Realities on Indigenous and Human Rights through the eyes and heart of our Youth

Víctor Anthony López-Carmen – Realities on Indigenous and Human Rights through the eyes and heart of our Youth

June 5, 2014

By: Tai Pelli

Jemimah Lemerketo,  Víctor A. López-Carmen, and Doreen Bennet on their second day of Project Access Training

What a lively personality! One of those people that the second you see them, you are just engaged by their contagious energy and great attitude! Víctor Anthony López-Carmen, is a Crow Creek and Yaqui young man. The minute I saw him, I could also tell he was thirsty for knowledge, had great disposition, was kind with his peers and grasping everything that was going on in his surroundings. He did not want to miss a thing! He was to be the youngest participant in Project Access Global Capacity Building Training and eventually the youngest at the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus.

This curly-haired handsome young man, could have chosen to brag about his connections within the Indigenous movement at the United Nations, after all, his aunt is a well-known indigenous, human and environmental rights advocate who has dedicated over 40 years to the movement, but Víctor is not that way at all. Quite the contrary, this young man is very humble. He is a freshman at Ithaca College in New York, studying Medicine with a Minor in Native American Studies. Victor is also a Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar at Ithaca College, a very prestigious and competitive position that allows for recipients to travel and perform independent research in an area of their interest. Víctor has chosen to research health of Indigenous Peoples, access to healthcare and the interconnection between health and their sovereignty as Indigenous Peoples.

On his first day at Project Access, he addressed his peers as if he had known them forever. He spoke calmly yet enthusiastically. It was here when I first noticed that thirst for knowledge. I saw him ready to learn and absorb all there was to be learned like a sponge! He spoke about: his desire to work with the youth in his community, the importance of the revitalization of Language and the Preservation of Culture.

The training in Project Access is intense and time is always of the essence, every minute is important and the preparation process requires many dedicated hours, (day and night), in order for participants to be ready with the interventions that would be presented at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues session on behalf of Project Access and the different organizations within represented. Victor worked diligently with his intervention team. He also participated proactively in the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and was chosen to be the reader of one their interventions at the Forum.

By the opening of the 13^th session of the UNPFII, on May 12^th, 2014, we had seen the first transformation. This one was physical. The curly hair was gone and he had a conventional haircut that projected the first sign of the many changes that were taking place within Víctor. He now looked more mature, more serious, although maintaining his kind, approachable personality and pleasant look in his face.

As we were walking towards the UN, from the hotel most of us were staying at, I caught up with Víctor. I wanted to know about his experience so far. His answer was definitely not one I expected. He touched on something I had experience years earlier, and something I know many of us get to experience as we learn more and more about the current realities of Indigenous Peoples of the World and the number of human rights violations that seem unending. Was I waiting for the: “Everything is so great! I am so excited. So much to learn!”? His reply was: “It is great, but it is very emotional. I was not prepared for that.” I noticed the change in his face as he said this. His words made me wonder if I had become hardened in some way. For I know we see and hear of things that the media does not publicize, things that are unfolded openly during these couple of weeks in New York, by representatives of communities that are being destroyed, displaced, abused, killed, starved, raped, just to name a few. His eyes did not seem like those of the young man, he had seen something that touched his very soul. Victor had grown years within a matter of a few days.

I saw how important it is to keep that in mind. As advocates of Indigenous, Human and Environmental Rights, we come in touch with images, information, or hear first hand stories that are heart-wrenching. No, it is not that I had become hardened, or any of us for that matter, much less over-sensitivity on Víctor’s part. It is called “humanity”. It is the process that makes us more determined to do what we must, to contribute to the many causes, to network in a fashion that we become a strong global force for the benefit of Indigenous Peoples, Humanity and Mother Earth, while having to balance our own emotions and our own humanity, opening the eyes wider, perhaps to hide the tears and pursing our lips, when the images become too much to bear.

On our final meeting, I listened to Victor speak about his overall experience. He had learned many things, among the simplest, that Indigenous Peoples are not limited to the America’s, a perception that millions if not more have, just like a few years back, also in Project Access,  Mama Anna Naramat, (Ogiek Tribe from Kenya, Africa)  spoke about she was shocked that there were Indigenous Peoples that were fair-skinned, for her impression had been that Indigenous Peoples were shades of brown only! A sign that there is much to be done globally when it comes to Education, starting with the very basic. There are approximately over 370 million Indigenous Peoples in the world and although most are facing the same challenges, they come in different colors and shapes.

His experience in Project Access was one that allowed him to communicate effectively with people who have been in the UN system for longer, yet he found he was able to speak at the same level. He was grateful for the opportunity afforded him as a participant as he was able to help others with their own interventions, precisely because of the knowledge he had acquired through Project Access Global Capacity Building Training.

I observed him during our farewell party. I watched his dynamics with his peers, smiling, and sharing stories. The image of the curly-haired young man had now dissipated. I did see a different person, one with the same kind heart and spirit, but one who had matured much during the past couple of weeks. As we said our goodbyes, I realized that this young man who now had short hair, and wore a tie, would become one of the very few; a compassionate doctor that will never forget where and who he came from, one who will never lose his humanity, for he will always be reminded of the realities that touched his heart, that time in May 2014, when he was a young man,  where he was chosen to participate in a training that would prepare him to attend and be a voice for Indigenous Peoples at the United Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Those same people that inspired him for his selected studies in the first place!

 

Víctor A. Lopez-Carmen during Farewell Party