Milward's Millennium Motorcycle Ride

In this update he talks about Guatemala and El Salvador, the former where he spent a month. He says that Guatemala is spiritually fascinating and reports on the woeful lack of maintenance on the country's fleet of motorcycles used to reach out to rural areas on bad roads.

He also reports that Japanese motorcyclists have formed a membership based motorcycle rights organization, in the wake of a failed attempt to repeal the passenger ban on highways.

Dear Everyone

EL SALVADOR

I am emailing from Academia Británica Cuscatleca, a school on the outskirts of San Salvador, the capitol of the tiny country of El Salvador. The country is just south of Guatemala on the Pacific coast of Centro America and is about 300km long and 100km wide. The main income here is money sent home by El Salvadorans working abroad. The next is from coffee. There are very few full blood indigenous Indians, estimates are as low as 5%, they were either killed by right wing government death squads in the 1930s or emigrated in the 1980s. Most people are of Indian-Spanish mix. El Salvadorans have very dark brown eyes, almost as black as the pupil, and are quite captivating. It is the most densely populated of the Centro American countries. The USA pumped $1 million per day into El Salvador during the civil war, which eanded in the 90s, in an effort to prevent Communism spreading from Cuba. Pollution is rampant.

Yesterday I took about 500 children on a virtual world tour with presentations in the playground and theatre. The ABC school (www.abc.edu.sv) is also making a corporate contribution to the Flores Project and a number of children donated too. I’m staying for a few days with science teacher Glynn Morgan. He has also arranged for me to meet with relevant people in the health sector to talk about primary healthcare delivery.

El Salvador is on the Pacific Ring of Fire. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are incessant. Half a mountain collapsed here two years ago burying thousands in the the torrent of volcanic sand.

The first difference in El Salvador I noticed three days ago (when I crossed the border) is that the people have more ready smiles on their faces and seem to be happier than the Guatemalans. The atrocities committed by the government ended much earlier here, perhaps they have had time to recover.

Another difference is that here the Catholic Church stood up strongly against the brutal government in favor of the people, whereas in Guatemala the Church was part of the problem.

GUATEMALA

In fact the spiritual side of Guatemala is intriguing. I commented on this spirituality to fellow travelers when I first entered the country but few others had noticed. The buses have plenty of Jesus stickers, obviously insurance against crashes as they screech around blind mountain bends. I am reminded of Pakistan, although there Allah seemed to be the underwriter there. When the Catholics set about converting the Mayans 500 years ago, they found many similarities between the faiths. Jesus dying on the cross was similar to Mayan bloodletting practiced by Mayan kings. The cross was similar to the Mayan life tree stretching from the underworld of the gods upwards. So the Spanish church settled for a compromise and Mayolicism (my invention!) developed.

Maximon was a Maya priest put to death because he befriended and helped women harvest the fields when all the men were made to build a cathedral. The women cried and their tears mixed with mud was put into a statue of the priest. Since he was in a Cathedral he became known as Saint Simon.

Nowadays there are four or five sites, normally in the homes of those Mayas who want greater local recognition perhaps for political reasons, where you can meet statues of Maximon. I saw him sat in a chair with a burning cigarette in mouth, removed for pouring some rum down his throat. They change his clothes weekly, as in the old days, so that the Catholic establishment couldn’t recognize him. He is a bit freaky actually, and they say you shouldn’t talk about him for too long. He is used in black magic spells, as are Christian Saints when such practitioners in churches implore their help in having evil done. Poor people who have been wronged often pay witches to cast spells on those in power who have wronged them, considering it is their only recourse to justice.

The Evangelists have also been working hard in Guatemala, and often you can look out onto a town and roofs and walls painted with “Jesus es el Senor” and suchlike. Government statistics put Catholicism at 65% and Protestantism at 35%. So where would the Maya figures be? They are mixed up within these two Christian faiths. I’ve had seemingly dependable reports that all the faiths in Guatemala are scourged by corruption and profiteering.

People around the world use this sort of thing to justify their lack of belief in God. The trouble is, these sorts of supposed people and organizations are not of the true Jesus Christ.

The Mayans look down on, and feel sorry for, those displaying individuality. The effects appear to be similar to Hinduism, whereby you can’t (and want to) take the initiative and improve your life for yourself. Maybe that is why there is so much poverty. Perhaps it is also why I could not achieve any press coverage in Guatemala.

I want to say really big thanks to www.casaxelaju.com and www.spanishguatemala.org (Ulew Tinimit). Both schools gave me a free week Spanish study with homestay in Quetzaltenango (Xela). Now I am starting to understand what people are saying to me! Xela is a great learning environment without too many tourists, and most of those want to speak Spanish anyway! In Xela the language students are kindhearted by supporting various causes and doing volunteer work, I am reminded of North Western Thailand.

I met the Administrative Director of the Asociation CDRO (Cooperacion para el Desarrollo Rural de Occidente). It runs a fleet of 19 motorcycles for use in delivering all sorts of development services like education and health. 10 of the bikes are now in various stages of repair. Some last just three years although usually a maximum of five years. The bikes cost about $2,000 each. The organization has a mechanic and runs a maintenance system only for its four wheelers. The riders of the bikes have had no training but are responsible for maintenance. I left the organization with details of a maintenance system, since they cannot afford the $5,000 to send someone to the International Academy of Vehicle Maintenance in Zimbabwe Africa. I figure they would save more than $30,000 over ten years, aside from the positive impact of reliable continuous delivery of services. Guatemala probably uses well over 500 motorcycles for this type of work and perhaps a half of them are in for repair. I am going back to Xela and will offer to show the riders how to lubricate the chain among other things and explain why we do that sort of thing.

MY BIKE

My own motorcycle is fine. However I slipped up very badly by not bringing with me spare front and rear tyres from the USA. I paid for new tyres since I can’t get hold of Metzeler here. The rear one is a super dooper Kendo. Hoorah. Nobbly and wobbly. Anything over 80kmh and the bike writhes around the road and for corners I need nearly to get off and push! Oh to have my dear Metzelers back. At least I have a sidestand again thanks to Joe Ebenezer the radiator man in Xela.

JAPAN

Lastly I am most happy to report that Japanese bikers are starting to stand up for their rights. This is a note from my great friend Akira Hashimoto in Tokyo.

By the way, you know that we Japanese motorcyclists cannot take a passenger on the Highway because of a stupid & old law. At the end of last year, some politician tried to change it. But at the last moment it did not work. Then some motorcyclists stood up and started to union our opinion and power to get rights of riders, working by the internet. Me? Of course I am a member.

We are going to make www soon. First step is by Japanese only though, next will be English.

This is a very significant development in global rider’s rights. Congratulations to our Japanese brothers and sisters for moving. Let’s welcome them to the international community of motorcycle rights and offer them all the support and encouragement we can.

Hasta luego
Simon

Simon Milward, on the road

A solo fundraising round the world ride on a handmade motorcycle.
Supporting Doctors Without Borders and Health For All.

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