The Women of Candelaria, Mary Richardson Miller

The Women of Candelaria, Mary Richardson Miller, Pomogranate Books, 1996, 128 pages

New Paperback 

 Description:  The author tells in narrative and photographs the stories of 27 women from a small aldea (village) called Candelaria. The focus is the women and their every day efforts to re-establish normalcy for themselves and their families at the end of the Guatemalan Civil war.  While the photos show their beautiful huipils and textiles from the area of San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango, the true story is of the women and their lives.

In her preface the author says "In time, the Women of Candelaria came to exemplify for me the endurance, dignity, and courage of indigenous women throughout Guatemala, descendants of the ancient Maya who have retained their language, their customs and their culture in spite of centuries of repression and prejudice. As I began to know them better, the idea for documenting their daily lives evolved to photograph the moments, the colors of everyday life as it is lived in a small country village, focusing on these resilient women...One the women accepted my plan for this venture, I was welcomed into their homes and became a witness to their daily lives.,,.As I came to know them and witnessed their daily struggles, I witnessed also their daily triumphs.  I want to celebrate these women: I want to honor them."   Mary Richardson Miller

The American author, was in Guatemala from 1986 to 1996 working for a development organization called PAVA to help provide relief and rebuilding support for the victims of the civil war, primarily indigenous villages and the many women who had been widowed by the war.  .