About Comalapa

The World Bank considers three quarters of the population of Guatemala to be living in poverty.

Guatemala, a country of 13 million roughly the size of the U.S. state of Indiana, is home to vivid scenes: majestic ancient ruins, brightly dressed elderly women with shining blue ribbons woven into long braids, and almost perfectly vertical corn fields carefully sown on steep mountainsides. It is cut and divided by cords of mountains, tangling greens reaching the very bottom of sight; deep ravines on whose edges large colorful buses constantly flirt. This striking country and her beautiful people are divided also by ethnic discrimination, socio-economic disparity, and sharp iniquities in access to health care and education.

The “Agreement on the Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples” recognizes that four peoples live side by side in Guatemala: the Mayas, the Ladinos, the Garífuna and the Xinca. The Xinca and Maya are both considered indigenous groups, and the Garífuna has its origins in the Caribbean. Ladinos are considered the people who do not fit into the other three categories; they constitute 59% of Guatemala’s population. The Maya are subdivided into 21 linguistic groups, each of which has its own language. Most published information relates to the K’iche’, Kaqchikel and Q’eqchi’ groups, which are the cultures best documented in the literature.

San Juan Comalapa is a rural municipality of 39,000 located in the central highlands of Guatemala at 7000ft. The area is principally dedicated to agriculture, but is also known for producing fine art and artisan works. The main sources of income are cultivation of corn and beans and production of artisan goods for sale. The ethnic composition is 95% Kaqchiquel Maya and 5% Ladino (of mixed racial ancestry). Kaqchikel people constitute 8.7 percent of Guatemala’s overall population.

Until about 20-25 years ago, it was uncommon in Guatemala to use the term “Maya” to designate the contemporary “Mayas”. In reaction to foreign labels, which had for centuries underlain the social, political and economic marginalization of the indigenous peoples in Guatemala, the various indigenous organizations have begun to create a new common basis of positive “Mayan” identity. This expression of a new collective ethnic identity – Mayan ethnicity – has arisen out of social processes and the struggle for political participation. Although clear differences can be found among the various Mayan peoples living in Guatemala in, for example, language, ways of expressing spirituality, and cultural traditions, what unites all the Mayan peoples is their past and present experience of marginalization and the resistance which all of them have developed, in one way or another, to combat it. The many ideal values shared among Mayan groups are embodied in the mission of the vocational school, such as the value placed on work, community spirit, as well as the development of working skills, a sense of responsibility, and respect.