Our home base in Guatemala will not be a 4-star hotel in Guatemala City, or in one of tourist/resort spots of this beautiful nation.
The home base for the Human Rights delegates will be Sister Parish which was established in 1988 for the express purpose of foster mutual understanding and commitment to peace and justice among people in the United States and Central America. Since then many church and other faith based communities as well as delegations form the U.S. have been welcomed.
The vision of Sister Parish is:
Consciousness-Raising. We will seek to transform the world by sharing each other’s experiences so that we can better understand and overcome the sources of injustice and oppression.
Solidarity. By putting ourselves in the reality of others and by building an interdependent community of brothers and sisters within and among countries, we will promote mutual respect and dignity for all people, advocate for human rights, and work for social and economic justice for all.
Reconciliation. We will live in peace with one another by finding the courage to recognize our own failings and to forgive each other despite the history of violence that has caused so much pain.
Ecumenism. We will accept each other and respect each person’s beliefs and practices, as we unite to work together so that all may share equally in the fullness of God’s creation.
I am extending my stay to add to the previous itinerary of meetings, meeting with Claudia Rivera, former executive director of Casa Alianza and human rights lawyer who is now forming a new NGO for street children in Guatemala City with an outreach program for children and families living in the most extreme poverty.
Please note that I will have very limited access to email, if at all during my stay. I will try to get to an Internet cafe to update this blog before returning home, but cannot count on it!
The journey starts tomorrow. Stay tuned...
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