the 3 parts of the experience
1
Before the trip
In the 6 weeks prior to the trip, we will meet (on Zoom or near Cabrini) to learn essential background in order to maximize the benefit to you and to the Maya community. Topics we will cover in these hour-long sessions are these:
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the effects of colonialism and the 36-year civil war on the Maya people
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How the San Lucas Mission grew
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Father Greg Schaffer and the Mission
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The Maya Culture and Cultural Respect
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Global Justice issues in San Lucas Tolimán
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racism
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climate change​
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maternal and child health
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poverty
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migration
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Instead of looking at this experience as "Giving back," think of this as taking from them for the last time – or, better, receiving a gift from them for one last time! The education the Guatemalans are giving us should serve as a turning point in our perspectives!
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2
In San Lucas: the Justice Lens
It is important that we view San Lucas in a new way, not as tourists, not as North Americans going to help, not as North Americans viewing the indigenous Maya culture through the lenses of our lives.
We should NOT be viewing the experience as how WE can help THEM, how WE can set up a charity to fix something of theirs.
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Rather, we are there to see and learn, to accompany, to appreciate.
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Each evening, we will reflect with the help of these lenses:
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the dignity of each person as an equally valuable member of the human family.
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our right and responsibility to participate with others in our shared public life.
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our solidarity with those experiencing poverty in the struggle against structures of injustice
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rising above individual interest for the good of the whole community
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Unite with workers to build an economy that puts people, not profit, at the center
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recognizing that we are interdependent with the rest of God's creation
3
After the trip
What happens after the trip makes the difference between whether this was a "cool trip" and a transformational experience.
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We will have optional discussions and experiences. One major experience may be a trip to Congress in DC to meet with our representatives to discuss what we saw regarding climate change, maternal and child health, root causes of migration, etc.
Pre- & Post-trip meetings
The Guatemala experience consists of three parts: before the trip, the immersion experience, after the trip.
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