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Building A Relationship The 8th SJA Delegation with Tierra Nueva Dos: July 19-29

“Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion, is to take off our shoes, for the place we are approaching is holy. Else we may find ourselves treading on people’s dreams. More serious still, we may forget that God was here before our arrival.”         - Max Warren

The first page of our adult delegation’s Sister Parish Orientation Handbook opens with the above quote. Since deciding in early February to become delegates from St. Joan’s to our Sister Parish Community, Tierra Neuva Dos (TN2) in Guatemala, our group has been learning to “take off our shoes.”

Our first step was to meet each other as a group to begin to understand the life experiences, hopes and fears, feelings and questions, that each of us bring to the delegation. We are ten women spanning multiple generations. Our names are Mindy Ahler Olmstead(group leader), Kathy Hoene, Dorothy Irvin, Pat Johnson, Carol Krush, Kathy Malaske, Heidi Meyer, Judy Miller, Danette Moore, and Susan Sell. We bring varying degrees of exposure to life in Guatemala - some of us have been there several times, but for most of us, this will be a first. A few of us are capable Spanish speakers - the majority are cramming or hoping that what we already know will suffice.

To prepare to build upon the relationship which delegations before us began and which the Sister Parish Committee nurtures throughout the year, we will have met eight times between February and our departure on July 19. Our group has come together, often times bringing an item of personal significance to place at the center of our meeting table, to discuss an array of topics. Members of the Sister Parish Committee have been involved in our preparations and have spoken to us about Guatemalan history and culture, the history of St. Joan’s relationship with TN2 (which dates back to 1993), and practical items such as health and safety concerns. We participated in cross-cultural exercises to help us view our own American culture as an “outsider” might see it, and other exercises to help us understand the life challenges which some of the people in TN2 and throughout Guatemala might face.

Our orientations have prepared us for what we hope will be a solidarity-focused journey of mutual understanding and learning. While we won’t leave behind a visible outcome from our trip, such as a new home or a library, we do hope to build a sense of community and connection with our sisters and brothers in TN2. As a complement to the charitable aid that Guatemalans often associate with the United States and its citizens, we hope to build uplifting and sustaining relationships. We offer friendship and understanding, and the comfort of knowing that someone beyond one’s own country’s borders cares. We’ve heard that we will be welcomed with the same.

What does a journey to build solidarity look like, if it doesn’t involve a hammer and nails? It involves spending two weekends during our 10-day trip living with families in TN2 and participating in community events. It is likely to include meeting people, sharing meals together, telling stories, and holding conversations rich in hand gestures. The time in between our weekends in TN2 will be spent sightseeing and visiting various human rights and development organizations around Guatemala.

If you’re an arm chair traveler, we would welcome you to join us on this journey! While it might be difficult to find a description of TN2 in a travel guide (TN2 is what’s called a squatter community: it is built upon lands belonging to, but unused by, the government, and is located outside of Guatemala City) you’re more likely to be able to find information on some of the tourist destinations that we’ll visit: Guatemala City, Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Panahachel, Chichicastenango, and Iximche. If you are interested in TN2 the community, visit the Sister Parish link on this website. It contains pictures from TN2 taken from past delegations and other unofficial visits.

If you’re interested in journeying further along the path of building St. Joan’s relationship with TN2, there are many ways to get involved without boarding an airplane. You can purchase a Sister Parish T-Shirt, read In the Good Struggle (a book about the Sister Parish movement, available in the SJA library) or I, Rigoberta Menchu, by Guatemalen Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, or any other of a number of books on Guatemala to educate yourself

Heidi Meyer lives in Uptown Minneapolis and has been coming to SJA for close to two years. She is learning Spanish with a group of SJAers and is very excited about being part of the adult delegation to TN2. Heidi works for a non-profit facilitating international student exchanges and cross-cultural learning. She likes to bike, cross-country ski, cook, travel, and lay in the hammock at her Grandma's cabin reading the Sunday New York Times.

Edie Kalweit has been a St. Joan of Arcer for 23 years now. Now that her children are grown, there is time to participate more fully in activities taking place at St. Joan's.

and join in building solidarity with the people in TN2. Other opportunities include taking a Spanish class, either when offered at SJA or elsewhere. You could also join the Sister Parish Committee which meets bi-monthly or offer to host a delegate from TN2 the next time the group is here. Also valuable would be keeping the people of TN2 in your thoughts and prayers! And the ten of us thank you now for praying that we have a successful relationship-building experience.