This week was interesting because me and Mauro, the director of one of the videos, met up mid-week to edit. Unfortunately the footage was shaky, the audio was too quiet, and the first part of the video and the second part didn’t really connect. So instead of editing we put our heads together and made a guillon that would connect the two parts and decided that though our last Saturday was meant for editing that we would film again on Saturday (and I would supervise the whole thing this time) and then we would get together again Sunday to edit. I was really pleased that Mauro was committed to making a good product and willing to put in the time to meet with me again.

Today was our last day and since I would be filming all day with Mauro’s group I had to trust that Michelle’s group would be fine editing on their own. Luckily Paulina had a friend, Brenda, come to help with editing if they needed it. Emmi and Nelgi spent the day taking interview footage of the students and mentors so I could make a short vide about the project to show at the premiere. The interview questions were:

• For you, what is the Revolutionary Filmmaking Project, Guatemala?

• How has the Project affected you?

• What have you discovered in the Project?

• What was your favorite part of the Project?

The shortened version of the Interview Video with English subtitles

Mauro, Vilma, Ester, Nereida, Flaviana, Karla and I had a great time filming the short scenes for their video, especially in the beginning when we kept having to change locations because there was super loud music all over the University. After we finished filming I checked on the interviews and made sure everyone got theirs done. Finally we returned to the room and I checked on the editing of the other group. Their video was much longer than I had asked for. Instead of being 3-5 minutes it was 15. I knew I would be helping to edit more than one of the films, but I expected to do that so it was fine. Once everyone was settled we stood in a circle and the mentors handed everyone a candle. I read a little speech I prepared that basically said how grateful and proud I was and how important it is that all the project participants keep in touch and keep trying to change the world. Then each of us had to make a compromiso of something we were going to do or change and once we said it the person next to us lit our candle with their candle.

After we all made our compromiso we went outside and took a bunch of group photographs in every combination imaginable. Finally I told them all to be at the auditorium at noon on thursday, September 29, 2011 for the presentation, I spoke to Mauro and Michelle about editing, and we left. I cannot believe that the presentation is only in five days!

This Monday and Tuesday I spent creating the flyer and the rough draft of the program for the video presentation event. Then on Wednesday we had our second-to-last classes with the Hombres Contra Feminicidio groups. Again we did Healthy Relationships and Signs of an Abusive Relationship, but reversed which class did which. Again we had lively conversations about violence and personal limits as well as healthy communication and what we value in a partner.

On Thursday we held the graduation for the majority of the students. All of the students from all the classes that could attend came except for the Wednesday morning class with whom we would be holding a separate graduation. It was a really lovely day-many of the students shared what they planned to do to make change and some even said how they would help MIA in the future. Then Lucia facilitated a review of what the students learned each week and the students remembered and reflected upon the material from the past weeks. Lucia said some words thanking MIA’s volunteers David Inczauskis, Yohanna de Aguila, Daniel Velasquez, Chris Hill, and myself. Then, as each student graduated she told a short anecdote about each student and there were smiles and laughs all around. After I took photos of each graduate with Lucia and their diplomas I grabbed some of my students from the Saturday project and took their photos for the program. Later that night I went to Trova Jazz again with Yohanna and some of her friends.

The Saturday course didn’t meet this week because it was the National Primary Elections and many students had to travel home to vote so the mentors and I decided to have a small “mentor party” where we could spend quality time outside of the course. One of the mentors, Olga, offered her house and 3 out of 4 of the mentors and myself went and cooked and ate and drank and got to know each other. It was really great because we were all coming from different backgrounds and experiences so there was a lot of learning and teaching going on as well laughing and even some crying as people discussed personal problems.

The next day Paulina and I walked around and bought tissue paper, yarn, and poster board and made flowers out of tissue paper to put on the welcome sign we were going to make for the big event.

On Wednesday I facilitated two classes. One on Signs of Abusive Relationships and one Healthy Relationships. Lucia wasn’t able to be there because she was at an event, so it was really nice when two students in the first class helped me open the door to the classroom we use and helped me make copies and set up the projector. Another student, Negli, one of my mentors from my Saturday class, helped me run the projector so I could stay in the front of the class. It was really nice to know that the students are invested in the course. In the first class as we were going over signs of an abusive relationship, the students and I thought of safety plans for survivors, identified “red flags” and types of abuse, and discussed the cycle of abuse. The students also did a group exercise where they determined where different situations which may occur in a relationship belonged on a continuum between “acceptable” and “not acceptable.” The idea behind this was to understand that we all have different ideas of what is acceptable for us personally. One student, as we discussed the safety plan for leaving an abusive relationship shared her personal story of leaving an abusive relationship, such as letting her family know, packing her and her children’s things, getting a new cell phone, saving money, and having a place to go. We thanked the student for sharing her story and we were able to use her example to glean ideas for what we would need to bring in case we leave an abuser. This was touching because it showed that the student trusted the class enough to share and that they were connecting their experiences with the subject material.

In the second class we discussed Healthy Relationships. In this class the students had to determine if example situations were healthy or unhealthy and why. My favorite part of this exercise is when the students determined that some were more of a gray area, which was not part of the exercise but showed that they were thinking critically. The students shared about their own relationships or their ideas of what they want in a relationship and we determined what ideal communication would look like in a healthy relationship.

The next day I went out on the town to eat breakfast by myself before going to the University. I looked a little fancy I guess since it was Yohanna’s birthday and we were going out right after the last class. So when I stopped at a little cafe, Cafe El Echape, and asked the proprietor what the Cafe’s address was, I think she thought I was a travel writer or something because she looked at me with hope in her eyes and began telling me the Cafe’s address, name, and her name. I really just wanted the address so I could let the taxi know where to get me, but then I suddenly felt like she was expecting me to give the Cafe a review or something. So here I am, telling you readers that I ate a typical breakfast, platanos, huevos estrellados, pan, y frijoles with horchata and it was excellent. That day Yohanna and I co-facilitated two courses on Signs of an Abusive Relationship. In the first class, since it was her birthday and the class was pretty small, I got cake for everyone. Lucia had brought happy birthday glasses and a candle, and some of the students bought soda for the class. Another special surprise was that Daniel Velasquez, veteran member of MIA, came by the class and I finally got to meet him! He was amazing and told all the class about himself and his work, and he participated with us in celebrating Yohanna’s birthday and going over the day’s coursework. The second class was the same material and that class also went really well. Then Yohanna and I went to Trova Jazz, a Trova bar in Zone 4 for her birthday.

The next day, Friday, I went to visit my friend, an amazing poet named Manuel Tzoc, at his work, Ronald Esteticas in Zone 1. We hung out at his work for awhile and then took a walk to make copies since I needed them for Saturday and he needed to make copies of his new poetry book. We stopped and had some pupusas and then I went home since it was almost dark. Though I told him I couldn’t go out that night since I’d be prepping all night for Saturday, when Jenny called me and also invited me out, I realized how badly I wanted to get out. So I stapled up all the new copies, prepared the schedule for the next day, showered and went out with Jenny to see the same band in the same bar as before, at Cien Puertas. Thereabouts, as Cien Puertas and Gran Hotel are neighbors so we always end up at both, we saw both Manu and Abner, which was nice.

On Saturday I got to see the Video Project class again. I am love with Saturdays. This day we discussed domestic violence, we filmed a scene for each video, we took photographs for our bios, and we did a brief editing workshop. After welcoming everyone back we did a brief icebreaker wherein we had to say what we called our gentials. Then, to remind the students that their videos are supposed to be revolutionary as in based on Latin American Revolutionary Film Theory, they got into their groups and discussed how their videos are revolutionary and then presented.

Afterwards we broke up into small groups of the students with their mentors and discussed 6 handouts based on domestic and sexual violence, how to be supportive, and crisis intervention. Later we presented more on Domestic Violence based on materials from the Long Beach WomenShelter and then the students did a test on DV created by a good friend of mine, Marea Perez.

After a short break the students broke up into their video groups and half of them filmed while the other half took photographs and vice versa.

To end, we did a short editing workshop and ended with something positive.

The mentors and I, mainly Emmi, filmed some of the events of the day and I made a short video of what we did.

That night there was a rock concert in the Park in front of the National Palace and I told both Jenny and my old friend Carlos Ibanez that I would meet up with them when I suddenly ran out of saldo (minutes on my phone)! I wasn’t able to call a taxi and finally, after a lot of time and thinking, I threw on a hoodie and walked the 6 or 7 blocks by myself, at night! I never in a million years thought I would do that, but I did it and it was completely fine. I won’t do it again of course, but I am proud of myself in a way for not letting my gender paralyze me completely. When I first got there I couldn’t find my friends and luckily after awhile met up with one of Manu’s friends Joel who I met the previous week and he let me stand with him so I wasn’t alone in the park. Finally I found everyone and we all rocked out and then went out dancing at El Gran Hotel.  Carlos, Giovanni, Jenny, walked alone.

The next day I met up with Joel again in his music studio and he agreed to make original music for the student’s videos if they need it. How super exciting!

By Marina Wood

This weekend was crazy because we had the film project on Saturday and Sunday instead of just Saturday. Saturday was devoted to talking and learning about feminism, sex, sexuality, the body, body image, sexual pleasure, sexual boundaries, sexual health, sexual identity, and gender identity.

We began with an icebreaker wherein everyone in the class had to say one word about sex.

Then, because I promised them the first day that we would watch a movie clip and analyze it but the tiny computer I brought didn’t have a DVD slot, so we watched a short clip from Miss Congeniality and talked about it.

We then discussed the homework from last week which was selected portions from the article “The Male as a Risk Factor: Masculinity, Mental Health, and Reproductive Health” by Benno de Keijzer. This was exciting since some of the students were just bursting to talk about it and had clearly learned a lot.

Then, to transition to the next topic we did another icebreaker wherein everyone had to form a circle and mime an activity they like doing such as swim or dance.

The next topic was something I decided to create after the previous week’s comments. When we were teaching about Feminist Film Theory the class had a lot of misconceptions about feminism and were turned off by the word because they equated feminism with separatism. So we started with an exercise in which each student was handed either a myth or a fact about feminism and had to determine which it was and why. This was to show the diversity of opinions about what feminism is and to think through some of the uglier misconceptions. Afterward the class read a short essay I wrote defining feminism out loud and we spoke more about feminism and clarified vocabulary and history questions.

Then we did a private, silent activity called Yes, No, Maybe though we started with one out loud as an icebreaker. The idea is to read a detailed list of intimate and sexual acts and situations and determine if you would do them, not do them, or maybe do them. The one we read out loud was “My partner can touch me affectionately in public” and everyone had to answer. The class then worked on their personal Yes, No, Maybe lists in order to determine their personal sexual limits.

We then watched a video about bodily diversity and looked at photographs of different penises, breasts, and vulvas in order to understand that, as Planned Parenthood says, different is normal. Then we watched a video about how to safely and properly use a condom.

After that we broke up into small groups: 2 students to each mentor and spoke about a range of topics such as feminist sex education, menstruation, safe sex, sexual and gender identity and orientation, and sexual pleasure. We then reconvened into the larger group and shared what we spoke about.

The last activity was a short ally training in which I taught the students how to be an ally to the LGBTQ community.

We then ended the day by sharing something positive either about the day or in general.

That night my friend Emmi stayed the night since she lives very far and had to come back the next morning. Though we were exhausted, we planned the next day’s activities and then I took her out to eat in a fancy Mexican restaurant. Emmi works very hard both at home and at work and is still poor so I treated her to dinner and then when she mentioned she had never been out in Zone 1 I took her to two of the best bars there, Cien Puertas and El Gran Hotel, where we ended up dancing all night. She was super happy to be out of her house since her family doesn’t let her go out, and I was super happy to show her a good time.

The next day, Sunday, we had a long day. Instead of meeting from 1pm to 6pm we met from 10am to 6pm and since the University wasn’t open we met at MIA’s founder and director’s apartment/office in Zone 1. Though the day was longer we had less activities that took longer to do. We began with an icebreaker by Emmi, one of the mentors. She had the class write down five things they like about themselves and five things they would like to change and then present. She explained that the reasoning behind this was to recognize how we typically concentrate more on the negative than the positive in ourselves and also to practice praising ourselves since it is something we are not accustomed to do.

Then everyone cut up magazine they brought to make collages on their new notebooks that MIA donated to them.

After that the students and mentors presented on the three Latin American revolutionary film manifestos that they had read the night before: Imperfect Cinema from Cuba, Third Cinema from Argentina, and Cinema Novo from Brazil. When one of the students, Carolina, presented on Imperfect Cinema I literally cried because at sixteen years old she understood the article so well and the concept was so beautiful. (Imperfect Cinema basically says that cinema does not need to be professional and expensive and anyone who wants to make films as a tool for social change can do it.) We then watched a short clip of The Hour of the Furnaces (Getino, Solanas 1970) as an example of Third Cinema.

After that we brainstormed about how many films we wanted to make and on what subjects and the students decided to make two films, one about family violence and one about competition between women. Once the groups were formed I brought out the cameras and they opened them and practiced using them. Then we all walked down to 6th street which is kind of like Universal City Walk or Downtown Disney and in the two groups we ate lunch, talked more about the videos, and took more video footage. Unfortunately it started raining heavily and we hid out for awhile in Quiznos but finally had to go back because a few of the students had to leave at 4, so we all ran home in the rain.

Then we watched some of the footage the students took and talked about it and closed with something positive.

HTML for youtube video of footage taken by Michelle, one of the students:

Since this weekend was so full, I will start my next blog with Monday.

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By Daniel Velásquez

I was in Guatemala from September 2 to the 12 to support the work M.I.A. is currently performing in regards to Campaña Hombres Contra Feminicidio (Men Against Feminicide) and raising awareness among civil society organizations of the country’s needs for a Temporary Protection Status (TPS).

Training for Trainers

My first assignment was to lead a workshop for the Campaign facilitators. M.I.A. has recruited about 12 young college students from USAC to facilitate the campaign workshops at the National Police Academy, an elementary school in zone 8 and USAC itself.

My workshop focused on developing better presentation skills and introducing evaluation techniques. Part of the exercises were to lead a workshop and have a feedback session to identify strengths and weaknesses in their skills.

The facilitators were motivated throughout the workshop. Their excitement was noticeable, specially when they had to make posters for their presentation.

There was also a chance for Simón Pedroza, a poet and former facilitator, to share his experience with the Campaign.

The workshop ended with an evaluation of this same workshop. Among the feedback was the need the facilitator feel for more similar workshops.

Bus Driver Widows

In Guatemala City, many bus drivers have been killed by gangs that demand money for letting them work in the neighborhood the gangs themselves control. (Read more here)

For the past two months, M.I.A. has been meeting with a group of 5 bus driver widows and worked on ways for them to  empower and help themselves have financial stability under the new circumstances. Many of these women have had little education and live in neighborhoods considered very dangerous. M.I.A. recruited two young women to help these women come up with a plan. After a few meetings, they decided to get training to start their own small business. M.I.A. gave these 5 women a micro credit to help them get their business started.

During this trip, I had the opportunity to visit one of the widows and learn first hand about her work. Both of the women we visited are managing their own food stand outside their homes. Among the feedback collected is the need for the women to get more training in accounting and managing their expenses and counting their profits.

Although the financial benefits of the micro credit will take a few months to show, the impact they have on the receipients are noticed immediately. The opportunity M.I.A. offers with the micro credit gives these women a boost to their self esteem: independence, control, confidence and a sense of pride and ownership for what they do.

Speaking Immigration at Canal VEA

Through Lucia Muñoz, M.I.A. Executive Director, I was invited to speak live on TV at a local cable channel, VEA Canal. The show was called “Conversemos” and was conducted by Karina Gonzalez de Rottmann. The topics of conversation were about the Temporary Protection Status (TPS), the xenophobic environment for Guatemalans in the U.S. and also the financial and emotional price of migrating from Guatemala to the U.S.

The overall interview went really well. However, I had to explain to Karina about my background as an immigrant and how I relate and get myself involved  in the issues of those Guatemalans who live in the U.S. undocumented. I assumed I was not the stereotypical immigrant man he expected to meet.

The HCF Campaing at I.N.C.A.

During the month of September, M.I.A. was most active with the Hombres Contra Feminicidio Campaing at the all-female Instituto Normal para Señoritas Centro América, I.N.C.A. I had the opportunity to co-faciliate workshops there with Lucía Muñoz and Ana L. The topic for that week was sexual harassment.

Lucia Muñoz introduces the topic of sexual harassment to the students.

The workshop made emphasis on the different ways that sexual harassment occurs. Students discovered that harassment often depends on the circumstances in which it happens and that when it does happen, it is due to a power inequality. They were also made aware of the harassment as something unwanted, discriminatory based on gender and sexual orientation, and it also creates an unhealthy emotional and physical environment for the victim. We also discussed how harassment is an expression of authority and power through sex.

Ana and me checking with the class the workshop's exercise.

Meetings at the Human Rights Ombudsman office

M.I.A. and the GPDN, represented by Lucía Muñoz and myself, respectively, met with the representative of Migrant Affairs at the Guatemala Human Rights Ombudsman office in order to coordinate a letter from the civil society and the Catholic church to the Guatemala President, Alvaro Colom, asking  to pressure more the U.S. in asking for the TPS for Guatemalans in the U.S.

There were two more meetings to polish the content of the letter. It was delivered by activist and representatives of M.I.A. and GPDN on September 24 at the Presidential Palace. Prensa Libre reported on the event here.

Meeting Estudios Tecomate

Lucia Muñoz and I had a chance to meet Abner García from Estudios Tecomate and present to him the Hombres Contra Feminicidio campaign. Among the ideas that were discussed there were Abner’s own: podcasts.

Although podcasts are new territory for M.I.A., and me personally, I offered to write a script for the first show. Abner volunteered his time and expertise in audio technology to produce the shows.

The best part of working with Abner is his professionalism and quick delivery. In less than a month now M.I.A. has its first podcast AVAILABLE HERE. (spanish only)

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Daniel Velásquez is Guatemalan and a member of the Guatemala Peace and Development Network. Daniel has helped M.I.A. since its foundation with translating documents and production of graphic materials. He currently lives in New York.

M.I.A. is a founding member of the Guatemala Peace and Development Network, GPDN.

POR CRISTINA BONILLO

La Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos (PDH) y organizaciones de migrantes instaron al Gobierno y población a seguir presionando por el TPS para los guatemaltecos indocumentados en EE. UU.

Representantes de organizaciones y de la PDH presionan por la concesión del TPS. Erick Avila

Lucía Muñoz, representante de la organización Red para la Paz y el Desarrollo para Guatemala, expresó que no es posible que este sea el único país centroamericano que no cuente con un Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS, en inglés), y aseguró que hay poca voluntad del Gobierno para presionar por ese beneficio.

También anunció que se intenta organizar una marcha para presionar al Gobierno de EE. UU. a la concesión de la medida temporal.

Oswaldo Cardona, representante de la Unidad contra la Impunidad, de la PDH, recordó que tras los desastres naturales registrados en el país, el TPS es más necesario que nunca.

“Lo tienen salvadoreños, hondureños y nicaragüenses. Por alguna razón no ha sido otorgado a nuestros compatriotas, y eso nos pone en una situación de mayor vulnerabilidad con relación a otras naciones, en aquel país”, enfatizó.

“Creemos que es justo y humano que sea otorgado el TPS, independientemente de la reforma migratoria”, subrayó.

http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/Grupos-presionan-TPS_0_297570263.html

Twelve Weeks in Guatemala City

I arrived in Guatemala on Feb 20, and dove straight into starting programs. Was very fortunate to find a a place to live right smack in the middle of the action, zona 1. I am subletting a room at a friends house. I wanted to stay in zona 1 for many reasons. 1st to not have to wake up to traffic every morning to zona 1 where all the networking needs to be done and almost everywhere I need to go to work is within easy walking distance.

In Guate I felt the need to walk with the pueblo and bump into people and talk to them. It was a surreal experience for me. It was almost like going back to the 3 years i lived in Guate as a teenager.

We did two 4 day workshops at USAC. Sadly, during the course of the workshops two of the students were killed while getting snacks near the university. So sad.

We also started our annual programs at the all boy’s school in Zona 8.

You may remember that we did workshops in the PNC academy in 2009. Since then, they had a complete change of leadership both at the academy and in the PNC overall. Thanks to our work nurturing relationships, we were able to get in again this year. This year we are year round. Remember MIA”s goal is to get in the curriculum and this time we actually are in the midst of signing an agreement to be part of the curriculum on an ongoing basis. This is HUGE!!!

The PNC is in the middle of construction, there is a interium director who does not have the power to sign anything, but does have the power to allow us in every other Friday. We go in 5 classes per Friday and each class has between 40 and 60 students. I feel very optimistic that we wil be signing an agreement with the PNC Academy to adopt our campaign. I have been sitting with instructors and all of them want our manuals. It is a matter of time for the academy to have a stable director and then i think we be able to get a contract.

We’re finding that there are plenty of places ready to take us in to give the workshops. The biggest challenge for us is to find funding to make our work happen. I want to share with much pride that we were also able to get in with an agreement adopting our campaign. The department of health at USAC has welcomed us to their programs. I signed the agreement only days before my departure last May 15. This means that every single student that signs up to go to college will have to go through our classroom *as a requirement*. I am so new inside the USAC system that I still dont understand how this is going to unfold, but during my time here i am in constant contact with their personnel that we are are going to plan it out. USAC is the model and when MIA is able to hire permanent staff, we will be moving in to some of the satellites of USAC. We will become a BIG movement within the university.

I’ve also been dealing with the challenges of getting MIA recognized at a nonprofit in Guatemala. The latest was that my name was misspelled on some paperwork and I had to get it corrected and resubmitted, adding two weeks to the process. In addition, I had to get an ID card at the Guatemalan DMV, and in the process learned that my fathers name on my birth certificate was some stranger, a name I’d never heard of before. This opened up an old wound, my not really knowing who my birth father was. During this trip, I also was spending some time tracking down my birth father. Apparently I’m the result of an Immaculate Conception, which sounds better than not knowing who my father is. My blood father, according to the latest story I hear, was a boss in a bus company where my mother’s then-ex-husband worked. My father had been a bus driver and worked his way up to being the boss. Later, he was killed when returning home from work.

Also met with the Association of Widows of the bus drivers killed while working. As you may know, there have been hundreds of bus drivers killed on duty in the last few years. A reporter asked me why I was getting involved with the bus driver widows and I started crying: I realized right then it was through what happened to my blood father that leaves me feeling so closely connected with the widows.

We are working on a program to help the widows get into small businesses by creating micro loans. In a micro loan program, we would sponsor the women to get basic training on how to make a business work, and a small amount of funding, about $100, to get the means to make their business happen. This is the newest cause MIA adopted, and stuggled with it, because we barely have money for the campaign, but to see the widows going in circles trying to help themselves I could not look the other way. When I visited their little whole in the wall there were five women that for some reason I connected stongly and asked if they would be willing to attend a workshop on Sundays at Jenny’s house. They all come from a distance, one comes from a 2 hour and a half distance and tends to be the one who arrives first. They have been meeting for four Sundays in a row except last Sunday because of the Pacaya volcano and Tropical Storm Agatha. Through Jenny we were able to find them counseling for free on Saturdays too. These women have had no time to grieve. They were forced over night to pick up the pieces for their children and have not had the chance to be swallowed by their pain., and allow themselves to grieve.

I want to end with telling you a little about our facilitators. They are six young men who come from different schools within USAC. Two are artists, who are studying to become music teachers. Our longtime friend Randy from Colectivo Rogelia Cruz is going to school to become an archeologist. William is going for a teaching degree, Gary is going for business administration and Derick is about to graduate as a civil engineer. They are all volunteering and we give them a small stipend for their time and expenses. We meet twice a week.

Our chapina volunteer from Canada, Maria Luisa, is working with them while i am here to support the facilitators in their readings on gender issues and to train them to become strong facilitators.

When the academy called me, I was not prepared with facilitators and told the interim director that MIA was ready to go. I walked out of there with Randy who is a long time supporter, and asked him what to do. He said we (volunteer facilitators) have to go forward and MIA has to train us overnight. We started calling people we have worked with in the past and 5 accepted immediately. I feel I have been training a little too rapidly, but I had no choice.

When we met with the academy they wanted to start that same week I said we couldn’t start that quick, but to give us 2 weeks and we would be ready. Never told them it was because we didn’t have workshop facilitators trained yet. It was exciting to make this happen over night. The facilitators are loving the work and the hands-on training / workshops. We all read and discuss the readings. Then, the next day they train to present, and they all facilitate to the rest to make sure they understand the curriculum.

I can go on and on about the facilitators, I am very fond of them. Because we are meeting so often we have become like a family. They look forward eating together while exchanging ideas on how else they can contribute to a Guate without violence and day dreaming when we have an office. We are meeting at my friends house where I sublet a room, but sometimes we can get loud and we don’t want her to kick us out. I am hoping come next year we can get some serious donations and can have an office and employ them full time.

Unfortunately we were not able to get funds from the private company we were hoping from. As a matter of fact, it was them who prompted my trip in February and decided to stay for so long. But it is all good, we were able to network and find us BIG place to work in where we have a captive audience and helps us from running around all over the city. This private company asked that we revisit the project in July., wish us good luck.

Lastly, we were able finally meet with close people to the first lady again. As you may remember, we met with the first lady last July. She delegated the job of assisting us to certain subordinates, then her words were forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind. Being there for so long, allowed me to sit on it and finally got a person with the power to remind the first lady to revisit our conversation. I will be meeting soon with someone in a position to make this happen, to discuss the national school system adopting our curriculum. This reconnection with the first lady talk from last July delegation happened thanks to assistance from Norma Cruz. Norma picked up the phone and put us in contact with the right people within the Avocado House (Palacio Nacional).

Helping girls in the path of education is an on going project. Because of limited fundsy we are presently only helping 5 young girls. Please help us help them keep them on track.

And now to end, I want to announce that I will be going back to Guate for at least another 3 months if not more. Maybe till the school year ends., that is in October. Chris and I have been talking for the last two years and finally both us are o.k. with me living long period of times in Guate. He will be visiting me a lot .

Don’t forget that we are a 501(c)(3) non profit, and so all donations are completely tax deductible.

ABOUT THE HOMBRES CONTRA FEMINICIDIO CAMPAIGN

Hombres Contra Feminicidio is an educational campaign in Guatemala which objective is to train teachers, students and people in power on how to prevent and erradicate violence against women. M.I.A. strive  to bring the campaign to teachers nationwide in order to bring the topic into the schools curriculum.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

On our last official delegation day, we got up early to go to a school in zone 18, a pilot program that is sponsored by MIA. Partially destroyed by a flood less than a year ago, much of the school was ruined. The delegates grabbed some shovels and started leveling out the land to supply a foundation where a new computer lab will be built, and met one of the female students that MIA helps to sponsor so that she can continue her education.

We then drove to San Lucas Sacatepequez, for what was the most devastating meeting of the entire week. We went to the home of Aura Suruy, whose three daughters, ages 7, 9, and 11, were all beaten, raped, and murdered this past May 29 (http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/junio/16/321595.html). In unbearable pain, the mother has got help with her case from Fundacion Sobrevivientes and also got some help of MIA’s big sister organization, the Guatemala Peace and Development Network (GPDN), to help sponsor her male children’s continuing education.

Ending the delegation on such a horrific story definitely ignited the anger in us to come back to the U.S. and work for Guatemala in whatever ways we can.