International Women's Day

In celebration of el Día Internacional de la Mujer I'd like to say a few words about some of the incredible women that I've been working with for the last 18 months. As I've alluded to in other posts, women here have the cards stacked seriously against them. First, Guatemala is infamous for "machismo." Machismo is a kind of socialized sexism that says that men are dependent on women for everything, that they should and will always be subservient, that their minds are weaker and their bodies good only for serving the "stronger" sex. Second, the women I live with are poor, often extremely poor. They are dependent on their land to produce so that they can eat, and in years of drought or plague the consequences are grave. Lastly, the women I work with are indigenous. Though their culture is rich and ancient, they are treated as second-class citizens by many of their Spanish-descent neighbors. They struggle to understand in school (if they are lucky enough to go) and they have to fight tooth and nail to gain the place in society that people of the dominant culture treat as a birthright.

Despite the odds, and all of the boulders placed in their paths, many of these women thrive. They whisper to each other that the world doesn't have to be as it is, that domestic violence and lack of education don't need to be the norm; they fight for the development of their communities, for their rights to clean water, education and vaccination for their children. And little by little they change themselves and the people around them. They are strong, they are persistent and they are inspiring.