By: SHELBY BAKER
Tippecanoe Valley High School

Everyone is in a state of panic. Women run from their homes with children in tow. People are disappearing every day. Where are they going? What is happening to them? People are told what to think and are not allowed to speak out against the government. Nobody has a voice; they are just focused on survival.

Kris Walker, Spanish teacher at Tippecanoe Valley High School, dedicated a month of teaching to Spanish 3 classes about genocides and mass killings that have happened in every Latin American country.

“I feel like every life is precious and worth saving, even for people who don’t understand what that means. I look at people who commit suicide and it’s crazy and when I put it on a scale next to things like genocides it just gets exponentially worse. Our lives are good we just don’t understand how bad it is in other places,” Walker said.

In early May 2003, the city of Betoyes, located in Colombia, was attacked. According to otramerica.com and the Colombia Journal, many indigenous people of the Guahibo community died; the exact number is not known.

Three girls were raped. A pregnant 16-year-old, Omaira Ferández, was raped, and then her baby was cut from her stomach and hacked with a machete. The bodies were thrown into a nearby river.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 people were killed from 1976 to 1983, in a period called “The Dirty War” which took place in Argentina. Many people “disappeared” and were never heard from again. Similar killings have happened in every Latin American country. Like in Colombia, some were political, others were racial.

“I think it’s really sad that so many innocent people have died. I was shocked that almost nobody knows about what happened. I was also shocked to learn that the United States was involved in some of the conflict,” senior student Brandon Maull said.

Some regions are still suffering the consequences. Haiti has taken several major hits throughout the years. Since 1804, Haiti has seen many brutal dictatorships involving drug trade and corruption. Haiti has become one the poorest states in the world with an unemployment rate of 60%. Life expectancy is about 50 years for men and 54 years for women.

“The beautiful part of what I do as a Spanish teacher is that I can teach music, singing, dancing and genocide all in one year. I think it’s important for us to know this and to get this stuff figured out,” Walker said.