My name is Carlos Miguel Garcia. I was born and raised in a village near Totonicapan. My ancestors have been farmers and craftsmen from generation to generation, and I, too, make my living this way. We grow and sell corn, which is our main nutritional source. We also make tortillas from corn for both ourselves and commercial purposes. Besides agriculture, we make textile products with a special kind of tailoring that we learned from our Mayan ancestors, and we sell them at the local bazaar. By this way, we are able to continue an ancient tradition, and we also make money for both our living and the education of our children.

As a Quitche Maya, I am proud of my roots. Even today, especially in the villages, Mayan people speak their own language instead of Spanish.

Years ago, after a two month long adventure, I reached the U.S.A. by land. I lived there for 5 years as an immigrant, and I learned English. Afterwards I returned to my homeland, and I continue to live here with my family. We live in a typical village house, and sometimes we rent it to the tourists from Airbnb.

I also continue to farm, but nowadays they have been trying to ban the usage of our traditional corn seeds with Monsanto's pressure on the government. We, as local farmers, try to stand up for our rights with strikes and various demonstrations.

Carlos Miguel Garcia
Totonicapan, Guatemala, 25 September 2018

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