Aura Marina Radio Novela
Meet Aura Marina, who lives with family in a village in the mountains of Guatemala. She is the Mayan heroine of the radionovela (soap opera) “Aura Marina,” broadcast on 250 community radio stations – thanks to Cultural Survival’s Guatemala Radio Project. The program aims to inform Guatemala’s indigenous majority about their rights and responsibilities as citizens of a new democracy.

Listen to Aura Marina’s adventures, like when her teacher expelled a classmate just for wearing her traditional dress to school, and when Aura Marina’s parents decided she should leave school to help her mother with the housework. Learn how she organized the community and demanded the school refund student fees unless the children could wear the Mayan traje (traditional dress)…

Episode 1: The Lynch Mob
A mob has surrounded a house in the village. Aura Marina and her family hear the shouting, and ask what is going on. A leader tells them that the men inside the house are thieves, and the police are refusing to intervene. If the robbers don’t come out, he says, we’ll burn them alive! Aura Marina and her family step forward. They argue that the thieves should have a fair trial. If the police and the courts can’t handle the situation, they say, the villagers should hold their own hearings to find out if the men are innocent or guilty. After much discussion, the villagers agree to settle things peacefully. The message is that vigilante justice can turn accusers into criminals when rumors lead to attacks on innocent people.

Episode 2: The Traje
One of Aura Marina’s high school classmates is expelled from school by her teacher for wearing her traditional dress instead of the school uniform. (In Guatemala, each village had its own distinctive hand woven clothing, but most people stopped wearing it during the civil war, when the army targeted indigenous people. Currently, Guatemalans are reviving the traje.) Aura Marina’s friend then faces trouble from her parents when they decide she should stay home to help her mother. Aura Marina uses traditional knowledge and institutions to support her friend as she negotiates these conflicts.

Episode 3: The Traje and the Spirits
Aura Marina’s friend continues on her quest to attend school and to respect her culture by wearing traje. The community rallies around the cause, demanding that the school allow students to wear traje or refund their fees. The school officials refuse. The villagers decide to build a new school building where uniforms will not be required, and one local woman agrees to leave her teaching job to work at the new school. Some students want to give up and continue wearing their uniforms, but their Nahuals (spirit guides) show them the importance of traje as part of their cultural identity.

Episode 4: The Hurricane
A hurricane is on the way, but the village isn’t prepared. Aura Marina and a few villagers organize an emergency prevention campaign, forming committees to mitigate the damage. They lead efforts to make emergency preparedness plans, such as stockpiling food and clothing in churches. They also determine which homes are in the most vulnerable locations, such as near rivers, and warn the occupants. Because of their efforts, many lives are saved when the hurricane strikes.