by Jack Houston
As she was growing up in Sweden, winters seemed “so long,
so dark and so cold” to Ambassador Maria Leissner. “Finally, the
sun came back and the snow disappeared. The first thing to come up was the tussilago,
the first spring flower, the first sign that there is life on this Earth, like
the hope of future.”
It seemed ironic that the Swedish ambassador to five Central
American countries was recalling joys of her youth with the whiff of a wild
flower — no, just the memory of its scent — in late February in
Guatemala, “land of eternal spring,” where bright red bougainvillea
were nodding in the breeze outside her embassy window.
“Tussilago has a very strong smell,” she mused
out loud. “It’s not even a nice smell. It’s just that it means
something. It means the end of winter. It means hope. It grows along country
roads and fields, or in ditches where the flowers can catch some sun. And they’re
yel-l-low!” She laughed heartily.
Ambassador Leissner is a dreamer. She has many fond memories
— her mom telling her to get organized, her dad sharing every thing interesting
there is to know, vacationing with her family (“which includes a dog”),
walking or skiing to a secluded mountain cabin, sailing Sweden’s southern
coastal islands. She also has had her share of sad ones. She lost her husband,
Hans, eight years ago in a car accident.
During her political and diplomatic years the ambassador has
traveled to many interesting places. “Now when I vacation, I prefer to
stay home in Sweden — not traveling, not doing adventurous things.”
Here in Guatemala she especially enjoys the fruits and vegetables.
“Their taste is exquisite.” The ambassador relaxes from her diplomatic
duties by playing solitaire on the computer, working out and losing herself
in detective stories. She loves to read. “There are so many fascinating
books. I read at least 10 at a time,” she said.
“I’m very much into fairy tales, myths and legends.
I have a bookcase with glass doors, where obviously you’re supposed to
put your pretty things. But I’m not much of a pretty-thing collector,
so I put all my fairytale books there instead. I’m working on my collection.
Every time I’m in a new country, I look for a fairy tale or a legend of
that country.”
Currently, Ambassador Leissner is working to make dreams come
true for Central America. In Guatemala, she focuses her efforts on implementation
of the 1996 Peace Accords, the growing democratic process, the reduction of
poverty and some $12 million in cooperative projects. In Honduras, she keeps
an eye on $20 million in rebuilding projects related to the 1998 devastation
of Hurricane Mitch. In El Salvador, she watches $3 million to $5 million in
cooperative projects. And in Belize and Costa Rica, she oversees her embassy’s
routine political and economic reporting. Although she is not accredited as
ambassador to Nicaragua, Sweden operates an agency there that monitors another
$20 million in cooperative projects, mostly in poverty reduction.
The ambassador believes in the great potential of Guatemala
and dares to dream more. “Sometimes I’m struck by the lack of hope
Guatemalans have for their country and possibilities for their future. Yes,
it’s too bad — the 36 years of internal conflict, the decades of
military dictatorship, the poverty. Of course, it adds up to a pretty gloomy
picture. I do understand that people feel hopeless.
“But only 100 years ago about a quarter of the Swedish
population fled the country because of hunger and religious persecution and
went to the States. Until 70 years ago, they were still leaving Sweden, not
wanting to live in poverty.”
How did Sweden rise out of its poverty? How did it establish
democracy when, like other countries, it lacked sufficient resources? There
are several answers to those questions, Ambassador Leissner said, and the most
important answer is education.
“There is such a strong connection between quality primary
education and economic development,” she explained. “A number of
studies have shown that with good primary education you don’t need a lot
of university training to make things happen. What you need is a good solid
base of educated people.”
In 1842, Sweden made a political decision for a public school
system that required that all children go to school. Within two decades there
was almost 100 percent enrollment. “It took some effort. Sweden was no
different than any other country. We had lived it all, like everyone else —
poverty and abuse,” she said. “That political decision was perhaps
the most important factor behind Sweden’s rise from poverty. Today we
have a fairly high quality of education. The same standards apply in every corner
of the country. Of course, it also helped that many came back and invested in
their poor homeland. Another factor is that Sweden has good labor relations,
a social pact between the private sector and the workers, a good climate for
investment and high productivity.”
Last November, the Swedish Embassy held a seminar for Guatemalan
leaders to discuss such ideas. “We invited a Swedish historian who examined
these factors. I think the message was well received.”
“In Honduras, we made a study on the state of education
in primary school and found the problem was not the lack of secondary schooling
but the bad quality of primary education that destroyed every thing else. So
we decided to support teacher education and better curriculum to lift the level
of primary education. This is the problem in Guatemala, too,” Ambassador
Leissner said. “I don’t think there’s a good system for admitting
people to teacher programs — there also is a need for better curriculum
and better pay.”
Further, the ambassador believes Guatemala needs a unified
curriculum that explains its cultural diversity. “My daughter was in a
colegio here for three years and never had a class about Guatemala culture —
not Ladino culture nor Maya culture. How can you expect Guatemala to heal its
wounds and create respect between different ethnic groups if you don’t
know what they’re about, if you don’t know the basic values of a
people called the Maya? We’re talking about more than half the population
here.”
For that reason, one of the programs of the justice section
of the Swedish Embassy focuses on the rights of indigenous people, Ambassador
Leissner said. “Its aim is to increase access to justice. We’re
also setting up a fund to support indigenous organizations in their various
projects. It’s one of our main programs now.”
Ambassador Leissner is in the fourth year of a three-year
post. “I asked to extend for a year,” she smiled. Like the memory
of the tussilago, she will leave a legacy of hope. As a children’s song
goes, “How do you ‘spect a dream to come true if you haven’t
got a dream?”
Quick Revue
Name: Annika Maria Leissner
Title: Swedish ambassador to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador,
Belize, Costa Rica
Birth date, place: January 21, 1956 in Gothenburg, Sweden
Family: husband died in car accident in 1996; daughter, 18,
studying mathematics in university; father, a neurologist; mother, a retired
hospital director; one sister, two brothers and two half-sisters
Education: bachelor’s degree in economics and business
administration; Sweden, 1981
Religion: born into state (Lutheran) church; left in 1985 to
provide daughter a choice
Foreign Service: four years; posted to Guatemala in 2000
Previous career: non-socialist (majority) party leader and
member of Swedish Parliament
Proudest moment of career: inaugurating Swedish-built bridge
in Honduras. “I never thought I would be so proud of my country.”
Most difficult part of job: lack of time
Most recent book read: “Guatemala: The Rise of the Industrial
Oligarchy;”
Favorite book: “1000 Arabian Nights”
Most recent movie seen: “The Return of the King;”
Favorite movie ever: “Casablanca”
Favorite TV: BBC news programs;
Favorite TV show ever: “Crossfire”
Favorite music: Bach, Grieg, McCartney, Swedish fiddle;
Favorite art: Renoir. “Most of the art I have is art
that friends or family made;”
Favorite cultural events: art exhibits, rock concerts
Favorite food, drink: a good cup of tea, fresh fruit, wine
and seafood: “This country has everything.
