Ford, Barbara Ann: Died May 5,2001 when she was shot in the head during what initially appreared to be an attempt to steal her car in Guatemala/Central America. "The circumstances of the victim and the type of crime lead us to believe that this could be a politically motivated killing," said Fernando Penados, an analyst for the Secretariat of Strategic Analysis, the state's intelligence arm. "She may have been seen as getting too friendly with enemies of the state.
Barbara Ann, age 62, was described as a nun who dedicated her life to helping civil war victims, her religious order, The Sisters of Charity of New York said. She worked for two decades helping victims of Guatemala's 36 year civil war which left more than 200,000 dead before peace accords were signed in 1996.
"She was just so dedicated to the Latin American people, especially the indigenous people" noted Sister Doris Smith. "She loved to be with them, to teach them to take care of themselves because they are so oppressed and poor. She wanted to find ways to help them get out of that morass"
Barbara Ann assisted efforts to recover bodies that were buried in mass graves during the war. She also ran a mental health project to help people deal with their memories.
A licensed nurse since 1973, she had worked as a health administrator for the Diocese of Quiche since 1989, a region which saw some of the war's worst massacres.
Barbara Ann graduated from the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx, New York and first came to Guatemala in 1978 to help in the aftermath of a series of massive earthquakes.
Six Americans have been slain in Guatemala during the past 18 months and no arrests have been made in any of those cases.
Barbara is survived by her mother, brother, and sister.
[Ent. 5/01] (Sources: http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010506/19/int-guatemala-american-killed http://news.excite.ca/news/cp/01050608/06/hundreds-mourn-american http://www.scny.org/index.htm |
