Hola Companeros!
Sorry this update is getting to ya'll so long after I said it would. The
internet was out all week in Oventic and I didn't go back into San
Cristobal until Sunday morning(I came into town in the back of a pickup
truck!). But the following is what I would have sent you on Saturday (and
it's long because it's catching ya'll up with a whole week!)
--------------------------------
I'm sitting at a store here in Oventic which looks over the main (and
only) road through the Caracol. I just bought a glass bottle of Coke (yes,
capitalism is still holding on strong here) and a banana for what was
essentially 40 cents U.S. I started my day out right by taking a nice
cold shower and hand washing my clothing. I'll have a laundry line full of
sun warmed clothing too look forward to when I return to the school at the
bottom of the hill. I'm in love with Oventic! It's so amazing here- The
people are all kind, the weather is amazing and I feel incredibly happy
and relaxed.
I've been honored to help develop a website for the women's cooperatives
here in Oventic. There are three cooperatives and we're going to build a
website for them so people can buy the women's work online. My job is
photographing all of the merchandise- And there sure is a lot! I feel so
lucky to be helping expand the market for these women- And they seem
really happy to be expanding, too! Seeing all of the work is amazing- The
products are so gorgeous! Everything from table cloths to skirts and
purses to amber jewelry. Be aware that as soon as the website is up and
running I'm going to start advertising it heavily! It's an amazing way to
contribute directly to the fight for equality and justice here in Chiapas.
I was also honored to be able to take photos of some of the women from the
cooperative- Check them out in the "portrait" album (the link is at the
end of the album).
This entire trip has been life changing, but this Tuesday was probably the
most eye opening thing I've experienced on the trip so far. On Tuesday we
went to Polho, a pueblo about two hours from Oventic in the municipality
of Chenalho. Polho is one of the communities most repressed by military
and paramilitary low-intensity warfare. Polho is also home to a large
community of people who have been displaced by the conflict with the
government. We spoke to one of the council members of the pueblo about
the area then went to one of the refugee camps.
We met with one of the refugee camps in a wooden shack with a dirt floor-
About 20 of the members of this particular camp, called "La Esperanza"
("hope"), met with us to tell us their stories. The people of La
Esperanza became displaced after the massacre at Acteal. One of the
women, in her late twenties, said it took her three days to walk to Poho
and that she had no food during the trip. An elderly woman said she had
to leave her home with nothing but the clothing on her back. As she was
recounting her story she began to cry- It was heartbreaking. Both of the
women said that their suffering is part of fighting for equality and that
they wanted us to be voices of reality in our country. They told us that
they're all Zapatistas fighting for justice and equality not only in
Mexico but in the entire world. The elder woman said one of my favorite
quotes of the day: "Ser Zapatista es muy dificil" ("to be a Zapatista is
very difficult"). She said that it doesn't matter if she dies because she
knows she died fighting for a good cause.
The refugee camps at Polho stopped receiving aid in 2004 when the war in
Iraq started. International aid organizations said that there was no
longer conflict in Chiapas so the people could return home. The people we
talked to said that they don't feel safe returning because of continued
paramilitary activity. The women talked about how their children are
suffering from curable diseases like diarrhea and common colds because
they can't afford medicine.
The trip really opened my eyes to how much people are still suffering from
the harassment of the government and paramilitaries. It's amazing how
strong these people are in the face of their adversity! The trip wasn't
all upsetting, though- We were in Polho on the feast day of San Pedro and
we got to watch the people of Polho make chorizo (stuffing bloody pig
intestines with meat and blood) and tamales. They even shared some
"chicharron" with us (fried pig fat!).
When we got back to Oventic we had a big dance party with the middle
school students- The band "Nuevo Amanecer" played the music- Supposedly
they're a pretty big deal within Zapatista communities. It was so much
fun! It was like a middle school dance anywhere else in the world- The
boys danced on one side and the girls danced on the other. The kids were
totally shy and a few of the girls from my study abroad group embarrassed
the boys from the school by pulling them into the middle to dance. So I
guess Tuesday showed me how much people are suffering from the continued
oppression of the military and how much people are thriving within
Zapatista communities. It showed me how much this movement has
accomplished and how much more fighting there is left to do.
Friday we all hiked up a mountain near Oventic- The hike took about 45
minutes and took us to the top of a mountain where we sat and had class.
We discussed the issues that are still affecting the area and got a
breathtaking view. This place is so beautiful- Everything is green and the
clouds that roll in are huge and white and fluffy. I'm definitely going to
miss it when we leave in a week (although I won't miss the bugs- I have
seventeen insect bites on ONE HAND right now!).
I decided to stay in Oventic most of the weekend since it's the last
weekend we can be here- Next Friday we leave to spend our last week at
Universidad de la Tierra. We have to buy our own food over the weekends
here- There's a restaurant at the top of the hill that serves really good
food but has weird hours- So two other students and I have found a
delicious, easy meal that we can buy at the store just up the hill. We get
six rolls, five avocadoes, one lime, and one can of salsa. Then we mash up
the avocadoes with the lime juice, dump the salsa on top of the mix and
make avocado sandwiches with the rolls. It is an incredibly tasty meal-
And super cheap! Only about $4 U.S. for the whole mess of food. I'm going
to miss the cheap avocadoes they have here in Mexico!
The following albums have photos of my trip:
Oldest Album:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2177801&l=e9617&id=1226304
Middle Album:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2181297&l=b3db7&id=1226304
Newest Album:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2187242&l=e610c&id=1226304
Portraits I'm taking for my final project:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2184516&l=af262&id=1226304
Sorry this update is getting to ya'll so long after I said it would. The
internet was out all week in Oventic and I didn't go back into San
Cristobal until Sunday morning(I came into town in the back of a pickup
truck!). But the following is what I would have sent you on Saturday (and
it's long because it's catching ya'll up with a whole week!)
--------------------------------
I'm sitting at a store here in Oventic which looks over the main (and
only) road through the Caracol. I just bought a glass bottle of Coke (yes,
capitalism is still holding on strong here) and a banana for what was
essentially 40 cents U.S. I started my day out right by taking a nice
cold shower and hand washing my clothing. I'll have a laundry line full of
sun warmed clothing too look forward to when I return to the school at the
bottom of the hill. I'm in love with Oventic! It's so amazing here- The
people are all kind, the weather is amazing and I feel incredibly happy
and relaxed.
I've been honored to help develop a website for the women's cooperatives
here in Oventic. There are three cooperatives and we're going to build a
website for them so people can buy the women's work online. My job is
photographing all of the merchandise- And there sure is a lot! I feel so
lucky to be helping expand the market for these women- And they seem
really happy to be expanding, too! Seeing all of the work is amazing- The
products are so gorgeous! Everything from table cloths to skirts and
purses to amber jewelry. Be aware that as soon as the website is up and
running I'm going to start advertising it heavily! It's an amazing way to
contribute directly to the fight for equality and justice here in Chiapas.
I was also honored to be able to take photos of some of the women from the
cooperative- Check them out in the "portrait" album (the link is at the
end of the album).
This entire trip has been life changing, but this Tuesday was probably the
most eye opening thing I've experienced on the trip so far. On Tuesday we
went to Polho, a pueblo about two hours from Oventic in the municipality
of Chenalho. Polho is one of the communities most repressed by military
and paramilitary low-intensity warfare. Polho is also home to a large
community of people who have been displaced by the conflict with the
government. We spoke to one of the council members of the pueblo about
the area then went to one of the refugee camps.
We met with one of the refugee camps in a wooden shack with a dirt floor-
About 20 of the members of this particular camp, called "La Esperanza"
("hope"), met with us to tell us their stories. The people of La
Esperanza became displaced after the massacre at Acteal. One of the
women, in her late twenties, said it took her three days to walk to Poho
and that she had no food during the trip. An elderly woman said she had
to leave her home with nothing but the clothing on her back. As she was
recounting her story she began to cry- It was heartbreaking. Both of the
women said that their suffering is part of fighting for equality and that
they wanted us to be voices of reality in our country. They told us that
they're all Zapatistas fighting for justice and equality not only in
Mexico but in the entire world. The elder woman said one of my favorite
quotes of the day: "Ser Zapatista es muy dificil" ("to be a Zapatista is
very difficult"). She said that it doesn't matter if she dies because she
knows she died fighting for a good cause.
The refugee camps at Polho stopped receiving aid in 2004 when the war in
Iraq started. International aid organizations said that there was no
longer conflict in Chiapas so the people could return home. The people we
talked to said that they don't feel safe returning because of continued
paramilitary activity. The women talked about how their children are
suffering from curable diseases like diarrhea and common colds because
they can't afford medicine.
The trip really opened my eyes to how much people are still suffering from
the harassment of the government and paramilitaries. It's amazing how
strong these people are in the face of their adversity! The trip wasn't
all upsetting, though- We were in Polho on the feast day of San Pedro and
we got to watch the people of Polho make chorizo (stuffing bloody pig
intestines with meat and blood) and tamales. They even shared some
"chicharron" with us (fried pig fat!).
When we got back to Oventic we had a big dance party with the middle
school students- The band "Nuevo Amanecer" played the music- Supposedly
they're a pretty big deal within Zapatista communities. It was so much
fun! It was like a middle school dance anywhere else in the world- The
boys danced on one side and the girls danced on the other. The kids were
totally shy and a few of the girls from my study abroad group embarrassed
the boys from the school by pulling them into the middle to dance. So I
guess Tuesday showed me how much people are suffering from the continued
oppression of the military and how much people are thriving within
Zapatista communities. It showed me how much this movement has
accomplished and how much more fighting there is left to do.
Friday we all hiked up a mountain near Oventic- The hike took about 45
minutes and took us to the top of a mountain where we sat and had class.
We discussed the issues that are still affecting the area and got a
breathtaking view. This place is so beautiful- Everything is green and the
clouds that roll in are huge and white and fluffy. I'm definitely going to
miss it when we leave in a week (although I won't miss the bugs- I have
seventeen insect bites on ONE HAND right now!).
I decided to stay in Oventic most of the weekend since it's the last
weekend we can be here- Next Friday we leave to spend our last week at
Universidad de la Tierra. We have to buy our own food over the weekends
here- There's a restaurant at the top of the hill that serves really good
food but has weird hours- So two other students and I have found a
delicious, easy meal that we can buy at the store just up the hill. We get
six rolls, five avocadoes, one lime, and one can of salsa. Then we mash up
the avocadoes with the lime juice, dump the salsa on top of the mix and
make avocado sandwiches with the rolls. It is an incredibly tasty meal-
And super cheap! Only about $4 U.S. for the whole mess of food. I'm going
to miss the cheap avocadoes they have here in Mexico!
The following albums have photos of my trip:
Oldest Album:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2177801&l=e9617&id=1226304
Middle Album:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2181297&l=b3db7&id=1226304
Newest Album:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2187242&l=e610c&id=1226304
Portraits I'm taking for my final project:
http://berkeley.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2184516&l=af262&id=1226304
- you're doing the ladies of Oventic a service by helping them w/ the photographic aspect of their upcoming merchant website. That's awesome...
- Avocado, lime, and salsa on a roll? I dunno!, but growing up, L.F. and I ate tons of chicharron: We'd have it in a plastic bag and put in vinegar to add "zest."
Have a continued great time there Morgy...
*waves*
honeychild. i've missed you! and that sucks that you're getting back when i'm gone
<3s and kisses and rainbows