Organizacion Maya K'iche welcomes new director

NEW BEDFORD — Assisted by a Spanish-speaking translator, Gordon Duke, the new director of Organizacion Maya K'iche, introduced himself Saturday to about two dozen people in the nonprofit's Acushnet Avenue offices.

"You can call me The Gringo," joked Duke, a former Providence firefighter who has traveled to Guatemala 47 times in the last decade, delivering donated ambulances, fire trucks and humanitarian supplies.

"I know the country like the back of my hand. ... To me, this community has always been special," said Duke, 58, who does not speak Spanish or K'iche, an indigenous Mayan language in Guatemala.

However, Duke and other members of the local nonprofit organization said they believe his years of behind-the-scenes work with the Guatemalan people will help the immigrant community.

"We need a person like him. I hope he does well with us," said Genaro Maric, a member of Organizacion Maya K'iche.

Duke fills a position left vacant in December when the previous director, Anibal Lucas, was sentenced to serve six months in jail after being convicted of sexually harassing and groping a woman who had sought the organization's help.

Lucas' conviction in district court sent ripples through the local Central American immigrant community and advocates who work with migrants. The victim and some advocates said Lucas' trial underscored a longrunning problem with sexual harassment in the Guatemalan community.

But on Saturday, Duke and other speakers focused on Organizacion Maya K'iche's outreach work, which include endeavors such as providing Internet access, English classes, lectures on workplace rights and outlets to celebrate the people's Mayan culture and heritage.

Manuel Ruiz, the organization's president, said there are new plans to organize a soccer club.

Ruiz and others focused especially on Maya K'iche's role in organizing legal help for the 361 immigrant workers arrested by federal agents during the Michael Bianco raid in March 2007.

"We have a lot of faith in this organization," said John Willshire-Carrera, an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services who has helped represent many of the former Michael Bianco employees in their immigration court proceedings.

Willshire-Carrera said his organization would not have been able to help many of the immigrants without Organizacion Maya K'iche.

"What happened with Anibal did not hurt us. Nothing has changed. We are still doing the same things," Maric said.

Duke said his first goal as director is to invite Guatemalan musicians to perform in New Bedford. He also wants to encourage people who have been planning to return to Guatemala to stay and raise their families here.

"These people are good for the community," Duke said. "All they want to do is work and earn money to feed their families."

Duke, who is of Irish and Portuguese descent, said he developed a passion for the Guatemalan people from visiting their country and seeing how they are continually exploited by mining companies and a corrupt government.

"When you walk a mile in their shoes, you become very sympathetic," he said.