Gladys Monterroso's Story

Sunday August 2, 2009 6pm
Guatemala City, Guatemala

Gladys came to meet us today and to share her unbelievable story with us. Gladys is a lawyer, professor and wife to Sergio Morales, Guatemala's Human Rights Ombudsman.

On the morning of March 25, 2009 she was scheduled to meet colleagues for a work-group breakfast which is common among her colleagues. She had received a call inquiring about her textbooks which are sold on consignment. She told the caller she was busy but would be able to step out of the breakfast to meet and discuss the textbooks.

She retold the story in such vivid details with tears in her eyes and at times unable to continue it was as though it happened yesterday, the pain is still raw.

She recalls walking out of the restaurant to meet the girl who called about the textbooks, after that meeting she was walking back to the restaurant and remembers seeing men in hoods. She did not think anything of it as it was Holy Week and college students usually don hoods and ask for money during this time as it is a ritual.

She was then thrown into the floor well of an SUV, and she asked why they were doing this? They put a gun to her head and were screaming obscenities. She says she remembers driving around for a while and then they fed her pills. They made her drink liquor. She felt woozy, she was burned with cigarettes and brutally raped and beaten. She was raped, beaten,and burned. This ordeal lasted about 12 hours. She was then taken somewhere and thrown out of the truck.

She heard a man's voice and was terrified that she would be raped again. She realized that she had no clothing on and that the man was trying to help her. She asked to use a phone, the man wanted to call the police, she just wanted to call home. She said she spoke with her daughters but they were so upset that they got the address wrong of where she was. She waited a long time and then called again. Finally someone came to get her.

This is where the debacle that is the investigative system in Guatemala begins. To this day there has been no successful progress in her case. What has occurred is shameful. There has been no investigation into the only real lead in her case. The license plate of the SUV that the men used to take her belongs to the mother of one person who is known to be part of a group of kidnappers. Why has this person not been apprehended? The Office of Crimes Against Women still has no information about her case....but it happened in March? How long does it take to drive the information across town?

Gladys has been interrogated by the police, her phones and her families phones have been tapped. Her case has been transferred. The ONLY witness who was smart enough to look at the car that dumped her on the side of the road is now being protected. As is Gladys, she travels everywhere with 2 men who are there to protect her. Her freedom is gone.

Meanwhile she has had to travel to the US to get HIV, STD testing because the Guatemalan system is unreliable. She is "privileged" and she realizes that and that is part of the reason why she is speaking out. Every person should see justice when they are violated. Proper procedures should be followed. That is an unheard of concept in Guatemala as there is no proper training and women are highly disregarded.

In June of this year the CICIG (see my initial post) released all of the details on Gladys' case including information about her medical testing and her genitalia. How is that a part of the process? How can that help her case? She is mortified, but determined that her kidnappers will be brought to justice. We can support her by contacting the International Commission on Human Rights and demanding justice.

Calling Hillary Clinton's Office

So, no one was available to speak with me.
I left a "comment". I just asked if someone could please explain to me how it was that $20 for counternarcotic activities was being approved...and only $500,000 had been previously approved for the past 3 years for violence agains women when Guatemala has a 99.9% domestic/sexual/violence against women rate....

Does anyone think they will call me back?

Public Communication Division:
PA/PL, Rm. 2206
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
202-647-6575

To e-mail the U.S. Department of State, please visit the following website:

http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.

U. S. and our priorities

While in Guatemala we were shocked when Amanda told us how much money is given to Guatemala for private helicopters....I think it was something like 18 MILLION DOLLARS...well then we got to go speak with the US Embassy...and they told us that the amount of USAID money that had been earmarked for the violence against women was ONLY $500,000 and that it was actually going to be a "little less this year". Um excuse me? Last year alone there were over 700 women murdered and by all accounts that we have heard and all the reports we have read that number is expected to go UP this year.

Oh so the point is today we got an announcement that the US plans to give 20 Million to the DR and Guatemala for helicopters.

Why? and Why? WHY DO THEY NEED MONEY FOR HELICOPTERS?

I just cannot understand the logic. I think I am going to call the White House and ask.....be right back.....

What a beautiful country! And people!

Sandra Moran-AMAZING!

Taking Actions

As you know Janett is doing a great job posting our experiences in Guatemala. I have sort of been processing it all. My father-in-law asked me today about the trip and I really had no words for him It was an indescribable experience. It was heart-wrenching and inspiring all at once. I know that we need to step back and think about what we can do at home to help.

So, I have been in contact with Amanda and am thinking about what we can do here at home. Given my trip to the grocery store yesterday and looking at the banana's I felt a flood of anger. This anger can be productive and I am going to find a way to be effective. Ironic that one of my last papers in grad school was about Cesar Chavez and the UFW.

I am going to get in contact with the banana workers in Guatemala and see what actions and help they would like from us and will need your help. We are not going to boycott because that is not what they need. Please stay tuned as I will most likely send out some sort of action alert.

I want to continue to write about Guatemala and tomorrow will pick up where I left off with Gladys Monterroso and her story of kidnap, rape and what has occurred since then.

Watch this!

Please Read VCU-VAW blog

Janett is doing an amazing job updating the blog! I have added a link to it on the left side of my page- the VCU-VAW blog.

I did not do much today besides drink coffee, try to read the NYT - there was actually an article about Mayan Pyramids and the Super Collider in Geneva.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/weekinreview/09glanz.html

Anyhow, we went to Whole Foods- told Matt to be very careful while picking his banana's.
I did however come up with an idea that hopefully will raise some awareness about how Bandegua is treating their female workers in other countries. More on that later.....and yes, I will need your help!

We came home,I laid on the couch and passed out. I am still really tired.
Matt made a great dinner for me including the sacred corn of course and now I am about to sign off before I nod off!

peace and love and to my friends in Guatemala-you know who you are be safe, I am missing you, and will see you all soon! Janett- please take a break! Love you!

I am home!

Apparently while in Antigua the other night I did not save my post! Which is probably okay as I had drank a little Vino with my friends! I am safely home and a little sad because I tried really hard to get to stay until Wednesday with Debbie, Beth and Janett. However none of the other standby's showed up to the airport so I had to get on the plane. Matt picked me and a stranger I had met on the plane up in DC- and I was very excited to see him!

(side note- he Juan Pablo-was en route home to DC and American Airlines lost his luggage and he missed his flight to DC from MIA originating in Costa Rica- he had a long day and ended up sitting next me on the plane--he is a biologist and works for an environmental non-profit in DC so we had a really interesting convo on the plane...thus ending up in me offering him a ride to Fredricksburg since his wife had originally shown up at the airport and he was not on the plane!)

I realize that I have a lot of catching up to do on this blog. This trip was amazing and life changing. I also realize that I need to decompress and think about everything I learned, experienced, and felt. I am emotionally drained but also feel like I have found my purpose in life. I know that may sound cliche. I assure you it is not. Emily Willard and I are very excited about a woman's center in Chimaltenango. We both felt an immediate connection to their mission and are going to collaborate on supporting (apoyando) them in any way we can.

My spanish is back almost 100% and I also learned a few Mayan words! I will post pictures and more information about the delegation soon! I am going to take a few days off and will post more soon!

Hi All!

Hi- we just wanted to give you a quick update! We are currently in Antigua (Old City). We definitely needed to be here today. We had along journey and were in the van for at least 30 hours! Or at least it felt like it! Seriously though we were in the car for at least 4 hours today. We visited a Mayan Community Radio Station (think NPR in the middle of the Guatemalan Mountains). Don Felipe started the radio station eleven years ago. They transmit from the pueblo of Xajaxac. It is a tiny community of Mayans. They rely on the community radio station for all of their information yet the Ministerio Publico (the public defenders office) wants to outlaw them! That seems a little ridiculous considering that out of all the crime in Guatemala only 2% of criminals are convicted YET the Public defenders office wants to spend time and money (60 Million which are U.S. funds----- yeah- your tax dollars) on restricting Community radio stations whose programming includes talking about health issues in the communities, Mayan history, and music. Think about that! Goodnight it is way past my bedtime and we have a meeting with the US Embassy tomorrow! I will continue the rest of my week's story soon!

Heavy stuff...........

So it is only Monday(technically Tuesday as it is 12:15am). It feels like we have been here for such a long time. We had a very busy and emotionally trying day yesterday. We started out with an orientation.

We talked about our Hopes and Expectations for the trip and we wrote them on big posters and there were some good ones most of them were really positive like being able to take our experiences home and make some positive changes for the people of Guatemala. Some of the others included Empowerment, taking action steps and more of the same theme. We also wrote about our Fears...these included the fear of the unknown, kidnapping and torture, transportation-which meant more kidnapping or a situation with guns, Danger, Reprisals, Fear for the people that we are trying to help. Talking about these fears was super stressful because it made the fact that we are on a Human Rights Delegation REAL. Human Rights workers are in extreme danger in this country. On a lighter note we also feared diarrhea. We also talked about the Realities of this trip. The realities that we are here and also that we now have a responsibility to share our knowledge and take action when we return to the comfort of the Unites States.
We then talked about our safety protocol which I don't really feel like describing because I don't want to.

Sunday was really the first day that we had a fully structured schedule with meetings to attend. Because it was Sunday most of the people that we met with came to us because well it was Sunday and it was safer for them to come to us as we are in a secure space.

The first people we met with yesterday was group of women from STITCH. They are labor organizers and were amazing. Our coordinator Amanda said that it was amazing that we got to meet these four women two of which are Ladino and two are Mayan. The short story is that the women that are organizing for the workers rights are focusing on rights for the female workers that work on the banana plantations (the company is called Bandegua in Guatemala however it is an offshoot of what used to be Chiquita and is now Del Monte). The men have rights that the women are not entitled to such as a place to live on the plantation. Most of the women travel 3-4 hours just to get to work. Then they are required to pack at least 45 boxes of bananas an HOUR....have you seen how big those banana boxes are? Oh and if the women want to stay on the plantation in the same houses that are provided for men...well they have to be sexually involved with the men. So basically they need to have sex with the male workers in order to be able to stay there.

So besides working on female laborer rights there are so many other issues that these organizers are fighting against including getting 40,000 workers unionized which is being disputed by multi-national companies including Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte (which I will now be boycotting). How come in the United States these companies are allowed to unionize but not in Guatemala? Do these people not deserve the same working conditions? The same maternity leave? Wages that will allow them to put food on their tables?

Think about that...........................

Next we took a very short coffee break and got the chance to speak with the group that had presented. I had a very interesting conversation with one of the Mayan women that I will not talk about now but will update you with when I get back to the States.

Like I said we had a very full day. I am so tired now that I will continue to tell you all about this week...however we also have a full day tomorrow and are leaving for the highlands in the morning and so I should try to get back to sleep!

If I am not blogging in the next few days please don't worry as I am not sure that we will have internet access. We will be back in Guatemala City on Friday.

Guatemala City- Zona 2

Well here we are in Guatemala City!! We (the RIC contingent) arrived after 2 delays late last night. Thank goodness because our flight out of DC was late getting to Miami which left us about 5 minutes to run to the next gate for our connection to Guatemala (the last flight to Guatemala City for the day). Luckily that flight was also late and so we made it!

We were met at the airport in Guatemala City by the GHRC Executive Director Amanda Martin. We packed our luggage into the van and Gerardo (our trusted driver) brought us to Sister Parish who is hosting the delegation. (www.sisterparish.org) Sister Parish is in Zona 2 in Guatemala City. The house is set right on the street and is well secured with iron doors- we never, ever open the door without asking "quien?" and looking out the small window. The door is also to remain locked at all times. We are not allowed to go anywhere without letting someone know forst and we must travel in groups of at least two people. This is obviously for our safety.
There are a few bedrooms with enough beds and each room has a bathroom (don't use the water to brush your teeth!). There is a patio in the back and also steps that lead to an upstairs patio which is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence.

We got to the house and Amanda was gracious and had prepared a traditional Guatemalan meal of tortillas, frijoles negros and queso blanco. We were famished. We stayed up and talked for a bit about what our plan was for today while we waited for the rest of the delegation to arrive from various places in the US.

It was now time for bed...we were all exhausted. As exhausted as we were a few of us could not sleep! I was one of them. The street noise was pretty loud, airplanes fly low and there is a bright light shining in my bedroom. Then I woke up at 6:30am for no good reason.

We came down to a great breakfast of fresh hard-boiled eggs, lychee fruit, fresh bread from St. Martin bakery which is a few blocks away. Then we were going to La Esperanza to meet with a group of women.

We traveled to La Ezperanza which is in La Zona 12 (one of if not the most dangerous Zone in Guatemala City). We were with Gerardo, Amanda and the RIC contingent and also a few newcomers. Gerardo had to drive the truck right into the driveway which was promptly shut and locked.

We were at UPAVIM- Unidas para vivir mejor which translates to United to live better-this is a group of women that have been working together since 1988 and have built a strong program which I will try to describe here.

We were greeted by Dina (the director of the childcare center and collaborator and all around doer) and taken upstairs through the first floor which appeared to be a nursery school, complete with child sized toilets that actually flushed! Our delegation sat in a circle and introduced ourselves to our hostesses- Dina, Tirsa (Administrative Assistant), Blanca Estrella (she takes care of the maintenance of the building), Mayra (Vice President of UPAVIM and upper school teacher).

Dina began by telling us of the history of the community of La Esperanza. La Esperanza (Hope), is a squatter settlement located to the south of Guatemala City in the area of Mezquital. These communities began in the 80s with the arrival of people displaced from rural areas during Guatemala´s 42-year Civil War that the country suffered.Today the are six locations in our areas. the colony Mezquital, Villa Lobos I, Villa Lobos II, El Bucaro and y La Jolla. La Esperanza has more than 5000 citizens. When these settlers first arrived in the valleys there were absolutely no resources and no potable water. Children were sick and their were epidemics like diarhhea constantly. The community of La Esperanza would use "aguas negras" or dirty water for whatever they needed. The settlers in La Esperanza tried to bargain with the settlers Mezquital for potable water. Mezquital would not sell their water so La Esperanza hooked up PVC pipes that allowed them to get potable water from the Mezquital region. In time this community began to organize themselves in order to build and sustain their community. The army wanted to come in and run them out because technically the land did not belong to them.
At one point the army came and surrounded the community, the communities response was to stand in a circle with their children in front of them in between the army and themselves to see if the army would shoot all of their children, they did not. Changes began to occur with the government's assistance only after the commuity left the corpse of one of the poorest members of their communities dead child on the steps of the Palacio Nacional (the National Palace).

So the idea for UPAVIM came about when Dina and Mayra met an American woman by the name of Barbara Fenske a nurse who had heard about the situation in La Esperanza and was shocked by the number of children dying. Ms. Fenske went to Mezquital and was helping to treat children in a clinic in Mezquital when she met Dina. Dina and many women in the community had similar stories. Many children, illiteracy, alcoholic husbands, parents are gang members, instances of domestic violence and other tragic stories. The mothers in this community had to leave their children at home to go and work in order to feed their families at times their 6 year old children would be left to watch the babies. There were many accidents involving children while they were unattended at home such as burns, and accidental drownings in latrines.

UPAVIM has truly built an amazing program with the spark of empowerment that Ms. Fenske helped to instill in these women. Today they run 5 programs which include a Montessori nursery school, a grade school for children K-6th grade, a scholarship program, an artesania (arts and crafts- fair trade which can be bought in RIC at Ten Thousand Villages in Carytown http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/), and a medical clinic which has recently started operating its own lab.

The women in this collaborative have overcome many barriers in order to better their lives and the lives of their community. The pride they have is immeasurable and they are truly an inspiration. We were all so moved by their indivudual stories and how they succeeded in building this collaborative and these successful programs and continue to thrive. UPAVIM offers women a chance to provide for their families. It employs about 80 women from the community and offers a reduced rate for the school for employees of approximately 35 Quetzales and other community members pay about 70 Quetzales monthly. The school provides some scholarships on a need basis and also provides school supplies (we will be sending a donation soon!- Stay tuned for more information on how to donate school supplies). This work program allows the moms a flexible work schedule (artesania program) and also allows some of the mothers to work from home so that they may spend time with their children. Every month the artesania program donates some of its earnings to the school porgram. The school program also provides the children with a nutritious breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack.

After this exciting meeting with the ladies of UPAVIM we headed back into Zona 2 to get ready for lunch. We walked a few blocks over to a cafeteria that had some typical Guatemalteco lunch offerings. After lunch we walked over to a topographical map of Guatemala. This was very interesting as I did not realize how largea county Guatemala is nor how mountainous it is.

We left the park where the map is located and jumped in 2 cabs, we were excited as Amanda had arranged a tour of El Palacio Nacional which is almost unheard of . The Palacio Nacional is called El Centro de Cultura which is "Cultural Center". Well where we come from a cultural center is open to all people. In Guatemala that is not expecially true. El Palacio Nacional is a place that has a rich political history. We were given a private tour of this beautiful building and then went to dinner.

We returned to Sister Parish and continued our conversations about the situation here in Guatemala, then watched Killer's Paradise a BBC Documentary about the epidemic here.

Everyone else has left me to go to bed as it is late and we are getting up early.....I am signing off hope you found the recount of our first day informative and tomorrow you will have the pleasure of reading someone else recount our day!