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All who wander are not lost…
Beyond the End of the Road with Natalie Elwell
Program CoordinatorAction Learning Communication & Gender
World Neighbors, Inc.
A Central American Adventure featuring Rugged Roads, Macho Men
and Astounding Feats of Life
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I recently traveled with our agriculture coordinator to Central America where my attention was focused on the gender issues in our programs.
I’d like to share my observations from an adventure that began in Guatemala and passed via El Salvador into Honduras.
It was an exciting ride along mule-constructed roads teetering along jaws-of-death cliffs.
Enjoy the view!
In the Guatemalan Rainforest, I stumbled upon this path one morning as I wandered around, enjoying a few moments of tranquility.
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In a meeting with members of the coffee association, we learned that this organization does have a women’s component whose activities include a catering business to serve the men at their meetings.
Most of the women involved are divorced or widowed and their voices were still quite silent within the larger group.
The men in the group attributed the self-esteem training they had attended with helping them improve their relationships with their wives. However, they have yet to be liberated from the machismo that restricts their wives from being involved in the group.
Members of the Pato Poc program, our partners in
San Pedro La Laguna, explain the activities of
each branch of their organization.
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As my colleague conducted technical agricultural assessments on farms in our Purulha program in the El Jute region, I sought out the farmers’ wives to learn about their roles and the impact of our programs on their lives.
I was overwhelmed to learn just how much “man’s work” they actually do.
With social dynamics changing due to the impact of globalization, i.e. men migrating for paid employment, I realized that many of the cultural norms around the division of labor were also changing. Unfortunately, women’s involvement in leadership and decision-making were not.
Dona Juana raises quail as one of her many income generating projects. She and her husband have a friendly competition going to see who can earn the most.
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Life in many of our programs seems to center around coffee.
The lives of women are greatly impacted depending on the coffee season, planting, harvesting or marketing. Women’s roles in these processes seem to be integral to their success, yet go largely unrecognized, and therefore, unsupported.
The invisibility of women haunted me throughout this trip, so much so that I found myself wondering if there were some physiological explanation for men’s inability to see women work. It seems that would be easier to address than attitudes.
Women are very aware of their oppression. Maria Elena Choc, (second from left, front) dropped out of school to help support her eight younger siblings. Many of her friends were married and had children before they were 18. Despite her family obligations, Maria Elena says she is happy precisely because she is not married.
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tureThis little girl is just so cute I had
to give her her own page. She followed us all around the farm, at first hiding behind her mother’s skirt, but quickly getting bold. And her poor cat. Her efforts to get our attention mainly consisted of cat-tormenting stunts. The cat must have liked it though, it followed her as closely as she followed us.
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tureThings got considerably more dire
in Honduras. The environmental degradation was so extreme. I couldn’t believe anyone actually lived in these areas. The population density is low and hovers close to the few places that occasionally release a trickle of water. It was a sad realization that until about 10-20 years ago these areas were covered by rainforest.
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I was incredibly impressed with the work of my colleagues in Honduras when after hiking through a desert-like landscape we would arrive at a farm that appeared like an oasis.
The two community promoters you see in the photo have helped families in this area to reinvigorate the land. This farm produces enough food to feed them all year as well as surplus that they use to pay for health care and school fees.
The work is considerable: terracing, building rock walls, planting live barriers and constructing water catchments and drip irrigation systems.
These community promoters were trained by our staff and now they are training 10 families, who in turn will each train 3 families – usually their neighbors.
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In addition to trying to restore degraded lands on the Salvadoran border, we are also trying to prevent recently relocated communities from destroying forested lands on the Nicaraguan border.
Many of the people we work with have been pushed to these steep slopes from lower lands. Tried and true techniques for farming in lowlands have a devastating effect in highlands.
The migrating communities come into new land and clear cut the old growth trees, not realizing coffee, the main cash crop in the region, grows better in shade. Aside from that, once the vegetation is removed, their soil washes away with the first rain.
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Getting to our program villages involved nauseating rides in truck beds. My case for hiking into the villages got stronger proportionately to the steepness of the cliffs the dirt road teetered upon. My macho colleagues scoffed at this until about 20 of us went sliding out of the back of this truck, along with the chairs, as the back tire slipped off the edge of this rain slicked “road”.
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In a marathon day of family visits, we contemplated skipping this woman’s house. I felt bad about that knowing how much all of these families prepare for our visit. So as my colleagues tromped through another field, I jumped in the truck with my translator to visit this woman and her family.
The main attraction was supposed to be their new roof – replacing their Chagas-infested roof. But, the material arrived just as her brother went off to the city for work. So that will have to wait until his return – her husband has abandoned her and their children and grandchildren.
She and her 16-year old daughter are digging their first latrine. She’s counting on the coffee plants behind her to produce enough cash to feed her family.
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I think the most fascinating part of this trip was my conversation with a group of men about their thoughts on the status of women in their community and how they would like things to change.
These guys have been a part of our program for a few years, experiencing positive impact not only on their livelihoods, but on their self-esteem as well.
I was told repeatedly on this trip that the men wouldn’t allow women to get involved in group activities because that would threaten their power, their machismo.
These guys are a great example of how once people begin to experience empowerment, they are less threatened by power. They had some pretty progressive thoughts on gender equity.
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After two long and dirty days in El Aguila we were treated to a feast and serenaded by a mariachi band.
As this was nearly the end of my third week on the road, I enjoyed their crooning from my cot, blissfully ignoring the bedbugs.
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I hope you enjoyed the journey. Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments.
Natalie ElwellProgram CoordinatorAction Learning Communication & GenderWorld Neighbors, Inc.4127 NW 122nd StreetOKC, OK 73120 USA(405)[email protected]
Next stop – Karnataka, India
