Speeches

On Friday November 21, 2008, the group members from this trip reflected on their experiences. Here are two of the speeches from Jennifer and Jeanine.

Jennifer Hipple

Good morning, my name is Jennifer Hipple and I am a student in the weekend college program. It was an honor to represent the Augsburg community on this life-impacting trip to Guatemala and we are so pleased to have this opportunity to share our experiences and reflections with you.
I’d like to begin by posing a few questions as we reflect on peace, social justice and our own place in the world.
· How can we as individuals, impact the cause for peace and justice either thousands of miles from home or right here in our community?
· How does God call us to look beyond ourselves in Christian faith?
· What gifts might we receive when we open ourselves up to learning about and understanding other cultures and peoples?
· How can we use our gifts to be the hands, feet, heart and voice of God in the world?
There are many ways to serve and to live out our values in Christian love. We can take action or we can listen; each is powerful in its own way.
In August, 10 women from the Augsburg community, representing students, faculty and staff packed our bags and traveled to Guatemala on a 10-day experiential learning adventure. Our objective was to learn about Guatemala’s peace and reconciliation efforts following a 36-year-long civil war that wiped out entire communities and left more than a quarter million dead. We would learn about the racism, division, and fear that the country’s Ladino and indigenous people into conflict and the painful residues that remain today 11 years after the peace accords were signed.
Our challenge? To listen and to learn…ultimately, what would we do with this knowledge upon our return? How might we share the stories of Guatemala here in our own community?
Our estrogen- powered team..…remember this was 10 women traveling together…… didn’t know each other well upon embarking on this trip, but we shared a common interest in learning about the ancient Mayan culture of Guatemala, along with the history, traditions and struggles of the indigenous people. Could we have known we would come away learning as much about ourselves as we would the people of Guatemala?
This trip afforded us an up close and personal look at the root causes of poverty and oppression, the dynamics of social, economic and political development, and the tenacious spirit of hope embodied by people working for social change. Each day we encountered heartbreaking stories of loss, grinding poverty and desperate living conditions. Each day we met ordinary people doing extraordinary things to sustain themselves economically, improve health and education and move the country forward. We were blessed to look inside their life stories and to connect with them. Although there was a language barrier there also was an incredible connection between us and many times a level of communication that transcended words.
Personally, one of the most meaningful experiences of the trip was observing a Mayan spiritual ceremony. Our group traveled to a beautiful, remote mountain area to a sacred place where we were invited to join two Mayan spiritual guides in a ceremony dedicated to honoring their ancestors. They were careful to explain this was not meant to interfere with our own religious practices and beliefs. As they explained the importance of this ritual, they prepared a small fire and gave each of us three candles. In their native language they remembered all the indigenous tribes of the Americas. They prayed for their ancestors and asked us to remember ours. They prayed for the earth, acknowledging that we are connected to all living things. Our guides then prayed for each of us and our families. We added our candles to the growing fire, remembering those we love and reflecting on all the blessings in our lives.
We sat in that circle for quite some time, watching the flames ebb and flow. They danced in unpredictable patterns, first swirling in one direction and then, just as quickly, reversing and swirling in another direction. Later we would remark on the spiritual warmth and energy we felt during that experience. In that time alone, we gained such great insight into the culture of the indigenous people and the values they hold dear; connection to family and the earth.
Those moments in front of the fire would have a profound effect on me as I realized that like that fire, my life will swirl in many directions; some I will direct, others I will have no control over. Life is a wild and wondrous adventure and I must have faith that God is there to guide and comfort me when the flames are seemingly out of control. Thinking about the centuries-long struggles of the indigenous people of Guatemala humbles me and puts my problems into better perspective. It also inspires me to continue learning and growing in my faith, my vocation and how I reach out to others in service. Jeanine?

Jeanine Gregoire

Margaret Meade, the famous antropologist once wrote: “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” My travel to Guatamala and meetings with Guatamalan working toward peace and reconciliation, rebuilding and preserving indigenous communities and confronting issues surrounding poverty, classism and sexism reminded me of the power of a small group of individuals to make change.

Let me share with you one such story with a group of former compasinos, or Guatamaln rebel fighters who exemplify “power of purpose” under great odds. During our trip we visited the Santa Anita coffee plantation in the province of San Miquel near the Mexico Guatamalan, In the late 90’s, 11 Compasino families, from a number of different indigenous Mayan tribes were allowed to farm this old, abandoned coffee plantation. As you can see on many of the slides of our trip showing the dense lush environment near the coast of Guatamala, this coffee plantation had been abandoned and the jungle had grown up around the coffee shrubs. One of the members of this cooperative, Vilma, a former campasino herself, took us on a tour of the coffee plantation, telling us about the struggle to revive the plantation in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner. She spoke of
· struggles with major storms like 1995 Hurricane Stan that blew down shade trees for the coffee shrubs;
· of invasive leaf borers and blights that threatened young plants
· and threats from the neighboring commercial coffee plantation in their spraying of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides to grow their coffee on nearby fields.
Vilma, spoke of the hard work in rebuilding, developing and harvesting a organically sustainable coffee crop but also the
· joy of the coffee harvest (taking place as we speak);
· the comraderie of the community, in solving problems of access to clean water, to education for their children and health care for members of their community,
· of creating a collective purpose out of many different families; Their inspiration was hope for the future…for their families, their people their country and an abiding faith in their purpose.

During our tour, Vilma shared with us her story as a rebel fighter, moving through the jungles and mountains for many years, losing family members, homes and personal freedom. Since our trip I have often asked myself..
· how much would I sacrifice to protect my family, my home my beliefs. I am thankful that I live in a democratic society that allows free speech and debate, and a carefully delivered count of each and every vote
· This morning and every morning I am thankful I don’t need to hide in the groves along the Mississippi River with my family although I realize there are others there on the banks of the Mississippi due to homeless, poverty, joblessness, mental illness
· I am reminded of how fragile peace, prosperity, community, democracy and health are…how important it is to be an active participant in the political process in my community, my country and across the world.
· How each and every person can have a tremendous effect on changes in the world and in our back out. I encourage you do do something to help others within our community who are less fortunate.
· If you would like to join us in contributing to the Santa Anita School and a special school for K-12 students who are working the Guatamalan municipal dump to support themselves and their family we will have a box at our table as you go out of the chapel.

Another participant, Amy Sonquist , a WEC student had similar thoughts to share. Amy shared that
“The overwhelming thing that I took away from the trip was the culture of happiness and contentment in the places we visited. Whether meeting ex-guerrillas, widows, or people working in a dump, the spirit of contentment was always there. There was true appreciation for our presence, but these people were not looking for handouts or looking to be saved by us. They were merely happy to be alive and helping others in any way they could.
This reminded me to be happy with the things that I have. The expression "Money can't buy you happiness" is easy to say, but is life changing to see. For me, the trip did not stir in me a desire or conviction to travel to other countries, rather it renewed a passion in me to support and become more involved in North Minneapolis, my neighborhood.
We are thankful to the Hoversten Committee for supporting us on this trip and encourage students, staff and faculty to apply to participate in the 2010 Hoversten Trip to Cueranvaca Mexico.

The opportunity to “learn through experiencing” the unique cultures, history, issues and opportunities of our global education center is a life-changing experience in helping us see the larger world that we are connected to or even our own neighborhood for the first time. Watch from application announcements in Spring, 2010. Information concerning this trip can be found at the Center for Global Education or in the back of the chapel.

Also at the back of the chapel after services is Guatamalan Coffee sponsored by Peace Coffee, the distributor of Santa Anita Coffee, Guatamalan music and our own Emiliano Chagil, Director, Hispanic & Latino Student Services from (where in Guatamala and Gloria Elizabeth Xinico-Morales, Majoring in International Relations, from Sacotepequez, Guatamala. Hoversten Participants and Emilian and Gloria will be able to answer questions you may have about Guatamala.