Meeting Mariana
Extract from the Diary
by Elisabeth Ullmann
A car takes us from Guatemala City to the SOS Children's Village in Jocatán. The journey takes about four hours and we pass through some of Guatemala's most beautiful countryside. The lady accompanying us explains that Jocatán borders Honduras and is the poorest province in Guatemala. Children and adults alike repeatedly suffer from starvation here. As we approach the area of the SOS Children's Village, my first impression is one of a hard country.
We are welcomed by the village director, Raffael. He reminds me of a cowboy from a Wild West film. He is wearing jeans, a wide belt, boots, a checked shirt and sometimes he even wears the matching cool hat. Later on, once we have got to know one another a bit, he tells me that carrying a pistol in this area is not considered unusual. He also confirms what we have been told by the lady from the National Office, that starvation is nothing unusual in their province and that many of the children are on the point of death when they first come to the SOS Children's Village.
The visit to Mariana's parental house turns out to be one of those exotic experiences, which I will probably never forget. We drive up a winding mountain road, leave the car in a clearing and continue on foot along a narrow path through the forest. We arrive at the farm where Mariana's niece now lives with her family. The two small houses are made of mud and, as far as we can see, neither contains very much. A hammock swings from the roof, there is a small outdoor pump and a few chickens are fluttering around. We are, of course, exotic visitors but at least we do not seem to be disturbing them. It is difficult for Fred to take photographs, because it seems to us that the people are very shy. We do, of course, ask permission before taking any photographs. Raffael shows us the field behind the house and tells us which parts of the various plants are edible. None of these plants looks at all edible to me.
We go on a trip to Esquipulas in the afternoon. We are told that this is the place of pilgrimage in Latin America. The reason for this is that a black Jesus, an "Indio Jesus" is the object of devotion in this church. Even during this trip, Fred and I find it difficult to make contact with Mariana and especially with the children. In comparison with other countries, where we sometimes had no common language at all, this seems remarkable to us.
Mariana's Story will be published here soon
All these mother's stories come from SOS Children's Village Hermann Gmeiner Academy. Copyright is reserved and no unauthorized use permitted. Use for non-commercial purposes may be requested. The interviews telling about the lives of some SOS Mothers form part of an interesting study on being a replacement Mother to children in need in SOS Children's communities worldwide.