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4 Ajaw 3 Pax: Drawing by Jorge Pérez de Lara
4 Ajaw 3 Pax (January 27th, 2025)
Felicitaciones to Maestra K’anal Santiz!
Happy New Year to everyone! I recently returned from Guatemala and began my semester teaching last week, and I am looking forward to a year of new possibilities amidst the hardships.
For our first blog of the year, and to celebrate the work of one of our esteemed colleagues, all of us at MAM wanted to congratulate Maestra K’anal Santiz, María Bertha Santiz Pérez, on her new appointment as Academic Coordinator of the Las Margaritas Multidisciplinary Academic Unit at the Intercultural University of Chiapas, UNICH, Mexico! K’anal is a tireless defender of human rights, and a Master of Science in Education. She is a recipient of multiple MAM minigrants, and she was instrumental as one of the host coordinators of the 5th International Congreso on Ojer Maya Tz’ib’ in San Cristóbal de las Casas in July of 2023. We are very proud of K’anal’s excellent work on behalf of her community and on behalf of Mayan language speakers everywhere!
Maestra K’anal Santiz
Here is a short video of Maestra K’anal Santiz speaking in her native Tojol-ab’al at the forum to commemorate the International Year of Indigenous Languages in 2019, where she calls for respect between cultures and the importance of diversity as a source of a nation’s wealth:
https://youtu.be/ZM4jqnPjE6U?si=OG2XKM6x-rCP7DgL
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As had been our tradition prior to the pandemic, MAM has helped to coordinate the International Congresos every other year, which would mean that this year in 2025 we expect to help with the 6th International Congreso. We have not yet finalized a date or location with the Congreso Planning Committee, but we look forward to working closely with them to determine where and when the next event will take place, and what it will look like.
We will keep you posted about upcoming news, and in the meantime, we look forward to our upcoming 2025 fundraiser!
Stay tuned, and thank you as always for your support!
Tzachatal,
Michael Grofe, President
MAM
