Back from Mexico, Guatemala
Monday, March 31st, 2008I just returned from two months south of the border.There is nothing like traveling in a foreign culture to perk up the senses and curiosity, both big boosts to learning. To really get down and understand people and their situations–how things differ, how things remain the same–can provide lessons for a lifetime, can open our hearts (not usually a stated goal for educators, but, oh, how necessary for a rich life.)
I was there for part of the time as a member of a human rights organization, Witness for Peace, to study the roots of the problems and violence in the city/state of Oaxaca which erupted in 2006 and continue to this day. We also spent time in a poor Mixtec town (the Mixtecs, a people with their own language, culture and aspirations, were powerful and highly-skilled, and for centuries resisted colonial and criolla enslavement and loss of their lands and way of life) to learn why residents were forced to migrate to the north of Mexico or the U.S. in order to provide for their families.
Talking to town members, our exquisitely courteous hosts, put a human face on what we often refer to abstractly as the “immigration problem.”
While most such delegations are for adults only, parents who want to help their children and themselves make a big leap in understanding our world and who have the courage to do the difficult can check out websites of involved organizations. Most assuredly they will receive useful information and suggestions about what to read, where to go and what to see.
As a start, look at www.witnessforpeace.org. Although this organization sponsors delegations for adults looking to understand problems in Latin America (particularly problems exascerbated by U.S. policy), it can provide a wealth of information to parents looking to expand their children’s horizons as well as their own.