July 28, 2009, Parsippany, New Jersey: Advocacy Project (AP) Interns Alissa Perman and Julie Zimmerman presented the Rio Negro Memorial Textile at the Guatemala Adoptive Families Event in New Jersey Saturday, July 25.

The event is held for US families who have adopted children from Guatemala, and aims to promote multicultural unity and lasting connections between the two countries.

The Rio Negro Memorial Textile is a collaborative project between AP and weavers from the resettlement village of Pacux in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, who were displaced by the construction of Chixoy Dam in the early 1980s. 

Overall, 477 indigenous villagers who refused to abandon their land for the dam were killed by paramilitaries in 1982. About 13,000 people in 28 villages remain affected by the dam, and their umbrella group, COCAHICH*, is currently negotiating with the government to secure reparations.

All of the weavers involved in the textile project are massacre survivors themselves or children of survivors.  Click here to learn more about the textile and the weavers behind it.

*COCAHICH stands for the Coordinator for the Communities Affected by the Chixoy Dam.

AP interns Julie Zimmerman (left) and Alissa Perman show off the rio Negro Memorial Textile on Saturday.