Dear Journal,
Today was actually a really good day. We started off the day by going to meet with a congressman, who was actually a woman, from the party with the most power.
She was a member of the UNE party (that stands for Unity for New Hope). It was really nice office and there were tons of people. We were being recorded and photographed and everything! It was pretty chaotic! It was interesting to hear what she had to say. She gave us a very elaborate presentation on what she and her party saw as issues and what their plans were for improvement. One of her main things was poverty and the health issues that arise from that. Her party addressed many issues and had plans for almost all of them. It sounded like her party was all talk and no action. One of the things that struck me was her view on the petro-chemical agreement with Venezuala that we have been learning a bit about. The thing is the Venezualan government has offered to make an agreement with governments in Central America and the Carribbean where they would give the country 20,000 barrels of oil per month and instead of having to pay at least 80% up front, the country would have to pay 40% in 2 years and 60% over the next 10 years with 1% interest and they could pay in goods as well as money. It sounds good, right? Well, a lot of people are against it. A lot of people do not like or trust the Venezualan president. Also, it just puts off paying the money; they will have to pay it eventually. Well, this woman was very much in favor of this agreement and wanted it implemented. So far, the president of Guatemala has approved it, so now it's in Congress to be voted on. I see many issues with the agreement and think it will more than likely come back to bite them in the butt. After talking to her, we went to talk to another congressman. He was a member of the URNG-MAIS, which stands for (the first part) basically unity for national peace. He was also an ex-Guerilla member who fought in the civil war. He was a bit (okay, a lot) more liberal than the woman we spoke to. He told us about how his party is really working hard to make Guatemala better, especially by being a strong voice in Congress. He said he and his party were trying to fight to hold the people in congress accountable to their promises. One thing about the Guatemalan government is that it is set up quite differently from the U.S. government. They have a president and a one house congress and a judicial system, but it does not have as much power as ours. Another thing that is quite different is they have 17 political parties that are active and actually serving, versus our mostly 2 (almost 3) parties. It is interesting. Most people in our group find it confusing to have so many parties, but I can definately see the benefits. Although, even though Guatemala has 17 parties, the current ruling party has I think 51% of Congress. It was very interesting to hear from two very different congressmen, especially back-to-back. After going back to the guest house for lunch, we left for one more interview for the day. We went out to the dump to talk to the principal of a school that was started to keep children from working in the dump. 
They seemed to have a very good system set up. It was heart-breaking, though. We got to see people bringing trash in and the bad conditions they not only work in, but also live in. The principal told us stories about how the kids that come to the school have many issues because most of them have non-involved parents. So the kids suffer from low self-esteem, malnurishment and often times not respecting authority because they have never had authority figures. It was very hard to see, but also good to know that things are happening and, for these children, there is a light at the end of the very dark tunnel. After the day, we were pretty exhausted. Our group hung out for a while and had a blast. Later in the evening, I called Erik. It was really good to talk to him and I realized while on the phone and after getting off just how much I miss him. It was really hard to say goodbye. But, I'm mostly over it now. I still can't wait to get home and see him again, but I'm excited for the rest of this trip!
Today was actually a really good day. We started off the day by going to meet with a congressman, who was actually a woman, from the party with the most power.
She was a member of the UNE party (that stands for Unity for New Hope). It was really nice office and there were tons of people. We were being recorded and photographed and everything! It was pretty chaotic! It was interesting to hear what she had to say. She gave us a very elaborate presentation on what she and her party saw as issues and what their plans were for improvement. One of her main things was poverty and the health issues that arise from that. Her party addressed many issues and had plans for almost all of them. It sounded like her party was all talk and no action. One of the things that struck me was her view on the petro-chemical agreement with Venezuala that we have been learning a bit about. The thing is the Venezualan government has offered to make an agreement with governments in Central America and the Carribbean where they would give the country 20,000 barrels of oil per month and instead of having to pay at least 80% up front, the country would have to pay 40% in 2 years and 60% over the next 10 years with 1% interest and they could pay in goods as well as money. It sounds good, right? Well, a lot of people are against it. A lot of people do not like or trust the Venezualan president. Also, it just puts off paying the money; they will have to pay it eventually. Well, this woman was very much in favor of this agreement and wanted it implemented. So far, the president of Guatemala has approved it, so now it's in Congress to be voted on. I see many issues with the agreement and think it will more than likely come back to bite them in the butt. After talking to her, we went to talk to another congressman. He was a member of the URNG-MAIS, which stands for (the first part) basically unity for national peace. He was also an ex-Guerilla member who fought in the civil war. He was a bit (okay, a lot) more liberal than the woman we spoke to. He told us about how his party is really working hard to make Guatemala better, especially by being a strong voice in Congress. He said he and his party were trying to fight to hold the people in congress accountable to their promises. One thing about the Guatemalan government is that it is set up quite differently from the U.S. government. They have a president and a one house congress and a judicial system, but it does not have as much power as ours. Another thing that is quite different is they have 17 political parties that are active and actually serving, versus our mostly 2 (almost 3) parties. It is interesting. Most people in our group find it confusing to have so many parties, but I can definately see the benefits. Although, even though Guatemala has 17 parties, the current ruling party has I think 51% of Congress. It was very interesting to hear from two very different congressmen, especially back-to-back. After going back to the guest house for lunch, we left for one more interview for the day. We went out to the dump to talk to the principal of a school that was started to keep children from working in the dump. 
They seemed to have a very good system set up. It was heart-breaking, though. We got to see people bringing trash in and the bad conditions they not only work in, but also live in. The principal told us stories about how the kids that come to the school have many issues because most of them have non-involved parents. So the kids suffer from low self-esteem, malnurishment and often times not respecting authority because they have never had authority figures. It was very hard to see, but also good to know that things are happening and, for these children, there is a light at the end of the very dark tunnel. After the day, we were pretty exhausted. Our group hung out for a while and had a blast. Later in the evening, I called Erik. It was really good to talk to him and I realized while on the phone and after getting off just how much I miss him. It was really hard to say goodbye. But, I'm mostly over it now. I still can't wait to get home and see him again, but I'm excited for the rest of this trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment