Rio de Voluntad

Rio de Voluntad

Life, as a river, opens her course to a variety of paths; nevertheless returns to the same place in the end. The path in which I was navigated was one of social services and humanitarian work, perhaps best stated as service learning.

Fundacion Esperanza de Mexico was my boat along the journey in which I choose to sail. The marginalized, urban, Mexican family and her extraordinary culture was the path by which we were navigated. In this boat, I was accompanied by a group of volunteers of distinct cultures and nationalities- United States, Pakistan, Heiti, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Vietnam, etc- and of course ¨la sange Mexicana¨ as the song goes “al sonoro rugir del cañón”.

We all shared a common mission and used instruments of picks, shovels, buckets, gloves, sunglasses and tools. The sweat that soaked our backs was hardly noticed as the salary of our work was paid by coins of gold that is never spent but piled in the pockets of our heart.
Each Esperanza home is a testament to the borders that have been broken down between our communities, in which each block leaves the fingerprints of men and women hungry for equality, and in this space we leave behind a seed in which bears fruit to the sentiments of gratitude and mutual admiration. For each one of us, an Esperanza home represents the absolute truth that we can shout for all the world to hear, ¨La unidad hace la fuerza¨¨Unity shall be our strength¨ and we sing with joy the common Spanish phrase, ¡Si se puede, si se puede, si se pudo, si se pudo! Yes, we can when work together, and so we can continue if we are united.

As Juan Donoso Cortes said:
¨Hay que unirseno para estar juntos, sino para hacer algo juntos¨
¨We don´t just come together to merely be together but rather to accomplish something great together¨

This experience achieves great changes in the hearts of each and every person involved. It is an effort that is only realized with the our open hearts and souls of many people appreciating and valuing a world beyond our own.

Jorge Torres

summer volunteer from Tijuana, 2010

Rio de Voluntad

La vida es como un río que va abriendo su curso por distintos senderos, sin embargo sabes que desemboca en un mismo lugar. El sendero que esta vez me ha tocado navegar es el del compromiso social y trabajo humanitario o en otros términos mejor utilizados APRENDIZAJE DE SERVICIO (service-learning).

Fundación Esperanza de México ha sido la barca en esta ocasión en la que elegí zarpar. La familia urbana marginada mexicana y su extraordinaria cultura fue el sendero por el que nos toco navegar. En esta barca no fui solo, un grupo de líderes voluntarios de distintas culturas y nacionalidades (Estados Unidos, Pakistán, Haití, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Vietnam, etc.) y claro que la sangre mexicana como narra su Himno: “al sonoro rugir del cañón”.

Todos vestimos la misma playera de ESPERANZA y con todos los instrumentos materiales, pico, pala, cubeta, guantes, lentes, etc. No nos importo sudar “la gota gorda” porque al fin de cuentas el salario de nuestros esfuerzos era contribuido con monedas de oro que no se desgastan y que se llevan en el bolsillo del corazón.

Cada casa “Esperanza” construida guarda el misterio de fronteras que se quiebran, en cada uno de sus bloques están plasmadas las huellas dactilares de hombres y mujeres con hambre de igualdad social, en cada uno de sus espacios a lo ancho y a lo profundo se quedo sembrada una semilla que florece con el tiempo con sentimientos de admiración y gratitud. Para cada uno de nosotros una casa “Esperanza” representa una verdad absoluta que podemos gritar desde aquí hasta el resto del mundo: “La unidad hace la fuerza” y unirnos al canto de alegría popular que canta: ¡Si se puede, si se puede, si se pudo, si se pudo!

Juan Donoso Cortés decía:
“Hay que unirse no para estar juntos, sino para hacer algo juntos”

Esta experiencia logra hacer cambios relevantes en el corazón de cada uno, obra que se construye solo con la disponibilidad y apertura de nuestras almas y la voluntad de nuestros corazones para apreciar lo que esta más allá de nuestras propias narices.

En esta gran familia de Fundación Esperanza de México nuestros esfuerzos de voluntarios son sumados a la cuenta de una gran estructura de comunidades mexicanas que trabajan entre sí mismas brindándonos la oportunidad de estar ahí, de hombro a hombro al lado de ellos.
Bajo el lente de mi lupa la sumatoria de todos los esfuerzos por un bien común, sin distinción de clases ni fronteras, es el resultado de un mundo con Esperanza.

Jorge Torres (voluntario 2010)

Oaxaca Trek, Day 6

After an evening of dancing and singing around the campfire and playing soccer on the beach in the pouring rain, our group woke up to a delicious breakfast of ¨tamales dulces¨ -- sweet tamales flavored with cinnamon and filled with custard. Community members from El Venado and friends from Rio Grande had provided the food for us. As we packed up our tents and bid adieu to the community members who had joined us for the night`s festivities, we then set off on our next adventure with the family of El Profe...

SUNDAY, AUGUST 22nd

LAKE CHACAHUA

Boat rides. Crocodiles. and Rainstorms.
Lake Chacahua

¨La Lancha¨

One boat ran out of gas, so Rigo´s boat coming to save the day!


Our boat up and going again.
Señor Dan Bradley
Islands of mangrove trees.
Crocodile conservation effort.
Baby crocs!

Big crocs!

The swimming beach at Chacahua.

David kicking back and relaxing.

The architect Javier doing the same.

Bird island!

Right after getting hit by a RAINSTORM!

Where in the world can you dry your clothes in the kitchen of the restaurant you´re about to eat at?

Only in Chacahua.

Grilling fish for dinner!

Dinner in Chacahua is SERVED!

Oaxaca Trek, Day 5, Part 2

SATURDAY EVENING, AUGUST 21st

EL VENADO: Beach Camping and Turtle Hatchery

After-work adventures entailed a trip out to the beach near the Esperanza community of El Venado for a night of camping with the community members.



An 11 year-old girl from El Venado talked with us about the salt production process that she and her family partake in as a means of income. She has been working in this process since she was 6 years old, helping collect the salt-infused soil from which the salt is extracted through a rudimentary distillation process. We had hoped to join in on the process, but due to it being rainy season here on the coast of Oaxaca, it is not possible to do so during this part of the year. Future volunteer groups that are here during January and February will have the opportunity to partake in this unique opportunity!

Our group circling around in anticipation of the salt production presentation.

Dan partaking in much deserved down-time.

Erin doing the same.

Local P.E. teacher, Jose, joined us for the evening and led our group in some beach exercises!

Before dinner, we were joined by elders of the El Venado community who have taken it upon themselves to become caretakers of the sea turtles in this region. Sea turtles will come to this 3 mile stretch of coastline to lay anywhere from 60 to 200 eggs beneath the sand in a once-in-a-lifetime birthing ritual. The turtle will never meet its offspring, for once it lays its eggs, it will return to the sea. While the sea turtle population here once thrived, the numbers have since plummeted, due in part to the `coyotes` i.e. people that stalk the beach to steal a turtle´s eggs right after they are laid. Turtle eggs are a delicacy, so many times the `coyotes`are locals stealing the eggs for their restaurants. The elders of the El Venado community have set up a guarded hatchery for the turtle eggs. Four times a night, at 10pm, 12am, 2am and 4am, volunteers from the community set out on foot in pairs to cover the 3 mile stretch of coastline tracking signs of turtles that have just laid their eggs. When they find fresh tracks, they dig down and retrieve the eggs, bringing them back to the hatchery. At the hatchery, each set of eggs is buried together, deep beneath the sand, and marked with the date they were laid. Approximately 45 days later, the eggs will hatch and the baby turtles will make their way out to sea. The task of protecting turtles can be a dangerous one, as these caretakers have been threatened many times by coyotes they encounter during their nightly searches.
El Venado Turtle hatchery.

El Venado elders discussing their turtle hatchery.

Each wooden post in the sand marks a batch of turtle eggs that have been retrieved and are awaiting the time of hatching.

We had the opportunity to join one of the elders on a midnight search for turtles. He led the way with his machete at a quick pace as we followed the coastline 1.5 kilometers toward a distant mountain. The moon was nearly full and we were able to see without lights, though we carried them with us. The 3 kilometer round-trip adventure took several hours, as trekking through the sand is not easy. I was humbled at the thought of the El Venado members volunteering their time to make this trek every night, four times a night, during egg-laying season. Right now is NOT egg laying season, so we had been forewarned that the likelihood of actually finding turtle eggs was extremely small. Sure enough, during our trek we saw one sign of a turtle, but no eggs had been laid.

Looking out towards half the coastline to cover. Our destination: the base of the distant mountain.

Upon our disappointed arrival back to our campsite and the location of the turtle hatchery, within 5 minutes there was a hollering from the beach in front of our tents. A turtle had made its way to our very campsite and had begun its ritual of laying eggs!! A group of us gathered around the backside of the turtle, between it and the ocean, as the elders carefully moved the sand to the side, giving us a view of the egg laying process. The elders informed us that during this once-in-a-lifetime ritual, the turtle goes into a trance during the actual egg laying and thus is not aware of our presence. After the eggs are laid, the turtle packs the sand around the eggs and during this part of the ritual, tears can be seen falling from its eyes. We stood in awe and wonder as witnesses to this sacred event.

The turtle we observed laid 91 eggs!

The turtle returns to the ocean, never to know its offspring.