History, Pain, and Scarves

On Thursday, we met an incredible group of women.  These women, along with others in their organization, make up the organization, "Corazon Scarves" They are a group of Mayan women who suffered in the Guatemalan Civil War that ended in 1996 (after 36 years of warfare). 

These women and their families were a part of the traditional Mayan communities that were tortured, persecuted, and/or destroyed during the war.  One book I read compared this war's attack on the Mayans to the World War II holocaust, to put it in perspective.

After eating lunch with them, we had the opportunity to hear their stories.  One woman told of how they had to live in the mountains in order to save their families and themselves.  She lived in the mountains with her family, hiding from the soldiers, for 2 years, some people she knows were there for 15. They lost family members and friends, and saw horrible things.  Compounded on that, after the war, the Mayan people experienced racism of great levels and the men were unable to attain job (due to the economy, this is often still the case).  Through occupational training and counseling, these women have begun to weave, sew, and make soap, etc to sustain their families and they support one another through this cooperative.  Their stories are incredibly powerful, and their work is gorgeous.

We had an opportunity to look through their work after talking with them and hearing from where they had come.  It was so sad, so recent, and such as depressing state of humanity... I hurt for these women, I didn't know how they functioned.

But then, there were their children.  I don't speak their language, I couldn't really understand their names, but I did understand their joy.  We played soccer, jumping games, the "cinco" game (high 5), and stuck our tongues out making faces.   Suddenly, I had these friends with whom I couldn't communicate verbally, however, we spoke through emotions, and emotions are universal.

I haven't lived their pain, but I believe in their joy.
I don't understand how these people can be resilient, but I believe we can all learn from the next generation's fresh start.
They don't always know where their next meal is coming from or how their children will be educated, but they do know that they can survive.  And, it's our job to help them.

Now, I just have to figure out how.