When I wake up in the morning I rely on my house being heated as per the settings, and I rely on my cupboard being stocked with the food I have bought, and trust that my housemates won’t have taken any of it. I rely on my bicycle still being in my locked garage. I cycle to work through Oxford city centre and trust other road users to not put my personal safety in danger. I trust that my colleagues will treat me with respect every day. Such tiny things that I take for granted help my daily routine remain a routine. Last weekend I grazed my knee for the first time in years and was surprised by the pain and inconvenience this caused me, and the sensation of feeling secure and in control suddenly became somewhat shaken, albeit a tiny amount.
I do, however, hide my laptop in ‘a safe place’ (we’ve all got those, if only we didn’t sometimes forget where they are!) when I leave the house, keep my passport stashed away, double lock the front door at night, lock my bike securely whenever I leave it anywhere, and avoid walking home alone at night.
All in all, I feel very secure here in the UK. If ever I do feel at all at risk, it’s usually due to having made a decision to take a risk for some reason or another after assessing the options. Very rarely do I come into contact with unanticipated insecurity. I also know that, should I encounter any difficulties and not be able to rely on my family or friends, the social welfare system in the UK would endeavour to support me in some way. I have decided that this week I will take time out to appreciate what a luxury this is.
After spending a year in Argentina, I came back to the UK to resume my studies. I hadn’t realised how conditioned I had become to avoid conflict or endangering myself. I distinctly recall being stood in a queue in a local pharmacy behind a woman paying who pulled out her wallet which was bursting at the seams with cards and cash. My eyes popped out of my head as I glanced around to make sure that no one was waiting to pounce on her wallet, and I couldn’t believe that the shop assistant’s expression was completely composed. I was suddenly aware of my heightened perception of danger or risk. Catching the bus back in the UK was another difficult task as I could no longer recall whether it was safe to sit at the back of the bus, as in Argentina I had been threatened at knifepoint in such a situation.
It’s interesting to note that in the UK, talk of security and protection is more often linked to assets, material items and online banking. In poorer places it is often water supply, food, shelter, and energy which are insecure. In addition to this there are elevated levels of violence which come hand in hand with such insecurity as people in these areas have more at stake than a few hundred pounds from an online bank account which will undoubtedly be returned by the bank.
I don’t mean to say that no one in the UK suffers. My hometown is Nottingham; so-called gun crime capital of the UK. Reading articles which tell of nightclub shootings in Guatemala City shock me and make me grateful to live in a safer country, although similar occurrences are not unheard of in Nottingham. The difference is that I can invariably steer clear of such violence by not frequenting areas known for such incidents, by earning an honest living and never touching drugs. Elsewhere, no one is sure to be safe no matter how hard they try. A documentary I saw by Unreported World highlights the precarious position in which bus drivers in Guatemala City find themselves, despite their sole intention being to earn an honest living and support their families.
The nightclub shooting in Guatemala reminded me of a recent trip to Israel. After an amazing night out dancing in Tel Aviv with some Israeli friends, we passed through the Arab quarter of Jaffa to pick up some late-night authentic Arabic snacks. As we drove off along the coast, a friend pointed out a nightclub where in 2005 a suicide bomber killed five Israelis and injured 50 others. I was speechless; this was startlingly close to home. Suddenly, the compulsory military service for teens, security checks at every station and shopping centre and tight airport security didn’t seem so overrated.
Imagine this threat in a country where the government does not work to protect each and every citizen. Then imagine this society is patriarchal and you’re a woman. Imagine now that you’re not sure where your next meal is going to come from. It’s a reality so far removed from my own it’s impossible to know how that would feel; it pains me to know that this is someone else’s reality.
In the quest for a solution, it appears to me that the huge problem with insecurity in places like Guatemala arises from a lack of trust. Looking back at the opening of my blog post, I note that common phrases I associate with the smooth running of my day-to-day life were ‘I rely on’ and ‘I trust’. Currently in Guatemala, citizens don’t trust officials to act on their behalf to support them; officials don’t trust citizens to use the system correctly. With society-wide mistrust there is cause for protest and unrest as each voice fights to be heard. Beneath all of this, those involved in illegal activity, i.e. drug operations, take advantage of impunity and inflict violence without fear of repercussions.
The reason for trust playing such an important role in eliminating insecurity is due to the fact that it has to be earned, and unfortunately this also means that it will take time. I sincerely hope that we can trust Otto Pérez Molina to confront the issue insecurity in Guatemala, as it trickles down into every aspect of society and affects the lives of every single citizen. For now, as we watch and wait to see what happens, I urge you to appreciate every last thing that you rely upon or trust in each day to understand the value of security and realise how easy it is to forget its importance.
One of the things that pained me when I first moved from the UK to the US and started working with Guatemalan immigrants was the lack of trust they put into the authorities and organizations trying to help them here. They come from a background where many basic rights we take for granted are trampled over every day, and I guess it takes a while for them to start feeling safe and trust other people now that they find themselves trying to integrate in a different society. Thank you for this article, and let us hope that Mr Pérez Molina will be remembered as the President who helped take Guatemala to a new level of security and prosperity for their citizens.