The Real Story

The Real Story

“Of Acul, Guatemala”

One of the greatest gifts of going off the beaten path is the people you meet—those with incredible stories that change you.

We spent ten days in Acul, a small indigenous village nestled at the end of a valley in Guatemala’s Sierra de los Cuchumatanes. It was there we met Magdalena, a kind-hearted local who graciously shared her English with us during our informal Spanish lessons.

Magdalena’s story began in the early 1980s during the Guatemala Civil War. At the time, she had moved to the U.S. to study. But as the violence intensified, she returned home to support her family in Acul—a region controlled by guerrilla forces.

One fateful day, soldiers disguised as guerrillas entered the village asking for food. The next day, the real army followed—backed indirectly by U.S. support. They executed 32 villagers who had helped the guerrillas, then burned Acul to the ground. In the chaos, Magdalena and her family fled into the mountains—but she became separated from her mother.

Magdalena and her father eventually found safety in Guatemala City. A year later, she learned her mother had died of starvation in the mountains. Four years passed before the war ended—and even then, her mother wasn’t safe yet. She was found via helicopter, barely alive in a remote part of the highlands, having survived on insects and plants—still unaware the war had ended.