By: Nitya Ramírez, BTS intern (2025) I returned from Rabinal a month ago, but in many ways I am still there. Four months is not a long time in the abstract. But it is long enough to build routines, to learn people’s names, to recognize faces on the street, to [...]
Former BTS Interns working with our partners at the Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute, the New Hope Foundation, and the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic. Apply to be a BTS Intern Applications for the Atlantic Council for International Cooperation’s (ACIC) International Youth Internship Program will open in early February — and BTS [...]
I came to Guatemala for a placement connected to rural and Indigenous agriculture, and although my time with the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) gave me a starting point, most of what I learned came directly from the farmers and community members themselves. It was in their fields, kitchens, [...]
Anonymity doesn’t really exist here in the way I’ve come to know it growing up in Canadian cities. Rabinal boasts a vibrant sense of community. Sometimes it feels like everyone knows each other, a fact which can be both beautiful and overwhelming. Connecting with one person means connecting with their [...]
As I sit here reflecting on my time in Rabinal with a cup of sweet black coffee in hand listening to the cacophony of roosters, there is one word that comes to mind as emblematic of my experience: curiosity. It’s hard to believe how quickly the 88 days since my [...]
Garnet Rogers Benefit Concert for BTS in Antigonish Garnet Rogers benefit concert on Sunday, October 19th, 7pm: Celebrating 35 years of Breaking the Silence at the St. James United Church (197 Main St. Antigonish) Press release: ANTIGONISH, NS, October 9, 2025 — Garnet Rogers, Canadian folk music icon, will perform [...]
Maritimes Speaking Tour: Canada Must Respect Indigenous Self-Determination photo credit: MiningWatch Canada Please join BTS as we welcome two Xinka women leaders, Marisol Guerra and Marta Muñoz to the Maritimes to raise awareness about their struggle for self-determination. In May 2025, the Xinka Indigenous People of Guatemala [...]
Leocadio Juracán released on bail but the struggle for justice continues Leocadio with his lawyers on August 18th following the trial in Izabal. Photo credit: CCDA Last Wednesday, August 13th, 2025, Leocadio Juracán, campesino activist and agrarian reform coordinator for the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), was [...]
Cooperant update: A Meditation on Justice and Memory in Rabinal By: Marina Luro, Rabinal Community Legal Clinic Cooperant Since arriving at the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic (ABJP), I have frequently reflected on what justice means. In Canadian law schools, and I imagine law schools in most of the Global North, [...]
Presence as resistance: Connecting service learning with global change Every year, students in the Department of Global Development Studies at St. Mary’s University (SMU) participate in an experiential learning initiative connected to the “Fair Trade and Free Trade” course taught by Dr. Gavin Fridell. This involves volunteering at the Halifax [...]
