Day 7: The Last Day :(

Friday was the final day of our experience. At this time we became somewhat sad because we realized we'd be leaving tomorrow.There was so much more to see and learn, I really wish I could have stayed to help more. I don't think anyone in the group wanted to leave because the week was such an amazing an experience. CCIDD takes many groups, having a wide variety of ages and interests. I would really recommend it to anyone interested. They have a website where contact information can be found. http://www.ccidd.org/ Check it out :)
This morning we learned about Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is a very prominent figure in Mexico, many people worship and pray with her. She is often used as a symbol of liberation on behalf of those oppressed. Her shrine is one of the most visited in the world, it gets similar visitors that the Vatican in Rome recieves. It was very interesting to learn about Our Lady of Guadalupe because we saw so much of her around everywhere in Mexico.
Next, we were off to see the Botanical Gardens. They were very beautiful. This gave us some downtime to think about what we learned over the week, and to make personal goals we wish to achieve because of this experience. We had a final group reflection. It was a very peaceful place to gather thoughts and think about things.
After lunch we had our final presentations depicting what we learned during the week in Mexico. The presentations had to be creative so we did a talk show. All the presentations were very entertaining!
To end the week, we had a closing ceremony Friday evening. We read poems and prayers, sang songs, played games, and expressed our thoughts, hopes, and fears. It was amazing to see how close our group became in one week. It was an emotional night as we looked back on everything we did throughout the week! I am sooooo glad I had this opportunity!!

After the closing ceremony, one of the group leaders took us out salsa dancing. It was so much fun, some of the locals even helped us! :)

A Sense of Self
Help me to find a sense of self
Which makes me glad to be who I am
And yet restless at being anything less than I can become

Make me simple enough
Not to be confused by disappointments

Clear enough
Not to mistake busyness for freedom

Honest enough
Not to except truth to be painless

Brave enough
Not to sing all my songs in private

Compassionate enough
To get in trouble

Humble enough
To admit trouble and seek help

And joyful enough to celebrate all of it.



Striving to Meet the Millennium Goals
Let us join together
with a new sense of global community
a new awareness
of our need for one another
and for this fragile planet,

to meet the clear challenges
of the Millennium Goals,

to bring hope as substantial as bread

to make human dignity
as visible as wheat in the fields.

Day 6: La Estacion, and Family Visits

Today was a real eye-opener. You hear about the poverty, world hunger, and suffering around the world, but it is not always real to us because we don't see it first hand. Today we were in the midst of it all. I have never been so shocked in my life. Today my group helped serve breakfast to the children of La Estacion. On the menu today for breakfast was juice, jello, tortilla, refried beans, and some unknown meat. The women running the program were great; so friendly and such hard workers. They even offered us breakfast; they are very generous people. Even though they have so little, and they obviously knew what we have, they wanted to share with us. We were told in advance that it would be respectful to eat what they offer, so we did. However, we would have rather not eaten because we got to eat breakfast before we went, and we felt there were many other people in the community that could have used the food more than us. It definitely wasn't my normal breakfast, but it wasn't too bad. After we finished serving everyone, we had some time to play with the children. It was great to see joy in the children from simply things. We played a few tag games, and it was interesting because we were communicating with these children through the language barrier, but we managed! One thing that surprised me was how well the children could use digital cameras; they knew exactly what to do and it was so cute, they were always trying to get our cameras so they could take pictures :)
Soon after, the rest of our group arrived at La Estacion so we could visit families in their homes.







We were split into groups of 4-5, and each group had a translator from CCIDD. This gave us the opportunity to talk with Mexican families first hand, and ask any questions we had. The families were very open, and were willing to tell us everything we asked because they knew we were there to learn and CCIDD also helps these families financially.
This particular experience was very touching and something we will always remember. We had the oppportunity to visit with 2 families for about an hour each. The first family we visited had 7 children. The mom does not work because she has to take care of the kids. Occasionaly she goes to the market to sell homemade cooking if she has time. The father is the main source of income for the family, so he has to work a lot. Their home was only one room with a dirt floor. It had no running water or windows. CCIDD had recently redone their roof, so they now had a good shelter, along with concrete walls. Their kitchen was a table in the middle of the room, while a few beds were against the walls. They had a make shift bathroom with curtains for walls. Because they had no running water the father had to make trips to the community well a few times a day, which was about 1 km away. It is difficult to keep all the children in school because it can get fairly expensive. Books, uniforms, sneakers, etc. all cost money and kids must have these to be in school. One teacher even had to charge money for the desk they were using. The two older girls in the family are both in the top of their classes so they do whatever they can to keep them in school. We brought them school supplies to try and help them out and they appreciated it so much! This family also had a dog, and chickens running around the place as pets. As most of you know, I am quite allergic to most animals, so this really bothered me. I was sneezing and my eyes were watering within minutes of being in the home. Luckily I had brought kleenex with me, otherwise I would have had to use my t-shirt haha. This little nusence even made me appreciate what I have back home. Normally I would have just popped a reactine, and my allergries would disappear, but I left it back at my room so I couldn't. For the Mexicans we visited, this could be a everyday part of life that they have to put up with. They have little health care, and what they get is very expensive. Most of their health problems even go undiaganosed because they can't get to see a doctor, so I doubt they would have reactine to deal with allergies. Mine got so bad I even thought about waiting outside for the rest of the visit, but then I realized that some people probably go through this everyday and this is a once in a life time experience, so I tried to ignore my allergies and enjoy the rest of the visit.



The other family were we able to dialogue with was a single mother with 3 boys. Her husband had past away years ago, so the mother nows runs the house my herself. As a source of income the mother made breakfast for the children at a local school, and she usually got to keep the left overs so the food would also feed her family. She also made decorative napkins that were beautiful. I bought one from her. Two of her boys are still in school, one in junior high and another in high school. We only got to meet the one in junior high. He was a very smart boy and very interesting to talk with. He also enjoyed asking us questions about Canada, and had hopes of someday living there. This home was a little better than the first home we visited because the floor was concrete, not dirt, and there was also a few different rooms. It was interesting going from the 1st home to the 2nd. When I walked into the 2nd home, I thought it was very nice and comfortable, because the last house I just saw was so bad, it could bearly be called a home. If I had saw a picture of the 2nd home before I went to Mexico, I probably would have been shocked at its structure. It is amazing how fast I became accustomed to the poverty stricken homes. I actually percieved a house as nice just because it was made of concrete and not wood, palm, and dirt.
After this exhusting day, we had supper and then shortly after another guest speaker. The speaker was a young Mexican activist part of the group, El Pregon, which focuses on ecological issues. The CCIDD leaders informed the guest speaker of our day and that we were very exhusted, so she would know why if any of us happened to doze off and she understood. Luckily no one did, but there were some close calls!! It was very interesting but we were just mentally exhusted from the days previous activites.

Day 5: Immigration Workshop, Tour of Cuernavaca, Ash Wednesday Service, and SERPAJ Dialogue

This morning was easy going for some of us. We were spilt into 2 groups and one group stayed at CCIDD while the other went to help serve breakfast at La Estacion. I was in the group to serve breakfast the next day. La Estacion is a breakfast program ran my mothers within the community. Without this program, many children would go without eating breakfast. For some, it is there only meal of the day :( Breakfast always includes a glass of juice (sugar filled, not made with real fruit juice), a bowl of jello, tortilla and then maybe potatoes, beans, or processed pork. Unfortunately, this leads to many malnourished children!
While some of the group was off serving breakfast, the others had a morning reflection to discuss everything thus far in the week. It was very useful to have this time to talk about what we were experiencing because it allowed us to ask questions and fully understand what was going on around us. Once the others arrived back from La Estacion, we had an immigration workshop. We learned about Mexican immigrants working in greenhouses in Leamington, Ontario that have been operating since 1966. They are away from their families for at least 8 months of the year. To be selected to work there, the men must be married with less than a high school education. Such guarantees the immigrants will continue to work for them because they have to support their family. The immigrants work 10 hrs/day, 7 days a week, and only make 7.25 an hour. There are no safety regulations within the greenhouses, and there are also no health laws that the employers must follow. If Mexicans become sick they are usually sent back to Mexico. Unions are illegal, so it is very difficult for Mexicans to stand up for themselves. Often, if someone tries to take a stand, they will be sent home because there are plenty of Mexicans at the border waiting to get a job so they can support their family. As you can see, the situations for these immigrants is quite sad. They live in overcrowded apartments with as many as 12 plus workers in one house. It is hard enough to be away from one's family for so long, but being treated the way they are makes it even worse. The big employers in Ontario do not respect the Mexicans as real people. This problem will be very difficult to fix. Many of the big employers and mangers do not even realize what is happening because they are not around to see it. Hearing this information was a big eye opener.
After the immigration workshop, we were split into groups for social analysis. Each group was to present on different aspects. My group was assigned to discuss political and security aspects and relate them to the social world of Mexico. We had to present our work group later in the week.
Next, we had an exciting tour of Cuernavaca! It was great to walk around and to explore the area. Sister Kathy showed us around. It was interesting just to walk around and see how the locals spend their days. We saw large homes closed off by tall cement walls, small shacks, many old cars, and little shops in every corner. Sister Kathy was even so kind to take us to a local bakery! There were so many pastries, donuts, cookies, cake, squares etc. And everything was cheepy, cheepy! I got a pastry, donut, and cinnamon bun I think it cost about 3 dollars Canadian! They were very delicious too! We were all craving something sweet, as we hadn't had the American sweets we are used, so it was a very nice treat! We ended the tour at a church so we could attend an Ash Wednesday service. The church was beautiful. It was interesting because the whole mass was led by Lay people. They had a mass every half hour for about 5-6 hours so it would have been a lot for a priest to do it all. The locals in the service were very friendly; after it was over, one lady came over and gave us each a hug. She kissed my room mate Amy, and left lipstick on her cheek! :) At this point it was 6:00 pm so it was time to head home from supper.
After supper we had a guest speaker come from SERPAJ. We talked with a woman involved with the group, which is similar and related to the Zapatista. They are seeking justice for the indigenous people of Mexico, and against the current government. It was interesting to hear first hand about the problems in Mexico, and how they have been fighting to change to current conditions in Mexico. Most of the Mexicans we met were very open and that was critical in us truly understanding the whole story of Mexico.

Day 4: Community Service and the United Artisans

Day 4 was an exhausting, and shocking day. I will never forget what we saw and learned this day. In the morning the community service was for a staff member, named Herlinda, at CCIDD. She is a housekeeper within the complex. CCIDD usually does service with Habitat for Humanity, however, a few years ago, they had a group ready to do service and Habitat for Humanity cancelled so they had to find other work for the group, as they were there and ready to help. Sister Kathy, a leader with CCIDD, asked if any of the staff members had work that needed to be done at home, and at first, no one came forward. Sister Kathy was worried that the group would not have a place to lend a hand so she asked her staff again and finally Herlinda said they could work on her house. This was great, as it gave the volunteers a project to work on. It was quite a shock once Sister Kathy and the group arrived at Herlinda's house. No one knew the conditions she lived in, and it was devastating to see. The walls of her home were made of cardboard, sticks, palm, and a little bit of concrete. The floors were dirt, and she had no running water. Hearing this story from Sister Kathy was quite shocking. She had no idea Herlinda was living in these conditions or she would have offered to help much sooner. This situation is not unlikely in Mexico. Many people struggle to find appropriate shelter and it was heart breaking to see. Ever since CCIDD found out about Herlina's living conditions, they have been helping her build a new home. This is where we worked Tuesday morning. When we arrived, the building process was half-way through. We were informed what to do and got to work. Our job was basically to give out the floor so they could pour concrete. We had lots of shovels, picks, and buckets. The area was probably only about 12 feet by 12 feet so it was quite a small area for all of us to work in together, but we managed! It was hard work, but we all enjoyed it because it was for such a good cause. The plans are to eventually build a two story house for Herlinda and her family. I wish I could see the final product! I could have spent the whole week helping, but unfortunately we were only scheduled to work there for one day.
Later in the day we had a presentation and talk with Isidro Rosalines, an indigenous Artisan from Tlamacazapa, Mexico. Isidro lived with his wife and 6 children in a house made of palm and cardboard. Unfortunately this shelter does not protect them from rain or cold. Isidro makes straw baskets to support his family, and one of his older sons makes bracelets. It was very tough listening to his life story. He told us of days when they couldn't afford to eat. Sometimes he would work hard all day making a beautiful large basket and then when he sold it, he could still only afford to buy one loaf of bread for his whole family. After meeting with Isidro, we met many others in similar situations. A group, called the United Artisans, is working together to sell their goods so they can eliminate the middle man. Often, stores will buy their products, but for very little money. If the United Artisans can sell their goods directly to the consumer, they can make much more money and hopefully better support their family. The Artisans had tables set up displaying their products so we could buy from them. They sold things such as blankets, scarfs, skirts, t-shirts, earrings, bags, table cloths, art work etc. It was great to be able to buy a few souvenirs and know our money was going to a worthy cause!
To end the day, we watched a film after supper about the Zapatista Movement. The Zapatista are a very prominent, revolutionary group against the Mexican government. The group is mainly made of indigenous Mexican and they basically want to give the power back to the people of Mexico. The government stole their land a long time ago, and took everything from them so they were not able to support their families. We had read about the Zapatista before coming to Mexico, but I could understand the film better. It was also a good introduction to a guest speaker we had later in the week.
After the movie was over, a few of us stayed up to chat about the day and then we were soon off to bed as it was an exhausting day!

Day 3: Cuernevaca Quest

Once again, the day began at 8 am with breakfast. Then we had a morning reflection and a session learning about the art of dialogue. Dialogue is different than discussion. Most people in everyday life use discussion, but not everyone uses dialogue. We learned dialogue is much more than discussion. Often, discussion merely involves people trying to get their own opinions out and people don't really listen or care what others say. However, dialogue is much different. It involves people truly listening to what others say. Dialogue includes reflection, concern, trust, respect, appreciation, affection, and hope for all those involved. It is a much deeper means of conversation than dialogue. From what we learned, I can see that dialogue is necessary to make things happen and to deal with crises; it truly allows one to see the full picture. I hope to keep this with me throughout the rest of my life.
Today was especially shocking as the Cuernevaca Quest involved us going to the market with only 50 peso's and trying to get groceries for the week. The average family has to buy groceries with only 50 peso's, and this would be about 5 dollars American. During the quest, we were split into groups and each given a different grocery list. We had to choice of going to a grocery store, similar to those in North America, or a market to bargain. It was shocking to see that the prices in the grocery store were basically the same as ours in North American, even though most families live off 5 dollars a week! The market had better prices because there is so much competition and we were even able to bargain to get even better deals. The locals there are all competing to support their own families. It was tough trying to communicate with the locals at the market because very few spoke English. We tried to speak the little Spanish we knew, and just communicated using hand signals and any other way we could. It was definitely a learning experience communicating with others of a different language. In the end, we managed to get tortillas, avocado's, rice, eggs, and toilet paper, as they were all on our list. It was devastating to see what small amount of food most Mexican families had to live off of. It really made us appreciate what we have back home.
The quest took up most of the day. It was a great learning experience. Later in the evening after supper we learned about the social issues of Mexico. We had done readings about this before arriving, but it was much better to hear about it from the staff of CCIDD.

Day 2: Xochicalco Pyramids, Cortes' Palace, and Mariachi Mass

This was our first full day in Mexico. Everyday started with breakfast at 8 am, made by the wonderful cooks at CCIDD. After a morning reflection, we were off to the pyramids. They were only about a 30 min bus ride. We didn't mind the driving though because it was always interesting seeing different areas of Mexico. The pyramids were originally made by the Mayan people, and these pyramids dictated their whole life. There was three levels - the bottom level was for the everyday village people, the middle level was for warriors, and the highest level was for the astrologists that could read the stars and predict the weather and seasons etc. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide so it was very interesting to hear the whole history behind the pyramids.
After lunch we went to Cortes' Palace, which is in Cuernevaca. One of the most interesting aspects of this museum was the mural created by Diego Rivera. It depicted a chronological visual of the history of the region. This mural, which covered a wally approximately 30 yards long, started with the indigenous cultures and told the story of their initial contact with the Spanish when the indigenous believed Cortes was great, and ended with the eventual enslavement and devastation of the Aztec Culture caused by Cortes. Unfortunately we did not have a tour guide of this museum because we did not have enough time, but it was still a worthy visit as Cortes is very prominent in the history of Mexico.
Because it was Sunday, after dinner, Sister Kathy, a leader at CCIDD, took us to a Mariachi Mass at the Cathedral. It is called a Mariachi Mass because there is a mariachi band that plays all the music, so it was quite entertaining. The mass was in Spanish, but we could surprisingly follow along pretty well because it was very similar a Catholic mass at home. Most Mexicans in the area are Catholics so this mass is very popular. That evening there was about 4 masses. They started around 5:30and then started again every hour after. Cuernevaca has a population of about 300,000 people, so you can imagine they would have to have a lot of masses to cover everyone.
Everyday, in between activities, we had group discussions and reflections to talk about what we experienced, and learned. This was very helpful; Not only did this allow our group to become close knit, it also allowed us to learn about from the CCIDD staff.