Today was probably one of the most ridiculous, crazy, exciting, and utterly confusing days yet in Suchilquitongo. Get ready for a
kicker:
PART I (lighthearted, fun, and joyful!)This morning, we took the kids from our digital photography class on a
field trip to the ruins in our town. The
Cerro de la Campana, as they are called, is up on top of a mountain and it takes about 45 minutes to walk there. Getting 16 kids to keep up, not break the cameras, and not kill each other is a interesting task.
The trek was pretty intense in the bright heat of the mid-morning, but the views just kept getting better and better as we got higher up. Soon, we could see all of our community and our houses looked like little toys.
The Cerro de la Campana ruins are from pre-Columbian times and this particular area was a military stronghold for the Zapotecs. There is also an enchanting tomb in the ruins, but the government has it locked and only archaeologists can enter.
In many ways, the Cerro reminded me of a
rough and unrefined version of the ruins at Monte Alban. From the top of the highest ruin, you can see literally everything, and when you look down, you see all the ruins, many un-excaved. When I`m up there, all I could think about was what life was like back then, and how these ruins have in a way kept that society frozen in time. It`s very tought-provoking and yet kind of spooky at the same time.
So the kids took tons of pictures and we even found a soccer ball, so I got to play probably the only
soccer game of my life
on pre-Columbian ruins. The kids in our class have become so extroverted and some are simply hilarious. I will miss them a lot when we leave.
PART II (intense, crazy, and the type of event that makes you go, "What the hell just happened?")The 2nd part of our day was something we were fearing ever since we set it up a few weeks ago. So we had been told that people were interested in coming up with a solution about the
trash problem in the community. Many people burn their trash and ever since this new town president came to power, the trash truck hasn`t come to pick up trash.
So a few weeks ago, we went to talk to the
Regidor de Salud (remember this guy, he plays a key role later on in the story) in the community and see if he could help us set up a meeting with community members. He said he could, and that he would call a meeting of women affiliated with the
Oportunidades program in the community. (Oportunidades is a government benefits program that in my opinion is kind of sketch, but we didn`t know that then) This was the meeting that was set up for today, 6 PM.
So we were kind of scared about what we would say or do at this meeting, and we just decided we`d try to create discussion and see if community members had ideas. Well...as we head towards the Town Municipio, we start seeing women - everywhere. So apparently Oportunidades has about 600 members in the town, and about
300 decide to show up. Yes, 300. (Note to self: People always show up when you hope they don`t - Another lesson from Mexico)
We are
scared out of our minds, and there is no town authority anywhere to be seen. We say hell, we gotta do something, and we begin the meeting. All 300 people crowd around us, we explain AMIGOS, what we`re doing here, and why we`re talking today. They start shouting out problems about trash, and how the town government doesn`t do anything. We try to ask them to think of solutions...things aren`t going too bad, and then the Regidor de Salud shows up...
This man is far too drunk to be speaking to 300 women, and he starts going off about crap - we have no idea what he`s talking about. Of course all the people get angry and frustrated. Then it starts raining... All of a sudden we are surrounded by women. They are everywhere.
The Regidor still keeps his drunken tirade going, and there are people shouting everywhere. Maya, Lindley, and I are speechless and scared out of our minds. What do we do?
At this moment, thank god, the
Town President shows up and tells the Regidor to chill out. Things get a little normal, and finally we decide to only meet with the representatives from each barrio, 12 people instead of 300. The prez tells everyone else that the meeting is over.
Here`s where
things began to change. We walk into the community meeting room with the President and the 12-14 women representatives, and soon the discussion comes to the fact that more public education on trash is necessary and a truck is also needed to pick up the trash.
After many long minutes of discussion, the
President busts out a paper and writes down the days Monday-Friday. They begin to discuss which days will be what trash. (This is good, we`re getting somewhere) After more deliberation, it`s confirmed that starting next Monday, a trash truck will come to the community and pick up plastics, then metals, then glass products, and so on, day by day.
If this actually happens, I will be amazed and very proud of ourselves. There hasn`t been a trash truck that has come through this community for 1.5 years!! Somehow, someway, we got through it, and we may have actually helped start the clean-up of this community. I`m going to be
skeptical until Monday, though.
FINP.S. Tomorrow we go to Oaxaca City for a Taller until Friday evening, and we`re gonna get a chance to hang out with the other vols and relax! (I`m excited to see everyone!!)
I`ll post pictures soon of the Cerro de la Campana. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the mass of women who surrounded us and the borracho Regidor de Salud.
What a day, indeed...
I have returned to Suchil after our 1.5 day taller (workshop) in Oaxaca City. It was a blast to see all of the other volunteers and hang out a little. We finally got to go to the Zòcalo and besides from the teacher`s revolution and no poinsettas everything looks pretty similar since I was last there in December.