Week 11: Home Sweet Home

By Cassie Frantz

Along with the Social Work Program, the SJGELA program has been in constant transition for the last month. This week, we continued the pattern of transition by embarking on our first week of homestays in Cuernavaca. Every student in the program was assigned a “home,” with each home being vastly different from the others. This new placement is accompanied by a schedule that includes two full days of classes, and three other days of internships or independent studies. Even though our schedules changed focus, we had the opportunity to hear two presentations that related to our Mexican History class, as well as issues we have been discussing in our program.

Our first presentation was from Lucía Rayas, a specialist in gender analysis of the women who fought in the Guerrilla Movement in El Salvador. In the early 1990’s, revolutions broke out across Latin America against governmental oppression. The FMLN was one of these Guerrilla groups fighting for equality. Throughout the presentation, we learned of the role of women in this movement, both as collaborates and as combatants. As women joined the Guerrilla Movement, their roles as women in society changed, implying the “breaking away from the gendered social order. 1” It was fascinating learning about the implications and effects of women serving in this revolutionary social movement.

The logo of the FMLN party (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front).

The second presentation took place in Xoxocotla, a small town just south of Cuernavaca. On a cool Friday morning while sitting in the living room in the house of Armando Soriano, we learned about the ongoing battle between the government and the indigenous people over water rights.
Similar to the surrounding towns, the government plans on building residential housing and condominiums in this small community. As a result, the water supply in Xoxocotla would be re-routed to aid these new developing projects. The majority of the people in the community will be unjustly robbed of their water—a.k.a., their life source, and left with nothing. Wait, that is incorrect. They will be left with something; Sr. Soriano said they would be left with sewage from the condominiums. That´s something, right?
This injustice is one of the causes Sr. Soriano and many other supporters are fighting for to save their community. Sr. Soriano uses the argument that, “the water belongs to the indigenous people because we were the first ones here. 2” The government fights back saying, “the water belongs to the nation, and the government is part of that nation. 3” This power struggle between indigenous people and the Mexican government is an unfortunate conflict, yet so prevalent here in Mexico.

Ruth and Matt diligently taking notes as Armando Soriano explained the water problems in the town of Xoxocotla.