TRAVEL TO CHIAPAS, JULY, AUGUST 2008

Chiapas was truly amazing this year. The first part of my three week trip was devoted to a group of six women. Mary Norton, Patsy Simpson, Mary Ann Deuth, Diane Urbani de la Paz, Pat Lang (our esteemed secretary) and her granddaughter, Katie Lang. We had a wonderful time both seeing the region and learning about the culture, recent history and people. San Cristobal, that beautiful city with deep blue skies and striking cloud formations, charmed us all. Aside from the more usual tourist activities such as the boat ride down Sumidero Canyon, the museum of amber, the indigenous market and the zócalo, we had other opportunities that gave us a better glimpse into the culture. (Photo at right: Priests blessing vehicles for the Fiesta de San Cristobal)


After a talk about the villages and the regional weaving, we traveled to Tenejapa the following day.



In addition to visiting weavers there, it was the first day of the annual festival. The local authorities (men) were all in their festival dress in the church, their hats festooned with multi-color ribbons. They were participating in a ceremony in which posh (the local fermented beverage) and cigarettes were being offered to each man. A harp was being played, and the women sat on the floor off to one side. The church was filled with candles and incense. The spirituality was palpable. (Mary Ann with a Tenejapa weaver)


Another day we visited Yoli and Juana, two of our "becarias" (scholarship recipients) in their village of Zinacantan.

They served us dinner, a delicious chicken and vegetable soup, showed us their weaving, took us for a walk in the hills where the grandmother was grazing the sheep, and gave a tortilla making demonstration. The shawls used by the women in Zinacantan are of turquoise and purple...just gorgeous!...we have one to auction off at the Dia de Muertos dinner this year on November first. (Grandma with sheep in Zinacantan)

The Museum of Maya Medicine is always interesting as it explains the use of native herbs and customs of childbirth. The Na-Bolom foundation offers a fascinating tour about the life of the Lacondon Indians. The travelers also participated in a paper-making workshop at the Taller Leñateros cooperative and climbed the many steps to the Church of San Cristóbal the night of the festival. An excursion was made to the ruins of Toniná, about two hours away. The village and amazing church of San Juan Chamula were also visited, as was the incredible cemetery of San Cristóbal. All in all it was a wonderful experience.

Martha Rudersdorf (director) and her friend Sarah rented a house in San Cristóbal for a month. When the group left, an ex-student of both mine and Martha's, Geoff Tozzer arrived to give us a hand with the workshops and be a general "gopher". Martha and Sarah presented two art workshops, one for the children of a small community near San Andrés Larrainzar, and the other for the women of the cooperative. Children and adults received instruction on how to draw self-portraits, and the results were colorful and impressive. It was a challenge to structure the first workshop on the ground outside a one room house, surrounded by corn and chickens, but everyone found a flat surface and participated one hundred percent.
(Daniel with his self portrait)

The bimonthly he bi-monthly workshop of the cooperative women was inspiring as always. They had a number of talks lined up, including one from Al-anon. Alcoholism and the resulting domestic violence is a very real problem in Chiapas. Another workshop dealt with leadership, and the women discussed the problems of being a group leader as well as the difficulties of finding women role models in their culture. A third talk was by a sociologist who spoke of the proposed government plans for Chiapas, such as selling off the mineral rights and water rights to international and national corporations. The consequences of this could be dire indeed, and included forced moving of entire communities into "resettlement villages."

We were pleased to award three more scholarships, bringing the total to eight girls. We also donated three more laptops and contributed money to fund workshops. Eighteen girls and women received vision exams, and fourteen pairs of glasses were ordered. All of this is possible, thanks to you, our supporters.

(María with self'portrait)


The women in the cooperative are very anxious to find a piece of land on which they could build their own meeting place, the Mujeres de Maíz Opportunity Center. They now pay a monthly rent for the house they use and that money just goes out the window. Property and houses in San Cristóbal have increased dramatically in recent years. We would like to find a way to help them buy property. If you have any ideas, please contact us. We are looking at an amount around $25,000 USD. A house on this property would be used for their workshops, for girls attending school in San Cristóbal, for meeting with other cooperatives.....all related to educational purposes which meets the criteria of Mujeres de Maíz Opportunity Foundation.

Our connection and trust with the women of the cooperative is growing. They struggle daily with poverty and racism and we firmly believe that education will help on both fronts. Thank you for your support. The women are so appreciative, and so are we.

Judith
August 9, 2008