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Juanita Batzibal and Medarda Castro are Mayan Indigenous women working on Indigenous rights and identity with Community Aid Abroad-Oxfam's Guatemalan program. They visited Australia in July 2000 to make connections with our Indigenous Australia program in south-west Western Australia, and with Indigenous communities generally. The exchange aimed to bring Indigenous women from Guatemala and Australia together to share their experiences, learn from one another and build connections that will strengthen their respective struggles for justice and self determination. Juanita and Medarda spoke with Indigenous Australian Women at public forums in Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth. In 1992, during the Guatemalan Civil War, "agents of the state" entered Medarda Castro Ajcot's home and murdered her brother. Like Medarda, he was an outspoken activist against the genocide of Guatemala's Indigenous peoples. Juanita Batzibal avoided a similar fate by fleeing to become a political refugee. While in exile, Juanita made several visits to the UN in Geneva, lobbying for the recognition of Indigenous People's rights, and to bring an end to the war. The Indigenous peoples of Guatemala, the Mayas, make up over 60 percent of
Juanita Batzibal explains why Mayan women were targeted by those seeking to destroy Indigenous culture: "The mother is the hearth of the home. She is the mainspring of culture, warmth and joy. She gives life to the family and community. She teaches us about our relationship with mother earth, about harmony and about the relationship that must exist between humans and nature. Without her, our culture will die." Justin Coburn, Program Coordinator Mexico and Central America In 1999, three years after the signing of the Guatemalan Peace Accords, the UN released 'Memory of Silence', the report of its supervised truth commission in Guatemala. The report was damning in its criticism of the Guatemalan government: "agents of the State committed acts of genocide against groups of Mayan People." 'Memory of Silence' charged government forces with responsibility for 93 percent of the war's violence including more than 200,000 deaths, the destruction of 440 Indigenous villages and the uprooting of over a million Indigenous people from their homes. Medarda and Juanita have been working with Community Aid Abroad on education projects with Indigneous Women which aim to restore their self esteem and dignity. There is a strong emphasis in the projects on, as Juanita says, "ridding our hearts and minds of the marginalisation and undervaluation of women" so they can play a more active role in the creation of the new Guatemala. Both women see this kind of educational work as essential to the creation of a new national identity that reflects Guatemala's rich diversity: one that
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1060
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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