Humanos y naturaleza
Alright with the time passing, there have been many events going on so for those of you keeping up in real time, please enjoy part 2 of my 3 for 1 binge blogging.
Once July was fully underway, I came back to Cobán. I was having some random health concerns that delayed my return but eventually it was time for me to carry on with some sense of normal. When I travelled to Cobán, I was carrying these ideas of how I can seek more out of my experience and give some more. I had been toying with this idea of finding a way to get closer to the environment here since the beginning. Early on, I considered starting some sort of program or activities for environmental education, but I think a part of this experience that is often overlooked by the goals of the ETA position, is that it takes a significant amount of time to begin to understand the context of the space and how you fit into it. Thus I think some of early my ideas were a bit premature and it took me until now to see how I can really start to involucrar myself more in a way that aligns well with the existing space.
Anyways, I feel very happy to share that I have now found a new place where I get to connect and learn more about the natural world here in Alta Verapaz and how people relate to it. When I returned, I was allowed to visit the Community Cloud Forest Conservation in Chamelco. It is protected forest and finca that hosts programs throughout the year for indigenous women to promote agroforestry in the region.
Sadly as we see in all of the world, the modernization of dominant society has created various threats to the sustainability of our planet and we see these effects having disproportionately detrimental impacts on indigenous communities. In this case, there exists substantial poverty and malnutrition among Q'eqchi' populations in the region. From what I have observed, this is related to a growing pressure to take part in the monocrop industry (which often kills soil of all of its nutrients). Additionally, it contributes to deforestation, which has profound effects on this cloud forest climate. With less trees that means when it rains, more erosion takes place, topsoil ends up in the water along with whatever chemicals. All of this is just a few brief aspects of the issues taking place but, the point I am attempting to reach is that there is a need to empower individuals with sustainable practices in ways that are accessible to them. It also lends itself to reestablish the values held within ancestral cultural knowledge in Maya Q'eqchi' culture that today's hegemony has been actively working to erase.
Anyways, enough of my rambling... I feel on a personal level connected to this project as it is bringing me new insights about the environment here, new connection to nature and people, and another sense of purpose as I explore more deeply this idea of taking up space as an outsider. The days I spend there consist of working alongside new people, feeling the earth on my hands, breathing in fresh air and watching life provide itself to new life over and over again (a special metaphor for me as I fill this role as teacher). I am incredibly grateful for this space and these humans who allow me to be a part of it and look forward to what more can come of my involvement there:)
Petén
In addition to my excitement of July, another experience that I felt gave me deeper look through the lens of culture and nature was a trip to Petén. A volcano friend of mine was leaving Guatemala to pursue her education in the US with an amazing scholarship opportunity, but there was a serious need for a send off trip. So... another friend of ours made it happen and somehow we all ended up in the northern part of Guatemala, the famous and revered Petén!
After a night of sleeping on the bus we reached Tikal, a site of ancient Mayan civilization. It was amazing to see the temples and imagine a whole world there before us. Not to mention the trees and animals were lovely. We spent only the morning there but you could definitely enjoy several days just exploring, learning, and taking it all in.
From there we headed to Remate where we were staying for the night. The plan was to go to the beach there but it rained so instead we went to Flores in the evening to scope out this tourist island destination. We walked around and made it to the central park there to taste some yummy food. Then at night when we returned to Remate, we decided we had to check out the beach. It quickly turned into a fun evening of music sitting by the water.
The next day we got to go to Cratér Azul, which I highly recommend if you ever go to Petén. We took a 30 min or so lancha ride along the river to reach this deep deep crater with the clearest water I have ever seen. I was fooled by its transparency as I thought I could reach the bottom. When I dove down, I felt my ears begin to pop from the pressure and saw I was nowhere close... Overall, amazing experience though and a nice reminder of the beautiful things we have in the world.
While Petén was a magical new place to explore, it is also a bit of a sad place to see as African Palm Oil plantations have taken over the land there. And back on the topic of agroforestry, this is like the evil monster as far as monocrops go. The whole paisaje was full of African Palms, just killing the earth there. I knew it existed before but, it was a shock to see and truly visualize the scale of things how it will affect this area when the ground is dead and how it affects communities currently:(
During this experience teaching English and acting as a "cultural ambassador" of sorts, I think a lot about what this serves towards and how I can honor that. I know in these blog posts I don't do a whole lot of talking about what takes place in the classroom but, I feel it is very much connected to my experiences in Guatemala outside of the classroom. My conceptualization of Guatemala and the pieces that make it up, impact how I share my own culture, knowledge, and experiences with students.
With each experience, I hope that we may grow into stronger humans and allow that power to multiply and replicate into a world of advocates who are willing to stand up and deny the bribes of complicity in life so we may live in a better world. So concluding July, I encourage you all to keep thinking critically about the world around you and how your experiences influence your involvement in it too:)
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