CHAJUL PAST AND PRESENT

I am compiling a history and cultural section on Chajul. The name Chajul is made up of two ixil words. Jul which means to be encased in by mountains and Tzaj which means lighting. According to the tradition of their for fathers this site was sacred and in the surrounding mountains were religous ceremonial centers for the Ixil people. It was in the second century that the Ixil people were pushed out of their lands to the south by the Kiche tribe and came to this area.

Chajul is a pre-colonial town but was concord without a fight by the Spanish in 1530 after they defeated neighboring Nebaj. It was then Chajul reached its population height of 20,000-25,000 inhabitants. In 1750 the population began to recover from Spanish rule and began returning to the establishment of leaders from the indigenous inhabitants.
In 1890 ladinos (people of mix Spanish and Indian decent) came to the region and began contracting with the Ixil to work in the plantations along the coast. This started a season of labor exploitation that continued into the present generation. In the book “I Rigoberta Mnechu” chapter four she describes a griping tale of this life. Forty Indians would be crowded into a large truck with their animals and began the trip to the coast. The trucks were tarped and they were charged a loading and unloading fee so they stayed inside with the feces and vomit for a day and a half. Once on the plantation with company ran stores, clinics and cantinas so it was difficult to save any money during the one to three month stay. This work force was made up not only of men but consisted of the whole family. Today along the coast by you can find a Ixil community still wearing traditional dress that has relocated there permanently.
Today the name Chajul can refer both to the town of 11,000 people or the municipal (a municipal is similar to a county) that consist of 60 villages and 37,000 people. Chajul is part of what is referred to the Ixil triangle, three municipals Nebaj, Chajul and Cortzal that are home to the Ixil a Mayan people group. The road to Chajul was paved in ’98 increasing access but transportation slows as you make you way on to other villages. I get excited as I approach Chajul from Sacapulas. One reason is you start to climb out of the dry lands into the greenery of the mountains and another is the colorful clothing of the women and the stylish hats of the men tell you that you are entering a specific tribal homeland. Life slows down a bit and you are in the lands of the Ixil. It is beautifully different.

When I first came to Chajul Higinio’s brother was the alcade or mayor of Chajul. It was under his direction that the fountain, benches and facelift of the porch were done. During the civil conflict that ravage Guatemala Chajul was particularly hard hit. The account in the book I Roberta Manchu where her brother was killed along with six other Guatemalans happened here. His body was burned in front of the Church. I have read that at night the army that garrisoned six to seven thousand solders here would hang the bodies of insurgents from this balcony and in the morning the local firemen would take them down. I am so thankful for peace.
When I come to Chajul from the outlaying villages we arrive here before dawn. I usually buy a glass of hot rice milk from a lady who sell it under the brick arch and then take a nap on one of the benches until daybreak. When the morning light starts to fill the sky the venders for the open air market begin arriving in the plaza below here and life begins again.

The photo above is of the construction of the central park with the goal of bringing in tourism. These construction workers are probable making $10 a day on this government job but I have seen entry level wages at $3 a day.

Today Chajuls population is 96% indigenous Mayan.

A farmer like this boy’s father will average $600 a year.

Literacy rates are said to be up to 80%.

Child mortality rates reach 40% by the age of 5 in some of the outlining villages.

Electricity and running water are available in some but not most of the villages.

Corn is central to their diet and coffee is an export item.

Traditional weaving and agriculture are the main commerce.

Many parts of the local architect are reflective of its colonial past.

Public education is avalible to the six grade level

CHECK BACK FOR MORE INFOMATION LATER ADIOS

CLEAN WATER

In today’s world where we have a never ending supply of tap water, cold and hot water in our sinks and showers, ice water from our refrigerator, timed water in our sprinkler systems, and bottled water in our stores it is incredible that 1.1 billon people lack access to clean drinking water. 1.1 billon! That is everyone in the United States times 5! What an outcry we would make if our state of Washington lost its clean water. What a tragedy to see our children die due to diseases caused by a lack of clean water. The nation, yes the world would take notice. Help would be on its way. The headlines would read, “Nine Million Washingtonians without Clean Water.” Why then do we stay silent at 110 Washingtons without clean water? If it is because the problem is too big and difficult lets break it down and make it doable and personal. If the statistic that 30,000 people mostly children die each week because of disease caused by lack of clean water is too abstract to act on let look at helping in a village of 22 families hat has an infant mortality rate of pushing forty percent. A kitchen sink in a home with access to potable water. This is one of the better situations. In February ’08 I took a quick trip back to visit five of 9 villages without water behind Chel. These these following photos are from Los Encuentros a village of seventy families. The situation here is typical of most of these villages. The villages are set on a ridge with some but not a lot of land above them so it is not a naturally good situation to find water. There is no electricity and many needs in these communities who rely on subsistence farming to survive. Open ponds and cistrens provide water for utilitarian needs.

The man in this photo is an active leader in the community. During a breakfast of Malaga, a starching root that grows wild and tortillas I listened to how his village was bombed during the civil war and all their crops destroyed. The only food source the army could not eradicate was the wild root Malaga so for two years this was their survival food. We talked about the water situation here where their only water source is collecting rain water.

He informed me that about 30% of the houses have one black poly tank to collect water. These tanks hold 1000 liters and cost about $250 dollars. They do not have a filter system nor do they seal the caps to these tanks. Both of these problems could be easily remedied but a family needs two to three tanks to supply themselves throughout the three month dry season. Even providing 50 families with one tank and a filter would cost $15,000. This would be a big help but is also a big expense for a Band-Aid fix. He also told me that they have found a spring 2 hours away by foot. This spring is only large enough for half of the community and would cost around $18,000 to develop and pipe to the village for a community water source. Wells can be a risky venture because this area is remote making the cost of transporting a well drilling rig is prohibitive ,the depth of the water table unknown and there is no electricity for pumping. All of this information show there is not always an easy solution and careful study is needed to proceed in the best manner. It also demonstrates that the need of the people is great as they live on the edge of survival. With limited food and water their need cries out to our compassion. This year I am going to meet and study a way to assist this community hopefully in ’10.

Children of Xesayi with there school house in the background.

There are two communities with similar needs but easier solutions that I want to help first. One is Xesayi, home to twenty two families, one hundred and ten people. All the homes here have dirt floors including the school. This community is one of the three that received electricity in ’07 by building a small hydro electric facility. This project was funded by a green carbon exchange grant and is the first such project in Guatemala. This community has access to two springs and either one could be developed into a gravity system that would supply the village both now and for the projected future. The distance is not great, the water is clean, the system would be easy to construct and maintain. When I see a situation like this I tell myself let’s just do it. It is so simple and will give a gift of life this year, next year, ten, twenty, and thirty years from now. What could be a better investment? This year we have secured the rights of usage and passage for one of these springs and had an architect look at tank size and design. I hope to finish plans and budget in my first few meetings in Guatemala and proceed with installation. We are hoping to be able to keep this project under $10,000 with the village supplying labor and Seeds of Hope supplying material.
The other community that I have been invited to visit is Nuevo Puntos. It is another community of 22 families. This community is further back in the hills with the final leg of the journey being a half hour walk in. This community is a C.P.R. community that had organized against the oppression during the civil conflict. It’s only source of water is from collecting rain water. There is a spring three kilometers away that would serve the community with a gravity feed clean water source. I hope to develop a working plan and budget for this community for the next trip in’10.

When I read statistics about clean water I can see the problem is huge. When I visit a family without a good water source I see it is personal. I want to share a little of both of these stories with you in hope of raising your awarenessand with that awareness action..

INTRODUTION TO TRIP '09

I have let my blog go silent for quite awhile but have not stop dreaming, planning, and working on how to continue helping in the Chajul region. Last May, I made a list of goals for the next six months. I have done well on three of the six, made some progress on two of the others, but haven’t yet touched the sixth. All this shows me that this is a big process, and it is accomplished by a lot of little steps. The biggest goal, and the most important one to achieve over this next year, is to come under a sister non-profit organization or to start one. Many of the steps for both options are the same so I can, “fish in both ponds” so to speak. It is a humbling process both in the daunting task of learning new skills and that of building a network of interested people. I love both the dream of assisting these people to better their life and the potential for people in the states to directly help these families, but standing in the middle of both worlds is very stretching for me. All said, I am at a crossroad of saying this is bigger than me, and I am starting to reach out for help. I am looking at this year as a year to solidify the form and direction of this organization and to prove the value and validity of these ideas. I invite you all to follow along. Enjoy the beauty and trials of life in this region. Along our journey in life, there are many ways that each of us can step in and make life better. If the opportunities presented here are of interest to you, please contact me @ mewens000centurytel.net Here is a photo of twenty widows to whom we have been providing a monthly allotment of food. Pictured below is an example of what is provided, with about #25 of corn being the largest commodity. Sixty widows around Chel have asked for help in establishing a weaving co-op. We are going to choose seven to ten of the widows presently in the food program who are too old to work, to stay in the food program and provide $25 worth of thread to each of the 50 others.I would like to provide thread twice a year. When the women sell their weavings, a portion of what each sells would go into the co-op to help the food program. A local fair trade store in Gig Harbor, Washington is going to sell some of their wares as well as display a photo journal of the program. I want the women to elect officers to record and manage the program. We will see how this goes. The man in the red and white shirt is Higinio Asicona. He is working for the regional government in developmental aid and has been a real asset in introducing me to communities and program development. The man in the green shirt is Manuel Riviera and is a very respected leader in Chel

( see entre "las viudas de chel '08" for more)

PROJECT TWO--- Water for Xesayi. This is a community of 22 families for whom we have been studying how to provide drinking water. In June, Higinio brought an architect to this village to look at the springs and work on a design. He provided this service for only the cost of transportation as payment. It was good to bring another perspective into the picture. The estimantes for this project have been varied a lot, with my projection landing in between Higinio’s and the architect’s. I have a friend who is researching using Ultra-Violet light to purify water from a nearby stream. This would eliminate a lot of piping. Rites of passages for the water have been cleared, but we are not yet solid on a budget. After some meetings and research, I hope to plow ahead with this project. The local community will supply labor and set up a maintenance committee, and I will provide materials and hire a mason to oversee the tank construction. Each of the choices for the water supply are higher in elevation, so this system will be gravity fed into a storage tank and then distributed to each house. One hose bib with clean water can make a huge difference to ta home. Below are some of the children of Xesayi in the “town center”. This village is just a fifteen-minute walk from Chel and sets on the side of a hill with a precious view. The building behind the kids is their school. Below and to the right are some of the men from this village after a meeting in Chel.

(view "clean water '09"post for more)

Project Three--- Giving people the ability to provide for themselves is one of the greatest gifts we can offer. It puts their future in their hands. It lets them dream and work to reach those dreams. In Guatemala the patience level required for bettering you life or the life of your family is totally different. Parents are willing to work hard, taking small steps with the hope that their children will have a better future. For this reason, I believe offering income generating programs is a great investment. We are trying to provide programs that require an investment by the recipient and multiply the original gift. We will develop and offer a small animal project this year. I do not have a lot of money for this right now so we will offer one of the small communities a program of sheep or chickens. The cow program that we started last year was very well received, and the regional government has used the same model to provide 200 cows in the Chajul region. Small gifts in this direction can really change the future for a family. I will post the details after some meetings with the local leaders. ( for more on the cows see "Operacion Bendicion '08")

Here is the start of a chicken project on which Higinio was working. Fifty meat chickens with feed and feeders cost around $100. Materials for a pen will run around $80. Sheep cost around $35 each and $15 to transport to the villages.
. In Guatemala I will be working to form a committee that will oversee the direction of future projects and the management of existing ones. I am also desiring to hire someone four or five days a month for research and reporting. The projects of pots and pans for Amechel and water for the community of Nuevo Puntos are still on the “to do” list but will have to wait for funding. I am looking forward to deepening relationships and clarifying how we can turn this effort into a real, working organization. I worry about the “bumps in the road” that always come, but, if life is nothing else, it is a journey. I would really enjoy feedback so if you have any ideas or suggestions please e-mail me. If you are interested in helping, let’s get connected. I know this year our economy is very slow, but imagine spinning a world globe, then randomly put your finger on a spot to stop it. Chances are the things that we might have to cut back on are things that the people that live where you are pointing will never even have the chance to experience. Good shoes, a good job, enough food, education, clean tap water or a shower are luxury items in many places.We still have the opportunity to share and make a difference in this world. I encourage you to find a way to do just that. Plant a seed and watch it grow. We can’t change the world or can we?

When Forrest died in Afghanistan he left me $10,000. Last year we used this money to buy 22 cows, one freezer, a table saw and some carpentry tools, materials for a concrete floor, 50 fence post and some other building materials for the people of Chajul. A little more was added, and we have been feeding twenty widows for the last ten months, bought a gas stove for a family, some blankets, shoes, and clothes. My family and some of Forrest’s friends pooled together and funded a well for 500 people in Afghanistan. I realize that my son gave me the seed money to pursue a dream of helping in regions of extreme poverty and need. With a high cost, he has planted a precious seed. With careful cultivation I want to watch it grow. By investing in a cow here, or a chicken there, clean water for a community, or just standing by someone in their struggle, I would like to see a garden grow. I would like to form an organization or sub chapter with one and name it “Seeds of Hope.” Doing this will form a bridge that we could use to reach directly into these lives and lend a helping hand. I don’t know what the future holds and even though this last year might have been hard, it was a good one. I look forward to planting some more seeds this years and seeing what grows

En camino sacrado Michael Departure date January 27th 2009 Return March 27th

For more about Forrest see the post "Thank-you Forrest '09"