Tuesday, April 14

This morning we met with Luis for a short session. We read about a boy who had a dream that the world turned upside down and all of a sudden we inherited the social issues of the southern hemisphere. We took turns sharing our reflections on the reading.

After a short break we boarded the vans and drove to the Community Center at La Estación. La Estación is a squatter settlement in a notoriously destitute section of Cuernavaca. It used to be a rail line until it was decommissioned and now it is government owned land filled with 17,000 squatters. Driving in, you are in a different world with dirt or gravel roads and pathways and no infrastructure. There are a few concrete structures and most of the ground is littered in trash. The homes are made out of concrete, rocks, old tin, corrugated metal, wood and cardboard. The lanes are narrow and wide enough for maybe one person to pass.

The director gave us a brief overview of the centre. They presently have 130 kindergarten children that attend classes at the centre (broken into 4 groups). Moms also volunteer at the centre in the morning to prepare breakfast for the students. They estimated that there are about 1000 kindergarten students at La Estación.



We then broke into groups and each group went to visit two different families. We were extremely grateful that there were people willing to open their doors to us and answer our questions. Although the people we met were poor in finances, they had big hearts, beautiful smiles and a hope for a better future for their children.


This is Guadalope and Salvador's home. They took over an old train station and make it a home. Salvador works very hard at his job as a security officer at a local mall in order to support his family.





The group outside of the community centre





A view of the homes





Heading off to see one of the families





There is an intricate maze of pathways and roads connecting the community





Esra and her son outside their home

Before supper we were broken into three groups for an "ism" project. Each group picked an ism to create a collage about. Once the collages were done, each group presented to the other two groups.


Sexism


Racism


Multiculturalism

In the evening we had a session with Ofelia Laureano. Ofelia told us the amazing story of her life. She was born into a very poor family that did not support her desire to go to school and become a teacher. At nine years old, she left her family in the country and took a job as a housekeeper in Mexico City. She was very badly treated and discriminated against by her employers. She found a job with a nicer family and her dreams of being a teacher faded away. She married when she was 18 and lived in La Estacion with her husband. Ofelia had six children and she dreamed that her children would be able to go to school. Her husband did not support this so she worked in secret to earn the money to send her children to school. After years of domestic violence, Ofelia left her husband. Although Ofelia was not able to go to school, her two sons taught her how to read and write. Ofelia then did a number of projects to help others and is currently working with an organization in Mexico similar to "Habitat for Humanity". Because of her dedication and hard work, there are seven families that have proper housing.