Well, it was certainly a crazy semester, and for not having written a single entry all term, I apologize profusely.
I had been looking for something to write about to get this blog going again, and today, the answer just fell into my lap, or well, my inbox.
The headline "Contractor Bulldozes Mayan Temple" immediately sunk my heart. My first thought was "please tell me this didn't happen in Mexico!" and for that, I am deeply ashamed, because the truth is that it doesn't matter where it happened. The mere fact that it happened, is an atrocity.
Here is what the temple resembled a few days ago
and this is what the once- tallest structure in all northern Belize looks like now
While most news outlets are blaming the owner of the company, I feel that we have no one to truly blame but ourselves for our inactivity. More awareness of the situation could have prevented this temple from being destroyed. Petitions could have been signed and lobbying could have occurred, but instead, we waited until it was over, and now frantically attempt to find someone to blame. Yes, this man is responsible and should be charged with the destruction of cultural heritage, but every single person writing about how barbaric this man is should also consider what they might have done to prevent it from occurring.
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| Maya Temple at Lamanai in Belize, similar to Nohmul |
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Why is it that we only hear about these things once they have occurred? More awareness to the issues of cultural heritage protection will hopefully prevent atrocities like this from happening in the future.
