by Joy Houston

Dressed in a casual, salmon colored quilted jacket and gray pants, she greeted her visitors graciously in the waiting room and ushered them into the meeting room herself. She cleared a few things away and straightened the terra cotta throw on the comfy blue couch, patted the cushion and invited us to sit wherever we like. The walls of the sunny, wood paneled room were lined with black and white portrait photos of First Ladies of Guatemala since 1945. Hers would soon be hung in its place.

Wendy Widman de Berger immediately put her visitors at ease. Her brown hair was brushed back casually, and her makeup was well done, but natural. She was poised, without pomp or pretence. We were in a conference room in the Presidential Palace but we might have been in an old friend’s kitchen. Members of the staff of SOSEP, the office of social work of the president’s wife, were equally welcoming, insisting on serving a refreshment. “This is your house. Come whenever you like,” said the First Lady, who prefers to be called Wendy. We felt as if she meant it. She’s a person who looks you straight in the eye and listens when you speak.

The role of the president’s wife in Guatemala brings with it the charge of SOSEP, like it or not. “We are the human face of social assistance,” she explains. For Wendy, it’s a natural.

After completing primary and secondary school at Colegio Monte María in Guatemala City, Wendy attended Trinity College in Washington, D.C. for two years. She returned to marry her high school sweetheart, Oscar Berger. The situation in Guatemala was not good at that time, so after two years of planning, they went with their families for a quiet wedding in Mexico City in 1967.

Wendy and Oscar had attended neighboring schools, hers run by Maryknoll sisters and his by Jesuit priests, with many shared activities and parties. But more than that, “We were lucky to be taught by persons who made us see the reality in which we lived,” reflects Wendy. The 1960’s were turbulent times all over the world, times of questioning, challenge and change. A classmate recalls, “We were all oriented to service and social consciousness, but Wendy was especially so. She was always active and responding to something or other.”

“I think everyone wants to be a missionary,” Wendy answered quickly when asked what she wanted to be when she was a little girl. “We all wished for a career of vocation, imagining, perhaps, going to Africa.” But times were especially tough in her own country. “It was a time of struggle, of war. We were saturated with the reality of Guatemala. All this had an effect on our thinking.” Realizing that everything would not be resolved by war, Wendy and Oscar decided to work in government.

The Bergers now have five grown children and five grandchildren as well as both of their moms. “We are a very big and very close family,” says Wendy. Despite heavy commitments in her role as First Lady, the family is still a priority, and getting together, once a week whenever possible, is what she most enjoys in her spare time. Consistently, she will focus on the family in her work in SOSEP. “We will carry out programs that we know reach the population, and the population is the family,” she says.

Taking that a step further, her work will concentrate on women. “The woman is the center of the family. Through her we can reach the children and youth. She is the axis of change, not only in the family but in the community. Women have great talent, great ability. They can be motors of development.”

In her work as wife of the mayor of Guatemala City from 1996-1999, Wendy was especially proud of the establishment of five training centers for women. She and her team had come to realize that projects from which the people only received assistance were of no long-term value. “There now are 25,000 women volunteers from the interior who will be working with SOSEP,” she is proud to claim. “The programs we have will address the problems of hunger, malnutrition, education and health. These must be designed and undertaken by Guatemalans, in ways to which those who benefit will respond.”

“That is the only way we will construct a capable Guatemala. We must have not only the desire but the ability. Then we will be able to raise our heads and recover our dignity as Guatemalans.” Wendy is confident that the strength of SOSEP will be the volunteers. She met with the team of 600 coordinators in late February and wasted no time putting them to work. They will join several other entities in overseeing the distribution of nine million pencils and more than a million other school supplies to 17,000 schools before Holy Week. The donations were collected through the Pencil Marathon, a countrywide project of the Ministry of Education.

Future plans include stoves and potable water. The difficulty is prioritizing. Following the new administration directive of cost cutting, SOSEP has reduced its Q61 million budget by 14 percent, with a goal of 20 percent. “We will employ funds for the programs the country needs, and we will touch the generous hearts of many Guatemalan entities that want to work together.” The office is also meeting with foreign NGO’s, seeking collaborative relationships that support Guatemalan initiatives. “We must evaluate costs and results,” Wendy recognizes. “Are we getting the benefits we want?”

The First Lady concludes, “We cannot do it without the people.” And again she adds, “It is important that the projects we carry out take into account the women. They are vital to the future of Guatemala.”

Wendy has her work cut out for her, which she says will be a day-by-day process. “We want to see a new generation in Guatemala, educated, productive, with opportunities. This is the reason for our work. What has been said means nothing. What can be said at the end of these four years is what matters.” •