Steve Molnar has a long history working with Peace Brigades International (PBI). Steve first got involved with PBI when he became a short-term volunteer in Guatemala in 1988. Shortly after, Steve became involved in the founding of PBI-USA (1989) and the North American Project (1990), and part of the Coordinating Committee of PBI-USA, and later worked for PBI’s International Council (IC). Steve is currently a teacher at a small democratic school.
Steve had traveled several times throughout Latin America in the 80s and became involved in the issues and the local communities. Steve became attracted to the ideas of nonviolence and nonpartisanship and having a meaningful way to return and participate to promote positive change in Latin America. At that time, PBI was looking for short-term volunteers to accompany human rights defenders in Guatemala. Steve decided to pursue this opportunity.
In Guatemala, Steve accompanied a variety of different organizations and individuals, including the Mutual Support Group. Steve accompanied large groups that were doing protests and manifestations and went to provide support in the field in different parts of Guatemala as needed. The field team was composed of six short-term volunteers and six long-term volunteers. Steve says that every single person, every single group that he accompanied just had amazing stories, and all of them were at great risk and needed the protection that PBI provided.
“Every week they had a big protest in Guatemala City, so we would go with mostly indigenous people to the capital to be there and take photos. Those were really impressionable moments for me. All these beautiful indigenous people would come together from all over the country to protest. They were just amazing people and were certainly at great risk.”
“Another time, some students from the university had a protest, and security forces came that night and shot some of the student leaders. I remember accompanying one of the families to leave the country. The family had children and had sent their children to the countryside, they came back to their apartment to pick up some documents and belongings, and when we got there the house was being surveilled by plainclothes officers, we were alerted by the neighbors. Moments later, all these police officers went into the building, and they came right to us as PBI, they shook our hands and said they were going to do everything by the books. Fortunately, we were able to leave with the people that we were accompanying, and we were able to help them leave the country. That was a pretty tense but rewarding moment.”
Steve remembers going north to a small village in the highlands of Guatemala, they hadn’t really had many people come through their community in recent years because of the level of violence that was still very high, so this was the first time that PBI or anybody outside of their community was there.
“I remember a bunch of women who were organizing a protest and they were really just asking for their own security because they had a lot of police and security forces that would just come into their house and rob them, or rape them, or otherwise assault them and stuff like that, so they would come together and ask for some dignity. They asked PBI to be around, that was when we were actually setting up a field office near Santa Cruz del Quiche.”
“I can remember a different protest in a different part of the country where it was trade unionist having a protest and I can remember a couple of hundred people in the streets and PBI was with them again taking pictures and being available and visible. I remember one of the trade unionists said, ‘It is really great that you are with us today, tomorrow we may not be alive, so it is important that you document this for the rest of the world’, so that was really important to them.”
Steve notes that there were two best aspects of the experience. The first, and most impressive part for Steve was meeting the human rights defenders, being with them and accompanying them, hearing their stories, and really knowing the level of discipline that it takes to protect human rights. The second aspect was the people from PBI, getting to meet people from around the world. There were people from Spain, from France, from the United States, and from a couple of other countries living together and working with a group of people by consensus. They would run an office, feed themselves, and have meetings about all of those who they would accompany. Steve thinks that this made the experience very special.
Steve believes that the experience has affected him deeply for the rest of his life. Steve claims that the experience was simply amazing because it opened him up to a whole other level of working with other people and ways to get involved. The experience solidified his commitment to nonviolence and really helped him think it through on a deep level. It also helped him become familiar with working with a consensus group, which became a very important process for Steve later in his life.
Steve concludes with a brief message for the American audience and for people considering volunteering with PBI:
“People are actively working for human rights. We can make a change. People can get involved and work with human rights and defend human rights on a deep and practical kind of level.”
Do you want to get involved with PBI?
Become a volunteer
There are several ways to get involved with PBI. If you are interested in becoming a field brigadista, like Steve, and embark on a life-changing experience accompanying human rights defenders, please click here to find out if this opportunity is for you. Here you can find more information about the requirements and application process. The current field project that is accepting applications is PBI-Guatemala. The deadline to submit your application is August 1st, 2021. You can also watch our February 28th PBI Volunteer Orientation Webinar to learn more about the experience.
Donate
All of the accompaniment that PBI provides as well as our volunteer outreach is made possible only because of generous individuals like you. For 40 years, PBI has been providing life-saving security monitoring and protection that allows defenders to carry on with their work.
2021 is a special year for Peace Brigades International, it is our 40th year anniversary!
Become a human rights champion by making a donation to our 40th-year anniversary campaign and stand in solidarity with threatened human rights defenders.
Please, consider donating to PBI-USA. You can make a safe donation here.
Make a Difference, help protect human rights defenders!
Support our 40th Year Anniversary Campaign by making a donation
2021 is Peace Brigades International’s 40th Year Anniversary!
Whether human rights defenders fight for social equality, justice, or environmental and indigenous rights, we must protect their vision of the future. For 40 years, PBI has provided protection so defenders can continue their work. With your support, we can ensure that PBI-USA can continue to make space for peace.
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