Climate Action Guatemala Project #7047

Save Mayan Conservation Practices

by Creative Action Institute

Project Report | Dec 14, 2011
Marching for the Environment

By Allison Havens | ArtCorps Artist

ArtCorps Artist Allison Havens and CARE Youth Leaders in Conservation bring environmentalism and creativity to a Honduran community's traditional parade.

It was a hot and humid day like normal in La Masica, Honduras and all my 100 kids and their parents were already lined up at the gas station ready to start the parade. My heart dropped a little realizing that they all actually showed up on time, for once. Meaning that we still had another 2 hours to wait for the beginning of the parade, due to my overestimation of typical Honduran tardiness. But it was just as well considering we still had to feed all 150 people and I realized that most of the kids were still wearing their Sunday best, waiting to change into their costumes. Wow, these kids dressed up to come to La Masica to participate in the parade! OK, this is a big deal for them…

We served them their Wendys hamburgers and fries, graciously provided by CARE. Another point that made my heart drop a little. Here we are marching in a parade for the conservation of the environment and instead of choosing to hire a local group of women to provide the lunch or trying to use as little waste as possible, CARE decided to buy expensive hamburgers from Wendys in La Ceiba, out of a beautiful desire to provide something special for the kids. And all of that money that we spent on those 150 lunches will be now going back into the profits of a rich North American chain restaurant, when that money could have been invested in a local La Masica business. And we just contributed more trash to the environment before our environmental themed parade, in a community that already has a big enough waste management problem. But… anyways, the truth… I was grateful for the specialness of the Wendys hamburgers that day because it made the two hour wait less frustrating and ceased the complaints of the impatient parents who were thrilled that CARE cared enough to provide a special lunch for them and their kids. So anyways, another issue for another day, we can’t solve all the world’s problems in one day… we still had a parade to march in!

And so, we finally sandwiched our two-block long section of 100 kids and youth marching for the environment in between the beauty queen float and the armed narcotraffickers marching on their pure breed horses. Our environmental-themed exhibit was the first time a group had done something so creative and with a purely social message in the annual La Masica Carnival parade. Normally, it is just beauty queens, business advertisement, lots of punta music, pretty girls and drunk spectators. Oh god, should I have brought these children to this event…? Is this gonna be PG?? Are these parents gonna kill me? But nonetheless, we persevered onward providing a light of positivity and family fun in this annual parade! We were led by the fearless horse crew- leading our horse and buggy carrying the environmental mural the youth from Instituto Gonzalo had painted, next we had our “Water is Life, protect it!” banner painted by the youth working with Junta de Agua, and then the kids from Tripoly in their butterfly and flower costumes, followed by the kids from Tarritos in their paper-mache bird costumes and their giant moving and dancing snake, then came the band from Monte Negro school shakily leading our environmental song and chants, next came the trees walking alongside the river, held in the hands of the girls of Monte Negro in their flowing traditional danza dresses, next were rows of kids from Monte Negro, Naranjal, and Instituto Gonzalo carrying their homemade signs with environmental messages and noise-makers, and finally wrapping up our section were the cars from CARE and the Municipality throwing rambuttan fruit to the crowd and blasting music.

And while the march was definitely a bit too long and everyone was exhausted in the end, the kids were proud. Hopefully we inspired others to try something a little more community-focused and a bit more creative in the parade next year. And hopefully some of them are also now conserving their use of water more, realizing the importance of their forests, and inspired to protect the future quality of life for their children.

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Sep 26, 2011
The Ecosystem, Up Close and Personal

By Allison Havens | ArtCorps Artist

ArtCorps Artist Allison Havens and 10 Youth Leaders in Conservation pile into a truck to learn firsthand about their ecosystem.

Over the past few months, the sessions with my core group of community service high school students have been devoted to getting to know ourselves better, using art and creative exercises to answer questions like: "Who am I? Where do I come from? What is important to me? Who are we as a group?" We've gotten comfortable listening and sharing in a circle, working as a team and learning to encourage everyone to participate. And now...we are ready to get to work on our first project together−a mural!

But first we need to learn a little bit about the topics and issues that we're going to be addressing in our mural−how the natural environment affects us, our water system and the future of the community. So we are taking a field trip to our water source, the life-blood of our precious ecosystem.

The Mayor's Representative, Don Marcos, graciously drove half of the group and Oscar, the CARE Watershed Coordinator, gave a ride to the rest of us. 10 screaming teenagers in the back of a pickup truck made for a lively start to the trip! Once we arrived at the base of the mountain, we trekked about 30 minutes through the woods to reach the river. Talk about beautiful!

Oscar and Don Santiago, the President of La Masica's Water Council, explained how the water system operates hand-in-hand with all parts of the ecosystem to ensure a stable and clean supply of water. We often talk about "the environment" in abstract terms, but it's hard to have a real understanding of what it means to "care for our planet" or "protect our water supply". That's why I wanted our group to see up close where and how we get the water that comes to our homes. And to learn why sometimes the water doesn't reach our houses or we get sick if we drink the water from the tap. And to identify some of the current threats to our natural resources.

The youth also heard why one member of their community, Don Santiago, decided to volunteer his time to improve and protect this water system for the entire community. When the water doesn't run or there's a problem with the water supply, its easy for people to complain, but often those same people don't work to solve the problem, or participate in the water council meetings. Don Santiago inspired us by his stories and example to be part of the solution.

Overall, the youth loved the experience of the hike, the fresh air, the trees, being in the mountains and being together. Without doubt, these are excellent lessons to take away as well.

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Aug 18, 2011
La Red

By Andrea Shigeko Landin | ArtCorps Artist

One of the first activities we did at the Artcorps orientation in Antigua, back in January, was a "desempalabrar" exercise. Using any or all of the letters in our name, we tried to form as many words as we could, and eventually, a sentence with those words. To me, the most significant word that came from Andrea was the word “red” (in Spanish, red = network, chain, connections). The sentence I then formed was “Andaré [y] daré en red” (andaré = I will walk, daré = I will give). This “red”, I’ve recently realized, has come to life.

As I explore deeper with my kids the traditions and memories that have been maintained by the Quiché for centuries here in Toto, the theme of “La red de la vida” (the network of life) surfaces constantly. It has always been said that the forest births clouds and the clouds birth water. There are certain types of trees in the forest that filter and cleanse the water, which is why if you go up far enough into the forest, the water is the purest you will ever find. But without all these trees, i.e. the forest, there are no clouds, and without clouds there is no water. So all the deforestation going on causes more problems than just taking away the breathtaking beauty of the mountains. And within this Mayan cosmovisión the red continues– the relationship between fire, water, soil, and air, for example, as well as the family of the sun, moon, earth, and stars.

I recently started taking K’iche’ classes from a wonderful señor who has offered to help me in my quest to communicate with more people in their first language; I have been learning not only how to form sentences, but how deeply connected the language is to the way of thinking. For example, ¿Cómo estás? en k’iche’ is Utz awach? Utz means bienestar, or wellbeing, and wach means rostro, or face – literally, is your body well. Buenas tardes is x’be q’ij; q’ij = sol o día, sun or day, and xb’e = ya está en camino, has set out on its path– the other greetings are similarly tied with the sun or the moon.

And while glimpsing into la red that has existed for centuries here in Toto, I have been forming my own red without really realizing it. While my plans were being conceived in the beginning of the year, I remember thinking, am I really going to be able to do all of this by myself? And the answer was no. I came here as an artist, and artists work not only to create and compose, but also to arrange and see and form patterns – look at things in freshly colored lenses from various distances. I never suspected it that I would be collaborating with such people ranging from a muralist to a Mayan spiritual guide to agronomists and journalists to a hip hop artist. All of our work here is deeply connected, and their experience and creativity has been holding me up more than I sometimes realize.

Framing the picture of myself and my work in this way – as just one drop of water or one star within la red makes me think about both the fragility and the strength of all of this is, and how a work of art is being woven this year - or maybe it has already been woven and we are just adding some new threads to it. Whatever the case, my mid-year resolution is to continue andando y dando en red.

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