An Interview with Damaris Valey

Damaris Valey is a Garden’s Edge scholarship recipient and a youth leader in our maternal health and nutrition project with Qachuu Aloom. She was invited to travel to the US for the first time this year as a cultural exchange, and visited Albuquerque, Tewa Women United, and Batavia and Gates churches in New York. In this interview, she shares her thoughts and reflections on the experience.

How do you think this cultural exchange will help you successfully interact with people from different cultures in the future?

I understand now that each person’s culture is very important and we should not let it disappear. Nowadays, many people in Guatemala do not want to wear their traditional dress or understand their roots, culture, and origin. But on our visit, we met other indigenous people who are fighting to conserve their culture and origin. I also learned that there are people who appreciate things about our culture in Rabinal, Guatemala that are not being appreciated by our own communities.

This cultural exchange will help me because now I have a new knowledge, a new experience that nobody can take away from me. This is something that we should always do: share our experiences and ideas with other people. Interacting with people is also good because we get to know their ideas too.

What intrigued you about the US culture and people you met?

Many people I met helped me to feel like I was at home. I felt a powerful need to never leave behind my traditional dress and my native language. For me, it is very important that our youth are aware of how important their family’s origin is and not ashamed of it. They should be proud of who they are, and where they come from. Nowadays, we have to teach youth to realize how rich our traditions and culture are and not to be ashamed of their language and their clothes.

Can you give any advice for future cultural exchange participants?

They should be confident and tell their stories and experiences to other people in a different country.

What did you learn?

I learned a lot about agriculture – new ideas to share with my people and implement in our homes. Also, I learned how to water plants and how much distance should be between fruit plants to get a good harvest. I also learned about how to take care of animals on a farm. It’s necessary that they feel like they are in their natural habitat. The animals also need healthy food to grow.

How did your participation in this program change you?

The trip changed my way of thinking, I understand that in our life we have to keep going and fight so our culture doesn’t disappear. We should not think only about material things, but also how fortunate we are to be Mayan.

Anything else you want to say about the experience?

The trip was an incredible experience in my life. I hope our presence there was helpful for [the people we met]. For me it was impressive to share it with [so many people].