Guatemala 2009

Now that I have presented at Globilization Gone Wild and been back in the mainstream long enough to see people's perceptions of the trip, the more I seem discouraged of how we can help. I told myself before we left that I would be happy with educating one person and changing their mind on what is occurring in Guatemala. However, seeing the same people return on multiple nights of GGW, it makes me wonder if we actually told anyone anything they didn't know. I know that I have so much to say that could affect change in people's minds, but its as if there isn't enough of a platform to speak it from.

Beyond just GGW, I have used what I saw, learned, and heard in another oral history project for a history class. If given the opportunity to go back this would absolutely be something I would want to complete- an oral history of the experiences of Rio Negrans. Their story encompasses all the large scale issues of violence, impunity, ecological destruction, native marginalization and exploitation, and the struggle to maintain culture in the face of change on a miniscule scale. Rio Negro truly serves as a microcosm of the country. In doing research for this project, I stumbled upon a video of Jesus Osorio. He had been given a camera and videotaped some of the social injustices suffered by the community. This shows that there is an attempt to document this, and there is a huge opening in research. Presenting this information to members of my history class allowed me to expand on those in attendance at GGW and gives some hope for educating at least one person on these injustices.