Chichicastenango, GuatemalaVibrant cultural roots and ancestral knowledge of its indigenous K’iche’ population run deep in this picturesque, mountain town in Quiché, onde fica entre uma colcha de retalhos de pequenas terras agrícolas nas Terras Altas Ocidentais.
Mas por trás de suas belas e coloridas paisagens, os jovens de Chichicastenango enfrentam desafios significativos, incluindo isolamento social e emocional, dificuldades econômicas, depressão, oportunidades profissionais limitadas e pressão para sustentar suas famílias. A pandemia exacerbou todos esses desafios.
Os obstáculos que os jovens enfrentam não se limitam apenas a Chichicastenango. Nos municípios rurais das Terras Altas Ocidentais da Guatemala, como Comitancillo, San Pedro Necta e San Andrés Sajcabajá, os jovens lutam para encontrar um futuro sustentável para si e para as suas famílias.
“Minha comunidade tem sido caracterizada pela falta de unidade. Não nos conhecemos além de nossos rostos,” says Hillary Dayana Pérez Bautista of Huehuetenango. “This disunity creates spaces of marginalization. Então, if there are more problems, we don’t even realize it. I would like to change that in the future.”
When these challenges meet threats of violence or ongoing conflict embedded in the community’s social fabric, risks compound and young people are much more likely to look for opportunities elsewhere. Many often attempt – and indeed, fail—to make the dangerous journey to the U.S. border, a trend that has compounded in recent years.
Felizmente, there is hope for change.
Bautista is part of a network of some 160 young people throughout the Western Highlands involved with the Youth Voices for Peace Network (conhecido como Red de Voceros y Voceras Juveniles para la Paz em espanhol), a group working to create collective spaces of empowerment.
Bringing together young people from across the country from diverse backgrounds, culturas, and traditions—people that normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to interact, Youth Voices for Peace Network then works with these young people to build capacity, develop confidence and connect on issues that have an impact on their future.
It has proven to be transformational for people like Cesar Morales, 27, from Chichicastenango, who joined the Youth Voices for Peace Network in September 2021 and found incredible value in the exchange of ideas and lived experiences with other network members.
“Being part of the network has allowed me to share dynamic spaces and exchange knowledge, experiences, and information with young leaders in other municipalities, muitos dos quais desenvolveram capacidades e competências para partilhar as suas preocupações e propostas para fazer a diferença nas suas comunidades,” Morales diz.
Os sentimentos de Morales sobre a rede são compartilhados por muitos. Em uma recente Feira da Paz realizada em Huehuetenango, 10 representantes da Rede Vozes Juvenis pela Paz reuniram-se pessoalmente pela primeira vez e compartilharam histórias íntimas entre si sobre os desafios significativos que superaram durante a pandemia. O denominador comum em cada uma de suas histórias foi o sentimento de pertencimento e propósito que encontraram no Youth Voices for Peace.
A rede de jovens expandiu as suas atividades com o apoio do Projeto de Construção da Paz, ou Tecendo a Paz em espanhol, a 6.5-year project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International in partnership with PartnersGlobal and ProPaz. The project is designed to reduce social conflict and violence, and to strengthen social cohesion in the Western Highlands of Guatemala.
With Tejiendo Paz’s support, Youth Voices for Peace Network takes a multifaceted approach to peacebuilding, requiring active participation from network members and including them in dialogues and decision-making, while also working on capacity building. Training topics include conflict transformation, using technology for effective communication, cyber-activism, the risks of irregular migration and different forms of communication, entre outros.
Under most circumstances in Guatemala, the story would stop there, simply because youth don’t have the space or opportunity to put their learnings into action. Luckily, that is not the case with this network. Using theater and social media as avenues of cultural and physical expression, members of Youth Voices for Peace Network are encouraged to share their acquired knowledge with others in their community.
“Now I feel confident to be able to guide other young people in this process, so that together we can create a positive impact in our communities,” says Gaspar Baltazar, a network member from Totonicapán, explaining how his participation helped him grow as a community leader.
De forma similar, when asked about her participation in the network, Ana Cristina Toma from San Juan Cotzal, Quiche, says the youth network “has been an alternative space where I can inform my community about the realities of social conflict, violência doméstica, violence against women and migration, while creating and sharing information in the media in my native indigenous language.”
Anabella Rivera, Executive Director of DEMOS, the Guatemalan organization responsible for organizing and training the network, says that “maintaining itself as a network during the pandemic” was one of the group’s greatest successes to date.
“And this requires more work,” Rivera says. “We need to give them the tools to grow and the knowledge of what it means to be a network. The network is an element of solidarity and unity for the youth. Over the next year, I hope to see a more consolidated network that provides tangible opportunities for transformation and growth.”
Rivera is conscious that youth are confronting more than a pandemic.
“Lack of opportunities is the greatest challenge faced by the youth,” Rivera explains. “They are asking what they will do with their knowledge and skills. This is why technology is so important in the trainings. Being able to effectively express yourself and being able to use technological tools opens the door for employment and educational opportunities. It is also why identifying spaces for civic participation, such as engaging in the electoral process, is so important.”
Morales, Baltazar, Toma and many others now have a sense of agency and influence over what happens in their lives, their communities and their country.
And the network continues to grow. Em 2022, Youth Voices for Peace Network is poised to increase to 225 membros, expanding into five new municipalities in the Western Highlands.
De Totonicapán a Huehuetenango a Chichicastenango, o Projeto de Construção da Paz e a Rede Vozes Jovens pela Paz estão proporcionando aos jovens rurais habilidades e oportunidades tangíveis, criando esperança para um futuro melhor na Guatemala.
“A Guatemala precisa de líderes transformacionais que estejam comprometidos com o país e responsáveis por contribuir para uma mudança transcendental que irá melhorar a vida de todos,” Morales diz.
Talvez Morales estivesse se referindo a si mesmo em seus comentários. Depois de participar da Rede Vozes Juvenis pela Paz, Morales, como muitos de seus colegas de rede, agora está posicionado para ser esse líder, capaz de mediar conflitos e construir a paz para sua comunidade e para uma Guatemala próspera.
