Translator: Susana González Reviewer: Trina Orsic
(Mayan)
I was born among the land of coffee, blackberries and the sacred maize.
The indigenous woman of agriculture is living testimony
to what I’ve learned together with my people
and the peasant women who have been like mirrors for me.
Talking about their work on the fields to support the family
represents dark times of clarity.
I want to emphasize that I am not the only indigenous woman
of mixed race or from another culture who has experienced this.
It even applies to men dedicated to this honorable work.
This might be the daily life of many people
who have been less favored by the lack of opportunities and discrimination.
My story encompasses a woman’s reality,
an indigenous woman whose roots come from the farmlands.
With the passing of time, I have learned from women
the courage to survive pain, contempt, expropriation,
lack of education, discrimination and deceit.
My village is located in the central highlands of Guatemala.
Its name is Paneyá, for a plant called
which in ancient times, painted the fields yellow.
My community has relied on the production of woven baskets
which was the principal source of the family income.
My grandmother and great-grandfather walked over 100 km to sell their baskets.
They had no shoes, and no means of transportation.
They walked for three days.
They carried their goods on their heads or backs.
My people and my country suffered more than 36 years of internal armed conflict
and they have endured many natural disasters.
Many have migrated to areas where coffee and blackberries were produced.
Those who farm these crops
have endured plagues and limited market opportunities.
In my community, many farmers desperately search for profitable crops,
but there is no one with university studies in agronomy.
They have learned empirically.
Without a doubt, working in the fields has been their schooling.
Each member of the family has a role.
Grandmothers keep traditions holding onto the custom of making baskets,
textiles, having a small grocery store,
and most of all, cooking for the whole family.
The woman is always present, next to her husband,
sowing the fields, harvesting coffee.
They take care of their children and prepare the food.
After finishing their school day, children must go to the fields,
in this case, the berry fields, to work.
But girls have always been in charge of taking care of their little brothers,
learning to work, weaving a
and, if there is any time left, they do their homework.
Now we have lost the tradition of making baskets as a family.
Women now have more tasks, such as packing the berries,
because their hands are smaller,
or walking six or seven kilometers in order to deliver food.
They carry the food on their heads, hold a child with their hand,
carry a baby, and if that isn’t enough, they might also be pregnant.
But 61% of women take part in activities
that directly influence the community.
I’ll share a specific case:
a woman who is a coffee farmer with two daughters,
attends workshops in the afternoons to learn how to improve her coffee farm.
Her husband teaches in the morning,
and in the evening, she tells him what she learned.
And the teacher says,
“I do all the difficult things, like climbing a tree.
And she tells me how, when and where we do it,
we complement one another,
and we’ve bought a small shop and sell our own coffee brand, Café Esquit”.
Now we have a good market and good references.
Well, this woman is my mother.
In order not to lose the tradition of making cane baskets,
my mother started a family project named
focused on making handicrafts
with pine needles, reed cane, textiles, and other materials.
Every year, we bring together a group of women to make their own handicrafts,
and another group gathers pine needles
for women who export their products to the United States.
This means an extra income for them.
With the pandemic, sales dropped, and eventually stopped.
But with the help of virtual tools, we have made ourselves known.
My father always told me,
“We have such fertile land, but without any agronomist.
I was the first teacher in the community.
You will be the first agronomist of the village.”
Well, it’s not that easy to be an agronomist.
Agricultural schools had to make laws to allow women to enter.
I studied in the agricultural training school in Sololá,
where 160 students applied, and only 22 of us graduated.
Of those 22, six indigenous women like me obtained the title of agronomist.
Despite these opportunities, the first classes of women had many limitations,
such as male students not accepting them as partners in a field activity,
because they considered women to be a burden,
or simply felt that women shouldn’t be there.
There was also family prejudice against women studying a “man’s career”.
However, many of us have broken through these paradigms
just by studying and graduating from these schools.
As engineer Nereida Gutiérrez said,
“The agricultural field is for those who love and respect it”.
Now my sister started her path in agronomy.
There are many inequalities in Guatemala.
Mestizo women suffer gender discrimination
while indigenous women endure four types of discrimination:
gender, ethnic, economic and territorial discrimination.
Experiencing this in the job market, and in education is not easy.
When I was searching for a job, the positions were for “male agronomists”,
they didn’t accept women.
I remember entering a restaurant and getting bad looks
because I was wearing Mayan traditional clothes.
When I tried to talk with people in urban areas,
I wasn’t accepted because I came from a farm.
They thought I drank from a dirty well or didn’t have electricity.
I recall when I attended a special event, where people with money go,
they scorned me because I’m like a stain that hurts their ego.
Many women have entered the field of agronomy and technology.
Single mothers are especially a concern
because they are frowned upon in my community.
But they are admirable and provide their children
with a good quality of life through agriculture.
I have seen many women in the fields.
They demonstrate how everyone can work with the same efficiency.
Despite this discrimination, women play an important role in agriculture.
Listen to this data:
Three out of ten women have land in their own name,
but they produce food.
Of this, 57% is for their family and 36% is for sale.
Costa Rica is no exception.
Nowadays, 15.6% of farmers are women,
but only 3% have received agricultural technical support.
Many women have broken paradigms
showing that through their struggle and their work,
it’s not impossible to reach their goals and realize their dreams.
Amongst them are: Sara Curruchich, singer songwriter;
Mercedes Coroy, actress; Herlinda Xol, athlete;
Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize winner.
But this list does not yet include an agronomist, and I hope it happens soon,
regardless of ethnicity.
Each one of us has our own story.
As Mary Shelley said,
“I do not wish women to have power over men, but over themselves.”
I want to make something clear.
The indigenous woman can inspire crowds,
be a leader for change,
bring development to a community, be a businesswoman, a scientist,
and still not lose her essence.
Grandfathers and grandmothers, join me.
Do not judge me, judge my work.
(Mayan)
Thank you.
(Applause) (Cheers)