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A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service "Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities." Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia. For more 2011 feedback click here.

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Partner Campaigns > Advocacy Quilting > Rio Negro Memoria... > The Memorial Quilt > The Weavers > Juana Osorio Sanchez

Juana Osorio Sanchez

Juana was six years old on March 13, 1982 when the Guatemalan Army entered Río Negro. Her mother, Nasaria Sanchez, left her in the school room with a dozen other children that morning before being marched up the hill to Pak’oxom. An elderly woman named Doña Nela hid amongst them.

An hour after the PAC members left with the other women and children and the shots were heard in the distance, Doña Nela took all the children from the school and ran into the mountains where they lived for eight days without food or water.  Juana arrived in the nearby settlement of Los Encuentros with everyone else. Nasaria and Juana’s sister Luisa Osorio Sanchez were killed at Pak’oxom that day. In Los Encuentros, Juana’s aunt and fellow weaver, Carmen Sanchez Chen, looked after her.

On May 14, 1982, Juana was at the river with Carmen, playing with her friends. When the violence began, Juana fled into the woods naked with the other children, where they stayed for five days. The brother of one of the children found them and Juana was later taken to an orphanage in a nearby state run by the Sisters of Charity.  She stayed there for a year until her father found her and she moved to Pacux.

Juana is now married to one of those children who hid in the mountains with her on May 14, 1982, and they have four children. She teaches basic Maya Achí literacy to adults in her home in Pacux through a state-funded program called CONALFA.  She weaves belts and huipils in her spare time and is the secretary of the Pacux artisans’ cooperative.

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