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Published: April 25th 2008
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Carlitos
The littlest one at the orphanage, Carlitos ("Gordito") So adorable, and a little lover. Yesterday was one of the busiest days here! Woke up at my usual 6:40 time, and ate an amazing breakfast- grilled Ouaxacan cheese, with beans, tortillas, tomato, canteloupe, and guava (EW). Had my two classes (Spanish and Mexican Culture), and we watched a very sad documentary called "Letters From The Other Side".
It is a project that a woman started, interviewing families who have been separated by migration and the US-American border. One woman's husband died, along with 17 others, by suffocating inside an 18-wheeler while being smuggled North. Another woman's husband found a new woman and began another life- but upon seeing the video of her, he and his son began to cry, and promised they would send more money and return home to see his daughter's quinciniera. Upon seeing that video, the wife shook her head and said "He says that every year, and he never comes". The daughters had both given up on ever seeing him again. Another family interviewed are corn farmers, but the NAFTA has made it nearly impossible to make a living- 90% of the corn in Mexico is imported from California, because they can sell if for cheaper. NAFTA also affected a woman who,
Books
So many of the kids want to learn English, and its very hard for them to get books, notebooks, and pencils. They listened to Chelsea read for an hour! after her husband left for US and never returned, started her own Cactus business- cactus soap, jam, salsa, etc. But, again, US cactus is cheaper thanks to NAFTA and she is losing money on it. Yet another group of women formed a cooperative bakery, and received donated material from the government- a huge mixer and display case, valued at $500. They brought it, but the mixer didn't fit in their tiny bakery- the men had to knock down a wall. Then, the women asked "Well, how do we use it?" The men explained "you hook it up to the gas next to the oven." The women told the interviewer, "We don't have gas. We can't afford gas! We can't even afford the eggs to make bread. What do we need a display case for, if we can't buy anything to put in there?" three months later the equipment was still untouched. There was also a hilarious/tragic part where, through a video, a woman who bought a hand-stitched pillow from another cooperative showed the women the pillow in her Texas home- a huge, expensive home with tacky chandeliers and a huge television and a pool, and explained, in that crazy American
Jazmin and Leticia
One of my favorite little girls, loves to play house. obliviousness, that she bought the house because "it feels like a cave! Its my own little cave!" The Mexican women laughed and laughed, saying "She lives in a cave because she likes it? We live in a cave because we have no money!! Buy more pillows!"
After the movie, we went to the orphanage (Well, I raced home first because I wanted some lentaje soup!). Sarah (our teacher) had received a lot of donations of books, toys, underwear, and cleaning supplies, which is amazing because generally Mexicans don't give donations freely (its part of the culture and would take a long time to explain, but hopefully I will someday). The kids went crazy!! They especially loved the bouncy balls and shovels. One little boy was playing with the shovels next to a tree, and filled a cup (trash) with dirt. I was helping him fill it, and then he dumped it down his throat!!!! I was expecting him to start crying (I sure wanted to!) but he just smiled and stuck out his dirt-covered tongue. And its not like they have clean water to wash it out with! I started a game of Water In The Face soon after that, which went well for a while until the older boys began to get too wild. What they really want is a separate home for the older children- its not healthy to have the two age groups together, especially once they hit puberty and the boys and girls are living together. The problem is, money! They don't have enough money to build a new place for the older children. But, once they do, they're hoping to turn the older kids' rooms into a bakery, so they can have a source of regular income. To raise money, we're hoping to start a website, but no one is really that tech savvy, and I certainly don't know where to find a free site that can use paypall, photos, etc. (All I can use are blogs like blogspot, or facebook!)
Finally, I got home and went straight to bed, so exhausted! This upcoming week is going to be even crazier: Guanajuato, Nino de Chichihua, and Zihuatanejo!!!
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