Migration also affects the churches
here. In December, I accompanied the Presbyterial of Occidente
in a visit to the Bethel Presbyterian Church in Quisil, a small
community in a remote mountain valley four hours from Quetzaltenango.
The pastor of the church was in the United States, visiting members
of the church working there and collecting their offerings. The
church in Quisil, like most churches here, is full of women who
are raising their families alone while their husbands work in
the United States.
Migration is also big business here, feeding the underground
economy. Recently, I ran into Eunice, the wife of one of the pastors
in the Maya Quiche Presbytery. The church pays her husband about
$200 a month. Over a year ago, her oldest daughter, who had lost
her job here, left for the United States. Her husband and her
2-year-old son stayed behind. The family borrowed $5,000 to pay
the smuggler to get her into the United States. They believed
that they would have this loan paid off within a year. However,
her daughter has only been able to find part-time work as a hotel
maid. In more than twelve months, the family has only been able
to pay of a quarter of the loan. In the meantime, they are paying
$250 a month in interest. The dream has become a very expensive
nightmare.
For an increasing number, the dream of reaching a job in the
United States becomes a death walk. In the year ending September
30, 2003, two-hundred and five immigrants died in Arizona alone.
As increased vigilance of the border pushes crossers to more inhospitable
areas, more people are losing their lives in the effort to reach
a better life for themselves and their children.
This month Oscar Berger takes office as the new president of
Guatemala. Both Berger and his opponent, Alvaro Colom, campaigned
on the promise of creating more jobs here in Guatemala. Yet the
government here has little power to define economic policy. In
December, while Guatemalans were getting ready to celebrate Christmas,
the outgoing government, together with the governments of El Salvador,
Honduras, and Nicaragua, signed the Central America Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States. Despite the name, CAFTA
does not promote equitable trade or the creation of stable jobs
at a living wage here. For example, the Central American countries
are required to remove any tariffs and restrictions on the import
of agricultural products from the United States. While the United
States government subsidies many agricultural products, CAFTA
prohibits subsidies by the Central American governments for their
agricultural sector. CAFTA also prohibits the import of many low-cost
generic drugs. This prohibition was one of the principal reasons
Costa Rica refused to sign the treaty. Most analysts here expect
the implementation of CAFTA, if it is ratified by the U.S. Congress,
to spur increased levels of immigration, just as the North American
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has led to more immigration from
Mexico.
At the end of November I went to a wedding in the community of
Sibilia in the mountains north of Quetzaltenango. Both the bride
and groom are high school graduates with technical degrees in
secretarial skills and bookkeeping, respectively. Her family is
one of the most prosperous in the community, as her father sells
used cars brought in from the United States. Both of these young
people are very active in their church. They don’t see any
future for themselves here in Guatemala, so they are planning
to migrate to the United States. Often it’s not the poorest
who take the risk to emigrate, but the most prepared and the most
ambitious. Guatemala is losing many of its brightest and best
young people, who end up working in menial jobs in the United
States if they make it across the border. Enough people make it
to keep the dream alive.
As you listen to debates about trade policy and immigration policy
in the United States, I pray you will keep in mind the women of
Quisil who are waiting for the next remittances from their husbands
to pay for their children’s school books as the new academic
year begins. They are our sisters in Christ, whose only desire
is for a good life for their children.
Blessings to you in this new year,
Karla, for all of us
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page
133 |
