La Vida Idealist

Antigua, Guatemala: Home to the most beautiful McDonald's in the world?

Antigua, Guatemala boasts: three stores selling bagels, a frozen yogurt parlor, a McDonald’s with a flowering courtyard and views of a volcano, and a former percussionist of the Buena Vista Social Club crooning into Wednesday night air.

What Antigua, Guatemala lacks: immediately accessible manifestations of conflict. The tourist trail does not bear the same visible scars from the civil war. According to the Commission on Historical Clarification (the Guatemalan Truth Commission), the toll of the conflict amounted to:

• the destruction of 626 villages;
• the displacement of 1.5 million Guatemalans and creation of an additional 150,000 refugees in Mexico;
• death or disappearance of 200,000 people – with Mayans forming 83% of the victims of the conflict.

Women have been particularly hard hit not only during the atrocities, but also in the wake of the war. The female homicide rate, dubbed femicide, rose by more than 117% between 2001 and 2006. Investigations are lacking, at times leading to a legal process for only 40 cases in a total of 2,400.

My main purpose during my fellowship placement in Guatemala  is to contribute to the reintegration of victims of the conflict in peaceful, lawful communities through a series of programs drawing on concepts of conflict management, psychology, social anthropology and capacity development.

Perhaps the hardest challenge, however, is wrapping my own mind around the types of worlds that can coexist within these borders: The world of unreported abuse and failure to protect, through preventative measures or a justice process, reigns supreme a 20-minute drive away from the frozen yogurt parlor. Different cultural understandings of the position of women in a community, as well as norms of modesty and stoicism, can make it harder to bring the injustice to light. And every night that ends in the company of an ex-pat potluck dinner is succeeded by a morning interview revealing that a 13-year-old girl was forced into prostitution by her own uncle or a visit to a neighborhood in which women cook over burning trash.

Welcome to the schizophrenia of Latin America, post-conflict development and life as an expatriate.

For an approach to different women’s issues in Central America, read Emily Mew’s account of her time in Nicaragua. For more of Roxanne’s experiences with conflict-related work, follow her on Twitter or read her blog.

Latest posts by roxannekrystalli

• Dear Latin America - June 22nd, 2010
• From Capacity Building to Building Homes: Relief Work in Guatemala - June 8th, 2010
• Loaded Questions on Wheels: Politics and God - May 25th, 2010
• Hunting for Inspiration: Recommended Reading - May 18th, 2010
• On the Road - But Why? - May 11th, 2010
• "When are you coming back?" - April 27th, 2010
• Field Loneliness in Colombia - April 20th, 2010
• Love in the Time of Conflict - April 13th, 2010