Strength and Determination: Interview with Blanca Hernandez of FAMDEGUA

November 9 

Today seemed incredibly themed, or the Guatemalans were trying to prove a point to me.

Blanca and Cristian, her son Oscar in the fireman hat

Bright and early, we got invited to talk to a Guatemalan women who, like so many individuals, has gone through hell and back and yet still has the strength to give her will to others like her. She was gracious enough to tell us, and the others around, her story even though the wounds reopen every time she talks about it. Blanca Hernandez, now 68, is the creator of the Association of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared ofGuatemala (since 1992) (FAMDEGUA). It is a non-governmental, humanitarian and solidarity organization which focuses on cultural and educational services to those who still have no sense of closure. There are no other services offered. In Guatemala, in addition to the over 200,000 who died during the Civil War, there are over 46,000 who forcibly "disappeared". Many of them were tortured and killed; tongues, fingers and nails cut off. Guatemala also has the largest number of victims of forced or other forms of disappearances in all of Latin America. These victims were not limited to one group but to anyone who was deemed, at the time, a threat: peasants, indigenous, farmers, community leaders, students, professors, doctors, veterinarians, political leaders, children.....

The room where we sit down with her is filled with pictures of the disappeared. As she describes them,(and I filming) we learned that all of them just wanted a safer, more just Guatemala. A photo of her son Oscar is on the bottom row in between all the others. He was involved in his local community, a volunteer firefighter, and wanted a better Guatemala. And for that he was taken. He was 22 when he disappeared. Her fear is that she will die without finding her son.

The things those eyes have seen: Blanca Hernandez

Blanca explained to us that, "Our goal was to create this organization even though there was a lot of oppression in this country. It was a dangerous thing to do. We did it because our goal, at that moment, at that time, was to find our sons, our family members, alive. This was a really hard time. Some of our members were tortured, they were captured, they were murdered. And we lost a lot of friends and family and members of this group. A lot of them disappeared as well. We joined the lines of the people who were looking. Suddenly we became part of the disappeared ourselves."

The organization members hope that they would find their loved ones alive.They just want to know. As Blanca described they are worse off than those who know their loved ones have been murdered. This situation brings me back to the research in the psychology of death and dying. Despite the vast cross-cultural differences in which we chose to mourn for the loss of loved ones, the feelings and processes in accepting loss are universal.  As described by the works of Corr, Doka (task-based theories), Kubler-Ross (stage theories), and Bugen (intervention theories), grieving is part of the intrapersonal dimension of coping with loss, while mourning is part of the interpersonal aspects of social expression, or social expression of grief. Furthermore, physical symptoms as well as depression of unresolved grief are a sign of unresolved grief.

Psychology of Death and Dying

As Blanca went on to say in Spanish, "When somebody takes a family member and makes them disappear, it is the most horrible act that anyone can commit against somebody else. Sometimes people will die, people will be murdered, but their families have something that we don’t have. You have a body; you can mourn them, you can bury them, you can visit them. But in our case we don’t have a place to go. In our case, they are not dead and they are not alive; it is a circle that has no end. We are still mourning them, because we cannot stop, we cannot move on with our lives".

The victims’ families cannot properly mourn. With no remains, they have no place to mourn at. Healing is limited or cannot take place at all. That is why it is so important to seek out and identify the remains of these families.

Protesting in front of Cultural Palace, Guatemala City

In great need of a walk to recollect our thoughts after that powerful two hour meeting with Blanca Hernandez, we headed toward the del Palacio Nacional (National Palace). On the front steps, a man was shouting. He spoke about corruption of the state (the government was apparently planning their Christmas Party during their morning meetings), the president's promise of new jobs turn out to be only a few new positions within the government with little worth or purpose, and the little worth of the Quetzales to Dollar (maybe make new sentence about worth). Moreover, he was stressing how Guatemalans need to rise up together to discontinue corruption; not with arms but with our voices, intelligence and common sense. He spoke of the man behind him on a hunger strike who has prostate cancer. To him, this man is representative of many others without access to health care, and urged people to act now because one day they might be in a similar situation. The man on a hunger strike is Carlos Izaguirre, a kind soft spoken man who does not have access to medicine for his painful cancer. He is camped out in protest of state corruption and the lack of resources for hospitals. One of his signs reads, “I have the same right to health as Baldetti”. Baldetti was the former Vice President who resigned after a corruption scandal. She recently sought private health care because the public health care system was not to her standards. Cristian said that such a protest would not  have happened 15 years ago without the police showing up and hauling the men off. In May, people of all ages regularly were showing up at the plaza every Saturday because of the President and Vice President’s corruption. They peacefully protested and cleaned up after themselves, which is wonderful to hear such progression.

Carlos Izaguirre hunger-striking with cancer

We stopped by later and brought the man on a hunger strike some water and Ensure powder. He was very grateful though he definitely deserved our thanks more, for his bravery in speaking out. Carlos said he has been standing up against the corruption and violence since he was a university student and is now in his 60s. He continues fighting for the youth and hopes to one day be at a place where his country owes him nothing and he owes his country nothing.He hugged all of us as we left.

Of the few hand written signs he had beside him, one stood out most powerful and true:

“Solidarity has no borders. It’s not something you ask for, it’s a gift.”

I have felt at times like the situations within countries like Guatemala are hopeless. However, listening to Blanca, Carlos and the protesting man speak was an encouraging shift. They are reminders of the strong determined people working towards making things better despite death threats and cuts to funding. People keep working even when their organizations have no money to pay their salaries, like the staff  at EFI-IFIFT and (soon to see) FundacionSobrevivientes .  Most importantly, we, including the media, need to focus our efforts on documenting the strength and determination of people like this. We need to see that one is not limited to the amount of money, or formal education; you just have to have an open mind. Their lives' work is not just for themselves but to help others. They know others have suffered just as much as themselves, and for that they will work together to make their struggles worth the effort. And it so very true! In a society of individualism, our lives will not feel as meaningful if we are just working to improve ourselves. We must, therefore, work for the betterment of our community and/or society.

Blanca will continue her search, Carlos his protest and Cristian his excavations despite the dangers. What will you do?  

FAMDEGUA on Vimeo
FAMDEGUA on Facebook
http://pueblodeguatemala.blogspot.com/

Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Forenses de Guatemala

November 4-6

National Institute for Forensic Sciences for Guatemala

What an extraordinary experience getting a personal tour of the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Forenses deGuatemala (INACIF), of which I can say is  the gem of Guatemala. The smell of dead bodies lingers within building. We meet Director Dr. Carlos Aigusto Rodas Gonzalas, a well presented gentleman with a bow-tie. He explains these facilities is the centre of forensics for the whole country. In asking where they get their funds, he says from some international states as the US as USAID and EU has provided such funding and technology. We were soon to see indeed, some astounding facilities. He says with a coy smile that their works were who helped catch the Guatemalanvice-present for corruption with the use of their newly received technology of wire-taps. He does point out that what is going on in Guatemala is not all bad. There is indeed some cooperation between professio nals from Mexico , Chile, and Italy, in order to track organized crime, especially gangs. But it is indeed still a great struggle for these professionals who work so hard to halt corruption they continue to see within the police and justice system. Dr. Rodas has even worked on creating training workshops on proper methodology for the crime scene for police so that they no longer continue to lose evidence. The Guatemala justice system has its large flaws from so many unsolved crimes that are let slide while the victims suffer in fear, distrust and resentment. There is still much under the table threats and pay outs to cover up crimes, but also because many of the officers have had very little formal training, and most often are 'volunteers'. For example, coroners are supposed to be the only one touching and collecting the bodies to ensure no evidence is lost. Here, most of the time, police have been known to  just drag and load the bodies in the back of a truck, and in some cases allow the someone to dispose or wipe away the evidence. It is definitely a great barrier for those like Dr. Rodas' teams and for Cristian's.

We then proceed with the rest of the tour.  We entered a little room with a video camera tv screen and a window to give the family options of how they want to confirm the body. We walked into their morgue cooler. He informs us that there are 78 bodies here from the weekend alone, and the next closed door is where they have 203 from the Cambry II mudslide a month before. Then we walked by a forensic technician who was cleaning 3 male bodies, as a result of gang violence. One of the pale bodies had tattoos. In fact, one of their latest magazines gives an article on their use of tattoos in body identification," Tatuajes en las ciencias forenses. Breve experiencia de este tipo de hallazgo" ( tattoos on forensic science :  brief experience of this type of discovery). We then follow by more data collection teams, working hard on computers. Onto the other side of the building, we enter into the room where they remove tissue from the bodies (by simmering them) in order for them to be taken to the Forensic Anthropologist specialists. 

This is where we got to spend the rest of the afternoon, asking questions, analysing, and practising like we had done the previous day ageing and sexing the bones. These victims, were ongoing contemporary cases (so post-civil war), some gang violence, some femicide. It was really interesting finding out which was the first gunshot to the victims skull. One of the forensic anthropologists told me you can find identification by comparing which one first fractured the skull from first impact, to the second having the pressure let out was clean through.

female victims fingernails

  It definitely is an odd feeling, working with human remains. Humans, as social beings, are so attached to emotion and human characteristics. Yet, when we lose an aspect of such, we begin to see as an object, a puzzle which needs to be solved. We were working with remains of victims of brutal deaths, but yet, I was not the whole time dealing with the sickening feeling of how they died. Did I feel guilty for not feeling heart-wrenched, but rather intrigued, and curious?  But that is what it is like for most people in this field; refocusing their emotion on solving the task at hand, or imputing the data so that the case to solved faster, so hopefully justice is served. The place that hit me the most was outside the facilities when we were leaving seeing all the families waiting to see the deceased. Right before we left a police truck pulled up with a body in the back covered in white cloth. The families were waiting outside the gates crying. I felt bad as us foreigners got the 'ok' to go right in while some of these families had been waiting all day outside, with no waiting area.

Police truck pulls up with body

  We later went to visit the second  Guatemala INACIF facilities. Their laboratories include documentoscopy, ballistics, toxicology, fingerprinting, biology, identification of vehicles, physical chemistry, controlled substance, genetics, and shot paths. First we met the director of the DNA Laboratory starting with the microscopes where they normally use for blood and semen. As he was explaining more of their facilities, two women were working on articles of clothing, one bloody shirt from a inmate murder, female dress pants from a femicide of rape and murder, and pair of female underwear from a rape and murder. Here, they cut tiny pieces from the clothing where the blood or semen would be, then dilute with solution so that they may further analyze. Then the clothing and the swabs are packaged back up. Dr. Rodas kindly joined us for the rest of the tour. I realize that my co-op at my hometown Parry Sound Hospital lab came in handy as I recognized much of the technology, machines and procedures. The DNA spin machines are extremely expensive to process, and that is why within the facilities DNA processing is more of a last resort. When processing the DNA, you not only can use to identify the victim and the perpetrator but also help solve the missing pieces in identifying family members, or missing children. Erica brought in some comparative and informative information after they had informed us they could get results out in 48 hours, while in LA it would take up to 2 weeks to a month. It puts a little into perspective of all those American crime shows where only 4 people can solve a mystery in less than an hour!

With consensus vote we headed up next to the ballistics lab, which deals with the guns and bullet identification of crimes. The first area we entered was the main identification of the weapon used, what caliber, and bullets. They even have a range of homemade weapons that have been used, created with some steel piping and some welding. Many of the guns they receive have the registration numbers scratched off of them as many of the weapons are bought or borrowed off of a black market. In order to acquire comparative data and confirmation, they must produce a replica shot from the gun and bullet of which they do so in another room. One question was asked what form of education and training was necessary for this line of work, and interestingly enough, most were engineers and because of no actual direct education, their paths were led to this work! It was a positive reassurance, at least for myself, that we can never foresee where out education will take us. And that is what makes life exciting right!? Life would be boring if we were just to foreseen a straight path of work, education and careers!  

Under the microscope the bullets undergo comparison for damage and markings. The last area was the computer data input. The technology they had was incredibly advanced, IBIS machines and 3D scanners, where they store all the bullet and weapon models. This form of data entry is extraordinarily efficient as this data base can track the same gun to hundreds of cases. Erica informed us in LA, they tend to just leave the bullets in a box and that be it, where as this is a whole new dimension of data entry and storage. The most fascinating was an enormous tree graph they had created which links on for what I could compare as miles spread out around the country and onto other countries. To zoom in and then out you see how vast these connections are, such as gang members using the same guns and how they travel around through this geolocation. They even mentioned that they had recently got back from a conference in Montreal presenting their data to INTERPOL. The main concern now, is if there would be greater cohesion and legitimate cooperation with the justice system.

War and Remembrance

The five of us just finished watching the incredible film Innocent Voices, on the true story of a boy and his community during the 80's El Salvador conflict, where there was forced child military recruitment. Cristian living in Central and South America during the conflicts confirms it is truly accurate of the trauma war does to children, recruitments and their families, and how soldiers can turn children into killing machines. It brings me back to Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative and his work TheyFight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children. Cristian explains that he was in the area in 2005 for the film. Carlos Padilla now lives in Mexico as a writer and film-maker.

Realizing the eve of Remembrance Day to my fellow Canadians, I feel a great pit in my stomach if I do not write. I write not to offend but because in reflection of the years I have been on this earth, I have realized Remembrance Day has been a touchy subject at times; for example the white peace poppies. Every year I question if and why I see so much anger and backlash when people have  a discussion of how it makes them feel or from what see as anything against the general and traditional narrative we have heard since WWI and II. My intent is not to hurt or offend, but only the sharing of knowledge and to help create a greater understanding of others.

Quoted from the official VeterensAffairs holds great importance:

"These wars touched the lives of Canadians of all ages, all races, all social classes. Fathers, sons, daughters, sweethearts: they were killed in action, they were wounded, and thousands who returned were forced to live the rest of their lives with the phsical and mental scars of war...
Yet for many of us, war is phenomenon seen through the lens of a television camera or a journalist's account of fighting in distant parts of the world. Our closest physical and emotional experience may be the discovery of wartime memorabillia in a family attic. But even items such as photographs, uniform badges, medals, and diaries can seem vague and uncconnected to the life of their owner. For those of us born during peacetime, all wars seem far removed from our daily lives.
We often take for granted our Canadian values and institutions, our freedoms to participate in cultural and political events, and our right to live under a government of choice... "

In retrospect, one important distinction made in Conflict Studies is acknowledging that war and warfare has greatly changed from the narratives of Carl von Clausewitz's On War, and therefore the methods and narratives should follow suit. But many of the contemporary issues that surround  us today is in part due to the narratives of war not being updated within society. Reflection and progression is important because new and unforeseen issues arise and thus tactics and what is found to important ever changes. Yes, in some aspects we never seem to learn from our mistakes in history, but maybe we have learned, just those narratives are condemned or silenced.

Once you have seen country case study after case study of conflicts or mass atrocities you realize how frightenly similar they all are. Hitler does not seem so distant and horrendous because you realize how quickly and commonly these events have slipped into action, citizens, neighbours, brothers and sisters turn on each other, while the other parts of the world or even members of their own country are 'oblivious' or paralysed from action of resistance. Or if they have, are turned around and branded as "stubborn", "allies to the enemy", or this century's favourite: "terrorists". The contemporary cases seem endless: Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Chile, El Salvador, Uganda, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, or in my current work and study in Guatemala. And of course may I not forget USA and Canada.

The use of 'Never Again' is repeated throughout the generations ... but it has come into much criticism and debate because of the fact that it does happen again, again, and again. Indeed much of the foundations of International Law as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were founded on this drive. It is not to be naive and hope for eternal 'peace and freedom' but we have the ability and choice as individuals of how we treat one another, actively or passively.

Then the question turns to the quote in the third paragraph on 'unconnected' and 'removed'.  Maybe the issue revolves around because we only deem reflection and remembering the loss one day of the year. Maybe it makes us wilfully ignorant to the reality and effects of war and conflict and the general use of violence in attempts to solve problems. For example, I will never forget the short video I saw on, African Men. Hollywood Sterotypes in relation to all the North American warfare films and games. The closer you are to conflict, indeed you see much less of a interest and demand for this 'entertainment'. For war and violence is ...and those who are actually put in those surroundings, will deal with the most traumatizing times of their lives, during and after. And boy have read, talked and interviewed those who were affected by war and violence, first or second hand, civilian or soldier, from around the world, and from different backgrounds and history, and the trauma is very real.

We all justify for our actions or inactions. We cannot deny this because it is our human nature, But we cannot forget that our justifications are human nature because it is used for both the most positive and the most horrendous of action, and from those deemed most brave or courageous of sacrifices and to those deemed the most cruel or monstrous.

So can we really 'remember' when it's not yet in the past?

Rabinal and the Lives of Others: We are all in this world together

November 7-8

Oscar, another Coordinator of Social Anthropology of EFI-IFIFT invited us to join the local university San Carlos archaeology field trip to Rabinal, Baja Verapaz his hometown located in a rural valley 4 hours drive up and down mountain sides. Crammed into the mini Toyota bus, all 17 of us headed out of Guatemala City. Their professor specializes in ceramics in archaeology.  All throughout the trip there were so many wonderful and unique 'chicken buses'. Driven down from the US Auctions, these old school buses have become the pride and joy of these Guatemalan owners, of which I recommend you watch La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus on Netflix. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and boy, do they get used! Cristian (understandably) was not interested in us take them and can attract some sketchy people.

"chicken buses"

 The windy roads become a roller coaster of adventure to what sharp cliff or awing scenery awaits the next steep turn, as driving through all-but-white fog up the tops of mountains. It's a wonder how hard Guatemalan vehicles work, as the driver has to down shift to 3rd and 2nd, at times just barely making it up the hills. The smell of burning metal brakes reminds me of the times going up and down the mountains of the Cabot Tail, Nova Scotia.  Death to whomever gets car sick, as this turns show no mercy. I have to thank my upbringing in bush planes for my strong stomach and sense of adventure.

Tuk Tuk's 

The little three wheeled 'tuk tuk's' mozying down the highways along with the normal traffic reminds me of the tortoise and the hare, and how much I still want to live in India to see more of them. The more rural the community, you see more of them, as a taxi. Also if I forgot to mention, Guatemala is a haven for mopeds and motorcycles. Don't mind traffic safety, pile as many people on them as possible, the better.

All along the way, I notice left over campaign signs for the recent election and in the most remote and random places. I recognize quite quickly that any surface can be dibbs for election advertisement like red ' Lider" party painted on every surface: rock faces, hydro polls, and even people's shops and houses. I feel slightly uncomfortable about this as feels no different than vandalism.

We abruptly arrive at our first destination off a dirt road and an abandoned cement structure. We walk down a narrow grassy footpath, garbage strewed all around until we stop at an encirclement of old cement and wood huts.

A gracious family indeed

Here Oscar introduces us in Spanish and Achi. The whole family is around, their grandmother shelling nuts, when I realize they are serving us a treat they made us. I instantly get butterflies in my stomach and get the feeling to drop to my knees and tear up. Here is this poor family, to our standards to having nothing, and they serve us all well fed beings their food that they made my hand. Served in their painted Jicaro gourd bowls, the pudding-like serving was called Atol, white maize and cocoa growing from the branches overhead. 

Jicaro gourd they turn into bowls

Feeling extraordinarily humbled, Cristian does remind us of the proper etiquette to eat it all, and the use of thumbs to eat clean is suggested, of which I graciously continue to do.Then the mother takes us and shows us the clay she retrieves and uses to make figurines and bowls with. Her daughters curiously and shyly peer out behind her. I smile and say Buenos Dias, and the little girl holds her eyes and giggles. I must have opened her confidence because after she came to the front to make her own figurine and to repeatedly show me. Showing us the different forms of dyes as clays, they also shared with us their family method the precision and process to make these bowls: carve them out, soak them, clean them, sandpaper them with a specific leaf, paint and polish. We are given the chance to mold something our self. Asking "cuanto questa? " I buy a yellow and red bowl, and lady figurine. I realize how cheap they are selling it for the work and effort it takes to make them and leave them some extra. 

Clay making 

The older girls later hands me a figurine of the sheep smiling, I assume because of their gratitude! I try my best to say I have chickens to, and we all bid them a big Muchas Gracias, and head back to the bus. Cristian tells me, because Oscar in the past has been a guide in the past, he is has been making inquiries to some of these families to come into our home and show us what they do to live and make in order to live.

Our next stop was on the side of the road to Ceramica Artesanal Decorativa Saraliz where this particular family specializes in pottery. 

An expert crafts-family

All around are hundreds of pieces of pottery, while I realized we were walking through their house and personal property, I begin to feel guilty and humbled with their openness to share. We find the father outback working at his pottery wheel. The structure is made out of wood, and the wooden wheel he moves with his foot, he explains his profession of pottery was taught by his father and his father. He explains his methods, and within  15 minutes he has already made 5 different shaped bowls, flower pots, and vases! Consistency is most definitely the key, in making sure an equal amount of pressure while it spins. Once shaped, he let's the pottery dry for 8 days, sometimes 12 for the big ones, while on day 3, he can begin carving with incredible detail. He then let's us the chance to try at the wheel. We realize very quickly, how poorly we are, and how very skilled he must be; truly and expert. 

Us Anglophones found it amusing that every time someone went to the wheel the students played "Oh, my love - The Righteous Brothers from the Ghost soundtrack! 

The Skilled Potterer

Such detail

On our way our we gave some attention to the skinny white kitten, and then proceeding to choose out what we would like to buy. Hopping back into the bus the heat and humidity of 30 degrees, I felt I was going to melt. Talking with Erica who lives in L.A., we both cannot get over the differences in temperatures we can and cannot handle. I am definitely a northerner and she southerner.

We arrive in Rabinal at our enclosed hotel and drop off our things. We are famished, so head to the nearest restaurant, which is definitely someone's home. After refreshing ourselves, we head to our next destination, down narrower and and unbeaten roads. I still don't know how the driver never hit all the other tuk tuk's, cars and motorcycles. We pass by what looks like a soccer/sports stadium. Cristian tells me he is quite upset about this because it was over top what used to be an army garrison from the war, and the last time he, Oscar, and Heidy, were there they were exhuming mass graves there. When they were there they had whole families flocking to them crying to them if they had found their family members and why they couldn't stay longer. Cristian said that he could hear Heidy crying all night. He said solemnly, as I could tell he was very upset about it, it is a terrible shame because the well where they had dumped hundreds of bodies was now covered by cement. He very much suspects it was covered up by the government so they could no longer access it.

Foot Pottery

We park the bus and walk down a grass path between barbed wire, cow and horse dung. The smell gives me a slight comforting feeling, remember the smells when we had our large farm animals. We enter what looks to be the family's property, while a bunch of boys and men, give us curious stares. Further in, we see rest of the family and the husband and wife take us to an over hang to what I can assume to be their house. Here, they do a more basic method of pottery, of which they tend to make more for themselves. Here she shows us how to make  the clay into pottery with just her feet and hands. She opens for us to try, first showing how she puts first some sand help bind and stay, then she kneads the clay with her feet as it is much to straining of a task for the hands.

Chicken bowl

A few of us proceed to try. Then she takes a bit, to the side, adds water to her hands and the clay and begins to spin herself around, evenly molding the clay, only slightly using a piece of cloth for the finishing touches. The husband shows us some of the pottery they make as big pots, vases and chicken feeders. A few of us proceed to try; a taller student struggling greatly, getting dizzy, making it even or without it falling apart. After, we are explained that today their family is celebrating to remember a father, of which they will continue into the night. We are then invited to join in their celebration. I can definitely sense we are all overwhelmed by their offer and generosity in their very personal gathering. I go to the fire and see what they are making. I believe they were very happy I was so curious and approved of the smells. One girl shows where they have a large pot of tamale (covered in banana leaves) simmering.

Hot Tamales

We are then invited to where they have music and an alter set up with candles, and slowly burning pine branches which smells so wonderful, I wish  I could capture the smell (or you could now go and do so yourself). I am informed that the 3 marimbas (xylophone) players have been playing since 5 am when they began preparing for the food festivities and will continue till about midnight. There were two old men playing an old violin and a hand drum. If I could not feel even more humble and honoured, one of the older family members offered us a hot tamale and tortilla. He also offers us to drink from a goblet of their home-made spirit. The youngest of children to the oldest of grandparents, we're around us, some emotionless, some smiles.

All generations

On our way out some of the woman and girls offered us to try making own tortillas over the fire. They giggled at up as the 3 of us where struggling to get the perfect sized circle, but we did share the watery eyes from smoke in our eyes. Before we headed out, and then them be before more guests started coming in, one gave me one of their bird bowls and the rest of our tortillas. The gratitude is and was overwhelming.

Getting to dusk, we decide on our way back to stop at the cemetery where some memorial are of the massacres in the region. Rabinal is the site of some of the bloodiest massacres in Guatemala's Civil War, including those of Plan de Sánchez and Río Negro. The actual town of Rabinal was also the site of a large-scale massacre during the Independence Day celebration of 1981. The monuments were set up by the Association for theIntegral Development of the Victims of Violence in the Verapaces, Maya Achi.

A monument does not fix the problems but does recognize it

There was one overhang with candles and oranges hanging in which families of those who have committed suicide because they can no longer deal with the pain put pictures there. The graves are raised due to the dry, hard dirt, and blacked areas to where the family would have burned the surface, probably left over from Day of the Dead. The realization hits hard for me in experiencing such generosity and kindness from the these community member only to be reminded of how much their community and country has suffered such trauma and loss.

We go out for dinner in the market as a big group. It feels refreshing being out with new people besides language barriers. Cristian had given the heads up that tonight would be our first night to have street food (he has been wary of letting us do so far), when some of the Spanish students invited me to go find something else beside chicken the others we going to set down for. And boy, am I glad I agreed: Gringas, smoothies and being able to finally talk with them, formally introduce ourselves. It is always a fun feeling when you have the time and opportunity in a group trying to effectively communicate when we all work together. They ask if I want to go dance. At first a bit of hesitation at first because not sure when the rest are, they end up all coming. Never would have expected to go to a local Guatemalan diskotek with such a diverse crowd. There definitely were a few stares from the local crowd but more curious than anything. Dancing in field clothes and big hiking boots was on the hot side but at least I had a firm grip to the ground! It was also a new experience dancing with so many people and rather amusing thinking of it, they all wanted turn with short Canadian girl?! Despite minor experiences from one of the other girls from crude "police officer", the vibe was definitely positive overall; a fresh outlook from the side of violence, and knowing people have got your back.

Morning came to a pleasant awakening to the sound of roosters, rather than blaring mufflers and horns of the city. Breakfast was good as usual. The only thing that kills me a bit inside is the lack of clean free tap water and having to by another bottle. The other thing is the amount of stray, skinny dogs. Here, the presence of dogs is not really a pet with another mouth to feed. From our experiences, if owned they are strictly for protection, and help save crops and livestock. Actually, it is rather a reflection of the extremes of some of the pampering done by North Americans and Japanese I have seen.

The family works together to put food on the table

Expert carving before our astounded eyes

Our final destination in Rabinal was at another family, down a dirt place, and 30 degree sun. This family specialized in the carving and painting of the Jicaro gourd. One of the family members who introduced us, showed us the stages of their processes and carved out a beautiful design had come to us in a police/security uniform only to quickly change once proceeding through the processes. It is a multi-stage process involving cleaning and removing, soaking, scraping, polishing with a specific plant that comes from a mountain, soaking in black natural dyes,  boiling this special read silk bugs for red dye, then carving, from other conversations with other family members I found out that their father had been killed in the Conflict, due to town member giving false accusation, and still in this more recent generation had had the same destruction happen with threatened neighbours who came and destroyed some of their work.

I was overjoyed when San Carlos students wrote well wishes on the drumsticks I had picked up from the night before. Reflecting on the way back up, down and around the mountains, I realized a recurring them from our destinations. Despite how 'little' these families had, or how much trauma they have gone through, they were still highly rich in family, generosity and skill. All times there individuals had showed us up with their mastered skill and creativity. Whatever kind of socio-economical difference, our dignity does not does not change . We all unique and wonderful capabilities in the world, especially when we share and work together.

Human Osteology: Skeletons and remains to under Massacres and Injustice

Anatomical Positions (very important and useful! )

November 3

I would have never thought I would have been able to put a skeleton in order, in the right and left positions, and names of the bones. I can now even go through the process narrowing down the age and sex of  the remains! With the sharing of their knowledge in Human Osteology, Erica, Amanda, Kalista and I spend the morning upstairs analysing the three remains who were victims of massacre from the Civil War. These remains are notably eroded due the way they were buried and the kind of soil they laid in.  Erica, having some experience teaching in her Masters (now interning in L.A. doing tool mark analysis in a morgue), gave the rest of us a refresher (myself, pretty much a first timer). To start, there are three main progressions of trauma on the body which forensic anthropologists look out for clues in case identification: ante-mortem (before death), peri-mortem (the time around death), and post-mortem (after the time of death). This includes whether there is any form of heavy ware on the bones from hard work or arthritis, any prior trauma or healing, what trauma killed the person, and what erosion or trauma to the body after the death. Especially, when the victim is found in the remains of bones or high erosion, the reliance on interview from families is critically important in order to correctly identify the remains. These questions include, their occupation, past medical history, any children, where last saw them, etc. Before I had left for Guatemala, I had come across novel in Library and Archives Canada, where I was able to grasp the insights of the field of which I highly recommend: The Bone Woman: A Forensic Anthropologist's Search for Truth in the MassGraves of Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo by Clea Koff.

There is  few step process for ageing and sexing a skeleton and two main bones you focus on are the skull and the pelvis (ribs and clavicle fusion are two other indicators to sex and date). In summary on the processes, starting at the skull we analyse five areas of the skull: the Nuchal Crest (bumpiness at back of skull, Mastoid Process(length and shape back of skull), Supraorbital Margin (brow and eye socket), Supraorbital Ridge/Glabella (brow/nose), and the Mental Eminence (jaw). These areas are then measured from 1 (most feminine) to 5 (most masculine). 

Heading down to the pelvis, we seek out the other sex differences in size and shape of the pelvis. In summary, a male has a thicker Ventral Arc, while a female's longer. Looking at the subpubic concavity, males are generally do  not show dramatic concavity and edges are straight or very slightly concave. Females are generally more concave and thinner ridge. then looking at the medial aspect of the ischiopublic ramus, where females have a a sharp edge while males the surface is fairly flat, broad and blunt. Furthermore, one would look at the stages of fusion the pelvic bones are in to identify the age range, while positioned in their natural form, men have a narrower/triangular pelvis, while women a wider, circular shape for childbirth. Anthropologists can also confirm with clues with women sometimes with the texture and erosion from the amount of times gave birth from wear.

From our analysis, it was confirmed that the remains were of one female and two males at the age of 19-25, which could be confirmed by seeing that their bones had not fully fused. I had gotten the heads up that it was impressive how fast I understood, despite having the least official training!  In addition to, the femur, while the best places to acquire DNA and bone marrow, also aids identifying a estimate height of the person. Although, as anthropologists working in Guatemala and other Central and South American countries, much of the data on bones is outdated and limited in ethnic and racial diversity. For the only official documentation for comparison is European and Asian. This has become a notable barrier in confirming accuracy in identifying Hispanic or Maya bodies because there is so much variation in size, stature and bone density. Like Cristian and other practising forensic anthropologists in this region emphasize on the importance in creating and generating official research into new manual to accurately identify these ethnic groups; work and research for our newer generations to get into the works of (Hint Hint)!

In order to give some further context,  EFI-IFIFT  acquires the remains, only once families first confrontation them that they would like the assistance to find and identify their family members. Then they follow through further processes of interviews and geo-locating the estimated area for dig sites. In other cases, the families themselves (almost always far too poor to have access to the legal and technical methods), have to pay the government fees to keep the case open. Although, the directors of EFI-IFIFT, have separated themselves from other similar organizations, on working on helping covering the fees for the poor families, on the moral that everyone should have equal access to justice. Meanwhile, funding is always a necessity in order to uncover the cases in a timely fashion. Currently, such cases can take up to months, to years, if not ever. For the Guatemalans families who have suffered these horrendous losses, time is very much money. And the reality of how long it can take, with the lack of funds on either end; of the families and then organizations to uncover the crimes against these families. For the families, time is very much money, when they only live off a few quetzales  for whole large families, who have lost their family members to help provide. Taking the time off to file in the process of identification, is a tremendous sacrifice that many cannot afford.

http://efi-ifift.org/en/donate/

Por que estomos estamos? (Why are we the way we are?)

November 2

Por que estomos estamos? Exhibit, Guatemala City

Morning breakfast Cristian  took us to his favourite couple's daily eatery La Casa de los Melazas with beans, scrambled eggs and boiled plantain. From there we took a 30 minute walk to the interactive exhibit Exposcion Interactiva: Por que estomos estamos? (Why are we the way we are?) located beside rail road station museum. Collaborated with  Por una convivencia digna/ International Training Institute for Social Reconciliation and Centro de investigacianes negionales de mesoamerica, the original content was a research paper found to be so important the content needed to be shared. It is important to be shared in order to help locals open up about their trauma, and to understand how their history has continued with the outward prejudism and discrimination that has led to so much violence and segregation. 

"How do you feel when they tell you..." Uncovering the predjudices

Our guide  took us through the journey of  how outwardly Guatemalan social structures are visually discriminate based on appearance and dress. For example, from pigment of skin colour to clothing, a female dressed in more traditional clothing may not be permitted to enter a service or entertainment establishment on the basis on her appearance in assumption that she is just a maria, a domestic housewife, while in  one case in particular, she was highly educated.  If she was wearing more modern cloths at the time she may have been granted access.  Even though most of the population is 'native' Guatemalan, there continues to be a huge disparity control that has not faltered since the  500 years of Spanish conquistadors' divide and conquer. Our guide further explains how throughout history, the government and other forces have gained control and  power over groups through this empty racist and discriminatory justifications. That is why still today, if you are deemed indigenous you automatically earn less,  indigenous women even less, and black women even worse than that. Worst of all, this has not changed for decades, with only 4% access to health care.

Hop on the "chicken bus" and see the clash of classes

We further toured through the historical aspect of why we are who we are. Like so many other countries the effects of colonization and the drawing of political borders has destroyed past cultural cooperation and understanding. The process of colonization has also detrimentally effected the acceptance of diversity of Guatemalans. For there are over 23 distinct cultures and languages for centuries, but since Spanish was introduced, services on the other languages and cultures have been refused excluded in social serves as health care and education, and thus continuing to impoverish these groups. 

"Worldwide there are groups who suffer discrimination and racism", including Canadian First Nations

Furthermore, from the amount of censorship, Guatemalans only really have access to one narrative of official history. This, like it has for Canadians has dramatically affected our perceptions and prejudices of certain groups. In these cases the first nations and indigenous' narratives have been misinterpreted and misjudged by the ignorance of the past who called their ways of life savage. For the Spanish minority had created and enforced new laws separating and segregating groups of peoples into a vastly unequal hierarchy, and yet over 500 years later these laws and social segregation continues to go unchanged  and highly controlled, similar to the very reason there is still no fresh water  in the country because Coca-Cola controls their water industry. It has gotten to the point where native heritage has been treated so negatively  throughout history that when someone identifies as a Ladino expressing " I am Ladino because I am not indigenous".

"Where indigenous peoples lived when the Spanish arrived"

 The past most definitely continues to impact the present and future. Even from the original Missions that came to the country,  had the presumption that if you were darker skinned you were closer to Hell, which then led to the passing of the laws which did not allow the indigenous groups to own tools or weapons, land and other necessities of progressive life, leaving them vulnerable, underdevelopment, to helplessness. No wonder there have been so many guerilla groups and freedom fighters .

Seen during the Industrial Revolution,  the governments had pushed for more European overseas migrants so to blend the races to get a 'purer', 'whiter' race of peoples. 

"The colony left us a society which it values people by their origin and colour"

This all the while, passing laws and propaganda for the blacks and indigenous to work the migrants property, and giving them very little opportunity to fully develop their potential. And even since the Civil War (1960-1996), where the mass killings had taken place, their governments have limited the freedom of speech and social setting have not allowed them to talk about it; a part of contemporary history highly censored, that so many do not know about. From this lack of communication that revolves around the now embedded fear, distrust and corruption, today's circle of violence and abuse continues on beyond the '96 Peace Accord.

Second from the bottom: Castas people given the name translated "I don't understand you"

Indeed, the violence has not stopped. Femicide, the targeted murder of the female sex, is at its high. As it was and is practised in this strict patriarchal structure, Guatemalan women are placed in a protective sphere by the males of the families, but also within this repressive structure, women and their bodies are placed in the line of fire against male family members by perpetrators, continuing a cycle of abuse, gender-based violence and impunity (Sanford 2008: 71) . Testimonios of the majority of the violations towards women depict no regard for the suffering of their own bodies, instead their concern is for their fathers, spouses, and sons. Women have suffered similar oppression as men; the difference, according to Paredes (2006: 49), is that Maya and Ladino women are not owners of their bodies. Anthropologist Lévi-Strauss states that women are the community's “goods” and as such they are subject to use and changes. (Silva, 2007, 88). The violence against women has perpetuated from the  from the machismo gender role prevalent in Latin American; a male stereotype that is characterized or recognizable as a form of “male pride that combines courage…with an aggressive maleness that may also take the prestigious form of the successful pursuit of women, while other characteristics include drunkenness, individualness, and competitiveness (Hardin 2002: 2). In fact, these characteristics of machismo are traits or remnants left over by the Spanish, as a product of the conquest (Hardin 2002: 3). The Spanish were known throughout Europe to use sexual forms of violence as forms of terror against those they sought to intimidate and conquer. 

"Inequality is the desire to see a great world in which one cannot enter"

The coinciding ideas for women,  marianismo include those of feminine passivity and sexual purity, are which are taught through society to remain dependent, and holding these women vulnerable, and very limited to stand up for themselves, be paid equally, and treated equally in society. These traits continue to be seem and dominated around the world, and as long as it continues to be reinforced and perpetuated, you will continue to see such violence, rape and disrespect between men and women. The circle of violence continues through our pressures and acceptance of these gender specific roles, of which we are all held accountable.  I will leave you with some final reminders  our guide reminded the audience of how to address these problems as a society:  to start early/young, start questioning why and how we are who we are, and until you get answers, learn the history so you can better present yourself and your understanding. For we cannot gain peace as an individual until we can as a whole.