PhotoVoice: Recovering our history through images and interviews

Voices and images: Mayan Ixil women of Chajul

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Four: Association of Maya Ixil Women (ADMI) – New Dawn

7. PhotoVoice: Recovering our history through images and interviews

Interviewer: The first time I went to do an interview in a village, I was frightened since I didn’t know the people. When I spoke with the women, they were very nice to us and they gave us interviews that were quite sad. I felt very happy and very grateful for this PhotoVoice project because it has helped us with our technical work with the cameras, through the use of which, we are able to see the reality of our histories.

She is overcome by the pain that she felt while recounting the history of her life. Before, she was happy at her husband’s side, but when she lost her husband, she had to take refuge in the mountains for nine years, without food, without anything. She came back, however, when peace agreement was signed.

As a result of la violencia, she experienced great poverty. She lost her daughter and her son-in-law and she was left with two orphaned grandchildren. They murdered women, children, and men and they burnt down the homes in her village. Many people fled in different directions, having no houses, no food, and with their families stricken with terrible sadness, terror, and overwhelming pain.