Rising from Ashes: Meet the Fenix Association

I went from living on the street to a place with dignity for me and my baby. In the street, they saw me as nobody But no one knew who I ended up there.  I have suffered a lot of discrimination; everyone thought I was a criminal. I thank God and Cristosal who helped me because they did not label me, even though I was a street person. I was an outsider and they decided to help me. I have learned things, I feel better and I am a different person.

Thousands of people seeking asylum and protection in the US and other countries are returned to Central America. In the critical period just after their return, many people are forced to flee again.  Cristosal’s protection team in Guatemala has worked with many of these people who cannot return to their places of origin. Victims of forced displacement have immediate needs for aid and protection, but their chances for long-term solutions are increased to the degree that this aid is one of personal empowerment and rebuilding of their lives and communities. 

One way for that to happen is for victims to become leaders, taking on the challenge to respond to others in the same situation. The Fenix Association, a fledgling organization made up of people who were deported to Guatemala with protection needs, shows how inspiring that transformation can be.

The Fenix Association is made up of ten people who were once unhoused and unemployed after their deportation back to Guatemala. We share the story of Luz, one of the founders.

Luz is a 42-year-old founder of the Fenix Association and is originally from Guatemala City. She decided to migrate with her partner to the United States back in 2015. But, while living in the US she was the victim of domestic and sexual violence and became pregnant. She was deported back to Guatemala in 2017 without money, family, or a safe place to take shelter. That is how she ended up on the streets of Guatemala City. After a referral led her to the Association of Guatemalan Returnees,  she found out that she was pregnant. 

After a few months, her ex-partner was returned to Guatemala and began to look for her. The Association of Returnees helped her file a complaint against her abuser. After a two-and-a-half-year legal process he was sentenced to prison, but he had already sent others to continue to threaten Luz. She was attacked while she was pregnant leading to the decision to move to a closed shelter where she received some technical training and later to a hotel. After almost two years of sheltered living, the Association of Refugees contacted Cristosal and asked for help in her transition to a more permanent situation. 

Cristosal supported her with psychosocial support, including mental health support, help with rent, and income generation and building out a plan of what her life with her daughter can look like now. Luz is optimistic about receiving more technical training in digital printing, embroidery, and entrepreneurship to support herself and her daughter. But, Luz has a bigger vision, one where she not only does she re-make her life, but helps others to do the same. Cristosal has been there to accompany that vision.

Luz, together with others who had benefited from the protection services of Cristosal proposed the Fenix Association to help pay forward the support they had received. During 2023, the fledgling association made up of people who were internally displaced and returnees began meetings and workshops. They have initiated the process to become a legally recognized Association in Guatemala with the purpose of sharing their experience to help others who have had to flee violence and have left everything behind. Cristosal works walks with victims, becoming stronger together, to build leadership for human rights.