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It was the morning of 7 Ajpu according to the Mayan calendar, a date which represents strength, confidence, and bravery. Fifty-three Indigenous youth representing 3 countries and at least 7 distinct Indigenous communities gathered in the shadow of volcanoes on a secluded patio overlooking Guatemala’s dazzling Lake Atitlan to participate in a traditional Maya ceremony. The ceremony would usher in the Second International Radio Conference for Indigenous Youth, to take place from November 26-28, 2013, by the Christian calendar. The event’s goal was to build networks and collaboration among Indigenous youth from Guatemala, Belize, and El Salvador, using community radio and shared Maya culture as a foundation and a medium for their work.
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On the first day of the exchange, the youth were treated to panels by community elders and experts. Felipe Gomez, an Ajq'ij Maya K'iche leader who led the opening Mayan ceremony, spoke about the perception of justice and environmental stewardship in Mayan Cosmovision and how knowledge of traditional Mayan beliefs can fortify youth’s work. Nana Maria, a Kaqchikel elder, described Mayan traditional justice systems in which the concept of prisons do not exist. She talked about the necessity of finding ways for the official justice system, which operates based on the principle of retribution, to respect and make space for Mayan justice, which, conversely, is restorative. Other panelists discussed young women’s empowerment, human rights, and community radio. Youth responded respectfully and critically to the panelists’ presentations, asking tough questions about how to put their ideas into practice. One youth asked, “How can Indigenous youth gain access to high level planning, when we are always told that we don't have the capacity or experience?" The event aimed to answer this question by openly acknowledging the discrimination youth face and by empowering youth with tools and language to address injustice.
Later that day, a visit to Radio La Voz de Atitlan, the local community radio station, gave non-local youth a chance to wander Santiago’s narrow cobbled streets, enticed by scents of traditional street food and dodging tuk-tuks, the local motor taxis. Once at the radio station, the youth toured the recording booths and conference spaces. For some of them, this was their first experience visiting a community radio station. Later, the entire group squeezed into the small home of the local traditional authority, who described the important role of the ancestral authorities in the community. He spoke in Tz’utujil, which was then translated into Spanish for the Guatemalan and Salvadorian youth. From Spanish, his words were translated into English for the Belizean youth. These chains of translation over the three days highlighted the richness of the cultures that make up today’s Maya peoples.
On the second day, Francisco Coché Pablo of ADECCAP, Jose Roberto Benitez Velasco of El Salvador, and Alberto “Tino” Recinos, Cultural Survival Director of Citizen Participation and President of Mujb’ab’l yol Radio Association, shared their experiences as guerrilla fighters and community members during the devastating armed conflicts in Guatemala and El Salvador that threatened to extinguish the very Mayan cultures that this event was working to strengthen. Their emotional accounts reminded Mayan youth from all three countries of their shared history both for the sake of remembering and, as the presenters reiterated, so that the next generation could work against history repeating itself.
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Later, the youth broke into groups to discuss broad social and cultural questions to develop content that will be used for a regional radio series that is being developed by Tumul K'in Centre of Learning and Ak'Kutan Radio in Belize. Crossing language, age, and cultural differences, Mayan youth engaged in thought-provoking conversations, delving into topics such as freedom of expression and as controversial as teen pregnancy and drug addiction. Later that day, groups of youth participated in investigative journalism workshops. Youth with more radio experience led the workshops; other youth, with little or no radio experience, had a chance to practice interview techniques and ask questions. First they practiced their interviewing skills within their groups and later, each group chose a topic for their investigative journalism practicum. They designed and conducted interviews with other conference participants and facilitators, which they then reformatted into group presentations. During the community radio press conference on the final morning, the youth shared these presentations and recorded them to transmit at their community radio stations.
On the third day, after presenting the findings of their investigative journalism interviews. the youth signed a declaration listing the challenges they face and the responsibilities they commit to fulfilling, emphasizing the development of relationships based on respect and dialogue among Central American Indigenous youth.
Event participants emphasized language and communication as key to building Indigenous and youth self-determination and promoting social change. Tino Recinos commented, “[During the armed conflict], we fought with weapons. The last thing I want is for youth to experience what I experienced. I can’t say that I liked the war, but I love my ideas.” Those ideas, and ideals, for which he fought laid the foundation for today’s Indigenous youth working for social change, as was reiterated throughout the event. One youth explained that within social movements, “we’ve left behind our weapons. Now we use international conventions and declarations. These are the machetes that we use now to defend our rights as Indigenous Peoples.” Indigenous youth, with community radio as their “weapon,” are becoming ever more equipped to fight for their rights.
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The youth in attendance were deeply aware of the importance of community radio. One youth from a Salvadorian community radio commented, “As Indigenous youth, we suffer from many problems caused by the system that oppresses us. Being able to participate in a community radio fills us with joy. Taking part in a form of media that is normally not open to youth in order to express our ideas and needs has been one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had.” Community radios take on issues such as health, education, disabilities, and human rights. Eduardo Laroj, a Kaqchikel youth from Sumpango, Guatemala, said, “For me, community radio is a school where I have learned many things. Children’s rights, women’s rights, social struggles taking place in this country.”
In addition to the conference’s planned activities, youth took advantage of other opportunities to relate. English-speaking Belizean girls passed notes with Spanish-speaking Guatemalan girls, using their limited knowledge of each other’s language and endless laughter to communicate. Boys from Guatemala, Belize, and El Salvador played an impromptu game of soccer. As Brenda Garcia, a Tz’utujil youth from Radio Sembrador in San Pedro Atitlan, put it, “It was an excellent exchange. As we shared the situations occurring in each of our communities, we realized that we have a lot in common.” They have a history of armed conflict and oppression of Indigenous peoples in common, and they have languages, a shared Cosmovision, and a love of soccer in common too.
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Within and outside of scheduled activities, youth from different geographic locations, different levels of experience with community radio and Maya practices and, perhaps most powerfully, different languages, came together with the goal of fighting for their rights and connecting with other youth. A frequent refrain throughout the event reminded the young people how much work there is to be done. The event, the second in a series of three, provided a space for the network-building necessary to that work. One Guatemalan youth summed up a sentiment that was palpable over the course of the three days: “I am grateful to community radio which has offered me this opportunity to share with our Salvadorian and Belizean brothers and sisters.”
