Country info: guatemala – robinson in the net

Country Info: Guatemala

Guatemala – interesting information for children from 3.-6. School year over land and people, fire-breathing volcanoes, a huge, mysterious Mayan city in the jungle, about children who have to toil hard, gigantic stuffed dragons in cemeteries, food that is wrapped in plant leaves, and much more.

geography

Location: in Central America between the Pacific and the Atlantic on the “Pacific Ring of Fire” – these are quite a few volcanoes that surround the Pacific Ocean from three sides – see the map above. All red triangles are volcanoes!
Surface: 108,889 km² (Germany is about three times bigger)

Südguatemala: High country with 34 volcanoes, three of which are still active: Pacaya (2,552 m), Fuego (3,763 m) and Santiaguito or Santa Maria (3,772 m). In June 2018, the Fuego broke out again.
Northern Guatemala: low land with tropical rainforest
Longest river: Río Motagua (486 km)
Highest mountain: Volcano Tajumulco (4,220 m), at the same time the highest mountain in Central America

Capital

Guatemala-Ciudad is the capital as well as the largest city with about 3 million inhabitants. Ciudad means city. The inhabitants call them Guate. There are u. a. 6 universities, a cathedral, a national palace where the government sits, and ruins of a Mayan settlement. About 2,800 years ago, people were already living here. To date, the archaeologists have dug up about 400 buildings from back then.

The buildings in the old town are low – this is due to a law from 1918: Due to the danger of collapse during earthquakes, the houses were allowed to have at most two floors. Antigua used to be the capital; it was completely destroyed by a heavy earthquake in 1773. Then it was decided to found a new capital 45 km away: Guatemala-Ciudad. Not all people moved away from Antigua, so city still exists today. In 1976 there was again a severe earthquake there, which caused serious damage

population

The approximately 16 million inhabitants are called in German Guatemalans.

Of 100 Guatemalans each

  • are 40 Descendants of Maya. They do not call themselves Indians, as one often reads here in Germany, but Indigenas, in German: aborigines. Guatemala is home to the majority of Indigenous people in Central America.
  • are another 58 Ladinos, these are descendants of immigrants from Europe (mostly Spain) and from indígenas.
  • the remaining inhabitants have Asian ancestors or are so called Garifuna, Descendants of black slaves from West Africa, who had been abducted on slaves to Central America.
Older in Guatemala in Germany
People become average
73 years old 81 years old
Younger than 15 years old are:
35 out of every 100 people 13 out of every 100 people
65 years or older
4 out of every 100 people 22 out of every 100 people

Figures: World Factbook 2017, Federal Foreign Office 2017

Guatemala from A to W

All Saints’ Day

In the two villages of Sumpango and Santiago Sacatepéquez, there is a very special tradition on the 1st of November: the giant kite festival. For many months, the villagers build, craft and decorate large, colorful dragons. At All Saints’ Day, all gather in the cemetery and let the kites rise in the air. In this way, they want to keep away evil spirits and communicate with the dead. For this reason, small messages are often found on the kite.

A very special dish is eaten on All Saints Day (Dia de Todos los Santos) and on the Day of the Dead (Dios de los Muertos): Fiambre, a salad consisting of more than 50 ingredients (see also “Eating”)! On the two holidays, people visit the graves of their family members, and each brings along the respective favorite dishes of the deceased. Over time, the families simply put all the dishes together in one bowl, and this salad was made from a variety of sausages, cooked ham, chicken, pickles, onions, beets, olives, cheeses and many other ingredients.

Labor / Child Labor

Half the population offers services – they are z. As sales assistants, craftsmen, cleaning shoes, working in laundries or driving taxi.
Almost every third works in agriculture. Most are small farmers; their fields are so small that they can only grow for their own family and for sale on the market. Others work on large coffee, banana or cardamom fields (cardamom is a spice).
Every 7th is employed in industry – eg. As in the production of sugar, clothing, furniture or in mines. In Guatemala, mainly nickel, gold and oil are extracted.

Child labor:
Almost 200,000 children between the ages of 7 and 14 have to work:

Agriculture: Here more than half of all working children – z. On corn, coffee, sugar cane and broccoli fields. One third of the coffee beans in Guatemala are harvested by children.
Service: Every third child works in this area – eg. B. on the street. Girls and boys brush shoes or windshields of cars waiting at traffic lights or sell sweets and other things. They work on construction sites as masons, collect garbage or work in landfills. Especially girls are hired to help in the household.
Industry: Every 11th child works z. B. in mines – in Guatemala z. For example, silver mined – or helps in the manufacture of rubber, lumber, fireworks and gravel.

Many of the works are dangerous to their health or even their lives. Bad are children who have to smuggle drugs and weapons for gangs and criminal organizations.
Only 4 out of 100 working children attend school on the side.

Punishment for bosses who hire children: In 2016, the Guatemalan government made plans for the entire country to end and prevent the worst forms of child labor. The Ministry of Labor may, for. B. now punish employers who hire children. But: there are not enough controllers and cars to visit and check all jobs. And if there is a court judgment against an employer, the inspectors do not have enough power to force him to pay the fine. The current state programs to help child laborers do not reach all girls and boys in the country – and children who work in the household or in agriculture, they get no help from them, because this work is probably not considered so bad. In the process, children are being exploited there, they often have to work around the clock in the household, carry heavy buckets of water, they burn themselves while cooking, and when working in the fields they come into contact with poison against insects and plant diseases.

poverty

Of every 100 people, almost 60 are poor and 23 are extremely poor. Poverty means z. For example, children need help helping to earn money, and there is not enough and often no healthy food. Nowhere in Latin America are as many children malnourished as in Guatemala – around half (see also “Health”).

These are tamales.

eat

Corn and black beans are very popular, tortillas, flatbreads of corn and water, are available at every meal. Tamales are a corn dough stuffed with meat, cheese or other ingredients, wrapped in plant leaves and then steamed in water. A typical breakfast consists of scrambled eggs, black beans, baked bananas, chilli sauce and tortillas.
There is a special dish on All Saints Day and on the Day of the Dead: Fiambre, a salad made up of more than 50 ingredients! The Guatemalans visit the graves of their family members, and each brings their own favorite dishes of the deceased. Over time, the families simply put all the dishes together in one bowl, and this salad was made from sausages, boiled ham, chicken, pickles, onions, beets, olives, cheeses and many other ingredients.

flag

The blue stripes represent the two oceans between which lies Guatemala. White stands for purity. The bird is the national bird of Guatemala, the Quetzal. He is considered a symbol of freedom. The scroll has a date: September 15, 1821. On that day, Guatemala became independent from Spain. The rifles should show that Guatemala will defend itself when threatened. The coat of arms is framed by two olive branches, the symbol of peace worldwide.

Escape from Guatemala

Each year, some 400,000 people, including many teenagers, try to flee to the US because they believe they have a better life there. They flee poverty and violence in their homeland. They have no hope that anything will ever change at home.

The most popular escape route is by train called “The Beast”. The refugees jump on the train while driving and climb onto the roof, because they have no money for a ticket. They hope to get to the US border through Mexico. But they are often caught while driving or at the border. Then they are sent back to their home. Many do not survive the escape. They fall down when they try to jump on the bandwagon, they die of exhaustion because at some point they stopped eating and drinking. Criminals pick them up at gunpoint and take them hostage – their relatives are supposed to send money so they can be released. But the families at home are poor, they can not send money. On the contrary, those who flee want to make money in the US and then send it home.

The money is just like the national bird Guatemala: Quetzal

1 quetzal = 100 centavos
1 quetzal = 0.11 euros
1 Euro = 9.01 Quetzal

Source: Oanda Currency Investors, as of August 2018

history

Around 700 BC Chr. Mayan peoples live in Guatemala.
1524 conquers Spain Guatemala; the country now belongs to Spain, and the Spanish king also ruled in Guatemala. The Spaniards suppress and kill many Mayans.
1773 An earthquake destroys the then capital Antigua. 45 km away is the new capital Guatemala-Ciudad built.
1821 Guatemala becomes independent from Spain.
1902 kill an earthquake Quetzaltenango just under 1,000 people, the eruption of the Santa Maria volcano kills 5,000 people.
1976 An earthquake destroys the capital Guatemala-Ciudad.
2005 Hurricane Stan devastates and kills more than 1,000 people.
2015 Former comedian Jimmy Morales is elected president.
In February 2018 Researchers discover a hitherto unknown metropolis of the Mayas in the rainforest.
In June 2018 the volcano Fuego erupts. 110 people die, 200 are missing.

Civil War:

1960-1996 there is civil war; Dictators rule the country, oppressing the population by force, especially the Maya. Around 200,000 people die, over one million people become refugees. The cruelest rages dictator Efraín Ríos Montt among the Maya. He bombards entire tracts of land to destroy the Indígenas.

2003 Efraín Ríos Montt wants to be elected president – but without success. 2004 A judge puts him under house arrest for manslaughter and conspiracy.
2012 he is charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. 2013 he is convicted and sentenced to 80 years. He is the first politician to be convicted of genocide in his own country by a local court. The Constitutional Court reverses this ruling after ten days and orders a new trial.
It begins in March 2016. Ríos Montt does not appear in court because he suffers from dementia, as his lawyers say.
On April 1, 2018 Efraín Ríos Montt died at the age of 91 without being convicted for his crimes.

The painting on the wall shows how an alcohol-drinking man wants to beat his wife.

Violence and crime

Guatemala is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world where there is no war. Especially the people in the city suffer from the violence of youth gangs. This “maras“Control entire neighborhoods, they extort protection money, murder people against payment and deal with drugs.
Most families in Guatemala are poor, parents and children have no education, and adults have no hope for work. Many people stupefy themselves with alcohol, fathers beat women and children, and many girls and boys run away from home and end up on the streets. They are particularly at risk of being “maras“To be recruited.

7 out of 10 children in Guatemala suffer from violence, mostly in their own family. The perpetrators are rarely punished. Therefore, the victims seldom have the courage to report them. In addition, there are few special houses in Guatemala where the children and adolescents who have been victims of violence receive psychological support or help to bring the perpetrators to justice.

health

In no other country in Latin America are so many children malnourished. About half of all Guatemalan children under the age of five, especially the children of the Maya and other Indígenas (see “Inhabitants”), suffer from malnutrition. Her parents are too poor to buy enough food, and they often do not know which foods are healthy and which are not. Many fields are used to grow crops that are fueled instead of growing something people can eat there. If children do not get enough healthy food, they can not develop well and the damage they cause can not be corrected in their entire lives.

A tree with cocoa fruits

cocoa

The cocoa beans grow on up to 15 m high trees, which are called in German “food of the gods”. The trees will bloom only after five to six years. Their fruits can contain up to 50 seeds, which are the cocoa beans. The word cocoa comes from the Mayan word cacaua. Even today, the names of some Guatemalan villages are reminiscent of cocoa: Chicacao and cocoa.

Graves have been found with vessels depicting figures of gods with cocoa fruits and bowls full of cocoa beans. These vessels were given to the dead. Archaeologists also discovered vessels for chocolate, which the Maya called “Chacau haa”, which means “hot water”. They roasted and ground the beans, mixing the powder with hot water, chili, vanilla and honey. Therefore, it is believed that people then drank their chocolate hot, especially the foam of the drink. Since there was no sugar at that time, the drink was certainly quite bitter. The Aztecs, a people who lived after the Maya in Central America, took this drink and called it “Xocóatl”, which meant “bitter water”.

The cacao beans sit in the cacao fruit.

The Italian sailor Christoph Columbus brought the first cocoa beans from America to Europe, but you could not do anything with them. 1528 then brought the Spaniard Hernán Cortés Cocoa beans from Mexico to Europe and explained to people how to prepare the drink. However, the Spaniards found the drink inedible. Only when they added spices and cane sugar did it taste good. 1544 Cocoa was drunk for the first time at the Spanish royal court. In the 17th century he even became the Spanish national drink.
1828 invented the Dutchman Coenraad Van Houten (You may know Van Houten cocoa, which is still in the supermarket today) a machine with which he could separate the cocoa mass in cocoa butter and cocoa powder. With this powder it was better to produce drinking cocoa, which could be dissolved in water and milk. In 1847, a British chocolate maker mixed van Houtens cocoa powder with sugar and melted cocoa butter and poured the tough dough into a mold – the first bar of chocolate came out.
The cocoa consists of about 300 different substances. Some of them are very healthy: Epicatechin z. For example, to prevent people from getting a heart attack or cancer, other substances make people feel better.

Every German in 2017 ate more than nine kilos of chocolate on average – that’s two 100 g plates per week. This puts us in second place worldwide behind Switzerland in the countries where the most chocolate is eaten.

Today cocoa is grown mainly in Africa and hardly in Latin America.

The Kindernothilfe in Guatemala

After the devastating earthquake in 1976, Kindernothilfe started its aid program with the help of local partner organizations. She particularly supports children from poor families in the countryside and on the outskirts of the city. She protects her from violence and makes sure that she can go to school. In the projects, girls and boys learn that they have rights and how they can demand them. The Kindernothilfe partners also work with parents, families, political people, teachers and people in the villages and neighborhoods. Only when all together respect the children’s rights, the lives of the children will change.

country name

There are several guesses as to where the name Guatemala could come from: B. from Cuauhtemallan – “Land of Trees”, by Kuautemalli – “Pear apple tree “, or from Guhate-zmal-ha – “Mountain of steaming water”.

Life expectancy

In Guatemala, people are 73 years old on average – in Germany 81 years old.

From 100 people each

  • In Guatemala 35 are younger than 15, in Germany only 13,
  • are only 4 65 years old or older in Guatemala, 22 in Germany.

Sources: World Factbook 2017

Maya

The Maya are the indigenous people of Guatemala – they are called “Indigenous people” or “Indígenas”. They had a sophisticated culture: their writing was until the Spaniards came to Guatemala in the 16th century, the only known fully developed script in America. Their artisans knew how to work stone, ceramics, wood and fabrics. Their architects built pyramids that were up to 75 meters high, palaces and observatories. The Maya were good at math, they had developed their own calendars, and they knew a lot about growing corn.

On February 1, 2018, there was news in the media worldwide that researchers in Guatemala had found a huge Mayan city in the jungle. They had a scanner attached to a plane and using laser technology they discovered the ruins of some 60,000 buildings in the north of the country, including palaces and pyramids, defensive walls, marketplaces, canals, and reservoirs that had been forgotten for millennia.

Quetzal

The quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala (see “money”). He lives in the cloud forests of Central America. You have to be lucky enough to see one of them.

The males have a very long tail – together with the tail they can grow up to 1 m! From earlier nations, the tail feathers were used as headdress for priests. The Aztec people worshiped the Quetzal as a deity. The Aztecs captured him and pulled his long tail feathers out, but did not kill him. Whoever killed a quetzal got the death penalty. Because of its beautiful feathers Quetzal is still hunted and killed.

religion

Almost half of the population is Roman Catholic. Every third person is Protestant. The Christian churches have adopted some Mayan traditions – for example, people often place offerings (such as flowers) for Christian saints on the church stages, as they were previously offered to the gods of the Mayas.

Rigoberta Menchú

Rigoberta Menchú (born 1959) received the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. Their ancestors were Maya. For many years she has been working to ensure that human rights are implemented in Guatemala, especially with regard to the Indígenas. She grew up during the Civil War and witnessed how cruel and unjust the Indígenas were treated. Her parents and a brother were tortured and murdered. It fought for better working conditions for farm workers, organized strikes and big demonstrations, called on farmers to defend themselves against the dictators. Finally, she had to flee to Mexico. From abroad she continued to fight for the rights of the Indigenas. In 1999, she sued three generals in Guatemala before the National Court in Madrid; then she got death threats.

Rigoberta Menchú is known worldwide and has received many awards. B. 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. With the prize money she helps other people.

school

The school attendance is free, children up to 15 years have to go to class.

Nevertheless, many children do not attend school:

  • Classes are in Spanish, but many girls and boys do not speak that language. That’s why they stay at home.
  • Some parents do not understand why their children need schooling. You often do not have one either.
  • Many children have to earn money and have no time to attend school.

Of every 100 people, 82 can read: out of every 100 men, 87 out of every 100 women, only 76.

Attractions

Antigua
In the mid-18th century Antigua was the capital of Guatemala. Here lived more than 50,000 inhabitants, there were over 50 churches and chapels, hospitals, schools and a college. On June 29, 1773, a heavy earthquake destroyed the city. The new capital was built 45 km away: Guatemala City. Many inhabitants moved there, but some stayed in Antigua. In 1976 there was again a severe earthquake, which caused great damage in Antigua and other cities.
In 1944, Antigua was declared a National Monument of Guatemala, since 1979, the city has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site of Humanity.

Lake Atitlán

Guatemala’s second largest lake is 1,560 meters high in a crater created by the explosion of a very large volcano. It is surrounded by three volcanoes: Tolimán, Atitlán and San Pedro. Atitlán means in German “place with a lot of water” or “place in the midst of water”.

Semuc Champey

The River Río Cahabón winds through a very narrow valley. In some places, the water accumulates in pools of water, one to three meters deep, created by nature. The water in it glows green or blue, depending on the time of day and the weather. The river flows under these pools and finally emerges from the rock – hence the name Semuc Champey: where the water disappears / hides itself “.

Tikal

Tikal – “Place of Voices” is a Mayan city in the middle of the rainforest in the north of the country. It was one of the most important cities from the 3rd to 9th century AD. Already in the 1st millennium BC. BC, people lived here. In the 2nd century, a real city developed – with temples and palaces. In the 8th century, at least 50,000 people lived here. Researchers even believe that there were at least one million inhabitants in and around Tikal. In the early 9th century, the city was no longer so important, it was no longer built, and in the 10th century no one lived here anymore. Why this was so, is not clear to this day. The entire area around Tikal is now a national park and belongs to the ->World Heritage Site.

language

The official language is Spanish, it is spoken in schools and authorities. But many Indigenas do not speak Spanish but have their own language. 23 Indígena languages ​​are officially recognized, many of them being languages ​​of the Mayan peoples.

time of day

When it’s 12 noon, it’s 5am in Guatemala – or 4am in our summertime.

Independence

On 15 September 1821, Guatemala became independent from Spain. This day, in Spanish Día de la Independencia, is celebrated big in the whole country. Already on September 14, a torch relay starts. Church, school and student groups come from all parts of the country to Guatemala City. There, the Freedom Torch is lit in a solemn ceremony – the groups ignite their own torches and carry them back to their towns and villages on foot. The torchbearers alternate on the way. In the schools, the children and adolescents choose the king of the school, the Queen of Independence, the Monja Blanca (national flower) and the Queen of the sport.

volcanoes

Again and again, there are earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Guatemala. There are 34 volcanoes, three of which have been active over the past few years: Pacaya (2,552 m), Fuego (3,763 m – see photo) and Santiaguito or Santa Maria (3,772 m). Only in June 2018, the Fuego broke out again.

Eruption of Fuego 2016 on Youtube

Sunshine on Lake Atitlán

Weather

Coffee cherries: in the middle of a cherry is the coffee bean.

economy

In Guatemala coffee, sugar cane, bananas and cardamom are grown. In recent years, vegetables, fruits, ornamental plants and oil palms have become increasingly important for the production of cooking oil. The industry mainly produces sugar, clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metal and rubber.

Sugar, coffee, petroleum, fruits and vegetables and cardamom are mainly sold abroad. Guatemala’s largest trading partner is the US – that is, Guatemala sells most of the goods and buys the most from there. Germany is just a small partner – we bought mainly cooking oil and fat in Guatemala, as well as coffee, tobacco, vegetables and fruits. Guatemala has bought machines, medicines and cars from us.

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