Rewarding Winter Visit to Chiapas

From December 24th until January 5th, treasurer Linda and our respective husbands enjoyed the warm sunny days and chilly nights of San Cristobal. Linda and I had wanted to visit two of the outlying communities of women who belong to the cooperative. Due to lower elevations and thus hot, humid summer temperatures, we decided to make the two journeys in the winter.

First we went to Yajalon, about four hours from San Cristobal, and then made our way up the mountain by truck and on foot. We carried pineapple, oranges and beans.(Left: Linda and Tim on mountain walk to community)

We were welcomed by women and children and fed rice. We were able to meet and talk with the mother of Rosita, our scholarship girl who is attending secondary school and boarding in Yajalon...it's a 2 1/2 hour walk from town up to the community. We gave them the solar light and await feedback on its usefulness. We have purchased one light for each of the 7 communities at this point. It was wonderful to have a "visual" on this community, so far up the mountain. After descending the mountain to Yajalon, an attractive city of about 25,000, we spent the night and made our way back to San Cristobal the next day.

A few days later Linda and I went to Las Margaritas. Linda is going to add to the blog shortly, and I'll let her give the details on this trip. Suffice to say it was enlightening and that we were very impressed by the community work done there. We had a chance to visit with Ana Belen, a scholarship recipient who attends preparatory and hopes to become a human rights attorney.

(At right, Carmen (purple shirt), our contact and coordinator of the cooperative and son, Israel in red, Ana Belen at end of table on the left flanked by her parents, Linda on right, and Juana, the coordinator of the Margaritas women in right corner)

When Linda and our husbands flew home on January 5th, I was joined by our board member Carol and travelers Marilyn and Steve Gilchrist, Graham and Dory Hutchins and Bonnie Orr. Highlights from the group trip included a visit to a cloud-forest horse ranch and then a drive to the spectacular waterfalls of El Chiflon. We were fortunate to see ceremonies in the Chamula church and enjoyed a visit to the home of two scholarship recipients in Zinacantan where we enjoyed dinner and a walk in the hills to sacred sites.
We did too much to mention!

Chiapas is always a reality check. It never ceases to amaze me how much we (I) take for granted. Woman by woman, girl by girl, we are seeing what education means to those who live in poverty. Thank you all for your help that permits us to serve.

In constant gratitude, Judith