Trouble and Beauty

There is a song by Carolyn McDade that always comes to mind when I think of Guatemala. The name of the song is “Trouble and Beauty.” We were surrounded by the beauty of the country, but we were learning about the injustice and the turmoil in Guatemala. We learned about the trouble in Guatemala while surrounded by its beauty. I spent ten full days in Guatemala. It isn’t possible to explain all that I learned in one Sunday morning sermon. This morning, I will share one aspect with you, and hopefully, I will have the opportunity to share more with you another time.

While in Gautemala, I had a personal experience that affected me deeply. Midway through the trip, in San Lucas Toliman, where we spent four nights, I was harassed by a couple of young men in the city. I was waiting outside an Internet café for a friend and I was appreciating the warmth of the sun. These two men did not hurt me. They spoke a mixture of English and Spanish, but I knew from their behaviour that this was not just a friendly hello. I tried to ignore them, and after a couple of minutes, one of them started to approach me. That’s when I ducked back into the café. I talked to my friend for a couple of minutes, and when I realized she wasn’t leaving any time soon, I decided to leave. I left the café without looking at the young men. I quickly walked home. I didn’t look back, and thankfully, they didn’t follow.

This incident really shook me. All of a sudden, I felt unsafe. I felt like maybe I had dressed wrong or that maybe I should have done something differently. I knew that these feelings were typical. I knew that this wasn’t my fault, but I still felt violated and used. I shared the experience with the rest of the group. We all agreed that even though we had been told that San Lucas Toliman was a safe place, that we would try to stick together and not go off alone. After all, we were white women who did not speak the language. We were a minority in this country, although we still held the privilege of being a rich tourist in a poor land.

I began to wonder about the women of Guatemala and how the men treated them. Do the men see them as objects? Are they given much consequence in Guatemala? From what I experienced, I don’t believe they are given much value. I visited small communities where domestic violence runs rampant. I visited a women’s shelter, of which there are now only two in all of Guatemala, and they have to find financial support outside of the country. I saw it in the ongoing femicide in Guatemala. Femicide is the murder of women because they are women.

Between 2001 and March 2006, over 2,200 Guatemalan women and girls have been brutally murdered. The numbers increase from year to year. Exceptional cruelty and sexual violence characterize many of the killings. Some of the victims had their throats cut, were beaten, shot or stabbed to death. Many of their bodies show signs of rape, torture, mutilation or dismemberment. These are hate crimes. In 2006, Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, said, “Murderers continue to kill in Guatemala because they know they probably won’t be persecuted – let alone convicted. The Guatemalan government bears the ultimate responsibility for the safety of Guatemalan women, but, so far, it has not taken the necessary initiative.”

We visited with many women’s groups while we were in Guatemala. The first group we met with was called Fraternidad de Presbiteriales Mayas. The Fraternidad is an organization of Mayan Christian women. The Mayan people, by the way, are the first nations people of Guatemala. These women are organized in women’s societies and base groups which altogether comprise a total of 3,000 women from five different language groups. This is how they describe their context:

“Mayan women come out of a historical, economic, and colonial-social context consisting of marginalization (gender, race and poverty), violation and exploitation that spans over more than 500 years. Now a new social, cultural, political and economic reality faces us in our country. We are now without war, but following the signing of the peace accords we find that almost nothing has changed. The accords are not very clear; much injustice still exists, and the poverty in our country is growing worse each day.”

The Fraternidad trains women as “animators.” These “animators,” or facilitators, go to small Mayan communities and gather the women together. One of the many teachings they share is on “auto-estima,” or self-esteem. Their goal is to teach these women that they were made in the image of God and that families need to work together as equals, united. The father supports the mother and the children, the mother supports the father and children, and the children support the parents. They teach these women that they have gifts and special qualities and that God had given them these gifts to share. The women in these small communities are also being taught to retrieve their Mayan culture, their native dress, and how to care for the earth. These women are learning how to love themselves and the world around them. The women are being taught that they are valuable creations of God. The two scripture passages that we heard today are used by the animators in their presentations. The woman of Proverbs who is hard working and appreciated for all of her gifts and skills. The women who discover that the body of Jesus is missing are the first ones to spread that message. Women are valued in scripture and one of the roles of women is to spread the good news. These are valuable lessons to women who are seen as insufficient and as objects in the eyes of men.

How does knowing information about the women of Guatemala affect us here in Canada? You know, I just finished a research paper on violence and women in the Hebrew Scriptures. Some of the stories written in the Bible are horrific. They are the ones we don’t usually hear in worship or in bible study. They are also stories we do not hear in Sunday School. They are not for little ears. There are stories of murder, rape, and dismemberment. One story tells of a father who kills his daughter as a sacrifice to God. Another is about a woman who is thrown out of a house to be raped by several men, and still another tells how a young woman is raped by her half-brother and then discarded. These stories are a part of our Bible and therefore a part of our Christian culture. Many believe they should be avoided at all costs, but if we avoid them, how will the women of these stories ever have a voice?

Women who are abused and murdered need justice. We learned this lesson when the First Nations community in Canada created a campaign called “Sisters in Spirit.” This campaign was to help make people aware of the many Aboriginal women who have gone missing with hardly any investigation. It was also to give those many missing women a voice. Amnesty International is being a voice for the murdered women in Guatemala. How can we be a voice for women who are lost and for those women who have disappeared?

We can start by recovering these stories in the Bible that have been hidden from view. There are many who have taken these stories and rewritten them. They have given the women a voice. Many have read the popular book, The Red Tent, by Anita Diamont. This is the story of the women in the family of Jacob. We hear about Leah and Rachel, and especially Dinah, who is the only daughter of thirteen children. We read of the customs of women, the romance between Shechem and Dinah, and the brutal murder of a whole town. Of course, it is a work of fiction, but it gives voice to a young girl who disappeared from history.

We can write our own stories. Through different assignments, I have had the opportunity to rewrite the stories of Jehthah’s daughter, who was the victim of child sacrifice, and Tamar, who was raped by her half-brother. It feels very liberating, and it feels like I am taking back a person’s life. With your imagination, there are so many characters of the Bible, both in the Old and the New Testament, that could be explored and made relevant to us today.

My trip to Guatemala has opened me up to a whole new culture. I have learned about the femicide and abuse of women in Latin America. I have heard the voices of the Mayan women in Guatemala. When we asked them what we could do or if they had any wishes of us, they only said to pray for them and to share their story. This is what I’m doing right now. As difficult as these stories can be to us to hear, this is the only way the voice of these Mayan women will be heard. They want other Canadians to hear about their hard work. They want Canadians to know of the injustice in Guatemala, but they also want Canadians to know that they are not objects of pity. They are working to liberate the women of the Mayan communities. Financial support is always appreciated, and the Fraternidad is a partner of the United Church, which means they receive financial support from the Mission and Service Fund of the United Church, but more than financial support, they just want Canadians to be aware of who they are and what they are doing. And, of course, prayer is always appreciated.

The prayer I will share with you now is by Jim Manly. Jim Manly wrote a book of devotions called, “The Wounds of Manuel Saquic,” named after a pastor and human rights worker in Guatemala who was murdered. The devotions are all based on Manly’s knowledge and experience of Guatemala. Let us pray.

God of justice and liberation, you hear the cry of all oppressed people; you do not want that cry to be silenced till oppression has ended. We, too, hear these cries; too often we turn away in helplessness or indifference. Strengthen us so that we can respond with intelligence, commitment, and imagination. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.