Women in Guatemala have seen civil war destroy not only their lives and society, but also their culture and language, a UNM associate professor says.
But Melissa Axelrod is researching ways to preserve Guatemalan language and culture and help the women who have suffered through 36 years of war.
Axelrod, an associate linguistics professor, spoke to a crowd of more than 50 at the SUB on Wednesday about more than two months of research on "La Violencia" - the toll the conflict is exacting on the country's society.
Axelrod said she is baffled by the way the Guatemalan women have not only survived, but succeeded in a battered economy and an uncertain future.
"Even though many of these women have lost their families and children, they were able to survive," she said. "These women found a way to build a life with nearly nothing."
Axelrod said the Guatemalan women are an example of the human spirit's triumph.
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She and three other American women have traveled to Guatemala four times in the last two years to study the region's indigenous women and their dying language.
She said she hopes her research will help the Guatemalan women maintain their traditional knowledge, which is in danger from the civil war. Axelrod plans on donating any money produced by her research to help preserve their culture and rebuild the country's economy.
Axelrod's lecture was the first of a three-part Brown Bag lecture series planned for this semester.
UNM's Women Study Program and the Feminist Research Institute are sponsoring the series.
The lectures are free and provide UNM students the opportunity to learn about various research University faculty members are conducting, said Gail Houston, associate UNM English professor.
Houston said Axelrod was an ideal speaker to kick off the lecture series because of her acclaimed expertise in women's studies.
Axelrod said she plans to apply for a grant from the National Science Foundation in January to create a dictionary of the Guatemalan women's native language.
She is going to return to Guatemala in late December and again in the summer to continue her research, she said.
Axelrod recently received the 2003 Susan Geiger award for her research in Guatemala.
The award, established last year, is meant to recognize women who have made considerable advancements in cross-cultural research projects for women studies.
For the last 20 years, Axelrod has focused her work on the study and documentation of indigenous languages throughout the world.
