Report

As soon as I arrived in Guatemala, I experienced how friendly, affable, and welcoming the its people are. After passing through Customs and Immigration, and before arriving at the luggage claim area, there was a hall in the airport where a large Marimba Band was playing typical Guatemalan sounds, welcoming all arriving passengers. The thirty-five years of civil war that had affected this country up to 1996 can be easily forgotten when one receives such a warm welcome.

Three hours after the plane had landed, I was in downtown Guatemala City, introducing myself to the CARE-Guatemala officers and, from then on, twelve incredible weeks became a reality in my summer 2001. I only stayed two days in Guatemala City. I then traveled to the town of Tejutla (population 3,000) in the central part of the Department of San Marcos in what is known as the highlands of Guatemala. Located between 8,000 and 10,000 feet above sea level, Tejutla became my adoptive town and was the place where I stayed throughout most of my internship with CARE.

According to the terms of reference prepared by CARE, I was to undertake a social evaluation of MIBOSQUE, a forestry project that has been implemented in four highland Guatemalan departments. My job was specifically to evaluate how well this project was doing in the Municipality of Tejutla and its surrounding communities. The evaluation included two additional components under my supervision: the search for new anthropological indicators that can lead to more communal involvement in the project, and the training of CARE and Municipality of Tejutla officers in social and anthropological aspects of rural development.

Once in Tejutla, the recently created Municipality's Agriculture and Environmental Conservation Office employed me as their social advisor. I developed and implemented "Planes Communales", a methodological tool that identifies and prioritizes the real needs of local communities. The little village of Julen (population 470), lying at 10,000 feet above sea level, was selected as a test case in order to undertake this analysis. At that time, the Project MIBOSQUE had not yet reached this community. It was, therefore, an opportune moment to set some time aside and use this tool and listen carefully what a community genuinely wanted from development agencies, such as CARE, among the others working in the region.

At the end of the Planes Communales, the community of Julen prioritized the following aspects of its desired development: water supply expansion, agricultural enhancement, and forestry management. The latter will start in mid 2002, since the villagers need more preparation time in order to become involved in the study. The training in social studies that CARE and the local Municipality received will help further that process.

What could have been regarded as a straightforward internship, ended up being a consultancy, the results of which were submitted to CARE for their analysis. CARE-Guatemala is clearly interested in reviewing its policies and in making relevant changes to strengthen its social perspectives on development in the country. In academic terms, this work will be used as part of my Anthropology Master's program, to be completed at the end of Fall 2001.

Thus, the Coca-Cola World Citizenship Program provided me with a marvelous opportunity to get connected again in the working environment of community participation in natural resources management, which is my professional field. Additionally, the experience had an academic perspective that I used to the benefit of expanding my master's studies.

To those who will be thinking about applying for this Program in future, I tell you not to hesitate. Besides the work and the academic aspects, one other feature that I valued greatly during this experience was the simple, but lasting, connections that one gets with local people. I was very lucky to keep that airport impression during my stay Guatemala. That is why I thank those that worked with me, as well as the people who were simply there - living their daily lives.

Photo Gallery

Standing at the foothill of Mountain Jul, before starting the community planning with Julen villagers.

Drawing a preliminary map with Julen villagers, identifying the main landscape marks.

Conducting an evaluation meeting after we carried out the community planning.

A woman in Julen, attending a herd of sheeps as one of her multiple daily tasks.

Encounter of Santiago and San Marcos. Part of a religious ceremony during the Fiesta de Tejutla. San Marcos (left) is welcomed by Santiago (patron saint of Tejutla) as he arrives in town.

Two inquisitive faces witness the religious parade.

The Fiesta de Tejutla continues throughout the day.