About Guatemala

posted by Cheri on Sun. Mar 12, 2006
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Guatemala sits between the southern tip of Mexico and the Central American countries of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. Half the country is comprised of mountains that criss-cross the midsection and include over 30 volcanoes - some active! The Atlantic coastline is covered with forests, and the Caribbean coast and Pacific lowlands host banana and sugar plantations.

Guatemala is the native land of the ancient Mayan civilization and is one of the few areas in the world that still produces traditional Mayan textile art. The dramatic textiles are a major source of their economic trade with the rest of the world. Guatemala also has a developing agricultural market and is the leading coffee producer in Central America. The present population is made up of 55% Mayan Indians and 42% Ladinos of mixed Spanish-Indian origin. The official language is Spanish, but most people speak one of the 22 Maya dialects. The official religion is Roman Catholicism.

Guatemala's Mayan ancestors dominated Central America from the 5th through the 8th centuries. At their peak, they had one of the most advanced civilizations of the ancient world. Mayan cities flourished with remarkable pyramids, temples, observatories and libraries, and their scholars produced works of literature, philosophy, art and architecture. In the 8th century the Mayan civilization declined as other ethnic groups moved into the region.

Europeans arrived in the 15th century, but it was the 17th century invasion of the Spanish Conquistadors that nearly brought the Mayan civilization to an end. Within a few years, the Mayans had become slaves, deprived of their lands, their rights, and all political and social representation. Their libraries and cities were sacked and burned, and their religion and culture were banned. Slavery, war, and disease wiped out 90% of the population within a century.

Despite the odds, some Guatemala Mayans survived with their heritage, religion and languages intact. In 1821 they declared independence from Spain and in 1839 Guatemala became an independent republic. For most of the next century the country enjoyed a comparative stability under the quasi-feudal regime of a series of dictators and land-owning families.

In the 1950s the US-backed Guatemalan military overthrew the government. This launched a civil war that included a period of brutal ethnic cleansing, leaving over 200,000 dead (80% of them Mayan) and 1.5 million displaced. In the1980's Guatemala began a slow transition from military to civilian governance. Although the civil war officially ended in 1996 with the signing of a UN Peace Accord, the country continues to struggle with the long-term effects of war and violence.

The United Nations estimates that 80% of the Guatemalan population today lives in poverty (measured as a daily income of $2 USD or less) and half of those, 40% of the total population, live in extreme poverty (measured as a daily income of $1 USD or less).

Medical care is woefully inadequate: about 25% of children die before they reach the age of five and malnutrition affects 50% of children. Education statistics are similarly poor: about 48% of the population is illiterate. Unemployment and underemployment stand at a startling 60%.

Poverty is the primary reason given by birth moms who place their child for adoption.

While we rejoice at the opportunity to bring a child into our family, we cannot overlook the heartbreaking realities that have created the opening for our joy. Our hearts go out to the women and girls who, because of circumstances beyond their control, make this unimaginably difficult decision.