THE past few weeks, while straightening school ties, tying back hair and putting lunch boxes into school bags, a routine I’ve been doing since September, I’m distracted.
Physically, I’m in Belfast, but as I go through the motions of the morning routine of getting the kids out to school, my mind is 5,000 miles away in rural Guatemala. I think about a girl named Miriam and her mother, Ilma, a strong mother who, like me, knows that her children can achieve great things.
You see, as part of my job with Trócaire, I recently travelled to a small Mayan community in Central Guatemala to meet the family that feature on this year’s Trócaire Box. The family are the father, Julio; the mother, Ilma; Miriam, 13; Julio Jnr, 11; Deborah, 4; and baby Gloria. They are part of a tight-knit, hard-working community who are being pushed further into poverty due to the effects of climate change. During our time in this community, I couldn’t help but feel an emotional connection to Ilma, knowing how closely our lives, though different, were intertwined by our roles as mothers.
Prolonged droughts on one end of the scale and erratic storms causing flooding on the other are destroying their crops and income. Ilma and Julio grow cardamon and corn to earn money for the family. They used to plant crops twice a year but now only plant once because of the extreme weather conditions. Meaning they no longer have an income from their crops, something they could rely on in the past. Miriam’s local teacher in their community said she was the brightest student in her school, a school that only serves children up to the end of primary education, and Miriam has completed.
Going to secondary school means Miriam has to leave her community and travel two hours by bus every day to get there, something she is happy to do, but for Ilma and Julio things are becoming worrying, their failed crop means they are struggling to afford the £5 a week for the bus that would take her there. Ilma knows the day will come when she has to choose between feeding the children or sending Miriam on the bus to school, one I couldn’t imagine having to do as a mother.
Sadly, this situation is not unique to Guatemala, this community, or Ilma’s family. At Trócaire, we believe that climate change is one of the greatest threats facing humanity. The deep injustice is that those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis and who have the least capacity to absorb and recover from its impact or adapt in response are suffering most severely from its impacts.
In so many countries around the world, storms and droughts are wiping out livelihoods and often mean that children have to leave school permanently so they can work to help support their families.
Ilma and Julio are raising bright, outgoing, generous children, like all the mothers in the community. When speaking with Miriam, we asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up. Her answer didn’t come immediately – she had to take a minute as she became emotional when answering. Ilma stood back and allowed Miriam the time to gather her answer, and eventually, she replied, ‘a teacher’. As a mother, protecting your children from the realities of our world is something I now see as a privilege; Ilma doesn’t have this privilege, and Miriam knows that at the minute that her ambition may never become a reality as with each storm and drought, the family income is less able to afford to send her to school.
Claire Kelly from Belfast in Guatemala
Ilma, with sadness in her eyes, looked on and said she fears that the future for her daughter will be no better than theirs; in fact, it could be worse as climate change not only continues to perpetuate the cycle of poverty but also pushes families further into it.
That is why when my children asked if they could do a bun sale at the end of our street to ‘get Miriam the bus to school,’ I was so pleased to see their empathy but also their appreciation for what we take for granted every day. When my children tell me what they want to be when they grow up – I love to tell them they can be whatever they set their heart on. It’s incredibly unfair and unjust that Ilma can’t tell Miriam the same thing when she dreams about her future.
I will continue to think about Ilma and all the mothers who want to give their children every opportunity in life. I think about how women around the world who keep their families together in crises, through drought, hunger and conflict, are the real humanitarians. And I think about how lucky I am to be able to stand in solidarity with them.
If you would like to help Ilma, Miriam and their family from being pushed further into poverty by climate change you can donate to the Trócaire Box Appeal this Lent at www.trocaire.org
