Jose Miguel Gomez is the coordinator of Qachuu Aloom’s Nutrition Project. He grew up the child of a Guatemalan family that owns fincas (farms typically owned by wealthy Guatemalans or U.S. companies, where many rural Guatemalans travel to pick coffee or bananas in order to be able to support their families). Jose Miguel’s family still owns sugar cane plantations, but he has dedicated his life to living simply and giving back to the people of his country. He is turning his own plot of land, once a highly exploited part of the sugar cane plantation, into an ecological farm.

Jose Miguel volunteers tirelessly at Qachuu Aloom, as well as in other Guatemalan villages and finca towns, to teach about food sovereignty, maternal health, and nutrition. He is also active politically trying to bring awareness to corruption, and exploitation within the Guatemalan government. He shares his thoughts in a beautiful poem, showing us that the most important part of the struggle for a better world is the struggle itself.

Y ASÍ FUE AL FINAL

Y así fue al final…
Los que soñabamos y luchábamos por otro mundo posible, más justo, más tierno…perdimos.
Desde el inicio de los tiempos veniamos perdiendo y esta vez no iba a ser la excepción.

También hubo quienes se perdieron a sí mismos en el camino.
Cuando se acercaron mucho al poder, se volvieron adictos a dominar y acumular.

Pero quienes siguieron como hormiguitas haciendo lo que se podía cada día,
Aunque tuvimos claro que eminentemente habíamos sido derrotados,
También supimos que no perdimos nuestro tiempo.

Aprendimos a vivir con los ojos abiertos, amar y construir buena vibra en un mundo tan destructor,
Y aunque nos tocó presenciar que la devastación ya era imparable e irreversible,
Hasta con las uñas pudimos transformar nuestros pequeños entornos
Y fuimos felices en nuestro presente porque caminamos de la mano de la ternura
Y no cargábamos en la espalda de nuestra conciencia el tremendo peso de la explotación
Y destruccion de tantas especies, personas y formas de vida.

Y el día en que morimos (o nos murieron), a pesar de todo…nos fuimos en paz,
Porque sabíamos que en ese momento estábamos regresando al dulce vientre de nuestra Madre…Tierra.

AND SO IT WAS THE END

And so it was at the end…
Those who dreamed and fought for another, more just, more tender world…we lost.
From the beginning of time we were losing and this time was not going to be the exception.

There were also those who lost themselves on the path.
When they came very close to power, they became addicted to dominate and accumulate.

But there were those who followed the path, like little ants, doing what they could every day.
Although we were clear that eminently we had been defeated,
we also knew that we did not waste our time.

We learned to live with open eyes, to love and to build good vibrations in a world so destructive.
Even though we had to learn that the devastation was unstoppable and irreversible,
We learned we could transform our small environments
And we were happy in our present because we walked in tenderness,
Knowing that we did not carry the tremendous weight of exploitation
And destruction of so many species, people and forms of life on our backs.

And the day we died, in spite of everything…we left in peace,
Because we knew that at that moment, we were returning to the sweet belly of our Mother Earth.

by Terra Reed

December 16, 2016