Guatemala 2008: Tracey Spack's story

Written by: By: Pierre Chevrier

About a year and a half ago, Tracey met Roberto Miranda, a CSB employee who teaches Spanish at Health Canada and who is originally from Guatemala. Through his Spanish classes, Roberto had started a group called Education in Action, a group dedicated to supporting the efforts of grassroots organizations to improve the livelihoods of Mayan campesinos in Guatemala through initiatives based on social justice and fair trade. The group sells fair trade plus coffee, which ensures that workers are paid a fair wage, regardless of the fluctuations in the coffee market. Every March, members of this group also travel to economically challenged areas of Guatemala to build houses for those in need. The project runs two weeks in Guatemala with the cooperation with the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), a Guatemalan group that fights for access to land and labour rights for Mayan campesinos and helps to provide education, housing, and advocacy. 

Having always been actively involved in social justice issues, Tracey was impressed with the work of the group, so last March, she decided to join them on their annual working holiday. Her years of travelling through Latin America and practicing Spanish were very helpful. “Still,” she says, “I really wasn't prepared for the level of poverty in the country; it was very different from my experiences in Cuba. Generally, the extreme poverty combined with little access to education, especially for women, resulted in very large families of often up to ten children, this was something I did not see in Cuba where most women have university degrees and one or two children.”

She was also struck by the bravery and determination of people able to persevere in such challenging conditions. She spoke about a local cooperative where women make traditional back strap textiles to sell in order to feed their families; she admired their positivity and felt very comfortable working with them. “It is important to me that people understand that the impoverished people in Guatemala are not passively accepting the oppression that they are facing, they are doing something to fight back. These people have pride and dignity and incredible strength.”

Having never worked on houses before, Tracey wasn’t sure what to expect, but she soon found that she enjoyed running the drill and found the whole experience a lot of fun. She's even decided to build a deck this summer! What she enjoyed most about the work itself was that it was a chance to see such a great project from start to finish, something that is rare in government. “It really gives you a sense of accomplishment to see a house go up and know that a family will be living there.” With no phone or Internet it is hard to stay in touch, with& the people she met on her trip, but Roberto keeps her up to date with the progress of the group

One of the other members of the Health Canada team brought her 13 and 11 year old children to help out as well, so Tracey is considering a return trip with her five year old son Maximo in a couple of years, who has already caught the travel bug from visiting Cuba with his mom and can't wait to see Guatemala. “Maximo even donated $5 of his own money to help the group, so I hope we get a chance to do this together soon!”

Story published in HPFB News - Issue 15 - Summer 2008