The 'invisible ones'
El Proyecto Hambre confronts poverty one village and one person at a time
By Ellen Snortland 09/22/2005
When I visited Oaxaca, Mexico, with the Hunger Project (HP) or in Spanish, El Proyecto Hambre (EHP), in August, I ardently wished I had every so-called anti-immigrant friend I know with me so they could see the impact of immigration in Mexico. Believe me, we are getting the productive end of the deal. Unwanted immigration goes both ways.
The state of Oaxaca is extraordinary. The people are beautiful and warm, the climate is sub-tropical, and the food, sublime. Art is everywhere. There is also a lot of poverty, especially in rural Oaxaca, due to the large indigenous population and rampant migration.
If you saw last week’s column, you know I visited two villages, Guadalupe Victoria and San Mateo Penasco. I’ll tell you first about Guadalupe Victoria, and next week about San Mateo Penasco. Nestled in the mountains, both villages are full of log cabins, tall trees and majestic vistas. It’s a beautiful place to live, but it’s an extremely difficult place to make a living.
We saw three examples of projects on the trip that are a result of the efforts of the villagers and EPH to be in line with the 8 Millennium Development Goals of the UN. Before I get into the specific projects, I want to talk about hunger.
Some people associate Mexico with poverty, but I suspect most North Americans — and many Mexicans, too — think that hunger as a persistent issue is nonexistent. It’s true that you’ll never see pictures of little Mexican children with bloated bellies. Corn fills tummies, but not with every nutritional essential. One result of chronic, persistent malnutrition from a deficient diet is kids die from simple childhood diseases. I saw children with lanugo, a condition in which body hair grows abnormally in an attempt to keep the body warm and is often associated with severe anorexia nervosa in affluent countries. When you survive on subsistence farming and a large portion of your men folk aren’t around to plant, tend and harvest, there is a severe impact on the food supply, people’s bodies and spirits.
The exciting part about the EPH being present in Mexico is that the end of hunger as a chronic condition is really, really, really doable. So many Mexican people are very keen on ending poverty in their country. Even though there is a cultural “It can’t be done,” or “no se puede” attitude that needs to be addressed, the EPH confronts it one person and village at a time. The EPH has as a main focus the education and empowerment of indigenous women. They live on the fringes, in the remote villages where infrastructure is minimal. It’s easy to be invisible when you are born a woman in a culture that subjugates and marginalizes females. Ironically, it’s the invisible ones that can help save everyone. They are the solution, not the problem.
The women in Guadalupe Victoria have created a sewing workshop where they make the beautifully embroidered shirts that Oaxaca is known for; the first industry in their village. We were there for the grand opening. Please understand that a mere four years ago, these women were extremely limited in how they saw themselves and each other. They would attend EPH meetings and not say a word. Finally, after one meeting, one of the women approached the leader and admitted that they were afraid to speak because it just wasn’t their place and they were afraid that they might be beaten for doing so. Just to give this a bit of women’s history context, you can see even today in meetings in the US that more men than women usually speak up in public.
Once the EPH became aware of the fear of violence, they began to address the men and encouraged them to know that their support of women was absolutely essential to having the village work for everyone. The men have grown as much as the women. Fast forward four years, and at the grand opening there were heretofore silent women whose voices were very much alive and well. They welcomed us and thanked us for our support. In a few months, they will be ready to market their clothes and create more jobs.
Once the women create more jobs, more men will be able to stay in Guadalupe Victoria. Once one enterprise succeeds, another will grow, and another. One small step for women, a huge leap for a village.
Next week: Creating a silk business in Oaxaca.
PS …
At 8:30 a.m. Sunday, take your family on Partnership Walk 2005 at the Rose Bowl in support of ending world poverty. The walk begins at 11 a.m. For more information, call (310) 202-9430 or email losangeles@partnershipwalk.org.
Then, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Soroptimist International of Alhambra-San Gabriel-San Marino is hosting my show, “Now That She’s Gone,” at the Joslyn Senior Citizen Center, 210 N. Chapel Ave., Alhambra. The $20 admission/donation supports programs for women. Call Jane Burtis at (909) 629-2900 or email janeburti@aol.com for information.
Ellen Snortland teaches a writing workshop in Altadena: www.snortland.com.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT