Unos dias en Comalapa

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Forget for a moment two ply toilet paper and memory foam, forget lululemon, GPAs, skinny jeans and side bangs, forget sudoku, hairspray, saturday night live, and yam rolls. Forget your insecurities, facebook account and broken finger nails. Now fill your heart and mind with a desire for change, a desire to eliminate injustice, to right wrongs and struggle for your people. Fill your heart with love and value for the smallest most important things in life. Let all your illusions about NGO work and ´third world´conditions go and meet yourself in a place where things like teeth whitener and botox don´t matter.

Although we only spent three days in Comalapa, Chimaltenango with our friend Rosenda (who we met while she was in Canada travelling with the MOJOMAYAS) we learned an awful lot in those short days. We learned how to make tortillas (although ours were slightly lopsided compared to her mom´s perfectly round ones), we listened to songs sang by some of the community´s children (part of a project to encourage kids to connect with their Mayan roots, learning the instruments, songs and dances of their ancestors), we visited the exhumation site where 200 bodies were recovered in 2004-2006. 200 out of 2000 disappeared indigenous people who were kidnapped from their homes, tortured, raped and murdered during the 36 years of armed internal conflict. Considering that Rosenda´s father was one of the men kidnapped in the night from their home, it was a very powerful visit to the exhumation site. Although her father´s remains have not been recovered, it is their great hope that eventually they will find him in order to give him a proper burial and let their hearts rest, at least a little. Needless to say, our time in Comalapa was very special, and we were able to build some relationships that will never fade.

Now we are in Antigua for a few days, relaxing and reflecting on the past week. Next we will head to Lanquin, Coban, then San Pedro Lago Atitlan, and then meet up with Brittny in San Cristobal, Chiapas. Enjoy the photos and enjoy life. There is no reason not to.

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Photos

At the Market
Rosenda and I enjoying some fresh fruit at the Sunday Market

tortillando
Hailey, Carmen, Blanca Estela, Rosenda and baby Luis Carlos in the kitchen getting ready for lunch making tortillas!

All lined up
Hailey, Enma, Rosenda and all the kids at Rosenda´s house on Saturday.

Little Dani
Rosenda´s nephew playing with his truck in the yard.

Los hermanos
Edwin, Rosenda, Yolanda, Jesler and Jairo at their home in Comalapa. It was great to meet Enma´s whole family.

home sweet home
Rosenda´s home in Comalapa where we stayed for three nights with her mom, brother, sister in law, and their kids. It was absolutely lovely

sitio de exhumaciones
Hailey and Carmen talking at the exhumation site where the bodies of 200 of the 2000 disappeared indigenous men, women and children were recovered between 2004-2006. Comalapa was just one of many communities in Guatemala that was affected by the terror of the 36 years of armed conflict.

At Enma´s house
Hailey, Rosenda, Carmen, Enma and Jenica