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 13th
session of the UNPFII, on May 12th, 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 |
