7: Santiago Atitlán

Lago Atitlán is a gorgeous lake located in the western highlands of Guatemala. The lake fills a huge crater left behind by an enormous volcanic eruption before the history of humankind. Seven volcanoes still surround the lake along with steep mountain walls. Because of these steep mountains, the Spanish had a harder time conquering the Mayan communities in this area in the 1500's. This is perhaps one of the reasons why so many Mayan pueblos have been successful in maintaining much of their culture and language throughout the changes of the centuries. Santiago Atitlán is one of the largest Mayan towns in Guatemala. Most families speak the ancient language of Tz'utujil, learning Spanish in school.

Panabaj, a town right outside of Santiago Atitlán was one of the communities most affected by Hurricane Stan. Days of constant rain filled up a lake that had been forming near the top of Volcán Tolimán. The weight of the water caused the wall of the lake to suddenly break sending a torrent of mud, rocks and trees careening down the steep mountainside. Much of Panabaj was destroyed, leaving many families homeless, frightened and deeply saddened by the death of family and friends. We were told by our Guatemalan friends that we should try to head to Santiago Atitlán and see how we could help after the disaster.

When we first arrived in Santiago Atitlán it took us a few days to orient ourselves. After a disaster there is a lot to be done quickly and coordinating all the different projects can be challenging! We finally decided to work with a community organization formed by people affected by the landslide, who best knew the needs of their community. The first thing we helped with was taking a census of Panabaj. The organization wanted to know how many people had lost their homes, who in each family had passed away in the disaster, who was still missing and if there were people sick or hurt. All of this information will help the community fight for their rights so that each family gets the help needed to piece their lives back together.

Working with the census was challenging. It was hard to know what to say when someone told us that they had just lost most of their family and all of their belongings to the disaster. We couldn't do anything concrete to take away their suffering. However, sharing stories with a compassionate listener can make one's pain a little less. And so Patricia and I listened with our mind, body and heart. We went to visit those people we met who seemed particularly sad in the emergency shelters a few times. Even though we couldn't always communicate well - we don't speak Tz'utujil and many people we met spoke little Spanish - our presence showed we cared.

Sometimes we were able to share moments of true joy. Like when Concepción, a mother filled with sadness by the death of her three children beat us four times in an animated game of cards and laughed with us for the first time. And sometimes we were able to be helpful by informing people about where to get food donations and other assistance. At times we accompanied people to the health center who otherwise may not have felt comfortable going to see a doctor alone.

These were little steps in the face of a large disaster, but they kept us busy for our two week stay and added to the efforts of many other people. Particularly in times of disaster and injustice it is important to work together with other concerned, dedicated people. Together we can do what alone we could never accomplish.