Tuesday, May 27, 2008


Moisés , Londin and I, Carin, just came back from an interesting trip through Guatemala and Belize. The reason for this trip was for the young instructors of our Maya project to see living Maya culture with their own eyes. An indeed they did! In Belize we were received by friends from the Julian Cho Society, an organization that helps indigenous people in land issues, among many other things. In Guatemala we saw different Maya people, all proudly wearing their own indigenous outfits, many speaking their own tongue. For Moises and Londin, both Maya Chortí but not used to anything so colourful, bright, brilliant, exotic and "Maya", it was an overwhelming experience.
In eight days we went from Copán Ruinas to the south of Belize, from there to the splendid site of Tikal, next to Lake Atitlan and then a pit stop in Antigua Guatemala before taking the early morning shuttle back home. It was quite an itinerary and it wasn't always easy traveling with two completely unexperienced adventurers with a tendency to ignore my well meant instructions. (" I told you to change all your Honduran money at the border because it is worthless in the rest of Central America!" - " Believe me Londin, I'm pretty sure you don NOT like a double espresso" etc. etc.) The boys had a tough time in Belize where they could not communicate well because of the English spoken there (they were so overwhelmed when entering the country that the migration officer asked me if they were mute!) and Londin's limited English vocabulary didn't help him an awful lot when he saw "fish fingers" on the menu. Moises' best sleeping experience was the one night we spent in the office of Caja Lúdica, a befriended artist organization in Guatemala: we slept on mattresses on the floor. We could have saved ourselves a lot of money we now spent on decent hotels. But anyway, it was a great trip, something the boys will never forget! (Look us up on Facebook,com for more pics!)

Our friend Greg is on the run! (on his bike, that is.) Follow his adventures through the link below. Here a message from the bike master himself:

The Otesha Algonquin tour 2008 is on the road. We're dusty, full of farm-fresh honey and our pannier bags are full of ambition beans.

You can check out
http://otesha.blogspot.com to keep up with our treading.

Thank you immensely to all of you that donated to make this trip a reality for me. I can't express how important you all are. Such great friends!

Please write to let me know how your summers are going, I would love to hear from each of you,

Greg

Okay, on a lighter note: here some vocabulary to practice your Spanglish!

WATER My vieja gets mad and I don't even know water problem is!

BRIEF My homie farted... bad, and I couldn't brief.

MUSHROOM Orale vato, when all my familia gets in the car, there’s not mushroom.

CHICKEN My vieja wanted me to go to the store, but chicken go by herself.

LIVER & CHEESE Some vato tried to sweet talk my ruca. I told him, orale loco liver alone, cheese mine.

JULY Ju tol me ju were goin to the store and July to me! Julyer!

WAFER I wanted to go with my mom to the flea market pero she didn't wafer me!

HERPES I had some cake to share with my wife, this is my piece this is herpes

TISSUE I told you if you didn't know how to do it, I could tissue.

HARASSMENT Aorale vato my old lady caught me in bed wit my sancha so I said harassment nothing to me!

CASHEW I was running after you but I couldn't cashew!

BISHOP We went out to the club y mi vieja got drunk and fell down, so I had to pick the bishop.

JUICY Hey vato, I'm going to eat Paco's food, tell me if juicy him!!

After 38 days the hunger strike against corruption came to a conclusion. The strike was initiated by public defenders who felt tied in their work because certain powerful and rich people accused of corruption turned out to be untouchable. The strike was supported by many organizations and individuals in the country, among them fellow artists Waldina Mejía (author) and Karla Lara (singer / songwriter) who bravely joined the hunger strike right in front of the congress building in Tegucigalpa.

Victor Fernandez, president of the Association of Public defenders said that this is only the first step in their struggle to have certain files opened and replacement of a number of attorneys. Some claims were met by the government, but the war against corruption is far from over.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

DESPERATELY SEEKING:
A willing volunteer to translate our website on Maya culture for children from spanish to English. Once translated in English we can promote this site among schools in English speaking countries and so spread the word on Maya culture around the world....
Have a look at the site! www.mayacopan.info

For four years in a row, we had students of Huron University College volunteering with Arte Acción Copán Ruinas, but unfortunately they're not joining us this year because in stead of doing educational projects in rural Maya Chortí communities, the students this year are on a research trip. Rumours go they're in Copán, but we haven't seen them yet...

Ilke Schaart (Huron University College) organized a multidisciplinary presentation last month about her three month internship with Arte Acción Copán Ruinas, She showed the documentary about the Maya Chortí she helped producing, as well as many pictures, her own testimony and last but not least a one of our kid's favourite art workshops: mask making! And as if she wasn´t busy enough, Ilke even managed to raise $100 fire Arte Acción Copán Ruinas! Congratulations!

Greg Horne from Victoria volunteered with Arte Acción Copán Ruinas last year and painted some terrific murals with kids and young adults. This summer he's cycling for environmental awareness, as you can read here in his own words:

This summer, I (Greg Horne) will cycle from Ottawa to St John, NB with 15 other people on an Otesha bike tour. The goal of this trip is to inspire young people to make environmental sustainability a reality through everyday choices, personal empowerment, and community activism. To make the trip happen, I need to raise $1900. If you can donate something, that would be awesome. I really appreciate any contribution you can make. You can read more about the project, about me (if I don’t know you already), as well as donate online at: http://www.givemeaning.com/thon/greg If you can’t, but know someone who may want to support a youth empowering environmental initiative (parents, teachers?), please invite them to this group or pass along the link. As well, send me an email if you’d like to help out but aren't into inter-money (I’m looking for camping/cycling gear too.) Otesha is a youth driven, positive thinking, community building organization that aims to empower young people to take environmental sustainability into our own hands. While cycling from Ottawa to St. John, NB, we will deliver theatre productions in high schools and facilitate workshops on sustainable living in their surrounding communities. Check out www.otesha.ca for more info. Thanks again, with spokes of inspiration, Greg