Turning Over A New Leaf

I am so excited to tell you all that I will now be living in Chimaltenango and working with a women's co-operative called Corazon de Mujeres (the heart of the women). Chimaltenango is about 45 minutes from Antigua by bus and it is one of the biggest cities in Guatemala. The women in the Corazon de Mujeres group weave hand-made scarves, purses, clothing, etc., to help support their families. These women are hard-working, welcoming, and brave. Each of these women suffered from the violence that happened during the war in Guatemala and a part of what they do is share their stories with groups that come to visit them.

Over the next nine months, I will be living and working with the women of the Corazon de Mujeres. I will be teaching the women English, and tutoring the children after school, but I am certain that I will learn more from them than I could possibly teach. I hope to record their stories and translate them for CEDEPCA, another organization that I will be working with. CEDEPCA stands for Centro Evangelico de Estudios Pastorales en Centro America (Evangelical Center of Pastoral Studies in Central America). Cedepca is a training center that provides safe, accepting, creative spaces where women and men from many different Christian traditions can deepen their faith while they strengthen their ability to confront the key issues facing their communities.Cedepca seeks to form thoughtful, compassionate disciples of Jesus Christ whose world is big enough to include all God’s children and who care for all of God’s creation.Cedepca offers people the tools to eradicate violence and injustice in their world, especially violence against women and children.

This past week, I was lucky enough to spend time learning about Cedepca in Guatemala City and I can't wait to spend one week out of every month in Guatemala City working with Cedepca. The people who work for Cedepca are people I really look up to and hope to be like some day. They are making such a difference here in Guatemala and in other Central American countries and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to work and learn with them.