Common Good, Part III

Day-5- Sun. 31/7/16- It is 5:03 in the morning and just came across the word “filibuster,” while reading The Audacity of Hope- by Brother Barack Obama. Today is Day-5 on our calendar, on the other calendar; the month of July has five weekends this year, meaning five Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. An event like this can take centuries to unfold; it is definitely a blessing to be here.

It is a blessing to share a moment like this with you, and we hope that the “Words” or Seeds” will find the right soil to germinate. In this case, what called our attention this morning is the concept of Two Words that we have been using for quite some time now, “Common Good.”

It will be twenty years on the 16th August 2016 since we have been using words to share. From our point of view, “to share” with words is not an easy concept to grasp, and could be the main reason why we are still trying today.

Today however; is a day that was set aside for this to unfold. We believe that “Common Good” begins with a strong foundation in Education. The Educational System in Guatemala has failed us in more ways than one. Our children in the public schools of La Buga have not completed a calendar of 180 days of classes in fifteen years. In so many “words” our children have not had a complete year of classes that we know of since 2001.

At the COMUDE meeting that was held at the head-quarters of ONEGUA on Thursday 28th July 2016 we were able to express our disappointment at the system and the teachers who are supporting it.

If a teacher is not in his or her classroom in La Buga by Tuesday August 2nd 2016, the world will know that she has failed our children and she has failed us. Most Teachers in La Buga are taking advantage of the situation by blaming the system. Some teachers are teaching at the private schools and promoting that private education is better. Some Teachers are sending their children to private schools while they are supporting the strike against public education.

We said at the COMUDE meeting in La Buga on July 28th 2016 that “Education” is an integral part of the Common Good.  Education is the nutrition of our future.

Au le

Lúbara Huya