What a great night sleep! We woke up and headed to town to find a quick bite before our tour of Santiago. Suzanne´s had been in touch with one of her friends from Guatemala and arranged for us to have a tour of Atitlan led by the Mayan elders. Not exactly something you find in the local guide book. We met at 10AM sharp at the church...well when you are traveling twenty deep time is a relative term, so most of the group meandered in around 1030 and we were off by 11. But hey, were are on vacation who needs to be on time. Suzanne translated as our tour guide Tony Gonzolas gave us some basic background on Santiago. He said that there is a strong desire by the people of the town to say true to the old Mayan ways. It seems there is a delicate balance between accepting assistance which is greatly needed while still maintaining their culture.
We were introduced to Don Pasqual Chavez who is a Mayan elder and member of the local municipal government. Don Pasqual spoke the local Mayan language so his story was translated from Mayan to Spanish to English. My interpretation of events is based loose translation so I was able to get the general story, but the details and specific sequence of events were difficult to understand. Don Pasqual led us to a Peace Park in Panajab a mile or so down the lake from Santiago. The Peace Park is located where a massacre had taken place December 2, 1990. The massacre occurred between the local villagers and the occupying military. The massacre in December let to the organization of the local villagers who were determined to get the military out of Santiago. Don Pasqual was one of the members of a group of people who assembled in the local church and decided that they would travel to Guatemala City and call and appointment with the President and ask for him to order the military out of Santiago. The President agreed to the withdrawal in addition to the Gorillas. The villagers of Santiago were allowed to continue to resolve their disputes trough discussions and not violence which was the way of their grandfather's grandfathers. 
Unfortunately tragedy has not left the village of Panajab alone. In 2005 Hurricane Stan caused a mudslide that covered the entire village. Three hundred people lost their lives when the entire village was covered in mud. It was only in the last few months that they have cleared the last of the dirt away and was able to bury the rest of their friends and family that died. The former site of their village is now an open field and you would have never known it had been a village of thousands. You can still see the mud stains on the side of the hospital which is currently under reconstruction to try and make it usable again.
We were also fortunately enough to have Nicolas Tzina a local Mayan Shaman perform a blessing for us. We enjoyed our tour and felt lucky to be able to have such an amazing experience.
We were introduced to Don Pasqual Chavez who is a Mayan elder and member of the local municipal government. Don Pasqual spoke the local Mayan language so his story was translated from Mayan to Spanish to English. My interpretation of events is based loose translation so I was able to get the general story, but the details and specific sequence of events were difficult to understand. Don Pasqual led us to a Peace Park in Panajab a mile or so down the lake from Santiago. The Peace Park is located where a massacre had taken place December 2, 1990. The massacre occurred between the local villagers and the occupying military. The massacre in December let to the organization of the local villagers who were determined to get the military out of Santiago. Don Pasqual was one of the members of a group of people who assembled in the local church and decided that they would travel to Guatemala City and call and appointment with the President and ask for him to order the military out of Santiago. The President agreed to the withdrawal in addition to the Gorillas. The villagers of Santiago were allowed to continue to resolve their disputes trough discussions and not violence which was the way of their grandfather's grandfathers. Unfortunately tragedy has not left the village of Panajab alone. In 2005 Hurricane Stan caused a mudslide that covered the entire village. Three hundred people lost their lives when the entire village was covered in mud. It was only in the last few months that they have cleared the last of the dirt away and was able to bury the rest of their friends and family that died. The former site of their village is now an open field and you would have never known it had been a village of thousands. You can still see the mud stains on the side of the hospital which is currently under reconstruction to try and make it usable again.
We were also fortunately enough to have Nicolas Tzina a local Mayan Shaman perform a blessing for us. We enjoyed our tour and felt lucky to be able to have such an amazing experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment