La Cumbre and the Mayan People -

Education and jobs are essential ingredients in a society that is to have self respsect in my opinion. There is no doubt this is lacking everywhere in Guatemala. In the slums of Santa Lucia the lack of hope can be seen but you cant help feeling that the people here in La Cumbre are even more hopeless.
Generally I think people around the world are pretty much the same. naturally good natured. Also when you travel a bit you generally have to trust in the good nature of humans in general or you wouldnt leave your hostel. In the classrooms I see characters that remind me of when I was in school, the messer, the goodey two shoes etc..

Making some stars withsome wool and wreaths.....

Its the the same in the womens groups the jokes they make would remind you of a group of women back home. . So I do believe that everybody is the same basically, however here in La Cumbre, especially with the women and children, a lack of confidence is pretty evident.
The colour of the peoples skin is darker so you can clearly tell that they are from native decent rather than Spanish. Being from Myan decent I would have thought that they would be very proud. Although much of the Myan culture and knowledge is now lost, even with the simplest things like, actually inventing corn from cultivating everday grass, or building the largest Pyramid in the world, or the understanding of natural medicines, you would feel the Myan people have plenty to be proud of. The fact is they should. Why arent they then??

1492 - The Nina, The Pinta and the Santa Maria landed on the shores bringing with them 400 years of the "Great" Conquistadors. Desamating a great, and in many ways superior race so that the once proud people could be used as slaves to extract gold and silver from their own land.

1954 - A socialist Goverment, along with introducing many fair reforms for the poorest, tried to compulsary purchased land, not being used, by the United Fruit Company, at the price they stated on their tax returns. Trying to redistribute it to the poorest people. The final straw for the US government. In reponse a CIA (the new conquistadors) led coup installed a military leader to reverse the social justices introduced by the former elected government and allow the United Fruit Company extract all the profits from the land.

1960 - 1996 - A civil war started by left wing intellectuals and suffered by the Myan people engulfs the country for 36 years. 83% of the estimated 250,000 people killed are of indigenous decent.

2011 - A former general accused of many atrocities against the indigenous people is elected president in a country where 70% of the population is considered as being from indigenous decent. In fact Rigoberta Menchú who won a Noble peace prize for making the world aware of the plight of Guatemala's indigenous people, and had the support of a united left alliance, went out in the first round.
How you ask? Pretty simple, a combination of money and ignorance. General Otto Pérez Molina had the most money of all candidates. Most of the people in the poorest areas don't bother voting, as is typical throughout the world. The ones that did and had TV's probably voted for him because of the flashy add campaign. Most are illiterate and wouldnt be able to read about his past. Normally there is a campaign of free t shirts and hats or even water tanks or toilets before an election to persuade the illiterate into beleiving how genuine a potential leader is. Of course only a candidate with a lot of money in the first place can have huge add campaigns and free latreens. Normally a person with vested interests in keeping the country a capitalist haven.
The candidate who came second, Manuel Baldizon, spent the second most amount of money on his campaign. His father in law is a well known drug lord and one of his electoral promises was that he would make sure Guatemala were at the next world cup. I haven't seen a kid in Guatemala play with a proper football yet. They play with oversize ping pong balls, that bring a new meaning to the wind blowers of old. World cup?
The once proud Myan people seem truelly broken, and it is difficult to see how it is going to ever change. The worst stories are of families living on coffee and tortillas every day, with any extra money going to support the father of the family's drinking habit. Of people not being interested in helping themselves when they are given the tools and the support. A pure lack of self esteem.This is why Seeds of Help only help people who help themselves in some way. It seems harsh at first but thowing money at the poverty achieves nothing and actually has a negative affect on the society.

There are however a few phoenix's rising up through the ashes with a warm smile on their faces and confidence and hope in their eyes. Today I met a girl who is going into her last year of study to become a bi lingual primary school teacher. A Florentina a girl who Walter proudly informed me once could not look you in the eye and whispered and giggled like most other of the women in La Cumbre. She was wearing traditional embrodered dress made by herself and was giving a class to a number of women on weaving while on her summer holidays. The thinking is that the women in turn could bring the skill back to their villages and possibly make a few extra pound off it.

I had wondered how effective the childrens or womens groups were when I first arrived but I now see how inportant they are. They are the only way that the lives of people will improve in La Cumbre, Through education there is a chance.

About this picture. For one day we though the kids to build pretty basic houses. This girl went home and built this mansion for herself. The detail is unbelievable, she has tortillas on the kitchen table and a tv. Really really cool to see.