Which is a pretty good feeling when in the midst of all things around us. Today (so far) we have gone to an organization called La Casa De Las Floras. They're an organization that runs what we would consider kind of a "youth centre." They have a small library and a garden and a play room and an open courtyard, they do many different activites with the children to teach them about community and respect and they discourage violence and instead of expelling children because of violence, they work with them through the root of the violence. That idea is something i really admire, because its the same with relapse, if someone stumbles you help them up, not leave them down. The woman who we were speaking with had so much passion for her work it really gives you faith in humanity again, if only for a while. After we talked about the organization and their principles etc. we were given a tour, and then we sat down with some of the children there (all adolescent boys who shined shoes or sold things) and they asked us questions as we did with them, and it was nice to see their love for the place they were in and the bond they had with the employees. They strongly believe in empowerment which is ultimately the most important part of any organization working with people.
This morning was nothing short of interesting for everyone. The role of the Military in Mexico, specifically in Chiapas, is that of intimidation. They want to show the people that they are there, so they haven't been very present since Ruiz's funeral, but today while walking to our class "home base" i saw some military men standing outside of the door, luckily i realized i didn't have my passport so i calmy turned around and went home to get it (just a precaution), they didn't stop me when i came back but a few classmates did have to go through different checkpoints on their way (very safely i might add.) Although this may sound scary to everyone back home, the Military isn't interested in us, they are making their prescence known and if anything the last thing they want is to get media attention for harming a foreigner. It is something i'm not sure that one gets used to, i mean its still strange to walk beside a cop downtown toronto, even though you've done nothing wrong. I thought of omitting this so mom wouldn't know until i came home, but it is an important part of the culture shock i thought should be focused on. There are many controvercies surrounding the mexican military but we have been advised how to safely approach any possible situation, but as i said before, there is a very small chance they even care about us because we're not of any threat because we're light skinned and in a tourist area. We have discussed extensively what to do and what not to do and i think we're all prepared to do these things safely.
On a different note, yesterday in the afternoon we went to see "Save the Children." They presented a power point to us explaining their organization and their work. They work in San Cristobal De Las Casas in 11 different schools with children, in the last 36 years they have worked in 15 states (In Mexixo.) They run educaiton programs through the schools, they work individually and in groups to promote respect and education and educate children (and their families) on basic human rights. They work often with children from displaced families from issues surrounding 1994 to displacement because of religious reasons (which we have seen an incredible amount of here). They are specifically working against violence, promoting gender equality, and obviously focusing on human rights. They talk about survival, protection and participation, they focus on identity, emotions, cooperation etc. They also work on values, love, sharing, intuition, freedom and humility. Many children who are involved also work, whether it be shining shoes or selling in the market or cooking or even working in the fields, the focus of STC is to lessen the child's work load or diminsh it all together. 543 children that they work with are workers, 865 are not. Although these seem like small numbers, remember this is only 11 schools in such a large area. (14 is the legal working age, many of these kids are below that, which violates labor laws) Children who are working have a higher percentage of skin issues, eye problems, fevers, headaches and coughs vs non working children. STC goes in without a plan, and they base their approach around the children's needs and they find out which approaches would benefit the children and which ones wouldn't. They do many art therapy workshops, they provide scholarships for children they know are workers (to try and get them out of working) and on top of that, they also work with the parents to educate them on children's rights, anti violence awareness etc. And they use the same approach with the parents as they do with the kids. They work with kids in grade 3-6 if it is a large school, if its a smaller school they work with grades 1-6. They focus on that age because thats around the time they often will leave school in order to begin working, and they're highly vulnerable at that age range. 73-75% of these children are Indigenous vs Mestiso.
In Dec. 2010 a law was passed that is directed at Migrant Children, the government realizes that there is issues facing kids getting into school because they require a birth certificate. The law now states that you no longer need a birth certificate to enroll in school, this applies all the way up to highschool.
Now they sound fabulous, and the small amount of children they are helping is really a good thing, but they don't focus on street children in any way, and they only are present in 11 schools. (one of which is a residential school down the street from my house) So their help is very limited, it is a very "pidgeon-holed" form of help, compared to La Casas e Las Floras, who accepts anyone under the age of 18 (i'm not sure about anyone over that age?).
I'm also going to point out that this browser doesn't have spell check so i apologize for any errors within the abundance of writing i've been doing. I don't want to read over it too many times because i like it to be a first impression opinion kind of approach.
This afternoon we're going to meet an amazing man i have been thrilled to get the chance to meet (my one objective for this trip was to meet him and possibly see him do work). His name is Sergio Castro, and locals often call him "the saint of Chiapas," he was a veterinatian but has now come to Chiapas and does medical work (most often with burn victims). He does so without pain medication and although he isn't what we would call "doctor qualified" he does amazing work, and he also does it free of charge and he works on the donations of people to buy the medical equipment he needs. Many people who cannot pay him reward him with ingidenous clothes or objects that they make, so he has a museum of all of these things on display, so we get to go see that but along that, we're allowed to come watch him in the clinic!!! (my DREAM) so i'm overly excited for this and i really can't wait to tell everyone all about it! here is a video made about him to give you more insight :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZIUIg3bWac
i will update later tonight, love and miss you all! 15 days until we leave for the jungle! <3
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