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Special Feature SeriesPaz y amistad (Peace and friendship) Part 1 What is Rotary International? Rotary International, for those not familiar with it, is the worldís oldest service club. It is in more than 165 countries. Its members form a global network of business and professional leaders who volunteer their time and talents in community and world service. Rotaryís motto of ěService above Selfî exemplifies the humanitarian spirit of its more than 1.2 million members. There are several Rotary Clubs in East Central Minnesota, including North Branch, Pine City, Chisago Lakes, Cambridge and St. Croix Falls - Taylor Falls. Rotary International funds a number of programs to promote international understanding by bringing together people from different countries and cultures. They include scholarships to study abroad, peace scholarships, grants for teachers to teach abroad, humanitarian aid, and Group Study Exchange. Group Study Exchange is a cultural and vocational exchange program between districts in different countries for business and professional men and women ages 25 to 40. While the team members cannot be Rotarians or related to Rotarians, the Team Leader is always a Rotarian without an age restriction (fortunate for me as I am over 40). Our Rotary District solicited applications for the Central American GSE team leader and members at the end of last summer. I was selected as team leader in October because of my prior experience in leading groups to Central America and my experience in other Rotary exchange programs. The team members were then selected. Meet the team In addition to myself, the team members included: There were also alternates who would go in place of a team member if one or more team members were unable to go. Each of these persons had to attend and prepare as if they were going, even if the likelihood was small that they would go. The alternates included: Each of us on the team represents a different profession. We will be meeting with our professional counterparts during our visit, learning from them how they work in their country and sharing with them how our profession functions back here. On a personal level, I will be visiting with churches, Boy Scout and Girl Guide programs, missions and Rotary and political leaders. I will try to promote tourism and trade between our countries, as well as friendship and mutual understanding. To prepare for this exchange, the team began to meet almost immediately after they were selected, bi-weekly right up to the final week before departure. We not only had to become a team, we had to learn the language and culture of the countries we were to visit. The first meeting was a get-to-know you session at which we also went over the logistics of the trip. During November and December, the focus shifted to learning about the countries and practicing Spanish. Last November we also attended the Minnesota ń Guatemalan Society Annual Celebration and Dance as a way to meet people native to Guatemala. Learning about CAFTA We also learned about the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that was being negotiated between the United States and Central American governments. Today there is very little trade that exists between Minnesota and Central America ń less than 1 percent, but given the location (Guatemala is actual closer to New Orleans than Minnesota) and the population (the combined populations of Central America countries is larger than Canada), there is considerable potential for trade. In the process of learning about CAFTA, I learned that several area corporations did business in Central America, among them Andersen Windows and Polaris. Further a number of other corporations and organizations in East Central Minnesota were interested in expanding their business there, among them Hazelden Treatment Center in Center City. More preparation The team had a New Yearís party so we could meet the spouses and significant others of the team members, to experience Central American cuisine and to learn about the culture, particularly their music and dances (e.g. Salsa). One of our responsibilities as a GSE team is to represent the American culture, particular, the upper Midwest, to the countries we are visiting while we experience their culture, as one way to promote mutual understanding. To that end, we have prepared photo albums and a power point presentation on our government, economics and cultural life. We also will bring CDs with music from the Midwest and we have prepared several dances that we will demonstrate. Our theme song is ěLet there be Peace on Earth,î which we will sing in both English and Spanish. Apparently the song is not available in Spanish or other foreign languages. When we contacted the company holding the copyright, we got permission to use the song and they provided us the Spanish lyrics, as well as encouraged us to use it to Central America. We have created souvenir bookmarks with the words of the song in Spanish. Peace and Friendship We have given our Group Study Exchange the name ěPeace and Friendship,î which in Spanish is ěPaz y Amistad.î In the presentation that I will be give, I use the Spanish word for peace, ěpaz,î to convey our approach to promoting peace. Promoting peace is one of the primary purposes of our exchange. Using ěpazî as an acronym, ěpî stands for peace and the remaining letters for how we will achieve peace. The ěaî in ěpazî stands for ěamistad or friendshipî and ězî for ězapatos or shoes.î Peace begins with friendship, friendship that is grounded by walking in the otherís shoes (or zapatos), as it says in the old Indian saying, you need to walk a mile in the otherís shoes, before you criticize. To further reinforce that message, we have added the following words to our mission, ějuntos en el caminoî which in English means, ětogether on the journey.î A geography lesson Central America geographically is about the same distance from New Orleans, as North Branch. It is part of North America, just south of Mexico. It is made up of seven republics, six Spanish speaking and one English speaking. The countries include Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panana. They have a combined population greater than Canada. They all suffer from too much poverty and too much wealth and lands in the hands of a few. This has contributed to political instability and civil war. As a result, today they lack clean drinking water, health care and a decent educational system. Unemployment and poverty is the norm. There is one exception and that is Costa Rica. Costa Rica has not had military since 1948 and coincidently it has had political stability since then. It has universal health care and a quality education system with a higher rate of literacy than the United States. While there is substantially less poverty in Costa Rica than in the surrounding countries, like the other countries, there is a high concentration of wealth, no middle class, high unemployment and a lot of poor people. Despite the poverty and other problems, the people of Central America are generous, warm and friendly people. Our team looks forward to not only meeting Rotarians and business leaders there, but also indigenous people, such as the Mayan Indians of Guatemala. In Guatemala more than 50 percent of the population is indigenous, the highest percentage in the Western Hemisphere. They refer to the mixed blood people as Ladinos, rather than Latinos, reflecting their Indian heritage. The journey starts in Belize The first country we will visit is Belize, the former British Honduras, located just south of Mexico on the Caribbean. It was sold to the British by Guatemala when Central America was in a war of independence from Spain. Great Britain never paid them for it because the majority of residents of Belize at that time were British. Consequently, you will still see Belize on the map of Guatemala; they view Belize as another province or department of Guatemala. Belize is the least populated of the countries, with just over 250,000 people in their whole country. Pirates and criminals originally inhabited it. Its capitol, Belmopan, has a population of only 12,000. Much of the inland is covered by either the Mayan mountains or mangrove swamps. Belize is known for the coral reef on its shore, the second largest in the world. It is also a destination for cruise ships during its dry season, from November to May. During the rest of the year it is known for being a land of endless rain and hurricanes. Some also consider it an environmental paradise. Belize is also the gateway to the ancient Mayan empire. Just across its western border is Tikal, Guatemala, the ancient capital of the Mayan world. It is one of the wonders of the new world. Guatemala is known as the land of endless spring. Covered with mountains, most of its people live in the highlands, which offers pleasant temperatures year round. Some of the places we will see include Lake Atitlan, one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, Antigua, the ancient capital of Guatemala, and Guatemala City, its current capital, a city of more than 2 million people. The population of Guatemala is larger than the combined populations of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Guatemala is famous for its textile industry and coffee. Interestingly, it is the only country where indigenous Indians are in the majority. The next country we will visit is Honduras. Honduras has a population similar to Minnesota or Wisconsin or about half of Guatemala and about the same as Costa Rica. It is the poorest country in Latin American and may be the poorest in our hemisphere. It has been devastated by war and most recently, by Hurricane Mitch. It is a classic banana republic, where bananas are among its main exports. It has much natural beauty and has been made famous by its mosquito coast. We will conclude our Group Study Exchange in San Pedo Sula, the industrial capital of Honduras. From there, several of the team will go back to Belize for some rest and relaxation and I will go on to Costa Rica to visit Rotarians, Scout Leaders and old friends from previous travels to Costa Rica. As I indicated, it is the most stable country in Central America and has the highest standard of living. It is a haven for Americans looking for warm climate to live where they can feel safe and where their dollar will go farther. Continuing coverage You will be able to follow us on this journey over the next 6 weeks in this paper. It should be an informative series on these countries and our cultural and vocational exchange. You never know, it may motivate you to take a vacation in the land of endless spring or summer rather than endure the unending cold here. Hasta semana proxima (that is, until next week). ©ECM Post Review |