Violence and Protection for Vulnerable Populations

Just last night while skimming through the newspaper, two major headlines screamed out to me:

• "One young person dies every day in Guatemala because of violence.  From January to April of this year, 125 youth, the majority between the ages of 15-17, have been assassinated."

• "At least 49 mutilated cadavers have been found  along a highway in northern Mexico, believed to be Central American migrants, victims of the drug cartel the Zetas."

taken from Prensa Libre; articles in Spanish here and here

This is the reality of violence here and in many parts of the world.  Violence; that word we hear and use so often without even really being able to humanize it.  Stark statements like these help us to start feeling more what this reality of violence means, but even more so, personal connections that many of you have had here with these same youth and these same Central American migrants.  Surely you have not forgotten your experiences in San Marcos working and sharing with a community where 70-80% of the male population has spent time migrating and working in either Mexico or the U.S.  Or your experiences of meeting the youth of La Linea in San Martin and the fact that they are forced in many ways to chose between participating in the local church or the gangs that thrive in their community, knowing that choosing the gang will lead them to either death or incarceration.  Because of these experiences and our new knowledge of these realities that people we have met and interacted with face EVERY DAY, I am convinced that issues like violence and the root causes of them are now our issues (and have been for a long time even if we were unaware of it before).  These types of revelations bring into the spotlight the great importance of educating ourselves more about these root causes and finding ways to combat them.  After last night's reading of the newspaper, it was more than appropriate that I would, today, find out about an International Arms Trade Treaty that is to be discussed at a UN conference that begins in 48 days; a treaty that is key to helping address this issue of violence that we are all connected to.  You can read more about this and MCC's support of the treaty at the Latin American Advocacy blog.  There you will also find out about an organization called "Control Arms" that is advocating for an "international legally-binding agreement that will stop transfers of arms and ammunitions that fuel conflict." Realizing that people (myself included) leave their experiences here feeling overwhelmed and useless in the face of so many complicated things, this is an exciting and active way that we can all really DO something that may help.  I firmly believe that once you are personally connected to an issue, like you are now connected to the families in San Marcos and the youth in La Linea, you are left with a responsibility to act; this is an opportunity to do just that.

   

Photo by Melissa Engle for MCC's  A Common Place; read about Gustavo's immigration story here

 Youth from the Iglesia Bautista Discipulos de Cristo in San Martin; click here to read and see more pictures on their blog