Exploring Oaxaca and Beyond

Peach’s Blog on Oaxaca Trip

"Esperanza International cultivates global citizenship through international service experiences in working toward a better world."

March 28, 2011

As an intern, I have been invited to observe and research a new study abroad program option with Esperanza International in Oaxaca. To get a good introduction to the work of Esperanza and the missions of Esperanza International (EI) and Fundacion Esperanza de Mexico (FEM), I began with attending the board retreat at the Posada in Tijuana. We drove across the border in a van belonging to FEM, and I spent the weekend getting acquainted with volunteers and board members who have been coming here for years. The following are thoughts generated as I head into Mexico on this journey.

3/17-20

My last trip across the U.S.-Mexico border at Tijuana was decades ago, when people were able to cross more freely. Most significant to me now is the apparent distinct line of demarcation. Today there are two fences to cross that the U.S. Border policy has created between those who have privilege and those who are not welcome on “our side.” Friendship park was once a meeting place for both communities and it is now on the U.S. side and provides a barrier region for border patrol. San Diego is beautiful, groomed and green at the start of spring, March 20, while it is already dry where irrigation is not so common here, where water is at a premium. It is so much hillier than I remember as we drive through the city on our way to La Gloria, the suburb that is the home to Esperanza in Mexico.

I came to the retreat desiring to understand what motivates the people to participate and to learn how they understand the new mission to create opportunities for individual growth in global citizenship. I am also interested in the process of transformation that occurs as people participate in this program and plan to lead a group from Seattle University through a “reintegration” process as they digest their learning from a week with Esperanza in Tijuana. They arrived on the evening before we left and we will meet upon my return. Father Ted, from Long Island University, and board member shares his definition of transformation: “it is about the human connection across and through the experience of common humanity.”

What I understand volunteers experience here is an opportunity to meet and work alongside people they would not normally come into contact with. A positive outcome is that they are impressed by learning that we are more the same than as different as one might believe from mere appearances. In considering the value and impact of such an experience, he says it is difficult to measure the ineffable. Several others I question say that this process often happens months or years after such a profound experience, but it does inform a person’s choices.

Another group leader, Sister Colleen, from the Providence Health Systems in Los Angeles says her cohort usually creates a way of giving and marking the experience. Recently, they put together a cookbook of recipes from the communities they have served. These have become a very popular means of fundraising for future trips. Another participant and intern, Hana Truscott, was motivated by her experience with Esperanza last summer, in the pilot volunteer program. She leaves soon for Macedonia with the Peace Corps. Marcel, EI board president, shares his goal for the weekend as an effort to build strong roots in Esperanza. This is symbolically illustrated with the logo, a tree of life.

Tijuana is peaceful from all appearances. Car and truck drivers seem to defy the lines meant to create order, yet people are amazingly polite and attentive to others on the road. I wonder about all the pedestrians crossing everywhere, but none seem to get injured despite close calls. While hunting down a recently rained out dirt road, we ask for directions, laughing that we look like we are lost “gringas” who took a wrong turn at the border, we realize the irony of this, that it is not so easy for people coming from the south wanting to wander around in U.S. territory. It does not feel unsafe here, however, and long term residents confirm their confidence in the people of Tijuana. Government housing marches up the hillsides in textures and colors, lending a sense of order within chaos. I am excited to go to Oaxaca and celebrate the completion of the first 23 homes.

3/21

Oaxaca CityArriving by plane via Mexico City, we are excited to be in Oaxaca and head out for an evening adventure in the purple jacaranda tree-lined parks and cobbled streets of this colonial city. Our adventure begins with eating an exotic dinner in the center of the main market place, where we sit with the locals and watch our food being prepared. The food is fabulous—mole, a legendary sauce for meat, is made from as many as 14 ingredients and each cook has her secrets. The sauce I have with my roasted chicken tastes like a spicy semi-sweet chocolate sauce. The tamales are as big as a dinner plate and wrapped in a banana leaf before steaming. We have met up with Chris Larson, also from Seattle, who has a knack for finding humor in almost everything. He is excited to share a bag of roasted crickets with us. “Chaupalines” are also a local delicacy and I am told they are collected from the alfalfa fields in large sacks. I have never seen so many crickets and so many different sizes. Bells toll at all times of day, calling people to mass in one of the beautiful old churches.

3/22

The next day, we take a bus ride over the rough and winding roads to the coast. Puerto Escondido, or the “hidden port” is a former fishing village turned surfing town, though tourism is down due to the economy. The beaches and hotel are fairly empty, giving the impression of a sleepy town. After a long trip and late arrival, we are all tired and ready to crash that night but happy to wake and walk to the beach in order to indulge in the beautiful warm water and easy waves.

It is the beginning of our work week and we have lots of interviews planned, including one for lunch with local Rotary leaders. The Rotary clubs have been big supporters of Esperanza projects and we invite them to visit Rio Grande for the upcoming celebration and to see the “Adocreto” (Adobe+Concrete) brick maker, which was purchased in part by the Del Mar Rotary. These local club leaders are excited about the work with Esperanza and suggest a contact at the local Universidad del Mar for us to explore our idea of creating a study and service program model for students seeking meaningful travel and service experiences.

Rio Grande is approximately 45 minutes up the coast from Puerto and we are picked up for the ride by FEM Director, Josefina Pataky, and Clara Nova, the FEM social worker who organizes the communities in the region. Clara explained to us that there are now up to 100 families in some stage of the process of becoming homeowners with Esperanza. Much has been accomplished by the local families with the help of Rigo, FEM technician, since the last group was here, according to Aimee Khuu, Program Director of Esperanza International. She is so excited to see that the water has receded in the “Los Olivos del Sol” neighborhood, as well as around town, where the first group of homes are almost finished. The town is dusty at the beginning of this dry season, and masons are working to put together the brick homes made of the soil and the labor of this coastal town.

Flagging down one of dozens of moto-taxis, we are given a ride around town to locate one of the finished houses. Coincidentally, it is the home of Aimee’s friend, Jesse, a single mom who has recently returned from Mexico City to live with her relatives. She is one of many who are benefiting from the assistance of Esperanza’s community development model. Others in her neighborhood are in the second group organizing to begin the process of preparing materials for the building of their homes.

Esperanza is a perfect name for this organization as we see the hope in the eyes of the folks who look forward to having a well-built home that they helped to construct. These homes are not only good sturdy shelter but they are rumored to be cooler than the local concrete homes because of the insulating ability and are made with some aesthetic design and concern for function. Large arched windows bring in breezes and covered porches offer a place to rest and visit with neighbors. Homeowners in Los Olivos also are able to purchase extra lots for adding gardens and fruit trees.

3/23

As I meet people of the communities in Rio Grande and talk with leaders from these groups as well as FEM, I am conscious of the mission to cultivate global citizenship. Though implicit in the work that is accomplished in the crossroad between the community and volunteer work, this EI objective is unfolding in the transformational process of developing these communities. The partnership between EI and FEM has created a way of bringing together people of diverse backgrounds and creating opportunities to learn from each other. The objective is not to teach and lead from one direction, but to work together and share with one another.

As I progress in my visit, I find that there is much we need to learn about how people operate in Rio Grande. Meeting with leaders Clara Nava, Javier Pacheco and Susana Torres, Don Sergio, Dona Tina and Rigo Rodriguez; FEM staff and local community organizers, sheds much light on this subject. Beginning with Clara, the social worker, we were introduced to the regional mangrove swamp management and tourism programs. Next, I discovered the long-lost Rigo, who has been missing from Tijuana over the past nine months. The construction and home building process has been directed by construction technician Rigo, who has worked with Esperanza for the past 8 years. Throughout this past year, he’s become a member of the Oaxaca community of Rio Grande in the production of the beautiful homes we celebrated this week.

3/24-26

Former subsistence wildlife hunters and turtle fisherman have been inspired instead to preserve the precious ecosystem that supports their unique way of life. These same families are now volunteering to patrol beaches along the coast where three turtle species nest year-round. We had the delightful privilege of accompanying eight of these men one calm and star-filled evening and saw three “golfita” Tortugas searching for nesting areas. Several of the nests gathered two months ago were releasing hatchlings that we accompanied to the shoreline as well as these females as they returned to the sea. One of the commitments of these leaders is to make sure the turtles have every opportunity to be protected from predators on the ground. Only one of every one-thousand hatchlings is estimated to return to the beach from which they were born ten years earlier; a wonder of nature is that they memorize the beach in those short moments from hatching until they reach the water.

Javier and Susana are elementary school teachers, who, together with educators from 30 other schools, have initiated a unique reading and writing program. Students publish stories about the environment as a result of one year of work, developing an ear for good story-telling and learning the elements of writing style. They are encouraged to create a supportive learning environment and have placed desks and chairs outside in the school garden, where students are able to read and write while in nature. “Profe” Javier is also a successful subsistence gardener, who raises goats and chickens, propagates trees to plant around town, and has taught the pupils about recycling. He and Susana and their three daughters live in a compound with their extended family.

Don Sergio and Dona Tina are the community leaders from the first group of home-builders in Rio Grande. They also live in a family compound and have paid to build a house for their daughter and her children to live nearby. The celebration of the first completed houses was held on their property and it was an inspiring presentation. 150 guests came for a potluck celebration complete with seafood soup, chicken en mole, beef brisket, fish tacos, ceviche, fresh coconut milk, juices made from hibiscus flowers, watermelon and more. A local band entertained the group and led local dance demonstrations.

All in all, it has been a fabulous week of adventures, learning and “convivencia”. I’m looking forward to seeing the fruits of our effort to expanding the volunteer program into the Costal Region of Oaxaca. Community members are delighted and awaiting the arrival of the next volunteers to the work sites. Stay tuned--It looks like Esperanza will be introducing the language study and volunteer group opportunities for volunteers this coming summer and fall.