Yvonne Starkey, Mujeres supporter, and I, Linda Finch, board member, went on the annual summer trip to Chiapas. As always, the trip is informative, invigorating, and offers a much cherished time to spend with the women in the cooperative.
We arrived a day before the women’s meeting and found ourselves immediately at the optometrist with seven women getting eye exams and glasses. After the eye exams, we delivered the dental supplies donated by the Soroptimist International of Sequim. The night before, we had purchased the school supplies that we always give to the scholarship recipients, so we presented those as well. This year there are seventeen recipients. Their studies range from secondary to university level.
At the bimonthly meetings, there are always informative, fascinating workshops presented. This year an excellent presenter, Marta, talked to the women as a group and later to just the scholarship recipients about violence against women. Marta’s opening question to the women was “What do you like about being a woman?” It was very telling that not a single woman could think of a positive aspect of their gender! As a part of this presentation, we walked a couple of blocks to a university where there was a memorial mural for a woman who had been murdered near the school.
Later that afternoon, three young university women doing their community service did a workshop on color theory. This sparked interest among the women who are all amazing weavers. The following day Alfredo gave an excellent talk on how the government works, some of its flaws, and the importance of women becoming a part of the process. We missed the talk on nutrition but it is very gratifying to see fruit being offered as dessert rather than marshmallows and lollipops which were the standard fare several years ago.
Linda with toothbrushes
We visited the children’s Saturday program in Zinacantan. As a retired math teacher, it warmed my heart to watch young Erika’s lesson on long division using manipulatives as well as paper and pencil computation. Her mother, Maria Teresa, worked with the younger children (3 to 6 years) on letter formation and drawing skills.
The highlight of our visit was a day’s outing to to see the adult literacy program in action. The small community where it takes place is on a mountainside. A river runs through it and it is surrounded by rich plant life. In the classroom, one young woman was there with her baby. An older woman was struggling with letter formation. But the room was filled with students determined to get an education no matter what.
As usual, Carmen, the cooperative coordinator gave 125% in making our visit worthwhile. It is incredible to compare the confidence and education of the women with how they were in 2005!. We should all be proud of the accomplishments of the last ten years.
I want to thank Yvonne for accompanying me on this trip. May you always have a steady supply of those delicious churros, fresh from the street cart!
Linda
August 27, 2015
[PressGraphLike]
Recent Comments