Lunch With A Hero... Rigoberta Menchú

It's not everyday that you meet a true hero.  I had the great fortune to be invited to a luncheon with a great woman, Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala.  For those of you who do not know, Rigoberta won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.  She came over for a lunch to ask for help as she seeks the presidency of Guatemala.

For those of you who do not know her background, here is a little information I took from the Nobel Prize page. 

"Rigoberta Menchú was born on   January 9, 1959 to a poor Indian peasant family and raised in the   Quiche branch of the Mayan culture. In her early years she helped   with the family farm work, either in the northern highlands where   her family lived, or on the Pacific coast, where both adults and   children went to pick coffee on the big plantations.

  Rigoberta Menchú soon became involved in social reform   activities through the Catholic Church, and became prominent in   the women's rights movement when still only a teenager. Such   reform work aroused considerable opposition in influential   circles, especially after a guerilla organization established   itself in the area. The Menchú family was accused of taking   part in guerrilla activities and Rigoberta's father, Vicente, was   imprisoned and tortured for allegedly having participated in the   execution of a local plantation owner. After his release, he   joined the recently founded Committee of the Peasant Union   (CUC).

  In 1979, Rigoberta, too, joined the CUC. That year her brother   was arrested, tortured and killed by the army. The following   year, her father was killed when security forces in the capital   stormed the Spanish Embassy where he and some other peasants were   staying. Shortly afterwards, her mother also died after having   been arrested, tortured and raped. Rigoberta became increasingly   active in the CUC, and taught herself Spanish as well as other   Mayan languages than her native Quiche. In 1980, she figured   prominently in a strike the CUC organized for better conditions   for farm workers on the Pacific coast, and on May 1, 1981, she   was active in large demonstrations in the capital. She joined the   radical 31st of January Popular Front, in which her contribution   chiefly consisted of educating the Indian peasant population in   resistance to massive military oppression.

  In 1981, Rigoberta Menchú had to go into hiding in   Guatemala, and then flee to Mexico. That marked the beginning of   a new phase in her life: as the organizer abroad of resistance to   oppression in Guatemala and the struggle for Indian peasant   peoples' rights. In 1982, she took part in the founding of the   joint opposition body, The United Representation of the   Guatemalan Opposition (RUOG). In 1983, she told her life story to   Elisabeth Burgos Debray. The resulting book, called in English,   I, Rigoberta Menchú, is a gripping human document   which attracted considerable international attention. In 1986,   Rigoberta Menchú became a member of the National   Coordinating Committee of the CUC, and the following year she   performed as the narrator in a powerful film called When the   Mountains Tremble, about the struggles and sufferings of the   Maya people. On at least three occasions, Rigoberta Menchú   has returned to Guatemala to plead the cause of the Indian   peasants, but death threats have forced her to return into   exile.

  Over the years, Rigoberta Menchú has become widely known as   a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural   reconciliation, not only in Guatemala but in the Western   Hemisphere generally, and her work has earned her several   international awards."

It was truly a privilege to be with with a person who hopefully will become the president of Guatemala.