October 10, 2005
Over the past few years a group from Hillsboro Presbyterian Church
in Nashville, Tennessee, has invested money and emotional energy
in some young people in Sayaxché, Petén, who touched
them by their sincerity and desire to learn.
Looking at history we find that the Mayan civilization was flourishing
in what is now the harsh climate of Petén while Europe
was locked in the mediocrity of the Dark Ages, and progress in
literature, science, and art were still hundreds of years in the
future. The Mayan civilization disappeared around 800 CE (it appears
constant war was the cause—we should learn from that) and
Central and South America later filled the coffers of European
powers during the age of exploration with treasure of all kinds.
Regional scholars believe the treasure taken (stolen) from the
New World made Europe wealthy and is still a factor in the high
incidence of poverty here.
During the age of colonization soldiers and settlers took the
best lands, and natives were sent scurrying to the mountains to
eke out a living. In the late 1800s coffee was found to grow well
in the mountainous regions of Guatemala. The land was declared
vacant by President Barrios and sold to foreign investors who,
with the aid of the army, conscripted many of the indigenous who
had lived there for generations to work the plantations as near
slaves. Things have not improved for them since then.
Education statistics are grim so Hillsboro Presbyterian Church
partnered with Sayaxché Kekchi Presbytery to create an
environment where kids from the country could study in the town
of Sayaxché during the week and return to their villages
on weekends. That effort is now three years old and is yet hopeful,
but it has had some painful disappointments.
Rosendo and Dominga were two of the better students of the 18
that took advantage of the opportunity to study. Those from the
United States thought they would simply create a place where kids
could live while they attended school during the week. They found
that didn’t always coincide with the desires of the parents.
The parents are usually thinly educated, mothers frequently illiterate,
fathers only a step away. Scratching out a living rather than
securing an education took precedence for most of them. Rosendo
and Dominga were invested with great hopes but they became disillusioned;
they wanted to go to the United States since their little education
convinced them there were no opportunities in Sayaxché.
They wrote mournful, plaintive letters that evoked tears in the
eyes of the readers. Later they married but without much enthusiasm.
We saw them recently and they are parents with a 7-month-old baby.
They weren’t happy when we saw them prior to this trip,
and they didn’t appear too happy this time either, especially
Dominga, who wrote another mournful letter asking for money to
see a physician since she has been sick since the Caesarean section
seven months ago. They said they couldn’t continue their
educations. At the age of 19 both had finished the eighth grade,
which was enough for their families and apparently for them, since
they could not get to the United States.
We learned another young couple had married—Alejandro
and Maria Elena. They too had been students but quit last June
and got married in September. On an earlier visit to the center
one of the students, Rebecca, asked us to talk to her father since
he had held her out of school for two weeks to work the land.
She wanted to study. Her mother had nothing to say about the matter
but it was clear the mother could see no value in education. Rebecca
is now working full time on the family land. We learned Hugo also
quit. He refused to talk about it when we saw him.
But there are bright spots. Concepción is about to finish
high school and will be encouraged to enter university. Her education
is poor since it was obtained in the rural hamlet of Sayaxché,
but maybe she’ll be admitted. We met a 24-year-old man presently
in the tenth grade, Pedro Choc, who evidenced a level of maturity
not frequently seen. He was able to use the computer brought by
their partner and will teach others how to use it. He wants to
be a teacher. We didn’t tell him reports indicate there
are 40,000 teachers out of work, that the system produces 18,000
each year with only openings for 3,000. His situation is tough
enough. One can be a teacher in Guatemala with only a high school
diploma.
Ninety thousand kids leave high school before graduating every
year, and the employment system cannot absorb them with or without
the diploma. Options are few for these kids. In the United States
the popular TV program “Survivor: Guatemala” calls
to mind the great Mayan civilization. But the Mayans have not
disappeared. The show that so many enjoy in the United States
becomes an obscenity here since surviving is not entertainment
but the harsh reality of Mayan daily existence. It seems the Mayans
are still providing treasure for foreigners while not profiting
themselves, as has been the case for 500 years. Hillsboro’s
effort, though modest, values the Mayan people and recalls the
lament of the Psalmist who wrote, “for the needy shall not
always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever”
(Ps. 9:18). But we all wonder how long O Lord, how long?
Roger and Gloria
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
62
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