Would I Recommend this Trip to Others?

2008-04-01T15:12:00.001-07:00

This trip is not for the faint of heart. It requires a large amount of flexibility and dedication. Often I was cold, hungry, tired and generally frustrated. That being said, it was one of the most wonderful, eye-opening experiences I have ever had and I would recommend that anyone interested in a challenging abroad experience to consider it. I also would encourage other students, especially Elon students committed to being global citizens, to learn as much as possible about the Zapatistas and their cause because it is a remarkable mission that incorporates many of the questions and issues that are raised by students on Elon's campus and is committed to non-violent activism and social change.

How I Developed My Leadership Skills

2008-04-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

This trip was constantly a challenge and, as a result, I had ample opportunity to practice my leadership skills. Because their were only eight students on the trip, we had to take on a lot of personal responsibility and make decisions as a group. I had a chance to practice my organizational and group management skills. I had to listen to the ideas of others, be flexible and, at times, take on the role of a follower. Overall, this trip required all of us to be team players and focus our energies on what was best for the Zapatistas and for our group rather than on our personal comforts and desires. Also, we had to serve as ambassadors in a sense because some of the people we met had never met anyone from the United States before. Therefore, I had to hone my leadership skills in order to stay on task and make a lasting impact and connection with community members.

What I Gained Most from Traveling Abroad

2008-04-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

This trip was one of the most meaningful experiences I have had at Elon. While I have travelled in developing countries before, this trip was the most physically and mentally challenging trip that I have ever been on. However, despite the hardships I feel so lucky to have had the amazing opportunity to see the passion and struggle that are at the core of the Zapatista movement. Their commitment to their cause is truly amazing. Furthermore, I feel proud to have been part of a political movement that uses non-violent resistance in an attempt to make our world a better place. I have gained from this experience a better understanding of what it means to resist non-violently. I have also had the time to reflect and in some ways re-evaluate my responsibilities as a global citizen.

Trip Description

2008-03-31T12:32:00.000-07:00

This past January, I spent three weeks volunteering in Chiapas, Mexico with seven other Elon students and two faculty members. Specifically, we were working with the Zapatistas, a group of indigenous people who are currently "in resistance" to the Mexican government. To the Zapatistas, the term "resistance", does not imply violence (which is what I envision when I hear the word “resistance”) but means that they are “withstanding suffering” in order to put the government to shame. In 1994, the Zapatista army known as the EZLN staged a rebellion against the government, using weapons to take over a number of major cities in Chiapas because they felt that resorting to violence was the only way that they could force the government of Chiapas to recognize their rights. Since the uprising, however, the Zapatistas have declared their autonomy from the Mexican government and have chosen to resist the government peacefully. Currently, these indigenous people are living in a state of extreme poverty and exploitation, but remain committed to fighting peacefully for their autonomy.

Myself and the group from Elon that I travelled are all members of the Periclean Scholars Class of 2008 at Elon. For the past three years, our class has been working with the non-profit organization, Schools for Chiapas, to support the Zapatista cause by raising money and awareness. We have focused on raising money to build a school in the Chiapan town of San Andres. The school is almost completely done. We are also producing a documentary about the lifestyle and mission of the Zapatista movement. The purpose of this somewhat alternative winter term was to spend time working with the Zapatista on our school, as well as gather footage for our documentary.

Our trip got of to an interesting start. A day before we were scheduled to leave for Mexico, we were told that the Mexican government, or the PRI, were in negotations with the Zapatistas about our school and would not allow us to work on it. Therefore, we had to make a new plan about what we were going to do when we got to Mexico. The first week was a little bit frusterating because we did not have a job to work on. We lived in the gated community of Ovantic, which is one of the five Zapatista caracoles. A caracole is an inclosed center that houses the government, recreational facilities, and meeting spaces for Zapatita civilians (who are seperate from the EZLN). We all slept in one room on wooden bunk beds in the Schools for Chiapas office building. Next door there was a large kitchen with a stove and a large table that we could use for cooking. We bought most of our food in the city of San Christobal de las Casas, were we took a break from the rustic Ovantic living (we got a break about every 4 or 5 days). Living in Ovantic was hard to get used to. It was very cold at nights and sometimes during the day and there was no heating in any of the buildings. Also, while everyone in the community was friendly, it was hard to communicate because the majority of Zapatitas speak indigenous languages. While some of the community members spoke Spanish, the members of our group only spoke a few words. Therefore, we had to use translators from Schools for Chiapas to communicate. While our translators were great, it was hard to go out in the community by ourselves and communicate because the translators could not always be with us. Finally, the Zapatistas spend a lot of their time hungry, and often there was not a lot of food. While, for the most part, we were well fed by Schools for Chiapas, there were times when we had to work with little food or had to adjust our diets to eat things that we were not used to.

The first week we spent mostly in meetings. We met first with the Junta, or autonomous government of the Zapatisa people. I have included an excerpt from my journal about meeting with the Junta below:

"I was struck by the process of decision making in this culture, especially within the government. First of all, the meetings are extremely long and almost everything that I witnessed was decided by consensus. Today, we spent most of the afternoon painting boards to make a ping pong table and coloring station for the indigenous kids coming in tomorrow for the New Years party and, as a result, we didn’t get to eat a lot. The meeting that we had with the Junta was so long that a few people had to leave because they felt faint from lack of food. However, Zapatista people wait outside of the building (which is really just a two room wood structure with a tin roof) that houses the government for hours waiting to be seen. I never saw anyone complain about the wait or the government while we were waiting to be seen. I understand that I have only been here a day and, therefore, may witness more complaining and vocalization of grievances down the line, but the compliance and patience that people had with the government and its processes was incredible, especially when comparing the indigenous style to Americans—who often criticize and complain about the government and the wait at government facilities. For example, everyone in American complains about how long the wait is at the DMV—myself included (I am often impatient). However, no one seemed to be complaining outside the Junta. I guess it is easier to be satisfied with a government system for the Zapatistas because they have rebelled and placed a government of their choice in power—they can work out the quirks and develop the government so that it meets their cultural and social needs.
The other really interesting thing about the Junta is that all the members are all voluntary. They also switch over ever Sunday so that the members can go back to work their farms. Peter told me that members of the Junta are chosen by the community and though it is an honor to get chosen and they only have to serve a week at a time, they are committed for three years and often loose a lot of valuable time in the fields in order to serve on the Junta. It is admirable that the members of the Junta are so dedicated to the Zapatista cause that they are willing to give up the little time that they have, especially because the average indigenous person only makes between $150-300 a year."

While we spent a good deal of time meeting with and learning about the Zapatista government, as well as the health care and education systems (these systems are autonomous and run by health and education promoters who are volunteers from the community), our major project took place during our second week. Because we could not go to our school in San Andres, we were able to team up with a international mural painter Gustavo Chavez, to paint a mural on a school in Suytic, a community about a 15 minute drive from where we were staying. This project was an unbelievable experience. Gustavo is an exceptional artist, not only because of his great skill, but also because he is committed to getting the entire community involved in the process. We ate meals cooked by the local women in the community and painted along side the children.

During the last week we had the opportunity to visit Madaena, another Zapatista community. At first, it was frustrating to be there because we were constantly starred at by all the children and some of the adults around us. However, once I got used to being an outsider, I enjoyed my time in Magdaena and learned a lot. One of the most powerful experiences that I had in this community was the chance to participate in a coffee harvest with the local people. Being a coffee drinker myself, this was an important event for me to participate in. The work was very hard. I was asked to carry a bag about one forth the size of the bags that the indigenous people were caring and could hardly make it up the steep hills. One indigenous woman carried a full bag with her baby on her back and proceeded along the path with no shoes. I was in awe of her strength. The farmers we were with spoke to us about how they struggle to make a living selling coffee and are often exploited by buyers. Because of this exploitation, they were forced to bring their 5 year old son with them to help them work in order to pick enough coffee to survive. They said that they were upset because they thought he was too young to be working.

On the way back from the coffee harvest, one of the girls on our trip had an asthma attack and had to use and inhaler. After seeing her use it, one of the indigenous men asked if his two mouth old grandson could use the inhaler because he was dying of a cough and fever. We replied that he could not use the inhaler because it was not for babies but some of the professors went to check on the baby. They reported that the child was living in a home with 10 other people. His mother was 16 (most Zapatista women have children at 16-18 years old) and was also sick. Zapatista homes do not have chimneys and because all the cooking is done on an open fire, the house was filled with smoke. Eventually we had to take the baby to the clinic in Ovantic in our of our cars. It was so frustrating for me to see this baby almost die from something that is so easily cured in the United States.

In the interest of space, I have had to shorten the description of this life-altering trip (my journal alone was over 20 typed single-spaced pages). However, I feel that it is important to include some of the Zapatista statements and quotations from my journal about the movement and the importance of indigenous autonomous education:

From my journal about working on the mural in Suytic:

"At the end of today, we were beginning to put the finishing touches on the school. We need to come back tomorrow to finish a few details but we are close to finishing. When we were leaving, the community presented us with a jar of honey each for our work. I could not believe that they were offering us that much honey because they could sell those jars for a lot of money in the city. I was extremely touched but felt guilty accepting. I am so glad that we had the chance to work in this community. While painting the mural has been tiring, I feel that it was an extremely important job and will make a big difference in Suytic. I am also impressed and awe struck by how generous the community was with their time and resources, especially given that they have so little. No community that I have worked with on a service project in the United States has been nearly as generous."

From my journal on the political situation in Magdelena:

"Late in the evening, we had the opportunity to meet with the officials in Magdalena and ask them about their relationship with the PRI members of the community, as well as the Zapatista use of guns. The officials said that they do not interact with the PRI members of the community. One man said he does not talk to his father because his father is a supporter of the PRI and, therefore, they see things differently and cannot have a relationship. I did not realize that families had been split up over association with the two governments. I assumed that for the most part entire families belonged to one group or the other. Therefore, this mans story about being estranged from his father was interesting to me. Also, the officials stated that though members of the EZLN do have guns, the Zapatistas are focusing on fighting with their “political weapons” and autonomous schools. They reminded us that many Zapatistas are civilian bases of support of the EZLN and not members of the army itself. These citizens do not have weapons. This explanation reminded me of the importance of the autonomous school in the Zapatista movement and helped me to better understand the distinction between the EZLN and the bases of support. It also shows how complex this society is and how many different types of people are involved in the Zapatista movement."

Zapatista Promoter of Education from our school in San Andres who spoke to us in Ovantic about the importance of indigenous autonomous education:

“We, well known as the Zapatistas, or new Zapatistas now, we create this education because this is the way our people do not continue in ignorance. Because the official education system only pretends to solidify capitalism and teaches children to dedicate themselves to their own interest…new education wakes people up, reflects, why there are various social classes, why we don’t have the same rights [as the rich], and because of this at the base of our understanding we build an education that makes conscious the children so they can realize and construct a new understanding that serves the people and because of this we try to…be different than the government. This education…makes conscious of children and when children are prepared they will be the best to construct the knowledge we have not been able to understand yet. This is not just the education of indigenous…[but is] for Mexico and the world…for men and women who want to know and collaborate with us with their understanding because we learn to read and write [but we also] learn about the movement…[We are creating] education that is not racist, classist; education that includes everyone, men and women, humanity for all the world; to give them an understanding of the situation we are living in and guarantee the rights of all of us.”

Chiapas Trip Website

Would I Recommend this Trip to Others?

How I Developed My Leadership Skills

What I Gained Most from Traveling Abroad

Trip Description