Connie Vanderhyden, KGAP Coordinator
Connie lives in Viroqua, Wisconsin, a small town in the Kickapoo River region of Southwestern Wisconsin. She became involved in Guatemala in January 1994 on a delegation accompanying the return refugee community of Nueva Esperanza-Chaculá to their home in the department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. When the Guatemala Accompaniment Project (GAP) was created in 1995, Connie initiated KGAP (Kickapoo-Guatemala Accompaniment Project) and served as the 1st KGAP sponsored accompanier in Nueva Esperanza-Chaculá in 1996. She continues to coordinate fundraising efforts and yearly delegations to Guatemala and collaborates with other sponsoring communities in the NISGUA/GAP network.
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OUR MISSIONCOMMUNITY TO COMMUNITY:
SOLIDARITY: Being present, sharing the risks and struggles, responding and collaborating with an at-risk community in an environment of mutual respect and equality. ACCOMPANIMENT: A non-violent response to threats and violence, providing a measure of security through physical presence and creating a space for Guatemalans to defend their civil and human rights. EDUCATION: To continue to educate ourselves and others in the United States about the situation in Guatemala and the effect U.S. policy has in the region. To be advocates for peace, justice and respect for human rights everywhere. COLLABORATION: Financial support for schools, scholarships and health education in the village of Nueva Esperanza-Chaculá |
“International solidarity is not an act of charity: it is an act of unity between allies fighting on different terrains toward the same objective. The foremost of these objectives is to assist in the development of humanity to the highest level possible.” Samora Machel, Mozambican leader