We toured the archeological site of Xochicalco where we saw beautiful hieroglyphs, an observatory, and a temple for the water god, Tlaloc.Where to begin? The first two weeks of the SJGELA program have been infused with guest speakers, fieldtrips, classes, cultural adjustment, and social interaction.
During our first week, we went to hear the director of Caminamos Juntos (We Walk Together)[1] speak about her organization’s involvement in rural women’s empowerment. Working in a nearby community called Tlamacazapa, this community worker has spent eleven years with the members of the community, particularly the women. Susan was probably one of the most humble, genuine, and passionate people I’ve met. She explained to us the importance of community work but warned us not to assume that we have all the answers for a group of people different from ourselves (in history and culture), especially if we have only been in an area for a few years. For instance, her small group of community workers was able to connect the sickness and the illness of the people to their contaminated water supply. But they couldn’t just evaluate the problem and come to a solution in a U.S. cultural mindset; they couldn’t just tell the women to boil the water every day when that would have required more firewood, more water, and more time. The social workers needed to evaluate all the interconnected problems of the town as a whole: abuse of women, drunkenness, culture of verbal silence, lack of education, history of native persecution, malnutrition, the death of children, etc. When they identified all these problems, they realized that the women needed a sense of self-worth in order to break out of their cycle of silence and reclaim their lives. It’s amazing to realize the empowerment that this group has kindled within these women so that they may have the courage to solve their own problems with minimal help from outside sources. In an article that we read that presents the negative effects of social work, I believe that Caminamos Juntos is representative of the positive effects of social work because of two things: it recognized the need for a long length of stay and had the right goal of uplifting the people so that they may continue to take care of their problems long after the organization leaves.
This weekend, we visited Tlamacazapa where we participated in the daily lives of the women there. Kylie Otte carrying water down from the well situated in the mountains.
On our way to Tlamacazapa in the mountains, we saw this corn being grown amongst the rocks due to lack of fertile soil.A few days later, we went to a nearby indigenous community and met with a community leader who is also the area’s veterinarian and spiritual leader. He explained to us the history, beliefs and morals of the Nahua tribe with particular emphasis on the themes of duality and balance within the religion of the tribe. He then explained to us the effects of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) upon the indigenous farmers including the recent elimination of inalienable rights over communal lands which have been a source of agriculture and religious importance to the pueblos. We then hiked to a spiritual site located on the foothills of a nearby mountain and participate in a spiritual ceremony.
It was just so amazing to be there, in the open, with cave paintings dating from 2,000-10,000 years old, in an area that has been used by a people for centuries as a religious site.Afterwards, we asked questions and he talked more about the religion. He explained to us that the land is losing respect from us yet, if it disappears, we have no other home. When asked what we should do to help, he told us take our knowledge and our experiences back to our friends, our family, our fellow students, and everyone we know. Then, we should always be active in our communities and with our social movements.
It’s hard to sum up these two people in words where words fail to encompass the beauty, the passion, the calmness, the sincerity of them. One, coming from another country seeking to help people and then realizing that what the people really need is empowerment and the satisfaction of self-achievement; the other, coming from an ancient past seeking to protect his people from the lies and deception of neo-liberal economics. Both wishing to enrich their own and others lives so that life may be that much more livable for those they encounter.
