Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 3, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2018 | Page 17

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
concerns is clearly part of Mayan Families’ efforts, its Ojos Abiertos program goes
beyond simply organizing local communities and has required sexual educational
programs for scholarship students. Given Mayan Families’ prior commitment to
indigenous voices, when the time came to develop Ojos Abiertos, there was a great
deal of discussion among board members and staff about whether participation in
this program should be a voluntary program that would provide a resource for students
to develop their own voices or whether it should be mandatory (Interview by
author, Panajachel, Guatemala 2015).
In the end, it was decided that it would be mandatory in order to reach more
students; students then have the ability to incorporate what they have learned into
their lives or make a more informed choice not to use birth control. However, it is
important to note that students who did not participate were not actually removed
from the broader program Mayan Families staff members (Interview by author,
Panajachel, Guatemala 2015).
Interestingly, Mayan Families’ webpage description indicates a two-pronged
approach to the reality of male dominance. On the one hand, they explain that
boys are included in the Ojos Abiertos program because “Male-centered decision
making persists as the norm in indigenous Guatemalan culture, so it is crucial that
boys have a sound understanding of sexual and reproductive health” (Mayan Families
2016). In this way, they are acknowledging the reality and trying to work to
an extent within that framework. However, in the next sentence, they note that in
addition to helping young men “make relationship decisions that will benefit both
themselves and their partners,” the training will help them to be “better equipped
to understand and respect women’s rights” (Mayan Families 2016). Workshops
with the aim to better equip young men to respect women’s life go beyond working
within the current cultural framework. Rather, the goal seems to be to make
generational changes to the framework itself. This contributes to a form of cultural
adaptation that can lead to new cultural norms that include consideration of women’s
health and wellbeing.
According to correspondence with Mayan Family staff, by April 2015,
Mayan Families had successfully completed its first workshop series with 546 students
participating. In 2016, they opened up the program to 497 nonsponsored
children as well. The following year 464 participated including some in local public
schools (personal communication February 12, 2018). One reason that Mayan
Families has been able to reach so many people is that it had already been providing
services to the indigenous in that area for 11 years and has earned a degree of
trust. People are less likely to believe that the organization running the preschools
and feeding the elderly is involved in a secret sterilization program. Thus, the distinction
made by many between local and foreign NGOs may not be the way the
local community views outsiders. Our interviews revealed a level of trust in the
organization that was not expressed for local government. For the Maya living in
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