Adriana Smith and Dr. John Hawkins, Anthropology
I felt at home walking down the cement block street through Nahualá’s town center. It was good to be back in the small highland community in Guatemala where I had spent nearly every summer of my undergraduate career. It had been 10 years since the first group of anthropology students had come to study in these communities and since then, BYU students have been visiting every year for several months at a time. My interaction in years past with the K’iche’ has always left me wondering what they thought of me living in their homes, eating their food, and asking scrupulous questions about every detail of their lives. The intent of my research this summer was not my understanding of their culture, but more of their understanding and reaction to ours. A social impact analysis looks specifically at whom the stakeholders are in the arrangement and how are they affected by it. It asks questions such as, “Who will benefit and who will not? What will change, and what will not? What effect will this project have on their economic status? On their social organization, pattern of livelihood, and institutions?” (Nolan, 168). I spent the rest of the summer investigating these issues.
The impact on host families
The people who have had the most interaction with students each year are the host families that offer room, food, and countless time sitting with the students in front of a tape recorder. They told me a variety of stories about their relationship with the students, how the students have helped them, and how at times have caused problems. If students ate with the family, helped the family with household tasks, and communicated they became more a part of the family and broke down the barriers typically ascribed to being an outsider. If a student didn’t spend a lot of time talking with the family, because of language barriers or otherwise, host families were offended or frustrated. Host families also feel an enormous burden for the health, safety, and success of the students that are living with them. Many take extra care with food preparation and household cleanliness, to the degree that they say they have to take better care of the students than their own children.
Another fairly significant impact is the increased access to information about the United States and life outside of the communities through a personal contact. People are pleased to know someone from the U.S. and be able to build a relationship where they can exchange information and learn new things. This exchange of information is either in the form of language teaching or sharing personal life experiences and knowledge. Sometimes host families look to the students for ways that they can get help either through scholarships, funding agency contacts for their organizations, direct money loans, or illegal ways of getting to the U.S.
Economic Impacts
Apart from the weekly food and housing allotment students offer to their host families, they boost the local business sector in small ways. On any given day, one of the 15 of us is guaranteed to be in the local internet café paying Q10 an hour for several hours. The owner depends on the students that come each summer to fund his business. Next door is a tienda that offers a variety of imported food and chocolate from the states ordered especially for students who frequent the place. Another local business thriving on students are the women who sell tipica out of their homes and actively seek out, often running, for any foreigner who comes through Nahualá.
Community involvement
Student throughout the years have been involved in various activities such as sports, volunteering, religious meetings, employing locals, political activity, and even scandalous romantic relationships. Many people have had positive experiences with students, while others were left skeptical about students’ presence in the communities. All of these events have left impressions on the community which affects the way they understand the ‘outsider’ and their willingness to receive more students in their community for the future.
Research findings as an impact
Another research objective did not deal with the impact of our personal presence in the communities, but rather, their opinions about the impact of our research. I have asked host-families, general community members, and community leaders what they think of our research in general. I received a range of opinions many people believed our research to be a direct help to the community, while others thought we were asking questions about their lives in order to steal their land.
Project implications and where to go from here
I really enjoyed learning more about the profound relationships many students in the past have shared with the K’iche’ Maya. Although it can be difficult to live without modern conveniences, it really makes you realize how unimportant many things are compared to the opportunity to understand a different worldview and build relationships with people very different from yourself. Overall, the K’iche’ Maya loved the opportunity to have students in their homes, their schools, and their meetings. The students offer the respect and interest in them which is not often given by ladinos, tourists, or the government. In turn, the things students have learned from living, eating, and interacting with these people have drastically impacted our lives and will direct us into new routes of exploration.