María Isabel Castañeda

Monday, January 17th, in San Lucas at En-Señas. We were talking with Hilda and Gaby, both deaf, through Johis, our interpreter.  I had always thought I was aware of Guatemala's complexity, its inequality, its discrimination, all of its problems. And those three hours talking with them made me realize I'm not. I'm not aware of all the complexity my country has, and I probably won’t ever be. Of course I knew deaf people exist and I guess I imagined they struggle, they feel left out of society. But I wasn't aware of the scope of the problem, how by being born with or getting a condition you didn't ask for limit you as a person. 

In the last century, human beings have fought for equal dignity, for equal recognition, and sometimes we feel that we have accomplished it. That we all have dignity just for being humans, by the simple fact of being born, but maybe we haven't at all. We still have humans in our societies that are not given the dignity they deserve, the inclusion so many people have fought for. Now I know dreams have been crushed for Hilda and Gaby, as easy as not being able to get a degree because they are deaf and we don't have translators. I wonder how many others have untold stories about how they had a dream and couldn't achieve it because of something that they didn't ask to or choose.

If you have asked me about issues unsolved in the country, the deaf community wouldn't have crossed my mind. Now they do, but I wonder how many other people, communities and problems wouldn't cross my mind right now, today or even tomorrow.

Now I know there's always more to know, to learn and to fight for. But while I'm writing this I'm also thinking that, probably, it will never be enough. We will always have something to fight for in order to make our society more inclusive and specially, ourselves. We might not be aware of every issue around us, at least I might not, but I think that's okay. Just be aware that there's always something else worth telling out there.