{"id":7693,"date":"2020-10-28T19:54:22","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T03:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=7693"},"modified":"2021-01-13T13:49:08","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T21:49:08","slug":"a-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-far-but-hopeful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/youth\/a-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-far-but-hopeful\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"A light at the end of the tunnel, far, but hopeful"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jhony Otzoy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The national reality about education and Indigenous People in Guatemala is nothing satisfactory.\u00a0 According to UNESCO, cited by Da Vinci University, a private university in Guatemala, in an article published in April 2019, under the title, \u201cHigher Education in Guatemala\u201d, it\u2019s affirmed that only 2.6% of the population (between 18 and 26 years of age) started their university studies. In other data from the newspaper Prensa Libre from September 2019, it\u2019s mentioned that Guatemalans with a bachelor\u2019s degree reach 4.56 percent, but the amount is reduced to 0.48 percent when it comes to a masters or doctorate.\u00a0 These are alarming percentages.<\/p>\n

When the figures are focused on the indigenous population, the General Director of Investigation from San Carlos University in Guatemala, shows that only 12% of its student body belong to Indigenous People (according to a report done in 2015).\u00a0 In another report done in 2019, it\u2019s affirmed that 15.8% belong to the Maya People, 0.31% to the Xinca People, 0.27% is from Garifuna People, 0.64% others, and 83% are Ladino.\u00a0 According to the last national census conducted in 2019, 43.8% of the Guatemalan population is indigenous, so it\u2019s clear that almost half the population suffers great exclusion.<\/p>\n

Education is a human right, and not a privilege, in which all human beings by the fact of being one, should have access to it.\u00a0 As humans grow, they need training that prepares them for the challenges that life raises, in all areas, be it social, professional, familiar, personal, among others.\u00a0 Education is an instrument of vital importance to reach a better standard of living.<\/p>\n

However, in Guatemala the reality isn\u2019t like that. We live in an exclusive, privileged society, in which racial prejudices prevail over the intrinsic essence of each person.\u00a0 The Inigenous have suffered and continue to suffer the most unequal treatment in all of Guatemalan history.\u00a0 In colonial times they were considered as an \u201canimal without a soul\u201d, that lived in impoverished conditions voluntarily, for being a lazy person, inclined to vice and worldly pleasure.\u00a0 They were considered to be lacking reason.\u00a0 Seen from many points of view, this is not the case;\u00a0 we have the same capacity for reason when we have access to training, preparation and opportunities.<\/p>\n

Iniquality, prejudice, exclusion and discrimination take hold of an indigenous person.\u00a0 This inequality is even more latent toward women.\u00a0 In Guatemala discrimination, based on race, color, physical state, religion, ethnicity, economic position, ideological position and sex predominate.\u00a0 Being a woman in Guatemala is difficult, and being an indigenous woman is even more so.\u00a0 Indigenous women are discriminated against because of their dress, because of their language, because of their physical characteristics, for not filling \u201ccertain stereotypes of beauty\u201d.<\/p>\n

Even in modern times, discrimination toward indigenous people is explicit, taking an example in which certain members of Guatemalan Congress, openly insulted a governor of the country, calling her \u201cstupid indian\u201d, simply for not agreeing with their assertions.\u00a0 We are speaking about the highest officials at the national level, from whom we would expect excellent professional training, with a high level of humanism and leadership; they are officials of the highest political positions, who should be educated and professional.<\/p>\n

The legal system advances each day, granting rights historically denied to Indigenous People, to women, to the disabled and to other vulnerable populations, rendering discrimination as a crime.\u00a0 Such discrimination has been explicitly, but not actually mitigated.\u00a0 Currently there is no express prohibition toward the indigenous to compete in any field.\u00a0 This is a great advance, because in colonial times the prohibition was overt.<\/p>\n

In these moments, one of the greatest difficulties is that those who have fewer economic resources lack opportunities.\u00a0 People who live in indigenous pueblos have limitations in being compensated for their work.\u00a0 In my town, San Juan Comalapa in the department of Chimaltenango, a day laborer earns 50Q per day, working between seven in the morning to four in the afternoon, without enjoying lunch, transportation, employment benefits or social security.\u00a0 A mason, who requires more technical knowledge, earns 75Q daily.\u00a0 A woman who does domestic work earns between 40Q and 50Q per day.\u00a0 In addition, it has to be stressed that they don\u2019t get work every day.<\/p>\n

La canasta b\u00e1sica vital para una familia tiene un costo de Q.3615.00 comprendiendo \u00fanicamente lo b\u00e1sico, tal como alimentos, vestuario, medicina y educaci\u00f3n p\u00fablica, no privada. La canasta b\u00e1sica ampliada que comprende recreaci\u00f3n o educaci\u00f3n superior cuesta Q.8346.80. El salario m\u00ednimo para este a\u00f1o es de Q.2825.10, es decir que no es ni lo m\u00ednimo para la canasta b\u00e1sica vital, mucho menos para obtener educaci\u00f3n universitaria.<\/p>\n

The basic cost of living for one family is 3,615Q comprising only the basics, such as food, clothing, medicine and public, not private, education.\u00a0 The higher cost of living that includes recreation or higher education costs 8,346.80Q.\u00a0 The minimum wage for this year is 2,825.10Q, that is to say not even the minimum cost of living, much less enough to get a university education.<\/p>\n

De esta manera, la educaci\u00f3n universitaria es un privilegio en Guatemala, a la que pocos \u201ccon suerte\u201d tienen acceso. La Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala es la \u00fanica universidad estatal, y al a\u00f1o se paga \u00fanicamente Q.101.00 en concepto de matr\u00edcula. Fue fundada el 31 de enero de 1676. Fue gestionada por primera vez al rey de Espa\u00f1a en 1545, por el obispo Francisco Marroqu\u00edn. Es la \u00fanica oportunidad de estudios superiores para la poblaci\u00f3n de escasos recursos.<\/p>\n

In this way, university education is a privilege in Guatemala, to which a few \u201clucky\u201d have access.\u00a0 The University of San Carlos of Guatemala is the only state university, and you pay only 101Q per year for tuition.\u00a0 It was founded on 31 January, 1676.\u00a0 It was first entrusted to the King of Spain in 1545, by the bishop Francisco Marroquin.\u00a0 It\u2019s the only opportunity for higher education for people with scarce resources.<\/p>\n

The \u201cprivileged\u201d indigenous university students who attend university, have to leave their communities to be able to study.\u00a0 This entails migrating to the industrialized city, where almost all the institutions, companies, employers or opportunities are concentrated, paying rent for a room if everything goes well, or traveling daily from their communities to the university campus.\u00a0 All this entails an economic expense that isn\u2019t easy to obtain.<\/p>\n

There are some opportunities that certain NGO, government, national or foreign institutions provide to students who want personal growth, through grants or loans.\u00a0 An invaluable help that changes lives, improves the standard of living for families and for communities.\u00a0 I\u2019m one of the fortunate ones of such privilege, and I can give testimony to it.\u00a0 These opportunities are invaluable, although they continue to be limited, only a few have access to them.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>In a country where opportunities are few, exclusive and discriminatory, we should empower ourselves from spaces that allow us to progress personally, professionally and communally.\u00a0 When we receive a friendly hand that offers the possibility of improvement, it’s like receiving a glass of water in the middle of the desert, where drought, hunger, malnutrition, ignorance, poverty rule, and we see a light at the end of the tunnel. There is when we should take advantage of the opportunity.\u00a0 In the words of Edmund Burke, English philosopher and writer, \u201cThe only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Cover photo: Soy Usac<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jhony Otzoy The national reality about education and Indigenous People in Guatemala is nothing satisfactory.\u00a0 According to UNESCO, cited by Da Vinci University, a private university in Guatemala, in an article published in April 2019, under the title, \u201cHigher Education in Guatemala\u201d, it\u2019s affirmed that only 2.6% of the population (between 18 and 26 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[453,1806,438],"tags":[2509,2508,2507,2510,2511],"class_list":["post-7693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-frontpage-en","category-social-situation","category-youth","tag-indigenous-students","tag-indigenous-youth","tag-universities-in-guatemala","tag-usac-indigenous","tag-usac-students"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/usac-foto-soy-usa.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-205","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9033,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/changing-revolutionary-and-independent-faces\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":7693,"position":0},"title":"Changing revolutionary and independent faces","author":"EntreMundos","date":"31 julio, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"By Diana Pastor Anyone who has gone through the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala -USAC-, knows that part of the philosophy is to share ideals of revolutionary times, sometimes romanticized. Several are the names that are exalted and remembered as martyrs or leaders, among them some Guatemalans (almost always\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pag.-5-dibujo-por-eduardo-gularte.jpg?fit=808%2C963&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pag.-5-dibujo-por-eduardo-gularte.jpg?fit=808%2C963&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pag.-5-dibujo-por-eduardo-gularte.jpg?fit=808%2C963&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/pag.-5-dibujo-por-eduardo-gularte.jpg?fit=808%2C963&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11435,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/the-reality-of-indigenous-youths-in-guatemala\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":7693,"position":1},"title":"The reality of indigenous youths in Guatemala","author":"EntreMundos","date":"10 noviembre, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"BY GERARDO GUARQUEZ TRANSLATED BY THOMAS LANG Studies on Guatemala\u2019s youth are a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning after the\u00a0democratization of the State in the mid \u201880s. With the Peace Accords in the late \u201890s,\u00a0conditions arose favoring the epistemological study of young people. In the beginning, \u201cyouth\u201d was seen as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/332955213_1621973644891572_4013910998373200560_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1006&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/332955213_1621973644891572_4013910998373200560_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1006&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/332955213_1621973644891572_4013910998373200560_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1006&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/332955213_1621973644891572_4013910998373200560_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1006&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/332955213_1621973644891572_4013910998373200560_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1006&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11395,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/atanasio-tzuls-chair\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":7693,"position":2},"title":"Atanasio Tzul\u00b4s chair","author":"EntreMundos","date":"9 noviembre, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"BY CARLOS FREDY OCHOA GARC\u00cdA TRANSLATED BY MARIE WUNDER Today, the native peoples maintain a struggle and resistance to maintain their culture, heritage and ideologies. 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