November, 2026
Interview:
Rob Motley
SEPA recently caught up with Rob Motley, a former accompanier with Santa Elena Veinte de Octubre. Rob was in Santa Elena shortly after the end of the Internal Armed Conflict.
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In the summer of 1996, between my junior and senior years of college, I traveled to Guatemala, Honduras and Chiapas, Mexico. I was 21 at the time and went by myself. I spent a month in language school in Quetzaltenango (Xela) Guatemala and really fell in love with the country. I had only been out of the country once in my life prior to that.
I returned to Guatemala in 1999, when I was 24 years old, and lived in Santa Elena Veinte de Octubre. It was a very formative period in my life. My favorite thing to do when I lived in Santa Elena was to swim in the river every afternoon with the kids. In those years, there was a perfect little elbow of the Chixoy River that sliced into the community which was a perfect place to swim. I don't think it's there anymore as floods and geology and time have shifted things around, but of course the mighty Chixoy is still there.
My biggest challenge of living in Santa Elena was getting malaria. I also struggled with the intense heat. Finally, it was difficult adjusting to the slower pace of life where I had no defined job. The community members didn't really expect me to do anything. They just wanted me to be there. It took me a little while to realize that it was more about psychological comfort than anything else. I would sometimes forget that this was a traumatized group of people, and they just felt so much safer with a North American living among them. I tried to stay as involved as I could by helping out in the fields, playing soccer, hanging out with the kids and just visiting with everyone.
After I got home, I was hired to be a Spanish translator/interpreter in one of the local school systems and then taught 6th grade for a few years in a district with a lot of Spanish-speaking students. Today I'm a general contractor and speak Spanish every day.
I think Guatemala is probably the most enchanting place that I've ever been. The country just has a way of getting deep into your soul. In fact, I think of my experience as one of the more significant things that I've done in my life. I feel very proud to have an attachment to the country. And the older I've gotten, the more I've come to understand and appreciate the simple practice of bearing witness to someone else's experience.
I would advise anyone who is interested in working in Guatemala to do it. I think these types of experiences are probably more valuable than ever for the North American who is looking for a way to contribute. When I was there in 1999, cell phones were just beginning to be a thing (at least as I recall) and there were certainly no smart phones and pervasive social media. We are more distracted than ever and ironically more disconnected than ever. Going to a place like Guatemala and being amongst people who are living much closer to the Earth is a very profound experience and can provide a lot of perspective that I feel is sorely needed in today's crazy world.
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Thanks to Rob for his interview and for sharing that when his daughter was born, 19 years ago, he named her Elena in honor of the village and the villagers of Santa Elena Veinte de Octubre.
News:
Annual Appeal:
In honor of our 30th year, we are launching a new campaign: $30 for 30. Watch your email for more details.
Santa Elena:
On October 19, torrential rains caused the River Chixoy to overflow its banks, flooding the nearby farms and destroying part of the corn harvest. Some families lost nearly everything. Others were able to salvage part of the crop. Any loss means less to eat, less to sell, and less money available for students in the family. See our website for more photos.
Thanks to Arnufo Jurandir Rodriguez Sosa and Alfonso Misti for the photos.
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