Latin America

Keepin' On Down the Road

2007-09-16T18:59:00.001-06:00

How about another picture of us - I think maybe from Colombia. In early March of this year (2007) after our two weeks in Chiapas, Mexico with a Zapatista community (you can read more about that below) Henry and I headed south across Central America, Colombia and then Ecuador where we spent a short time trying to make a living teaching English and doing some translations. Below you can view pictures with a few explanations of the past several months. Although there a lot of pictures this is only a brief sketch of the trip. Enjoy!

FROM SAN CRISTOBAL, MEXICO TO THE GUATEMALAN BOARDER

After much discussion as to how we were going to travel, we decided to start out our trip hitch-hiking and see how far we would get. The first day was all walking until it started raining and we found the first shelter (above) of our hitch-hiking trip. Not much protection but while feeling
the weariness of not receiving any rides, there was the thrill of traveling
the land a step at a time and seeking shelter wherever you could.

Eventually we did receive a ride and it sure felt good suddenly cruising down the road in the back of a truck.

GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS

We finally made it to Guatemala where we decided to buy a tarp and try camping out. This first picture is after a half a day of walking along the highway when we decided to hike up the hillside and set camp for the night. As we were walking, some children who lived nearby started following us and then wanted to help us with our tarp. Later that afternoon the children brought hot tortillas with rice and chicken their mother had prepared for dinner. When we thought we had received the most of their hospitality the children returned that night with hot coffee. We were quite impressed with the enthusiasm these people had to share their hospitality and made me wonder what it takes to show such kindness to complete
strangers.
As Henry and I weren't avid picture takers, our months in Guatemala and Honduras weren't
highly documented but here are a couple pictures from that time.

NICARAGUA
We finally made it to Nicaragua where we met up with a traveler from France, Sandra, who fancied hitch-hiking. Having a young French woman with us in the middle of Nicaragua didn't hinder the kindness we received from locals...

...or truckers.

This lovely farm family rescued us from spending the night outside in a forest infested with mosquitoes. They work for a nationally and internationally funded farm which provides
produce for an orphanage in Managua, Nicaragua.

Farmers at work.

This family threw us in the back of their truck on their way to Managua. Thinking that they would simply drop us off on the side of the road in Managua, they surprised with a lunch at their friends house. Later they took us to the other side of Managua so we could continue on our way.

In our quest to spend as little money as possible we found a local fire department willing to give us free lodging for a night. Apparently they provide free lodging for bicyclists and decided to do the same for us.

COSTA RICA
I regret to say that Henry and I didn't take one photo during our time in Costa Rica or Panama. Due to the thick jungle that covered that land in Costa Rica, camping out along the side the road became a challenge although we did manage to find a place to hang our hammocks the first night. We woke up the next morning to men cutting down trees of the grove we had been sleeping in so we packed up quick and hit the road. Hitch-hiking itself became more of a challenge because people were more prone to follow the law which forbids people to ride in the back of trucks. Nonetheless, after much walking and sitting by the side of the road, we found a couple of people willing to give us a ride.

PANAMA
In Panama I met up with friends in David during my time as an English teaching instructor in the summer of 2005. I extend my thanks to:
-Nixa and Luis Rios for the excellent lunch you provided for us one afternoon,
-Juan and Carlos Farjado for showing us a night of Panamanian discussion while watching a live soccer match with affordable Panamanian beer ($0.50),
-Sedmon Montero Ledezma for putting us up for the night at his family's hotel - and also for good Panamanian discussion,
-Margarita de Franco- although we didn't have much time to catch up I did enjoy the visit at your office.

Thank you all for your hospitality and if I every pass through Panama again, I will look you up.

COLOMBIA

We finally made to South America after about four months. We took the quick and easy way from Panama to Colombia by flying directly from Panama City to Cartagena, CO where we again, didn't take any pictures but enjoyed the colonial architecture of the old town, which is still very well preserved to the point that one can still sit on the old wall next to a canon and look out over the ocean imagining old trade or pirate ships just off the coast.

Ciudad Peridida - Our first most memorable experience in Colombia was a six-day hike through Andean mountains to the ruins of Cuidad Perdida. Although the ruins were very rewarding to see, the hike itself through a combination of jungle and mountain terrain was a fabulous experience. Enjoy the pictures.

COLOMBIA - Parque Tyrona (La Playa)
After our wonderful time rediscovering Ciudad Perdida, we made a quick drop down to see level to visit some of Colombia's best beaches in one of their national parks. In the bottom picture we are with a friend, Svueja Dirkson (from Germany) we made during the Ciudad Perdida trip. We had about four days of all out good tourist fun camping on the beach, laying in hammocks, playing soccar, working on Spanish, and of course partaking in the aguardiente that nobody can refuse.

Hitching through Colombia - After the beach we headed inland with our friend Svuenja Dirkson. While Henry returned to Illinois for a month, Svuenja and I continued through Colombia visiting various small towns and camping out in a beautiful park surrounded by waterfalls.

DAD AND DOUG COME TO COLOMBIA!!! I was thrilled to have my dad and good friend Doug come to Colombia for a week. We stayed at the house of an exchange student that stayed with Doug and his wife in Wichita, KS several years ago. We were given incredible hospitality which included a driver to show us around Bogota.

When Henry returned from Illinois, we continued south towards the Colombian/Ecuadorian boarder. Near the boarder is a church built in a ravine over a river where it is said that several years ago an image of the Virgin Mary appeared on the face of a rock. Since then people have come to the rock to give thanks to the Virgin for the blessings in their life. Today, the face of the rock makes up the rear wall in front of the sanctuary of the church. This particular plaque which caught the attention of Henry and I reads, "I give thanks to the Mother of God, for recovering my stolen car."

ECUADOR
In late July, Henry and I finally made it to Ecuador where we pretty much headed straight to Quito. We again fell into a phase of not taking too many pictures except for a couple of weekends when we visited the beach and did some biking in the mountains outside of Quito.

We spent one weekend on the northern coast of Ecuador in Sua where we took one morning to go whale watching. Although we didn't see much more than the fins, it was exciting to have my first whale siting. Below you see the fins of two different whales that, according to our guide, were in the process of love-making.

Another weekend took us to a mountain town called Baños, which translates to "baths". The town earned its name due to the many hot springs located in the mountains around Baños. We spent more time on bicycles, following a river and visiting several waterfalls.

So that's about all to show for the moment. At this point Henry has continued south towards Peru and I have decided to spend more time in Ecuador. I had accumulated a number of English students and was interested in continuing with a life in Quito. At this point though, I have decided to take my money and run. Although I enjoyed the teaching, I was not making very much money and students kept calling to postpone lessons until the next week. I decided that while I am in Ecuador, I would like to use the money I have to see more of the country. So, that's where I am at and Henry - well, he's ramblin' about as usual.

Pictures of a Zapatista Community

2007-03-29T16:34:00.000-06:00

The River near the town we lived was our source for water, bath, and washing cloths. We, at times, would go to the river with a bunch of naked zapatista kids and have a hoot of a time swimming and laughing.
Nate doing a wash
Our afternoons and early evenings were filled with children.
Rosa, our german compañera, brought a little guitar along. Nate sang a song about a cow in spanish that the kids couldn´t get enough of.
We spent one afternoon with some women inspecting coffee beans before they went for sale. Nearly every wall has some sort of artwork. This one says "Our Education from the heart, our education born from the revolution."
In the mornings, children would bang on our door asking for classes. We were very careful to solely act as sources of information because we were observers and not actual members of the community. Most of the time we just counted beans and drew.
Nate hanging out with some of the kids.
Rosa in our room. She had a hammok. Nate and I slept on pieces of wood.
Counting beans.

A public ceremony celebrating the reclaimation of land. This land is very important for all the local communities. It is their source of water and was in the process of being sold. The sale would have been tragic for the livelihood of these communities. They would literally have dry up. Through much effort the Zapatistas succeeded in getting the land declared a landmark, making it safe from private ownership.
There has been much harrassment of the zapatistas. Cases of dissapearance, accidental deaths, and burning of communities is not rare. As a safety measure they wear masks. The mask, as a result has become a very important symbol in the Zapatista world.
A mural on the side of one of a building within the Junta Del Buen Gobierno, or board of the good government.
A few of the kids with whom we spent a lot of time. One of them is wearing my(Henry) glasses.
Another Mural of interest. The zapatistas have been accused of represing women, and they are working to exemplify the role of women in their culture. Women do play traditional roles, but they are not excluded from any part of decision making. More than half of the governmental officials we met were women.

(bad order)This sign was put up during the celebration of having declared an important water resource reserved. The sign basically says that this land is protected and reserved and the zapatista government systems that are responsible for the upkeep.
Christianity plays an important part in the lives of many Zapatistas.

Some quick notes about the Zapatistas

-Buisness done in the community is decided by the community. Individuals can work on their own, but anything done within the community is shared. It´s kind of like a cooperative that includes the whole town.

-Decisions done by the community and government are always done with unanamous votes. Majority does not rule. In order to make a decision everyone has to agree it's the right move.

-All of these communities are financially very poor. They are farmers that only want the freedom to feel in control of their work and their lives. Before being a part of a Zapatista community most of them were working the fields for pennies a day.

-The land on which most Zapatista communities reside are "reclaimed". Being poor farmers there is no possible way they could earn the money to buy the land, so they took it. It´s a fascinating concept and a source of much conflict. They just decided, with much strong leadership and organization, to claim land they had been working on their whole lives.

-They refuse any government services including health and education. They build their own clinics and schools for their own kids. They also refuse to pay any taxes.

Sorry... there´s a bunch more that´s burning on our brains about the Zapatistas, but we are running out of desire to sit in front of the computer. We just wanted to get something down before we headed back on the road. Wé will add more later as it gets categorized in our heads.

"Caminando Unidos" in the barrios of Cuernavaca

2007-03-01T12:46:00.000-06:00

In a Mexican nieghborhood where children get lost in a mentality invested only in day to day needs, Caminando Unidos (Walking United) is a school that provides respite and redirection through a focus on community and alternative education. Children who need special attention not received in their homes and communities will find it. They can find it on the streets, in abusive behavior, and gangs if not given another option. Caminando Unidos is such an option.

Founded in 1992 as a result of percieved need in a struggling Cuernavacan nieghborhood, a grass-roots organization was formed to address the needs of children growing up in marginalized communities. Having begun with only the will of a few, Caminando Unidos provides a safe place for children to go. With resources for those who cannot make it in the public school system because of having special needs, lack of money to pay for small fees, and/or lack of family support, the school is an outlet for local families and children to express their personal and practical needs. With such an outlet, families and their children are given support in a fashion that takes care of percieved individual needs.

By 2001, the program grew through the determination of those involved to include a building, volunteer staff, and a few paid employees--some of whom had been borderline children and had attended the school growing up. With a roster of about 150 students, ages 2 - 22, Caminando Unidos provides education with an emphasis on both academic and community needs. While young children are learning basic education and the importance of hygene and playing games, the older students are learning their potential as they enter into the adult world. In addition, the education program provides two workshops where young adults learn to work and sell goods. This not only helps to make ends meet but also works to involve them in a trade that boosts self esteem and provides redirection towards a life of personal growth and healthy interaction with their local community. Serving two meals a day for all who choose to come, the school is packed full of energetic youth learning each day what it means to discover who they are and how they can work together to solve both personal and community problems in a local manner.

Caminando Unidos continues to grow as a perceived need and its observable successes motivate excitement in those who come in contact with it. Working to fulfill the needs of the underprivalaged, however, needs the support of the overprivaledged. For this we send news of a very successful project in which extra resources would be put to fantastic use.

Language Barriers
As of right now the Caminando Unidos website is in spanish. We have been working with them to translate and create another site in English, but the process is not yet finished. In involving ourselves in such a project we have encountered many neccessities such as updating the website's original form to be more effective. This has waylayed us a bit. However, we have put together some translations of the website in the following link, http://dicktoewsinformation.blogspot.com/.

If your interested in visiting their spanish website this is the link,
http://www.caminandounidos.org.mx/paginas/menu.html.
If you have any further questions feel free to let us know in the comment section.