Tlamacazapa

wow I am very behind.


About a week and a half ago I went with our group to Tlamacazapa, a small rural town in the state of Guerrero. Tlamacazapa is a very poor town with water laced with lead and arsenic. A while ago now, a woman set up a non-profit to care for the people who get sick form the water and to empower the women of the village. The organization is called Caminamos Juntos (We walk together) and they have trained midwives, improved dental care, and helped young girls become teachers in the town. They have also integrated men into the process by building dry toilets (a way to conserve water and use human waste to benefit the land) and cisterns to collect water. It is a good development project to analyze -- how are they helping the community, how do they integrate community members into the decision making process, and how might they be changing the community's culture and creating divisions?

before we even got to the town (which is on the side of a mountain) we drive up a long, winding, and rocky road. we stopped to stretch out legs at one point and I took a picture of the corn growing by the side of the road:





can you believe it! the corn was growing in between rocks. The top soil must be so thin, but they walk around the mountain to try and grow even a little bit of corn in the rocks so they can eat. This isn't to sell, the people of Tlamacazapa pretty much weave baskets, collect water, grow corn, and go to church. People have no money saved up -- they weave baskets to sell in the city and if they don't weave or sell enough, they will not eat. On the left side of the photo you can see some of the palm leaves that they collect to weave with.



we got there, were greeted by people involved in Caminamos Juntos, had lunch, and then split into groups to learn about the town, collect water from the well, learn to weave a basket and make tortillas. Our guide was a girl from the town named Cristina, and she was great. She was 15 years old, but was one of the teachers that Ccaminamos Juntos trains to teach younger kids in the town. She wasn't too talkative, but pointed a lot of things out that we would have missed and if you asked her questions she would respond. I talked to her a little about Diego Rivera, and when I asked if he knew who she was she replied, "yeah, Frida Kahlo’s husband." right on.


we walked up the mountain to the well to collect water, and it was HARD. every time we thought we were almost done, we would turn a corner and find more rocks to climb up. The well was almost at the top of the mountain and the streets and paths were super steep. People climb up to the well at least twice a day to get the water that they need, and even though this is the best water in the town, it is the water with lead and arsenic in it. If you look at the people's feet, most of the women wear flimsy sandals to climb up the mountain, and we were struggling with hiking boots and full water bottles. It takes so much work for them to get water, its really amazing. And I'm sure there are thousands of more towns like Tlamacazapa.



another interesting fact is that the Coke truck comes to Tlamacazapa every day with armed guards. People buy Coke, even though they can't even get clean drinking water. The water that is sold in the town is less expensive than coke, but they buy coke anyway, which just dehydrates them. Coke has a hold on lots of small towns in Mexico, and people unknowingly support their own oppression by drinking it.

climbing the mountain was hard, then we carried the water down the mountain. hard to do without slipping. the we got to rest (whoo) at a woman's house. She taught us to weave baskets which I was actually pretty good at! I like doing crafts with my hands, and I picked up the weaving pretty well. Still, I couldn't imagine weaving for 10 hours a day, plus taking care of children and collecting water.


then we left. and we get to leave, which is such a stark contrast of privilege. many of the people in Tlamacazapa never leave the town. the water problems, economic problems, and domestic violence still continues. but we get to leave, and eventually even though I have just started, I will leave Mexico. So it is a lingering question -- when we see such poverty or experience injustice, what do we do about it when we leave?



there is so much to say about Tlama, so if you have questions feel free to ask me.