Pi Kappa Sigma is raising money this week to help two Lipscomb students produce a social justice documentary.
The club’s efforts are part of Cause Week, which will help fund the documentary being produced by Ryan Malone and Allison Woods, both multimedia production majors. The film tells the story of a social justice crisis in the Ulpan Valley of Guatemala.
“I’m doing this documentary about the lives of the Q’eqchi’ people, especially relating to the struggle for their land,” Malone said. “The land that they live on is a big part of their culture. It’s what they live off every day.”
At 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, Malone will be in Shamblin Theater with Caroline Cook, co-chair of Cause Week, to explain more about the situation and the documentary. Students who attend can receive one chapel credit and will have an opportunity to ask questions about the documentary and to pray for the people of the Ulpan Valley.
“Because of the documentary, we are telling the story of the Q’eqchi people that they can’t tell themselves,” said Cook, a junior law, justice and society major from Decatur, Ala.
Woods, a senior, explained that the problems in Guatemala can be traced back nearly two centuries. In the 1800s, the Guatemalan government took the land from the people of the Ulpan Valley.
Following the distribution of the land to various countries, the local government passed an anti-vagrancy law that required anyone living on the land to work for the landowner. However, according to Woods, the workers only receive around $2 per day.
“They are basically in a situation of legalized slavery,” Woods said.
In August of 2008, Lipscomb sent a group of engineering students to the valley to put their education into action. Since then Project Ulpan has been providing the Q’eqchi’ people with clean water, medical facilities and much more.
“The passion and the hard work is almost overwhelming,” said Lynsey Myers, co-chair of Cause Week and a sophomore elementary education major. “Just how spirit-led all of this is, is still something that is hard for me to wrap my head around. To see how God is working through all of this in certain ways is really incredible.”
Last spring, Kris Hatchell, student missions coordinator, asked Malone, who is from Gainesville, Fla., to create a documentary about the people’s struggles.
“I was told he was the best of the best,” Hatchell said. “He was one of the top students to be able to document our project.
Cook agreed with Hatchell in her belief in the film’s directors.
“Ryan and Allison are talented, and I truly believe they are capable of telling the story,” said Cook. “I have full faith in them.”
The organizers wanted to support the documentary because it is something in which Lipscomb students are direct participants.
“We wanted something that is local, something that hits home for these students,” Myers said. “They can see people who have gone there. We’ve actually met them, and we’re trying to help them in a really tangible way.”
Malone explained that the documentary has three goals. The first is to raise awareness in the English-speaking world about the situation in Guatemala. The second is to put political pressure on the Guatemalan government to get involved and to pay the people fairly. The final goal is to raise money for Project Ulpan and other projects in that area of Guatemala.
“The reason I was asked to do the documentary was for that second goal,” Malone said. “It’s scary that something like this might possibly cause a change in the political climate in Guatemala. It’s also really exciting that something like that is possible.”
Malone went to Guatemala in mid-October to gain more understanding of the situation and to prepare for the documentary.
“I actually experienced those people as real people,” Malone said. “Experiential knowledge is so much deeper than hearing about it. Being able to experience that really helped me put the whole story into context.”
Myers plans to go to the Valley in January with a group from Lipscomb. “We really want to know the people and love them,” she said. “I’ll just be spending time with the people and helping them.”
Malone and Woods plan to go to Guatemala for three days during Thanksgiving break to film the documentary. Malone said they hope the final product will be finished in mid-spring 2011.
Hatchell said that he hopes the documentary will increase student interest in what is happening in Guatemala.
“I would love to have students knocking down my door to go and see,” he said. “I want this project to broaden the worldview of our students.”
Malone said that he wants other students to understand that they can participate in the project.
“Anything helps, from prayer to a one dollar bill if you can give it, to telling other people– anything helps,” Malone said. “I don’t want it to be all about the money, but without money it won’t happen. Ultimately, it’s about the people.”