Amy
Glicklich - Lead and harmony vocals
Juan Coz Asunción - Lead and harmony
vocals, rhythm guitar, marimba
Tenesí - Lead and rhythm guitar
Felipe Baján - Upright bass
Gladis Nohemy Aldana - Rhythm guitar
600 Children - VOCALS
The students of the Parroquial School in San
Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala share their voices, their heartfelt
songs, hopes and prayers with us all through this recording. Some
songs feature the 300 children in the first through third grades,
others feature the 300 children in the fourth through sixth grades,and
several songs feature all 600 children singing together. They sing
with such innocence and joy, but they bring us a message that we
all need to hear.
A Message From Amy
Glicklich & Tenesi
When a dream presents itself to you, like this one did us, you have
no choice but to embrace it wholeheartedly. We have been blessed
with this opportunity, and feel extremely grateful to have captured
the spirit of this music. This record is a work of love with a message
of love, peace and hope. With faith we send it to you. "He
who has ears let Him hear".
– Amy Glicklich & Tenesí
A Message From Father Greg
Guatemala is a country of striking contrasts. Breathtakingly beautiful
countryside abuts desperate poverty. Thirty years ago, the Parroquia
of San Lucas Tolimán began its relationship with the people
of Guatemala. The work started with recognition and appreciation
of the rich Mayan culture and the heartfelt understanding that God’s
love is for all. The goal was simple: enhance and enrich the whole
person spiritually, intellectually and physically. The mission:
fight both the immediate effects of poverty and its underlying causes.
It was in 1968 when the Catholic Bishops of Latin America gathered
in the city of Medelín, Colombia to reflect on and dialogue
about how the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65)
could be best implemented in the countries they served. A key phrase
arose from that reflection and dialogue that was to make a powerful
impact on how the church would serve throughout Latin America. The
phrase: A Preferential Option for the Poor. And so began our efforts
here in San Lucas Tolimán on the southeast corner of the
beautiful Lake Atitlán in the west central highlands of Guatemala.
We came in the early '60s, wanting to serve but not well prepared
in exactly how. The people of San Lucas recognized this and began
to speak to us. They knew their needs. They understood the process
of poverty, that slow road to death. They were living it. It became
clear that we had to listen carefully, gradually learning to respond
to the expressed felt needs of those around us. Efforts to make
this preferential option for the poor slowly but surely took form.
Working hard to avoid violence, these efforts began to take the
shape of helping people purchase land to produce their own basic
food of corn, black beans and squash; the Mayan food trilogy dating
from a glorious but distant past. Indeed Mother Earth would provide
and we had to work with her. Besides the basic foods, a cash crop
would be needed to meet so many other basic needs we all share as
human beings walking on earth. For the people of San Lucas, that
cash crop would be coffee. We live in a part of the world where
the very best of coffee can be produced. Here there is the high
altitude, the deep volcanic ash soil, the warm days and the cool
nights. God has provided; we must work hard to cooperate.
For the past thirty years, the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, friends
from throughout the United States and volunteers who have donated
their time and energy in San Lucas, have provided tremendous support
for the parish of San Lucas and the Mayan people. Without this support,
better educational opportunities, health care and living conditions
would not have been possible. Today more than 3,500 families have
received land to grow their basic foods and produce their cash crop.
Adequate housing for shelter worthy of a human being began to grow
slowly. Now 1,600 families are living in the security a good house
can provide. Today these families can once again begin to live their
magnificent Mayan heritage.
Education was sought. Young minds cried out to learn. Over the years
we became involved in building twenty-one schools, some small, some
large, to accommodate all so eager to learn. Parents unable to study
formally encouraged their children to pursue their dreams through
offered scholarships. These scholarships and these dreams pursued
have brought us teachers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, social workers,
mechanics, agronomists, accountants, politicians, anthropologists
and more. But always we remember our great heritage: we are the
People of Corn, we work with Mother Earth who provides.
Over the years as basic living needs were provided for, our efforts
expanded. Now a medical center, staffed by local people, attends
the endless line of sick coming in with their needs. Our reforestation
project is ever growing, with 50,000 trees planted each year, as
well as outreach programs teaching the value of a tree, the importance
of soil conservation and the blessing of a respected and clean earth.
Respect for the earth and attention to health needs are in mind
as both local and volunteer experts work together towards providing
clean water and the proper disposal of waste water to San Lucas
and its surrounding communities.
Health care, education and environmental needs are being addressed
while the support of volunteers from afar continues. All problems
are not solved; poverty is still with us. Yet in all of this the
people sing. How they love to sing and listen to song. Melodies
from a marimba will gather a crowd. The strains of a guitar will
stop people in their path. But it is the sung song that one hears
most of all. Humming as they go off to the fields early in the morning,
singing aloud as they weave, wash clothes or go about the many chores
a house demands. A society of hands-on farming people urges much
hard and heavy work. A song on the lips and in the heart makes it
just a little bit easier. A worship service calls forth much song.
All want God to hear of their gratitude, extol God's love for them
and plead that God be patient and compassionate to all in their
struggles.
Most of all, the children love to sing. They look forward to music
class in school. They want to sing their new songs as soon as they
get home; parents patiently listen. But it is at Mass that the youngsters
bring forth their best. Their worship, their gratitude, their hope
is raised high in song. They know that God is near and they so want
God to know that they care, they want to be as good as they can
be and they want life to be better for all.
– Father Gregory Schaffer
For
more information about the development efforts of San Lucas
Tolimán, Guatemala, contact:
Kathy Huebert
Diocese of New Ulm
1400 Sixth Street North
New Ulm, MN 56073
(507) 359.2966
khuebert@dnu.org
www.dnu.org |
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