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Local Sponsoring Communities and Who We Accompany
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Current U.S. Communities

Sponsoring Communities provide the resources and energy for ongoing accompaniment to be possible in Guatemala. Their long-term commitment to human rights, accompaniment and maintaining a relationship with a sister community in Guatemala is a key element to the sustainability of G.A.P. and the ten years of accompaniment we have been able to provide in Guatemala.  G.A.P. staff matches all accompaniers with a U.S. Sponsoring Community before travel to Guatemala.

Sponsoring Communities respond to alerts about human rights violations and provide financial, political and personal support to an accompanier. During the years G.A.P. accompanied communities of returned refugees and displaced peoples, many Sponsoring Communities (which may be a faith-based group, a committee of former accompaniers or an organization concerned about Guatemala) developed deep relationships with their sister Guatemalan communities. Most Sponsoring Communities maintain these ties through regular visits, letter exchanges and phone calls, while supporting an accompanier who is working with witnesses involved in the legal cases against former dictators Efrain Ríos Montt and Romeo Lucas García, as well as their military high commands. (Sometimes referred to as “the genocide cases,” they also include charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.)  Members of Sponsoring Communities are committed to continually learning about Guatemala in general and the communities where the accompanier they support is working.

Sponsoring Communities educate the public about the current Guatemalan reality and participate in advocacy efforts to promote just U.S. policies towards Guatemala. They raise funds to support accompaniers. Some Sponsoring Communities also support small-scale grassroots development projects and scholarship funds in their sister community in Guatemala.  

While Sponsoring Communities have historically supported an accompanier in one particular region or placement, the groups have recently officially “de-linked” from specific placements so as to be more flexible and better respond to the needs of our partners.  G.A.P. is always looking to expand the base of support for Guatemala and accompaniment through the creation of new Sponsoring Communities.
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Current Sponsoring Communities

CAMINOS – Colorado/Maya Accompaniment Project of the Sierra (Denver, CO)

From Denver, this Sponsoring Community supported one person from the Ixil genocide case team in the past.  After May 2007, CAMINOS will be sharing the support of an accompanier in the Ixcán region with the Needham Congregational Church.  CAMINOS has hosted a number of speaking tours of Guatemalans and organized delegations to Guatemala.  It is part of the Denver Justice and Peace Committee (www.denjustpeace.org), which engages in education and advocacy on justice and human rights. 

From 1997-2002 CAMINOS sponsored five accompaniers for the CPR-Sierra, and they continue to maintain that relationship through visits of former accompaniers and occasionally supporting small, community projects.

Kara Martinez is the contact person.  She can be reached at kara[AT]denjustpeace.org.
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In January of 2004 the CoB Network began supporting a member of the genocide case team that works in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. Prior to that, they had sponsored accompaniers in two communities of returned refugees, Nuevo México on the South Coast and Nueva Unión Maya, tucked up in the Western corner of Huehuetenango. They maintain a relationship with Nuevo México, primarily through the visits of former accompaniers.

A national network, they draw upon bases of support in Iowa and California, among other places. Jim Costello, of California, is the contact person. He can be reached at jcostello[AT]igc.org.
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CCGAP – Copper Country G.A.P. (Upper Peninsula, Michigan)

CCGAP has supported genocide case accompaniment since January 2004, most recently in the Ixcán, where their sister community, Fronterizo 10 de mayo, is also located. From 1997 to 2003 CCGAP supported numerous accompaniers in Fronterizo, and continues to maintain deep connections with the community. Presently CCGAP supports an accompanier in the Ixcán.

CCGAP representatives write articles in the local press, give presentations, and send out a quarterly newsletter, which frequently features writing by accompaniers. They regularly visit Fronterizo, and have supported community requests for medical supplies and other small-scale development projects.

On the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, CCGAP can be contacted through Sue Ellen Kingsley at sekingsley[AT]pasty.com.
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GNIB – Guatemala News and Information Bureau (Bay Area, California)

Since 1978, GNIB has actively worked to inform the public about the Guatemalan people's struggle for social and economic justice. They currently sponsor educational and cultural events in the San Francisco Bay Area, and also participate in national campaigns to educate U.S. legislators about the role they can play in pressuring the Guatemalan government to support peace with social justice.

GNIB has supported NISGUA’s organization accompaniment program, and has most recently collaborated with Kickapoo GAP to sponsor a case accompanier in the Ixcán region.  A strong mix of seasoned activists and recently returned accompaniers, they have a strong presence in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Todd Kolze at yatt[AT]igc.org is the GNIB contact person.
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K/GAP – Kickapoo G.A.P. (Southwestern Wisconsin)

Collaborating with GNIB, K/GAP supports one genocide case accompanier in the Ixcán, after having sponsored accompaniment in the returned refugee community of Chaculá, Huehuetenango for nine years.  K/GAP stays connected to Chaculá through delegations and support of community health initiatives.  K/GAP also publishes a regular newsletter that features pieces by accompaniers, and holds one or two major fundraising events each year. 

Connie Vanderhyden, the contact person, can be reached at salsa_connie[AT]hotmail.com.
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LAGOS – The Lakes Area Group Organizing Solidarity for Guatemala (Twin Cities, Minnesota)

LAGOS is group of former accompaniers and social change activists who support NISGUA’s short-term or organization accompaniment (OA) effort, which responds to requests by Guatemalan organizations for human rights accompaniment. LAGOS works to stand in solidarity with Guatemalan organizations and communities in their nonviolent struggle for peace and justice. LAGOS holds at least one major (fun) fundraiser per year, organizes public presentations for former accompaniers to talk about the current situation in Guatemala, and regularly publishes a newsletter. 

For more information, write to Kay Yanisch at kyanisch[AT]yahoo.com.
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NH-VT Guatemala Accompaniment Project (New Hampshire and Vermont)

Since 2001, the NH-VT Guatemala Accompaniment Project has sponsored numerous accompaniers to the genocide case effort in the Ixcán region, as well as maintained a relationship with the returned refugee community of Los Angeles. The group has provided educational scholarships to its sister community, and in the past has hosted educational speakers from Guatemala in New Hampshire and Vermont. 

Contact Chris Hansen at marcuschristian[AT]hotmail.com for further details.
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Needham Congregational Church UCC (Needham, Massachusetts)

Since 1987 the Needham Congregational Church has partnered with Santa María Tzejá. Every year, the church sends two delegations to the village, and in 2000 and 2007 it hosted delegations from the community to the U.S. The church supports health and educational programs and other development projects. 135 families from the church are partnered with 135 families in the village for a letter exchange. In recent years the church has also supported half a genocide case accompanier (to now be shared w/ CAMINOS), and at times of special crisis, the church immediately sends solidarity delegations, as when the cooperative building was burned and when a community leader was murdered. 

For more information, write to Clark Taylor at clark.taylor[AT]umb.edu or visit www.needhamcongregational.org.
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PAG - Partners for Accompaniers in Guatemala, Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA (Arlington, VA)

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Virginia (UUCA) became NISGUA's newest Sponsoring Community in 2007. Through its Partners for Accompaniers in Guatemala (P.A.G.), UUCA already helped to sponsor an Organizational Accompanier in cooperation with SEPA in Ohio, and is now fully sponsoring its first genocide case accompanier in 2007-08. Because the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area is home to nearly 70,000 Guatemalan immigrants, PAG is looking forward to working directly with that community as well as with other local churches and organizations.

For more information, contact the project coordinators, Chris and John Sutton, at: jds42cps44[AT]verizon.net. 
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SEPA – Santa Elena Project of Accompaniment (Oberlin, Ohio)

Between 1997 and January 2005, SEPA sponsored nine accompaniers in the returned refugee community of Santa Elena, and, in the later years, to the community of Copal AA. Though accompaniment is no longer needed in those communities, SEPA remains closely affiliated with them, especially Santa Elena. Folks from SEPA regularly visit Santa Elena, are engaged in creative fundraising (that includes running a bed & breakfast) to support small-scale development projects in the community as well as scholarships, and work to educate the public in the Oberlin area. They have developed a relationship with students at Oberlin College, which led to the creation of a campus-based organization that supports human rights in Guatemala.

SEPA resumed support of accompaniment in fall 2006 by agreeing to sponsor half of a short-term or organization accompanier based in Guatemala City, with support from NH-VT G.A.P and PAG, and the group increased to full accompanier support in the summer of 2007.

Barbara Fuchsman is the contact person for SEPA. She can be reached at bafuchsman[AT]oberlin.net.
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UUCAN – Unitarian Universalist Central America Network (Seattle and Pacific Northwest)

Formed in 1995, UUCAN currently sponsors one accompanier with assistance from the Marin Interfaith Task Force (in the San Francisco Bay Area), and also independently supports another accompanier. UUCAN accompaniers typically work in the area of Rabinal, Baja Verapaz and the Ixil.  With a 500-member network, UUCAN works to increase awareness and advocacy on human rights and justice through a newsletter and speaking events by returned accompaniers.

They have an ongoing relationship with La Quetzal in the Petén, with whom they were paired for nine years. 

Write to UUCAN via Anna Rudd at annarudd2[AT]seanet.com, and visit their website at www.uucan.org.

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