Artistic call-and-response, Guatemala-Canada: BTS at Antigonight By: Janette Fecteau, BTS Antigonish Committee member; Romi Fischer-Schmidt, New Hope Foundation Cooperant; and Ally Lord, New Hope Foundation Intern Saturday, September 14: Antigonight Art After Dark Festival in Antigonish/Nalikitquniejk unfolds, starring a spectacular installation exhibiting a months-long call-and-response between local and Maya Achí [...]
Contemplating crabs in Rabinal By: Ally Lord, BTS Intern There’s a phrase unique to Spanish which I’ve found myself reflecting on often lately. “Pensar en la inmortalidad del cangrejo” or, “thinking about the immortality of the crab”, which refers to the places your mind goes when you are free of [...]
Short film Pacoxom 2024 and World Day for International Justice By: Romi Fischer-Schmidt, New Hope Foundation Cooperant This short film, titled Pacoxom 2024 was shot during this year’s commemoration of the Rio Negro Massacres at Pacoxom. I created it for the New Hope Foundation (FNE) and for BTS. Special thanks [...]
Ch’eken and other turning points of the rainy season’s arrival The rains have arrived and transformed Rabinal into a misty, lush and green landscape. By: Romi Fischer-Schmidt, New Hope Foundation cooperant Late on Monday June 10th, around 10 p.m., I received a call from Luis Tecú, the new [...]
I am a cooperant at the New Hope Foundation, Rio Negro, located in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. By: Romi Fischer-Schmidt, New Hope Foundation cooperant What an honour it is to be welcomed into the learning community of the Intercultural Bilingual Community Education Centre (CECBI, Centro Educativo Comunitario Bilingüe Intercultural). [...]
Altar honouring the 177 victims of the March 13th, 1982 massacre at Pak’oxom in Rio Negro (photo credit: ADIVIMA) Sabrina Jeria, a cooperant at the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic, shares her reflections following the March 13th commemoration of the Río Negro massacre. On March 13, I accompanied a [...]
Highlands Committee of Small Farmers (CCDA) Our friends at the CCDA continue their incredible work of community organizing in response to the many challenges faced. The end of 2020 brought on many difficulties with regards to the continuous violence and criminalization against land defenders. The CCDA continues to provide support [...]
The second wave of COVID-19 is sweeping the world. In the North, we expect impending vaccine shipments and the beginnings of massive vaccination campaigns. However, in Guatemala, the failed disbursement of governmental aid and continued government corruption has left the guarantee of vaccination for the most vulnerable in a precarious [...]
By: Laura Robinson (BTS Cooperant) On February 13th, I accompanied the Rabinal Legal Clinic and The New Hope Foundation School to what had been used as a clandestine cemetery in Xococ, a town outside of Rabinal. It was the 38th anniversary of the Xococ massacre during which the Guatemalan army [...]
Laura Robinson is a BTS Cooperant based in Rabinal. She's doing work with the Rabinal Legal Clinic and the New Hope Foundation. I arrived in Rabinal seemingly at one of the busiest times of year as the annual fair was beginning. Everyday the streets filled with more and more [...]
