On 22 February 2011, several organizations that coordinate the jTatic Samuel jCanan Lum Award presented said award to the plenary during the Assembly of the Believing People, a representation that received the award during the presentation-ceremony held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas in January 2011.
Notably, in a manner close to that called for by the award, the objective of the assembly on this occasion was to “continue to remember and share the memory of jTatic to care for the life of our people, as believers, from the spirit of jTatic Samuel, and with the example of Jesus.”
We were present at the plenary at which the work-groups that were distributed according to the zones that form the San Cristóbal de Las Casas diocese shared their words with respect to “how their hearts are, and how the hearts are in their communities” following the death of Don Samuel. The comments signaled both sadness for his departure and the necessity of continuing to work for peace, justice, and the poor, with the conviction that “the spirit of Don Samuel continues with us.”
The Believing People received the jTatic Samuel jCanan Lum Award with joy and a commitment that motivates them to continue being “collaborators with the search for a new dignified life for the people.” They affirmed that they “commit [themselves] to carry forward the care-taking of our peoples as well as of our Mother Earth. This is the task we set for ourselves as Believing People so as to continue with our mission to transform all the signs of death into signs of life […]. Don Samuel oriented us, raised us, and continues to inspire us to carry forward with this award. Our work often meets with pain and misunderstanding, but also with the profound hope to live to see new lands and new skies. When we began we did not know how to walk. Now we know some, but much remains to be walked.”
Before watching a video on the life of Don Samuel, the presentation of the award closed with two minutes of silence during which everyone present could “listen to and speak with Don Samuel,” according to the expression of a member of the Believing People.
For more information (in Spanish):
Memoria Viva 01 jtatic Samuel (informative bulletin distributed among the Believing People, February 2011)
For more information from SIPAZ (in English):
– Chiapas: Presentation of the jTatic Samuel jCanan Lum Award to the Coordination of Indigenous Social Organizations XI’NICH (25 February 2011)
Chiapas: celebration and presentation of 2011 jTatic Samuel jCanan Lum Award (31 January 2011)
Chiapas: visit to Alberto Patishtan to observe 2011 call for “jTatic Samuel jCanan Lum” Award denied (2 August 2010)
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