Communities and Representatives Present:
Tierra Nueva I Noe and Lester
Tierra Nueva II Eluvia and Mario Gonzalez
Upavim Dina and Esmirna
San Andres Itzapa Otto and Juan
Chontalá Maria Tomasa and Elena
Las Margaritas II Ramiro and Arnoldo
Seritquiche Alberto
Sepalau Julio
On Friday representatives from TNII, Upavim, San Andres Itzapa, and Chontala arrived at the Sister Parish Center in Guatemala City. Noe and Lester from TNI arrived early Saturday morning to leave for Chichipate at 4 am. Due to their location, it made more sense for representatives from LMII, Seritquiche and Sepalau to travel directly from their communities to Chichipate.
We arrived from Guatemala City to a warm welcome, complete with a banner, at the Catholic Church in Chichipate. Lunch was prepared and served by the Catholic Church Committee and the Sister Parish Commitee of Chichipate. After lunch representatives went with their host families to drop off their bags and rest before beginning the meeting.
The afternoon was spent sharing experiences among communities. First the Sister Parish Directive introduced them selves and thanked the community of Chichipate for the welcome and the delicious lunch. Next the Chichipate Sister Parish committee and the Catholic Church committee introduced themselves and briefly explained the coordination carried out between the two in order to plan and execute the visit.
Tierra Nueva I Noe, the co-coordinator of the SP group in TNI, began by explaining that this was his first time participating in a Sister Parish gathering and that he was very pleased to be there. He talked about the relatively new priest, Father Bayron, being more involved in all respects, especially in supporting the Sister Parish group. He described a project that the committee was working on to encourage the elderly in the community to be active and healthy. Lester talked about the last experience they had with a delegation from the north. He explained that they worked together to plant trees behind the church and how they are a constant reminder of the strength and longevity of their Sister Parish relationship.
San Andres Itzapa Otto expressed that he thinks that the opportunity to share between communities is what makes Sister Parish so special. He thanked Chichipate for hosting the meeting and commented on how beautiful the natural environment is. He also pointed out that many of the representatives have been to see the United States but have never visited many of the beautiful places in their own country. Juan talked about the 10 year relationship that San Andres Itzapa has had with Christ Episcopal in Virginia. He shared that the delegation visits have always given them support and encouragement to continue working on their scholarship program and their efforts to improve education in their community. He also thanked Sister Parish staff for visiting the committee and giving them support and new ideas.
Las Margaritas II Ramiro explained that their relationship has been strong for many years and that they feel supported and encouraged by their brothers and sisters in the U.S. He also talked about the various efforts in LMII that have been accomplished with the support of their hermanamiento over the years such as the typing school, the scholarship program and ownership of their land.
Chontalá Elena shared that she was content to be attending a Sister Parish representatives meeting for the first time. Maria Tomasa shared that it was her first trip to the community of Chichipate. She also explained that Chontalá is pleased with its new relationship with Incarnation and that two delegations have visited.
UPAVIM Dina spoke about the love and friendship that she has felt as part of Sister Parish and with the hermanamientos that they have had over the years. She explained that they lost one relationship but that they now have a new one that has visited three times and that they are preparing for a delegation north. She said that UPAVIM does not only feel love and friendship with their brothers and sisters in the north, but also with their fellow Guatemalans. Esmirna explained the different projects that UPAVIM runs to benefit women in their community.
Tierra Nueva II Eluvia shared that their hermanamiento just celebrated its 15th anniversary. She also explained that their relationship’s vision is to support women and children in TN2 and that their projects have been focused on this goal. Mario shared that he is new to Sister Parish as well but that he learned quickly about the love that is shared between brothers and sisters in the north and the south. He informed the group that TNII would be traveling north in July.
Sepalau Julio talked about the delegation north in 2008 and shared that they are excited about the delegation to Sepalau planned for this summer. He also explained briefly about a computer project in Sepalau that is being financed by the European Union.
Seritquiche Alberto explained that their relationship began about four years ago and that groups have traveled north and south. He said that the communication is always difficult but that they are still very pleased to be involved with Sister Parish. Alberto also explained that the youth are working on a project to make natural, medicinal shampoo.
Chichipate Teresa explained some of the changes that have been made with the Sister Parish store in order to increase and sustain sales. She also shared the news that the mayor of El Estor agreed to pay the salary of the teachers at the typing school, which will be an enormous help to the Sister Parish committee. There are currently 59 students at the typing school (a Sister Parish project).
After dinner everyone gathered at the soccer field for the cultural presentation and 20th Anniversary Celebration that had been prepared by the Chichipate youth and the two committees. The moderator invited one representative from each community to speak about the impact that Sister Parish has had on them or their community throughout the years. Between speakers the youth performed a number of traditional Mayan dances that included plenty of fireworks. The evening ended with a slide show presentation prepared by Sergio that showed the relationships of Sister Parish communities in the north and in the south.
Everyone made it home before the rain began to rest and spend time with their host families. Members of the Chichipate Sister Parish and Catholic Church committees opened their doors to the representatives and Sister Parish staff for the night.
Representatives met at the Catholic Church in the morning for breakfast and the solidarity walk around the community. Emilio from the Sister Parish committee accompanied the group, pointing out points of interest such as the Sister Parish store, the other Catholic Church and the community tourism cabins. After the walk we attended mass performed by the Catholic Priest based out of El Estor that serves the Chichipate Parish.
While waiting for lunch the representatives visited Barrio la Revolución, a neighborhood of Chichipate where violent land evictions by the mining company occurred. Various members of the Sister Parish committee live in Barrio la Revolución. We witnessed community members putting he roof on the house and learned about their struggle for land rights. Afterwards we ate lunch, said our final thanks, and hit the road to return to Guatemala City before dark. All of the communities except Chontalá made it to their homes Sunday evening. The Chontalá representatives spent one more night in Sister Parish before heading home early Monday morning.
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