August 13th, 2004

Delegates: Kneeling- Briana Connors, Mindy Ahler-Olmstead. Back Row(L-R)- Joel Papa, Ann Maczuga, Jenny Linane, Michael Branigan, Katharine Malaga, Ross Starkson.

Today (Friday, August 13th) was a full day. It didn’t look like it was going to be all that busy from the planned schedule, but then we’ve learned that plans are only plans. After getting up we all were "pleased" to find that the clothes we washed yesterday were still wet. Oh, well. They will be dry by the time we need to pack in the afternoon to return to TNII.

After a quick breakfast we traveled to La Esperanza, a community that began 22 years ago with people building simple homes on vacant land (similar to how TNII started). We spent the next couple of hours at UPAVIM (Unidos Para Viviir Mejor which means United to Live Better). This is a co-op that gives women work, a good salary, childcare, (among other things) and, even more importantly, a community to belong to. This organization has a close relationship with a Sister Parish in Bemidji, MN. Very impressive. Fair trade goods from this co-op are sold around the world and can be found at the Resource Center for the Americas in Minneapolis and also at 10,000 Villages (among other places, I’m sure). When we got there, another group was there from Windom, MN that was being escorted by non other than Ruth who was the Guatemalan coordinator for the TNII group when they visited St. Joan’s last year! Small world - lots of hugs for her.

After a quick lunch back at the Sister Parish Center we all got on a bus and headed to the place where the Peace March was to begin, about 10 blocks away. This march was to make a statement that the people want the violence to stop. All violence. The killing of women, gang violence, systemic violence - ¡Ya Basta! No a la violencia, Si a la paz! (That’s enough! No to violence, Yes to peace!). We made two posters and, while we were doing that, one of the organizers offered a large banner for us to carry. That’s just what we needed - a single long thing that most of us could hold on to so we wouldn’t get separated. The march was so energizing that we forgot how tired we were. It was an experience that bonded us to the people of Guatemala like few others could. We had felt the pain when we talked to Chonita and visited the Peace Park in Santiago Atitlán. Now we could shout and chant with the crowd and really want the violence to stop. It was a good way to express some of that pent up emotion we were all dealing with. The march ended on the The Constitutional Plaza directly in front of the National Palace, one of the places most commonly seen in news reports from Guatemala. A little girl gave a powerful statement about peace. We sang the Guatemalan national anthem and a well-known song that’s been around for many years called "Solo le pido a Dios" (All I Ask From God) that has strong social justice themes and has been associated with the struggle for a long time.

It’s now after 6 p.m. and we still have to get to TNII and dinner at Padre Juan Pablo’s house. So, we walked back to the Sister Parish center, packed, and set out for TNII. We spent a few minutes reflecting at the church before we went to dinner at about 9:30. The Sister Parish committee at Saint Mark’s had prepared a wonderful meal that had something for everybody. We ate, talked, laughed and talked some more. Padre Juan Pablo asked some deep and interesting questions that got us all thinking about differences between the church in Europe and the U.S. We invited him to come to Saint Joan’s with the next delegation. I hope he can. You’ll really like him.

And then, finally, home with our host families at a little after 11:00. Sleep? With all this energy? Yup!

Ross Starkson on behalf of the Delegation.