THE QUICHÉ TIMES
March 1999 to
November 1999
Vol. 1 No. 3
Greetings
Greetings from sunny Guatemala, the land of
eternal spring.
The women and children of Conavigua send
greetings and wish everyone a very happy and holy Christmas and a prosperous new
year.
It has come to my notice that there are many
people reading this newsletter who do not know anything about the project or
the organisation and some who would like to know more about it. So I will
attach a brief information sheet at the end of this newsletter. I hope that
this will satisfy your curiosity.
This year has been a little different than
before. I have committed myself to the project and have taken over a number of
responsibilities. The organisation have problems at present with funding and
have put so much into the Guardería that some of the other projects have
suffered. The fund you have contributed to has been greatly appreciated this year and I am hoping that we can give
the same support in the coming year as we have given this year. All that has
been achieved this year is as a direct result of your compassion and
generosity.
We started the year with thirty-four
children. Eighteen girls and sixteen
boys. These range from four to fourteen years of age and from kindergarten to
first years secondary.
This edition will be in two parts.
1. What we managed to achieve in the past year
etc.
2. What our plans are for the next year. (Our
school year runs from mid January to mid October)
Health
Since the last edition the health of the children
has been quite good. For the longest time some of the children had a cough
which seemed to last for ever but with a little help from some friends we were
able to treat same and get rid of them once and for all.
Some friends from the school I studies in came
to visit me and see the project. I discovered that some are doctors so I asked
them to examine the children. They told me that we have very healthy children,
thank God.
Earlier in the year we had one child who
became sick. We took him to the local Doctor because he became very strange
with very worrying symptoms. We discovered that he had worms - I always thought
that worms were a myth!! - something that my mother invented not to have us
putting dirty into our mouths!!! Worms I later discovered is very serious and
can even kill. I now know better and will take precautions in the future.
We have had the usual cold, headaches, toothaches, cuts and bruises and
I had to have medication to give them. The women have natural remedies which I
plan on using in the coming year. I pride myself on my first aid kit and am
constantly trying to improve it to cater for all emergencies.
Clothes:
At the beginning of this year I decided to buy
clothes for the children as the clothes they had were old and had been repaired
many times. So I bought a few bags of clothes in a second hand shop in Xela and
had them washed. The children were thrilled with them. For what it cost I was
able to give a number of changes to each child and as they need them I give
extra T-shirts jumpers etc. I do insist that they wear new underwear which can
cost a little more but it is worth it. I still buy a big bag of clothes every
now and then and the children, being children manage to go through them
especially the boys. I really cannot nor should not begrudge them.
Uniforms;
In January I committed the fund to buy
uniforms for all the children. This made a huge difference to us as the
children had a great pride in themselves. We were also able to throw out a lot
of uniforms that have had their day and should have been put in the bin a long
time ago.
Haircuts:
In May of this year I decided to buy a
haircutter. My idea was that normally every six to eight weeks they get their
hair cut and for some it is a struggle as they always feel that they look like
skinheads. So with this machine I cut their hair every two to three weeks and
it is always kept more or less at the same length. I would say that what we
would have spent on haircuts since then has paid for half the machine. I do
send the older boys to the barber as I feel that they need a little style and
someone who knows what they are doing!!
Food:
In the last edition I had a section entitled
“Manna from Heaven” where I was hoping to get a load of food from one of the
international groups. This has not come through for us. I have spoken to a
member of the group and he has told me that he will look into it with the idea
of getting something for early next year. If he can do anything it would be
marvellous. Please say a prayer that he can.
In August I started to cook for myself. I
always made extra as I knew that the children would want to try my food. It
ended up that maybe once a week I would do something for them. What I tried to
do was add something nutritional to their diet. At the weekends I would make
pancakes for breakfast and serve them with fruit which the children absolutely
loved.
I celebrated my fortieth birthday in September
and we had the usual cake. These children do not celebrate their birthdays and
most do not know when their birthdays are. Instead of giving sweets I decided
to spend the money on fruit. It was a great success and definitely to be done
again. These children preferred the fruit to sweets, something to be
encouraged.
Rainy
Season:
Well we have just come through our rainy
season and I must say not too soon either. There was a fair amount of damage to
the country and although I do not have a figure on the death toll it was far
too many. It always breaks my heart when I see pictures of the poor children
who have been killed by the rain.
We collect the rain water which we use mostly
to flush the toilets and also to wash the clothes. The tap water, when it comes is really very mucky and I
always question myself as to the logic of washing clothes in dirty water.
Education
K’i
Che’ (Quiche) & English:
Most of the children speak Quiche, their own language. It was my
intention to have classes in this language as they cannot read nor write it.
This has not happened yet but we are working towards it for the new year. Some
of the children have studied it this year which will be of great help in the
future.
I also plan on having classes in English but
only for the fifth and sixth grades. These grades will be learning it when they
go to secondary and if they have the basics it will help them a great deal. I
have had to help those who have gone into secondary school this year with their
English homework. I must say that I find it so frustration when they come home
with some of their homework marked wrong. Although my English may not be
perfect I really feel that these teachers who firstly cannot speak the language
should tell me that the homework that I have helped with and checked is wrong.
Can you imagine it???
Typing:
There are still sixteen children who go to
typing classes each day. They love to go show off their work. None of their
class-mates can type so our children feel proud and privileged that they have a
proficiency in something that their friends do not.
Seven or eight of the older children have this
year completed the three year course and have received their diplomas. This
means that while their class-mates in secondary are receiving beginners classes
and struggling with it, our children are getting on with other work as they are
extremely proficient in it.
The typewriters we/you bought early this year
have been responsible in getting these diplomas as they were able to practice
and build up their speed.
New
Teacher;
For the first part of the year I was left
alone in the house with the children. The national committee had difficulty
finding someone until the beginning of March when a new teacher started. She
made a huge difference and halved the work I was doing. I still had a huge
workload but it was now shared.
Unfortunately in August she had to leave us as
there was a crisis in her family and she needed to be at home.
The person in charge also left at the same
time to work full-time on another project. We got another project leader who I
must say has been great to work with and we share all the responsibilities of
the house.
Recreation
Skipping:
In the last edition I mentioned that I had
bought skipping ropes and had given them to the children and they were a great
success. I also said that I was not able to find any more.
Well, many of you in a wonderful spirit of generosity sent me a few. The
children became extremely excited each time I opened parcels with skipping
ropes. They are now champion skippers who are very fit and boy can they count!!
Thank you it made a big difference.
Swimming:
Well, we still go swimming and sometimes I get
really excited when I see those children who when we started at the beginning
of the year, could not swim and were even afraid of the water, jump in and
splash away to their tiny hearts content with absolutely no fear at all. It
will probably save their lives someday. This is something that again you are
responsible for.
During the summer I bought a number of water
pistols which we play with in the pool. The children really love these as you
can imagine. When we arrive back at the house the children are normally
exhausted and very clean and spend the rest of the day watching TV, drawing,
playing games or making something. I love this time!!
Games:
I am always on the look out for games. We have
Chinese checkers, four in a row. bancopoly ( monopoly ), scrabble, memory,
snakes and ladders etc. These are games that the children love to play and at
the same time are learning something i.e. strategy, counting, the names of the
Departments and their heads but most of all they learn to have fun. It does not
matter who wins or losses but who enjoyed themselves. I must say that there is
very rarely a problem with them playing. Most times when there are I can trace
it back to one of the children being a little sick. I suppose children are the
same everywhere.
Football:
The national football association is trying to
put together some decent teams for future world cups. So they have started to
send scouts around the country to be in certain areas for a few months. Our
children asked if they could go for trials. I was in full favour of this. So we
sent nine of the bigger ones ( in reality anyone who wanted to ). Three times a
week for two months, they went and received training, which can only be good
for them and although most were not picked it was a chance to learn something.
Two were asked to continue in their training programme. I am very proud of
them.
Drawing:
Drawing has been a favourite with the children
for a long time. My family and friends have sent me markers, pencils and
crayons which the children love to use. Most days after their homework they
will ask for paper to draw and will spend hours doing so. They can go through a
lot of paper but it is worth it. I have found someone who can teach them how to
draw better and in the new year we hope to make use of them.
Arts
& Crafts:
Sewing is an activity that they all learn in
school. It is very useful and enjoyable. I started a little project with some
of them to make a large tablecloth. Each weekend we will do a little. I love
this as we sit around listen to music and chat. It is amazing what you can
learn from them. There is still a lot of work left to do on it but there is no
hurry. Maybe at the end of next year we will have it finished.
Pulseras or bracelets has become a great
activity for some. In March or April last one of the boys asked me if I had
thread to make pulseras. I asked if he could make them and he responded that he
was not sure but he wanted to try. I thought it was worth the risk so I spent
about £4 on thread and he started. Well what he produced was excellent and the
rest of the boys wanted him to teach them, which he did. So most of the boys
were doing it and then the girls wanted a piece of the action and they were
taught. I used to think that they were spending too much time making these and
would say to them to take a break and watch TV or play or whatever. Most times
they would say to me OK but after I finish this part and would continue beyond
that part without being bored.
They then started to cover pens with the
thread and could write names on them. I got some of them to sell some in school
which they did but we did not make anything worth talking about!! It was a
great exercise for the children and one that we hope to continue next year.
Music:
We stopped Marimba lessons in July. This was
not really a conscious decision. The teacher had to go to the US for the month
and when he returned we were too near exams to start again. After the exams the
person in charge said that the money was not there to continue. Unfortunately I
did not discover this until mid September as I would have paid for them and at
that stage it was too late to start again.
I started to buy tapes of some of the
children’s favourite music groups and some blank tapes as well. I gave a blank
tape to most of the children who just love to copy the tapes I have. In so many
cases what they would do is listen to the words and write them down - I also
had to give them a little notebook to do so.
Videos:
I still buy some videos now and then and have
quite a collection. We rely on this a lot as the programmes on TV are not very
suitable for children. Even though I would put at least one video on each day
they still see it as a treat - I hope this continues!! A friend gave me a copy
of one called “Popul wuh” which is the holy book of the Maya. We watch a piece
of this now and then and it helps the children understand their culture a bit
better.
Praying:
One night as I was putting the children to bed
we started talking about God and as they are Catholic about the Virgin of
Guadeloupe who is Indigenous. Well they were amazed at this and wanted to know
more about it. I asked if I should buy a book about it and they were delighted.
They then asked if they could have an altar in their room which I went and
bought them some pictures of the Virgin. This started prayers every night which
would put the rest of us to shame as one of the first things they pray for is
Mother Earth. When did I ever think of praying for Mother Earth? I said it to
some friends and they are the same so it wasn’t just me.
Each night I ask if they want to pray and the
answer is always the same - YES. So we read a little about the Virgin of
Guadeloupe and then about some saints
and settle down to a good nights sleep.
Visitors
I love having people visit us. I think it is
important for the children to have that type of contact. The school where I
study ( about three hours away by bus ) come to visit three or four times each
year. We always have a great time. They play with the children and then take us
swimming and have a piñata for us. They are always very impressed with the
children and the activities we have in the house.
There is another lay missionary in Quiche who
I am trying to get to visit us more often. The children love to see him and
some friends from Minugua - U.N. also say that they are going to visit us more
often. I hope they do so not only to play with the children but also at exam
time they can help with study.
Current Situation
Noriega.
In the last edition I mentioned about a ex
civil patrol leader who was on trial for one hundred and fifty five charges
including massacres, rapes, kidnappings and other violation of peoples human
rights. The verdict was given on the 15 Th. April at 10 p.m. and the lawyers
asked if I would accompany them as they were concerned for their safety. There
was no doubt about the guilt of this man as there were about 35 testimonies and
he was also mentioned by name in other reports as being responsible for
massacres.
Surprise surprise he was found innocent. Not
only that the judges said he was an example of an upstanding citizen. What won
it for him was the defence saying that all the testimonies were given not only
by women but by indigenous women who cannot speak Spanish so how could they
know and understand what they were seeing. He called them “tontas” which means
idiots/fools eejits. The judges seemed to agree and let him go.
This was the second trial. The first one they
could prove that the judges were paid off. I often ask myself how this could
happen in this day and age but it is common in Guatemala. Everyone knows they
were paid off or threatened or both but to prove it is another thing. They are
trying to bring him to trial again but only a few women are prepared to testify
the rest are afraid for their lives and those of the families.
Monsignor
Gerardi.
On the 26th April 98 Monsignor Gerardi was
assassinated by the army because two days before he brought out a report on the
massacres. The international community was horrified and everyone is screaming
for justice. Again the army won as most have forgotten all about the report and
just want someone for this crime. I have heard it said that it was a stroke of
genius to kill the monsieur to take the focus off his report.
All the witnesses have had to leave the
country and the prosecutor has been changed three or four times because of
death threats. Monsignor Gerardi’s report is now available in Ireland if anyone
has the interest in reading it.
Exhumations.
Exhumations are still going on. My
psychologist friend, George, is no longer working in this area so I cannot give
too many details about the progress of same except to say that they will be
doing them for a long time to come yet. I do have other contacts on the forensic
team who I am sure will pass on any information.
Expenses since March
1999
Recreation
Swimming/Playground Q 328
Thread Q
180
Tapes Q
526
Sweets Q
236
Toys Q
2182
Videos Q 521
Altar Q 122
__________
Total Q
4095
Health
Water Q
237
Haircuts ( including cutters ) Q
366
Disinfectant Q
555
Clothes ( including underwear ) Q
2765
Soap & Shampoo Q 223
Footwear Q
1000
Medication Q
1602
Food Q
1942
_________
Total Q
8690
Education
Stationary ( including
copies, book, pen, exams, wool
materials for homework, photocopies, wood, selotape
tapes measures, sewing equip., silicon gun
etc. ) Q 3158
School Bags Q
600
Marimba Lessons ( April ) Q
400
School Fee/Typing older children (March/April)
Q 690
_________
Total Q
4848
Miscellaneous
House Maintenance Q 1029
Personal Maintenance ( including combs, clips,
toothpaste, talc, cream etc. ) Q
134
Shoe Maintenance ( including repairs, polish
laces,
dye etc. ) Q 55
__________
Total Q 1218
Grand Total Q18,851
The
exchange rate is approximately Q 10 to £1.
Our Plans and
Aspirations for Next Year.
New
Project:
This year we started a new project for those
children who have reached fourteen years of age. Normally at this age these
children must leave the Guardería and this tends to terminate their education.
This has proven to be successful in that of the four in the programme they all
passed their grades. Two left little or no room for improvement in their grades
( they received 100% in three or four subjects and the rest well into the 90’s
) and the other two did well late 70’s and 80’s ( one of these will not be
returning to us next year as his father who had to leave the country in the
early 90’s and who we all thought had been killed, has now returned and has
made contact with his son. He will be living with him in the foreseeable
future. We hope a happy ending.)
Next year we will have nine (six boys and
three girls)in the programme. I have had to plead and beg the organisation for
permission to go ahead with this. The reason they were against it was pure and
simple - money. They can not make ends meet with the Guardería for those up to
fourteen years of age so how can they think of another project. I have had to
commit my/ourselves to pay for this. The agreement we came up with is that the
families are responsible for the housing and feeding of the teenagers and the
fund will supply everything else i.e. school fees, uniforms, school supplies,
clothes, shoes, medical if any, transportation etc. The biggest expense is the
food and I hope that I can find enough money in the fund to help with this as
well. I have seen the house that five of the boys will be renting and it is a
mud hut. They will have to sleep on the floor and eat beans and tortillas at
least twice a day. They may eat meat once a week if they are lucky and you can
imagine the quality of the meat!!
The teenage boys and girls will not be housed
together.
Uniforms:
To help the success of the programme I have
committed the fund to supplying the uniforms for all the children. We do have
some uniforms from last year which we will use again but some new ones will
still have to be bought.
Clothes:
I plan on continuing the supply clothes for
all the children in the Guardería and in the new project. New underwear will
have to be bought at least twice during the year. I have clothes that I did not
give out last year and plan to add to this.
Chests
of Drawers:
One problem with giving the children clothes
is that they will need somewhere to store them. The fund bought chests of
drawers for them and they are using them but for some they need a second drawer
as all their clothes do not fit in the one drawer. I think that if I organise
it properly we will have enough.
It is planned to have more children in the
future so it may be a good idea to buy some more this year. Again I will have
to see if the funds are there.
I have had to buy myself a new one, not for my
clothes but for things I have for the children and still need more space!
Change
of Address:
In January we plan to move to new premises.
This house was built by a group of Japanese and is perfect for the children. It
is ten minutes by car outside the city of Santa Cruz and the children will have
lots of space to play.
This move will cut down on the cost of renting
but we will have to pay for transportation to school among other costs.
Furniture;
Normally the children will sit on the beds of
the women while looking at TV. These women like to retire early as they have to
get up early in the morning to prepare breakfast. This means that the children
have to then sit on the stone floor, which I am sure does not do them much
good.
What I hope to do if the funds are there is to
acquire some couches or perhaps some bean bags that we all may watch the TV in
a little comfort.
Agriculture:
This move will also mean that we will be able
to start an agriculture programme as we had before. This time around we will be
able to care for the crops better as we will be there on hand everyday to see
the progress.
It is also my idea to have some animals for
the children to care for. This should help with the running costs of the house.
Books:
It is planned that in the new year the
children should read a lot more than they have been. One difficulty with this
is that the books we have are uninteresting to the children. So I plan on
contacting a friend of mine who works in a publishing company there and buy a
load of books from him at a greatly reduced rate. What I wouldn’t give to have
a decent library for the children.
First-Aid
Kit:
As I have said my first-aid kit is my pride
and joy and has been used every day without exception sometimes three and four
times a day. I plan to expand it to cater for every emergency that may come our
way. It will be more essential this coming year as we will be in the
countryside and that bit further from the hospital. I have studied first-aid
for years and should be able to deal with most things. Hopefully I will never
have to use my knowledge.
Marimba:
There is a lot of things that I really want to
achieve in this coming year but it all costs and I really don’t know if the
money is going to be there. If it is I plan to start Marimba lessons ( national
musical instrument ).
Correspondence:
My Email address is still the same :-
David_Deegan@hotmail.com
My physical address has changed so until I
find out if post will be delivered to where we will be living it would be
better to use the address of the school in Xela.
David Deegan
P.L.Q.E.
Apdo.114
Quetzaltenango
Guatemala
Centro América
*************************
Projected
Expenditure for Year 2,000.
With this new project for the older children I
am going to need extra funds. I plan on finding these by cutting out or down
expenditure in certain areas. One of these areas is toys. What I spent on toys
this year would help make ends meet. Stationary is another area where less
should be spent as we have a lot of stationary left over from last year.
Clothes and videos likewise.
For the new project
for the nine teenagers.
For one For
nine
School fees Q1030 Q 9270
Uniforms Q 102 Q 918
Shoes Q 120 Q 1080
Clothes Q 100 Q 900
Runners Q 70 Q 630
Books etc. Q 200 Q 1800
Medication Q 100 Q 900
Haircuts Q 50 Q 450
Personal maintenance Q 20 Q
180
Food Q 300 Q 2,700
________ _________
Total Q 2,092 Q18,828
For Existing Project
Recreation For all 30
children for the year
Swimming Q 680
Arts and Crafts Q
700
Music Q 300
Furniture Q 2,000
________
Total Q 3,680
Health
Disinfectant Q 500
Medication Q 2,000
Clothes Q 700
Shoes Q 3,000
Soap and Shampoo Q
200
Food Q 7,000
_________
Total Q 13,400
Education
Uniforms Q 3,000
Stationary Q 2,000
School Bags Q 300
Typing Q
1,000
Books (
for library ) Q 2,000
________
Total Q 8,300
Miscellaneous, Including
Hair care ( head lice treatment),
shoe care, general maintenance etc. Q 1,000
__________
Subtotal Q 26,380
Grand Total Q
45,208
I have no doubt at all that there will be
unforeseen expenses. So for less than £5,000 we can give really good schooling
and a childhood to almost 40 extremely poor indigenous children. This should
enable them in the future to get a job which will improve their standard of
living and break the cycle of poverty in which they are trapped.
On behalf
of the children and their mothers
let me take this opportunity to thank you again for your generosity,
compassion and understanding.