Weaving Justice with the 36 Maya Achi Women
Cooperant update: Uncovering the Mysteries of Miércoles de Chilate
By: Meara Donovan, BTS Cooperant (2026) If you’re reading this, it’s likely that miércoles de chilate doesn’t ring a bell. Since my first day in Rabinal a whole 9 months ago, I’ve heard about the [...]
Cooperant update: Los Encuentros Commemoration
By: Meara Donovan, BTS cooperant (2026) “Mira, ¡un perro de Río Negro!” (Look, a Río Negro dog!) “¡Y un palo de Río Negro!” (And a stick from Río Negro!) The students are joking around as [...]
Cooperant update: Commemoration and Convivir
By: Meara Donovan, BTS cooperant (2026) At 5:30 a.m., students and teachers began to show up at the New Hope Foundation's (FNE) office in Rabinal. Motorcycle after motorcycle of shockingly un-sleepy teenagers roared up to [...]
Cooperant update: The sacred fire deserves respect too
By: Meara Donovan, BTS cooperant (2026) At the New Hope Foundation (FNE), spirituality is ever present. It is not separate, but rather interwoven with every aspect of learning at the Centro Educativo Comunitario Bilingue Intercultural [...]
Intern update: Walking away from anonymity – Rabinal, CECBI, and the Maya Cosmovision
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 [...]
Intern update: La curiosidad mató al gato?
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 [...]
PAPXIGUA press release: “In the name of life, land and water—the resistance continues.”
Xinka Parliament (PAPXIGUA): “In the name of life, land and water—the resistance continues." Press release: SANTA ROSA, GT, June 8, 2025 — Today, we commemorate eight years of peaceful resistance by the Xinka People here [...]
In the Search for Justice,
36 Maya Achi Women from the areas surrounding Rabinal, Baja Verapaz bravely broke the silence concerning crimes of sexual violence they experienced during the Internal Armed Conflict. Supported by the Rabinal Legal Clinic (ABJPR), testimonies for this case were first collected in 2011, after evidence from a case before the Inter American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) revealed possible crimes of sexual violence.
First arrests were made in 2018, however, several ex-civil-patrollers remained fugitives from justice until 2021. In January of 2022, 5 of the original 10 men accused will stand trial in the Criminal Sentencing Court for High-Risk Proceedings “A” presided by judge Yassmin Barrios.
Consult the blog updates to the left for updates on the case.