Guatemala: Education through Action

In March 2007, a delegation of 17 persons from Ottawa, including several members of the PSAC traveled to Guatemala to participate in a housing program with the Campesino Committee of the Highlands of Guatemala (CCDA), a farmer's organization working for labour rights and long-term social change in Guatemala. The participants paid their own travel costs, raised funds for purchasing construction materials and donated their vacation time in order to work hand in hand with Mayan families to rebuild their homes following the devastation left by Hurricane Stan. The objective: to build 15 dwellings for the same number of rural families living in extreme poverty in Quixayá, San Lucas Tolimán. Like most Mayan communities in the Highlands, families are forced to eke a living on small plots of parched land, eroded by wind and exposed to extreme elements much of the year. 

This area has long been marginalized, lacking basic infrastructure and services, and exposed to military incursions by the Guatemalan army in the seventies and eighties. Since the signing of the peace treaty, the CCDA has organized communities in 11 departments of the country, providing support on questions of land rights, credit, training and educational scholarships as well as the defense of Mayan culture and agricultural practices. The CCDA has also organized cooperatives that produce fairly-traded, organic coffee known as Café Justicia, which is sold across Canada in support of the Mayan Farming communities.

Project goals:

• Work hand in hand with families in the rebuilding of their homes.
• Empower the communities through solidarity.
• Education of Canadian participants in regards international solidarity and empowerment of communities.
• Security and protection for the CCDA and communities through International Accompaniment.

SJF Funding $5,000  March 2007