Random Thoughts from Guatemala

1. Cuando Canto Mi Cancion por Ozomatli.... is so beautiful to me. Please go listen to it.
2. Guatemala has a history of 36 years of war. People dying... people being killed during the night. 12 villages completly massacred. This is in the collective conciousness of the people of Guate my maestra (teacher) today was telling me. She told me the story of her friend who hid under the bed while the soldiers came and killed his mom, and sisters. He has grown up had a family of his own and by age 30 something drank himself to death with sorrow. Now his kids are teens. What hope can we have for them, my teacher asked me. this is why we have such violence in Guatemala. People have not recovered from the war. There needs to be therapy. ¿How does a country recover from war?
3. Rios Montt... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rios_Montt was presidente of Guate during the bloodiest most violent years of the war. When the most indigenas were massacred. (with arms provided by our very own CIA). He is now in Congress and therefore immune from anyone putting him to trial. ¿How do you feel about this?
4. yeah, i am so hard core. I rode a crappy rented bike for 80Queztales from Xela to Champurrico. A beach that is 110 KM away or a 6 hour bike ride. well almost. I couldnt take the heat the last 10km and so i threw my bike on a chicken bus and bussed it for the last 10 km. It was sooo hot. The adventure and the beach were fabulous... I will put the pictures up on picasa soon.
5. Its dark. must pick up my laundry.


Responses from friends... i hope they dont mind...
When I was studying truth and reconciliation commissions after periods of gross human rights abuse I focused some on Guatemala and it's scorched earth wars. The road to healing and reconciliation is long an painful and involves a collective acknowledgement of the gross injustice that has happened. People need to be given a voice to share their pain and stories. I think the way to true and deep healing is through Christ and the power of the kingdom coming, but there are good things that can be done to help the process, like document abuses that happened, counseling, memorials and exhibits, art, etc.
Immunity for people who were in power during periods of gross abuse is not ok by me. I think there needs to be public accountability, I understand that immunity is sometimes the bargaining chip for a transition from military rule to democratic rule, but I think high up leaders do need to go to trial and be challenged about what role they played in the abuse.
You are amazingly hard core and the fact that you pulled your bike onto a chicken bus is also amazing,
....
i often wonder how any country survives war - i know that people rebuild, repopulate, and then ... i guess you just shove it in history books and make yourself believe that it doesn't reflect on you, it was the best thing for your country, or that you didn't know the extent of the atrocities.... i wonder if that's how Rios Mott sleeps at night. i wonder if that's how any of us (including us americans whose blankets probably come from the hands of sweatshop labor) sleep at night. you also know what sucks about war - those political leaders can find therapists and such to ease their conscious but the people that lived through it ... they get stuck with the war eating into their brains, their hearts, still tearing their lives apart.
....
I will respond briefly... It's heartbreaking to hear what you're learning. It's so hard to sit up here in my North American office in air conditioned comfort with my cup of coffee, money in my account, healthy... It's hard, but at the same time, it's so deceptively EASY. You know? Ugh!