Part 2: Community Power, Building the Future

Reminder of the first part

In the first part of the interview, we met Rafael and José from the New Dawn Elementary School, who shared with us the origins and evolution of the Mother Earth Festival in the community of Copal AA La Esperanza. We saw how, over 11 years, this festival grew from being an educational initiative to becoming an urgent necessity in the face of the reality of climate change, which is already directly impacting their community.

The reality of climate change in the territory

The transformation of the landscape and the climate in Copal AA is evident to those who have lived there for decades. Rafael recalls: “Here 20 years ago, even 10 years ago—I remember when I was very young, when we came here around ’94, ’95—you could play around the streams; there were lots of fish, snails, so many. The stream was much stronger, it wasn’t so hot, there was more rain.”

Gran grupo de aproximadamente 50 personas, principalmente niños y jóvenes, congregados en la orilla pedregosa de un río. Varias personas llevan disfraces coloridos, destacando una figura con peluca rosa brillante y camisa de lunares. Un grupo sostiene una pancarta blanca con texto en español. El paisaje muestra un río de aguas tranquilas, una playa de arena al otro lado, y al fondo colinas cubiertas de vegetación tropical envueltas en neblina matutina. Ramas de árboles enmarcan la parte superior de la imagen.

Art becomes a powerful tool for environmental awareness when communities gather by the rivers they defend, using creativity to awaken consciousness about protecting biodiversity. Photo by NISGUA, June 2024.

The contrast with today is dramatic: “Here in Copal AA, last year the heat was extremely strong, and the delegation of students from the United States that was with us—I remember one student said, maybe they had never left their country before, or even their house, but that they had never experienced such extreme heat as what they felt in Copal AA.”

The systemic consequences of climate change

José makes a key connection between climate change and other social problems: “There are many situations happening that are rooted in things like crop loss, which then bring other problems like migration. Community organization is weakening, it’s being lost. If you analyze it deeply, the root of all of this now—migration and other things—is climate change. And these issues weaken our community.”

This systemic perspective shows how environmental impacts go far beyond ecology to affect the very social and cultural fabric of communities.

The value of international accompaniment

Rafael emphasizes the importance of accompaniment they have received through the years: “We’re very thankful, not just for the local organizations here in Guatemala, but for the people who come to accompany many peoples’ struggles. That accompaniment has been going on for a long time, because I’ve heard stories from the refugee camps in Mexico during the war, and back then there was a lot of accompaniment.”

Grupo de personas sentadas detrás de mesa con textiles coloridos, sosteniendo pancarta blanca que dice "CONVERSATORIO Desafíos y luchas de los pueblos ante el cambio climático". Escena en espacio techado con columnas de concreto y vegetación tropical de fondo.

International exchanges strengthen the climate struggle by creating spaces to share experiences and strategies among organizations from different countries, showing that environmental challenges require collaborative responses. Photo by NISGUA, June 2024.

Accompaniment also plays a crucial role in sharing information: “That accompaniment, those international visits, mean that first-hand information is carried out about what is happening in the territories.” It’s a way of making the invisible visible, of connecting local struggles with broader networks of solidarity.

Central America: epicenter of impacts and biodiversity

José situates their struggle in the regional context: “To begin with, in Central America we believe the greatest concentration of biodiversity is here—and we include ourselves in that. The proof is all around us. But beyond that, statistics show that actions taken in the north directly impact us, because we are the ones who feel the results.”

This reflection highlights the geopolitical dynamics of climate change, where those who contribute the least suffer the most severe consequences.

Community resistance and autonomy

The community’s response is not passive. As José explains: “From within our communities, we are rescuing our way of life, through the activities we organize, the education we provide, and by raising our voices—trying to make ourselves heard, trying to say that we can live in our own way, and more than anything that they should just leave us in peace to live as we do.”

Intergenerational work as a strategy of resistance

Rafael identifies a critical challenge: the generational disconnect. In his words: “In some communities, you see a disconnect between youth and children and the elders. Sometimes there isn’t that space to share, to sit together, to spend time around the table. Nowadays, it’s more about technology.”

His proposal is concrete: encourage young people to investigate life from 20 or 30 years ago by interviewing grandparents and elders, “so that not only do they learn what happened 20 or 30 years ago, but the student can also build direct connections with a community leader or elder.”

Looking to the future

Rafael closes with a reflection that combines realism and hope: “I always say, after intense heat will probably come floods, and it’s never that we are out of danger, but that something else will come. And I think we will always remain in communication, sharing information, the struggles of the peoples—we will continue.”

Dos personas arrodilladas en suelo cubierto de hojas secas y paja, plantando o cuidando pequeñas plantas verdes. Una persona lleva camiseta blanca y pantalón azul, mientras otra usa camiseta naranja. El área está rodeada de materia orgánica seca, hojas caídas y se observan algunas bolsas azules en el fondo. Varias plantas pequeñas están visibles creciendo entre el mantillo natural.

Reforestation becomes a bridge between generations, where adults and children plant the seeds of the future together. Each growing plant represents both a promise of environmental protection and the hope of a greener world for the generations to come. Photo by NISGUA, June 2025.

Conclusion – Voices that transcend borders

The experience of Rafael and José in Copal AA La Esperanza illustrates how communities have moved from being victims of climate change to protagonists of organized responses. The Mother Earth Festival, in its 11 years of existence, has evolved from an educational activity into an urgent response to a crisis already at hand.

Their perspective teaches us that climate resistance must also be cultural and educational. The emphasis on intergenerational work, the connection between local and global struggles, and the value of solidarity accompaniment all provide important lessons for strategies of resistance rooted in territory.

Their call that “they should just let us live as we do” is not about isolation, but about claiming the right to community self-determination and to sustainable ways of life developed over generations. In times of climate crisis, these voices transcend borders and remind us that rural Guatemalan communities and grassroots movements in the United States share the same struggle: building real alternatives to a system that prioritizes extractivism over life.