VIDEO about Health posted on December 5, 2010 by Michael

San Miguel Ixtahuacán, Guatemala: A Nursing Perspective

→Canadian Foreign Policy, →Health

In April and May of 2010, a group of nine third year nursing students from the West Kootenay region of Canada, accompanied by one instructor, and one community volunteer, travelled to Guatemala as part of an International Practice experience. We traveled to over ten different communities to witness community development, empowerment, collaboration and health promotion, and to engage in solidarity with those who we met. We were particularly interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the relationship between poverty, inequality, a lack of human rights, and an individual's, communities', or population's state of health. 

We were the fifth group of nursing students from the area to travel to Guatemala, and as such took this opportunity to reconnect with project partners from years past to rekindle caring relationships that were already made. These project partners kindly brought us into their villages and homes to meet with community members and share with us their experience, wisdom, and knowledge with only one expectation: for us to share their stories. 

Transcript from the video:

In the community of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, we collaborated with ADISME, a local project partner working towards human rights and environmental sustainability.  We spent an entire day visiting with local indigenous families and farmers who have been negatively affected by the Canadian owned mining giant Gold corp.

The health challenges experienced by these individuals, whose families have lived in this area for hundreds of years, are both devastating and profound.   Within Gold corp.’s mining operation, hundreds of thousands of litres of water are required for separating the gold from the other minerals.  Cyanide, the primary chemical used in the separation process, is leaching from tailings ponds into local tributaries and ground water tables.  For the first time in 80 years, the wells of local farmers are running dry.   What’s more, cattle drinking from Rio Quilco, the primary source of water for consumption and for agriculture, are having inordinate numbers of miscarriages - some are dying due to contamination. 

Farmers applying for permits to produce crops, including coffee plantations, are being turned down by external geologists due to extreme levels of soil contamination.  The economic implications are enormous, as agriculture is the areas primary means of sustenance and primary source of income. 

Another serious health concern in the area of San Miguel is deterioration of their adobe homes due to incessant use of explosives in the open pit mining operations.  We personally witnessed numerous homes riddled with structural damage, which could collapse and result in serious injury or death to the inhabitants within. 

The mine has resulted in severe community divisions.  While some members of the community of San Miguel, including the local police and the mayor, are benefitting financially from the mines operation, the vast majority namely the indigenous population is suffering the aforementioned negative health implications.  Moreover, there has been severe social repression documented; for example, amnesty international recently released the following report regarding Carmen Mejía with whom we spent our time in San Miguel.

Carmen Mejía is from a Mayan community in Guatemala. Her life is at risk because she is campaigning against impacts of mining on her community's human rights.  Carmen received this warning several times in June. “You shouldn’t defend human rights, or you’ll be killed.” 

Carmen works for a development organization that represents members of Indigenous communities seeking to protect their right to water, land, housing, freedom of expression and cultural identity. She has spoken at public meetings about her concerns about the Marlin Mine, which is owned by a subsidiary of Canadian mining company Goldcorp.

In July, a month after Carmen received death threats, someone shot her fellow grassroots activist, Deodora Hernandez, in the eye at close range.   At the time, Deodora was speaking out about the impact of a mine on her community's water supply. She was seriously wounded, but she survived.

The attempt on Deodora’s life is part of a pattern of violent attacks against opponents of Canadian mining projects across Central America, and underscores how seriously we must take the threats made against Carmen Mejía.

As we can see, our experience in San Miguel Ixtahuacan provided us with an in-depth analysis of health challenges in the area.  Using the social determinants of health model, we identified the profound health implications associated with the Canadian owned Gold corp. Marlin mine.  Following our experience in San Miguel, our nursing group collated our observations, composed a report and presented the information to the Canadian embassy in Guatemala City.  As nursing students, and advocates of global health, we expressed our concerns regarding the Gold corp. mining operation, and formally recommended an immediate stop to all mining operations. 

Since our time in San Miguel, Gold corp.’s Marlin mine has been ordered suspended by the inter-American Commision of Human Rights, and the Guatemalan government announced its intention to comply with the order.  Goldcorp CEO Chuck Jeannes refused to suspend operations.