Un dia del amor y la amistad

Feb 14th-15th

Once again I had forgotten that the sun had risen on one of those days that is marked on many calendars - Valentine's Day, or here, el dia del amor y la amistad. I was reminded of this when I arrived at the Nueva Comienza (new beginning) women's shelter in the afternoon. They were getting ready for a Valentine's Day dinner, and Dorothy, who started the place, invited me to stay for dinner. Como no? I thought, and stay I did. It was a delicious dinner, people sang and laughed and talked, and were very friendly to this stranger who showed up on a bike.

V-day feast!

Feeling the love

It wasn't all cookies and ice cream though. Some of the stories of the women there were hard to hear. I was told about how there was a lack of rehabilitation services for women, and no shortage of terrible circumstances for women, particularly young women, in Mexico. I really didn't want to believe that some girls, as young as 11 or even younger, are sold into prostitution, often by their familes, as 'possessions' for men with money for as long as they are 'of use'. I met some of these women, and saw how well they were doing, and I was truly impressed. I talked to Dorothy and some others who worked with her, and was moved by their passion and dedication. Dorothy was kind enough to let me stay in her vacant trailer that night, and to feed me the next morning too, as I prepared to visit IDT, the last organisation on my list in VG.

The night before, at the Valentine's Day dinner, I had been introduced to Karly, who has also recently started her own organisation in town. Rarely have I been as inspired or impressed as much as I was by Karly's dreams and her will. After a number of mission trips, Karly packed up her car and drove to Mexico with the idea of doing something good. Her plan was to look at what the most pressing needs were, and do something about them. She chose to open Oasis, an after-school care centre for children who go to school, and a school for those who can't. Firstly, single mums, of which there are many, have to work, and usually can't look after their children while they do so. They are forced to literally strap children to them while they work, or get their 7yr old child to look after their 2yr old child. It also turns out that if you don't have birth certificates, as many indigenous children here don't, you can't go to school. On top of that, when you do go to school, uniforms are very expensive by Mexican standards, and if you're not dressed exactly right they won't let you attend school. You even have to pay to take tests. The barriers to education are actually ridiculous.

Karly

I like Karly's story about the graffiti on the walls of her Oasis the most. When she started, the grey concrete walls were covered in graffiti. She painted over it in bright colours. The chulos (street thugs or kids) put more graffiti over that, but Karly was not going to let them win. Every time the chulos did their graffiti, she covered it until she could paint over it, so it was there for less than 24hrs. Eventually, neighbours started noticing and liking her colours, and started notifying the police, which they had never done before. Later, when this happened, and the chulos realised that their tags never lasted, they stopped doing it as frequently. Now there is hardly ever any graffiti, and the neighbours take more pride in the locality. From the seed of an act that seemed small, if not futile, something good spread out and took root. For me there is a zen, an indomitability, and beauty in her actions that I find captivating.

Other walls nearby...

The instruments of zen

The coloured walls of the oasis

Karly was kind enough to take me to IDT, who describe themselves as facilitators for charity work. As such they do many things, but foremost amongst them seemed to be building houses for the poor. After shouting me lunch, and showing me a beautiful spot further down the road near San Quintin, Karly dropped me off at the Red Cross San Quintin. After chatting to the staff at the clinic and the ambulance station, they agreed to let me camp the night at the latter.