road that connects it to Nebaj and aids in commerce, and the children are learning both Spanish and Ixil in school, they still have no electricity, no clean water, and most women are illiterate and do not speak Spanish.
This church in Nebaj, like many others in the region, has hung crosses with the names of dates of those killed during the war, several whom were massacared 
in the central square just outside.I tagged along with a group of Engineers through EMI (Engineering Ministries International) who were helping Agros to plan for the building of a new community center for the region. Pictured here is the workshop where several youth will be trained in carpentry as they help build the center, which will host several other kinds of classes for local communities. I was impressed as always by the holistic and sustainable vision of Agros as they equip the indigenous people to develope their own communities sustainably. 
Here is a view of Trapachitos from across the valley. The bare spot on the hillside is where they have dug out a soccer field: the center of evening activities. This photo does not do justice to the beauty of the land in this region!
I arrived just as the sun was beginning to set: this is a view from the lower part of the village where the road enters. These little girls had been born since I had been there last (5 years ago), but the two on the left are new additions to a family I had grown especially close to. Their older brothers Mateo and Samuel were quite memorable and friendly, and their mother Ellena has an incredible story of survival during the war. Her family members were all killed when she was six, and she learned to survive as an orphan for several years. Later she again had to go into hidding in the forests for years at a time to escape from the military. She now has six little ones running around- Juana the oldest is going to school and helping to make traditional fabrics to be sold in local markets, and Samuel and Mateo go to school and help out on the farm.
Coffee is one of the main export crops for Trapachitos, most of the other crops grown here are used for subsistence. Here you can see coffee beans that have been harvested laying out to dry. The beans will be packaged and exported in this form to be roasted elsewhere.
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According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, undernourishment afected 22% of the population in 2004. According to a National survey 49% of children under five suffer chronic malnourishment (for indigenous children the rate increases to 69%)
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I arrived unannounced, and Jacinta immediately welcomed me into her kitchen, pulled up a seat, and poured me a cup of the best coffee I've had this year! As we caught up on her family, her kids, her travels to "the city" (the captial) the paradoxes and connections grew thick. Her two oldest sons have immigrated to the U.S.- where?- to DC where they are likely working in the service industry making 5-10x more at miniumum wage than they could here in Guatemala. I didn't share that my fiance also happens to be in DC... but attending classes at a theological seminary, and working on Capitol Hill. From one rural hill in the mountains of Guatemala, we spoke and thought of loved ones on quite a different "hill" with quite disparate access to electricity among other forms of power.
This community brings life and faces to several satistics recently assembled in a publication by Dennis Smith at CEDEPCA. (Click here for more info: Guatemala in Context*
I'll share a few stats. for those interested:
The five most common causes of death in Guatemala are:
1. Pneumonia.
2. Infectious Intestinal Diseases
3. Homicide, accidents and self-infliced wounds
4. Birth-related mortality (45% of births attended by midwives, 37% by a doctor, 4% by a nurse)
5. Heart related disease
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Literacy: 53% of indigenous Guatemalans are literate compared to 82% of Ladinos (Spanish Indigenous mix). Indigenous persons age 15-31 have completed 3.5 years of schooling; Ladinos in the same age group have completed 6.6 years of schooling.
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Income: 13% of Guatemalans lived in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day) 31.9% live in poverty (less than $2 a day). In 2000: 74% of the indigenous populations lived in poverty (having dropped 14% from 88% in 1989); 38% of the Ladino population lived in poverty (having dropped 25% since 1989).
For all sorts of other information on Guatemala from historal overview, to religion, to politics and economics... click this link. Guatemala in Context. *
These three little girls followed me all around the village giggling the whole way. They'd run a head a then turn suddenly to make sure I was still following.
Class today started with a two hour long lecture by someone from WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America) about the situation of violence, security, organized crime and impunity. A great way to start our class theme of the day: social, systemic and individual sin... right? I began the last half of our class with the women, by taking a glance at how the church has portrayed sin throughout its history- especially regarding women. 
I am in awe by what art and symbolism drew out of these women and helped us express to one another. I asked them to paint a picture of their own experiences of sin, how they have experienced brokenness, caused brokenness, or how they see it in the culture around them. 
Each of them depicted vivid scenes of violence from their own lives, and then shared about them intimately. I was struck once again by the pervasiveness of violence in this culture and country. The violence was given names, faces, voices and stories today in these accounts of survival and solidarity.
In one class we moved from the systemic problems of organized crime in the country and problems of violence and impunity, to the stories of women who nearly added to those statistics. I praise God for their lives, their stories, and they're willingness to share as they move forward. In four months of class together they have never shared quite as personally as they did today. Was it the art... the Spirit of God... the image and symbolism of brokenness... some of all of the above? Nonetheless it was a powerful space for all. And I learned new lessons about teaching. Start with the pot.
