The Girls are Not Okay

As a Municipal Development volunteer that focuses on working with the women's office, I've always been especially sensitive to finding out stories about the women in my municipality, their hopes, dreams, challenges, and silenced voices. Yet, in the past couple of months, my attention isn't with women but rather with the youth that live in my municipality. Time and time again my heart breaks ever so slightly by the story of a young girl or teenager who is suddenly forced to grow up far too quickly. Below, I'd like to share some of these stories, partly as a personal release but more importantly as a motivator. I would like to pose a challenge: I want you to think of one way that you can help out a young girl or teenager in the month of June or July. I'll make suggestions of things you can do after I share these stories. (Please note, all names are changed, just in case). Betty Betty is 14 years old and was seeking protection from the community pastor who had raped her on multiple occasions. Betty had kept quiet during these encounters out of fear. Luckily, Betty's mother happened to be at the right place at the right time and witnessed the pastor trying to abduct her daughter so that he could rape her again. The moment the pastor was caught by the mother, he ran off. The next day, the walked four hours from their community to get to the Municipal Center. Betty and her mother came to the office of the Alcaldia Maya searching for help from someone that could actually speak their indigenous language as neither the Municipality nor the Judge have translators. My counterpart went with them to the Judge's office to file the official complaint against the rapist and begin the long paperwork process. They were told to come back on Monday so that the young girl could be looked at by a doctor. They walked four hours back to their home and waited until Monday so that they could walk four hours back to the center to be seen by a doctor. My counterpart had to be in the city that day so I was in charge of taking them around town even though I only know a couple words in K'iche'. The young girl looked absolutely stunned the entire time we walked around, she barely spoke and when she did it was in a hushed whisper while looking down at the floor. When we wen to the health center, it turned out that the doctor's were on strike because they hadn't gotten paid and wouldn't be back for a week so we went back to the Judge where he put together an order for her to be seen in the city. The next day, they went off to the city to be seen by a doctor who also did not speak K'iche' and was a male. Imagine, you've been raped multiple times in a day and then you're forced to have a gynecological exam by a male. I get uncomfortable getting a routine papsmear from a male doctor, I can't even think how terrified she felt. A couple of weeks later I had asked my counterpart how things were going and she explained her frustration with the legal process. They were required to fill out numerous amounts of documents in Spanish, neither Better nor her mother speak Spanish and neither can read or write. They were required to do further examinations in the city, the city is a two hour bus ride (one way) that costs Q25, usually more than what people in the community make in a week. Also, the judge was upset that they didn't show up to a certain appointment, neither one of them have a cell phone. Meanwhile, the rapist continues to live his life and who knows if Betty will continue to with the painstakingly long legal process. Where's the justice? Anne Anne is slightly older, 19, and is studying to be a teacher. Her mother found out she was pregnant after she finally confessed that she had been hiding her pregnancy by tying the belt of her indigenous dress tighter, but at eight months, it gets difficult to hide. She made the mistake, as most young women do, of believing that a boy from a neighboring town was in love with her and that she had to prove her love by having sex. When Anne told her boyfriend about her pregnancy, he denied that it was his child and told her to get an abortion and not to speak to him again. This story is slightly more positive in that she is currently fighting for the rights of her unborn child. I spent my Sunday afternoon sitting in a five hour meeting (90% of which was in K'iche') listening to her and her family urge the guy and the guy's family to support the child by being present during the birth, helping name the child, and providing child support until the age of 18. They seemed somewhat receptive but they want her to pay for a DNA test (how they will be able to afford that is beyond me!) and they are not willing to make any decisions until after the birth of the child. They provided her with Q1,000 (about $125 US) for labor costs even though it costs about Q5,000 for a delivery in a hospital where you have better chances of surviving labor. This case also shows the importance of the Alcaldia Maya as they organized this meeting and also fought on behalf of Anne. Trina This story breaks my heart the most as Trina is the niece of my counterpart and a beautiful spirit. Trina was 13 when she started talking to a man (22 years old) who recently came back from the States and had flashy clothes, phone and a car. Trina is raised by her grandmother because her mother is working in the States and no one in the family suspected that she was talking to this man. One afternoon a neighbor called my counterpart instructing her to come home immediately because Trina was talking to some man outside of the house. My counterpart raced to her home and scolded the man for talking to a young girl. That's when things got worse, two weeks later Trina coordinated with her new boyfriend so that he could sneak her away. This aspect is a little difficult to explain because it involves some cultural differences, but essentially, he stole her from her family. The grandmother called the entire community searching high and low for Trina until they found out that the man had come in the night and took her away. He argued that Trina willingly went with him but we all know that at the age of 13, girls are willing to do lots of crazy things without properly understanding the consequences. Trina married her 22 year old boyfriend shortly thereafter. My counterpart and her family were devastated. The grandmother is a strong advocate of women's rights in the community and municipality. My counterpart is also an incredible role model, pursuing a college degree and working hard in women's and indigenous empowerment. I found out last week that she is now due to have a baby in August, she hasn't even turned 14 yet. Then we have one of my favorite little girls ever, Paola. She is turning 7 years old next week and we're planning on celebrating our birthdays together this weekend with a cake and a piñata filled with candy. She is a bright, energetic, talkative and gregarious little girl. She is overflowing with potential. She's lucky to have strong women in her life but so did her cousin Trina. I think to myself, what can be done to ensure that she'll be able to stay a little girl, that some older man won't corrupt her thoughts, that she'll be strong enough to overcome the challenges of being an indigenous woman in Guatemala. These stories are certainly not unique to my community, these stories represent thousands of girls and young women in the entire world. Inspire a young girl you know to dream and achieve. How? Start a girls group Look into NGOs that work to help girls in your local community Help organize a girls' camp Volunteer at an after-school program Spend more time with your sisters Lead by example Also, for the males out there, boys and young men need to receive an equal amount of attention to learn about healthy relationships, sexual education and be exposed to positive male role models!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Since the beginning of December, I've been on high alert. I feared that every text message I received would read a phrase feared by all Peace Corps Volunteers, "please check you email for an important Peace Corps [insert country name] update". The news, friends and family from home, fellow PCVs, it seemed like all we could talk about was whether or not our country was going to be shut down. Millions of scenarios ran through my head and it was pretty much impossible to get started on new project. Why put in the work? We may be outta here in a couple months anyway? Luckily, my municipality is pretty much dead the month of December and our mayor changed in January so I was almost given a free pass. Either way, stress was high, tension was high, PCVs wanted answers from staff and staff was trying its best to gather answers and assess the situation with the higher ups in Washington.

Last week, we had an All Volunteer Conference in Xela where people from Washington came down and we all knew that, finally, we would be on the same page as to the fate of Peace Corps Guatemala. Here's the main gist:

The security situation in the Northern Triangle of Central America (Honduras, El Sal, and Guatemala) are some of the worst in the world. In fact, it is said that the Northern Triangle "is the most dangerous area of the world aside from an active war zone." But before you go freaking out, one most understand where this violence is coming from and where it takes place. The majority of this deals with drugs. Because of increased restrictions in Colombia, drugs are now having to go through Central America in order to get to the United States. You have to pass the Guatemala to get to Mexico. There are specific regions that should be avoided and these areas are where volunteers are being evacuated from and being offered a more secure post in the Western Highlands of the country:

Red Zones
Huehue
San Marcos
Oriente
Verapazes
Peten (has been off limits for a while now)

Safe Zones
Quiche
Chimal
Solola
Toto

Currently there are over 200 volunteers in Peace Corps Guatemala and PCW's goal is to reduce that to 100-120 volunteers. Many people who are in the middle of project will have to go home early. Hopefully, the volunteers who have to be relocated that still have a significant amount of time in their service will be able to move to these sites and finish these projects (definitely not the ideal solution but it helps achieve the goal of helping families in need). My sitemate was scheduled to leave in July and was told a couple of weeks ago that she now needs to leave by the end of March. Volunteers can only extend for a year.

What does this mean for me? I personally am not affected. I do not have to move, and I do not have to leave early. But my support system is slowly moving back to the United States. We really do become a family and it saddens me to think that certain people who I always look forward to seeing will no longer be present when we all get together. But, it's time to be positive. I'm actually in an incredible situation. My boyfriend has to be relocated and he will be moving here to Canilla (granted nothing goes crazily wrong in the next couple of weeks). I'm stoked!! Not only is this a wonderful situation to be in (who doesn't want to live closer to a significant other?) No more eight hour trips to get to the other person's house!! Furthermore, we make a great working team as well so I'm excited for that additional support and to give that additional support back. And finally, it's incredibly flattering to see that Peace Corps values me and my boyfriend's work to allow us to live in the same site together. So, in summary, I think I'm one of the very few people who have an obvious silver lining to this crazy situation. Overall, I'm relieved to know what's happening. Feeling in the dark for two months and constantly guessing what will happen next is the best way to drive yourself mad.

So here's to some sanity, certainty, and a kick-ass seven last months of service!!!!!