WEEK TWO in solidarity in CHIAPAS

Week 2 of Journey in Solidarity Mexico –December 11^th to 16^th -Exploring Chiapas!

On Saturday11^th December 2011, 3 participants of the Mexico Journey in Solidarity experience, Sr. Kathy Long O.P., Sr. Robi Huddleston O.P.and DVI volunteer Renessa Tang Pack embarked on an adventure to Chiapas. Here is an account of these itinerant Dominicans following in the footsteps of their Dominican forerunners:

After saying goodbye to the rest of the Journey in Solidarity participants at the Benito Juarez Airport in Mexico City, we left to catch our flight to Chiapas but unfortunately due to a mistake in timing missed it and ended up having to travel by bus. After a 12 hour bus ride we finally arrived in Tuxtla – Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas and took a taxi to the airport to rearrange our travel plans. We finally made it to San Cristobal at around 9 a.m. on Sunday morning. We learnt later on that there had been an earthquake in Mexico at around 7 in the night whilst we were travelling on the bus, but that it mostly affected the state of Guerrero and not much damage was caused to other areas. After settling down in our “Posada” and assuring concerned friends and relatives that we were safe we hurried off to the city centre to see if we could catch mass at the San Cristobal Cathedral or at San Cristobal´s Dominican Convent.

We first visited the San Cristobal Cathedral, inside of which can be found the tomb of the 25^th Bishop of Chiapas who died just in January of this year.  Don Samuel Ruiz Garcia. Bishop Garcia, though not Dominican, shares many of our Dominican ideals, having followed in the legacy of Bartolomé de las Casas O.P. working to restore the dignity of the indigenous in Chiapas.

After breakfast we attended 11 a.m Mass at the Dominican convent.Fr. PabloIbarren , a Dominican friar at St. Dominic parish gave the homily which wasfocused on the Scripture of John the Baptist as a voice crying out of the wilderness. He spoke about Montesinos Advent sermon and the life of Montesinos and his community of Dominican friars in Hispaniola and how this relates to our journey as people of justice and peace today.

          After mass we met up with him and shared that we were on our Dominican Journey in Solidarity experience. He invited us to mass again that night since the Master of the Dominican Order Fr. Bruno Cadore would be presiding. We decided we would grasp the opportunity while we were there to meet with the Master. In the meantime we browsed through the city centre, the artisan’s markets, viewed the Bartolomé de las Casas statue in the square, visited Kakaw Museo de Cacao y Chocolateria General (Kakaw Cocoa Museum and Cultural Choclateria) and rested a while. We learnt interesting facts from the museum about the use of chocolate such as the controversy the different religious orders in Mexico had about consuming chocolate ( in the past the Dominicans thought it shouldn't be allowed while the Jesuits thought the opposite), the story about a Bishop in Mexico who excommunicated people who drank it and himself was assassinated by drinking a cup of poisoned chocolate,  St. Rose of Lima and the angel appearing to her to give a cup of chocolate to regain her strength and the addiction that  famous Mexican nun Sor. Juana de la Cruz had for the drink.

We returned to San Cristobal Cathedral at 7.30 p.m, getting a double dose of Fr. Pablo’s sermon. After mass we were invited to a get together with him and the visiting Master and his accompanying friars from Rome and the local parish community. We discussed with the Master about the work done at CCIDD. After chatting with the friars a bit and eating tasty tamales for supper we departed to get some rest before we went to the Mañanitas for the December 12^th Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

 

The next day on the 12^th we had breakfast at Tierra Adentro, a restaurant which featured Zapatista products for sale and visited the Chiapas Museum of Popular Culture where there was a Nativity exhibition on display by Raul Castillo. On our return to our residence it was a culturally pleasant encounter to see the bands of indigenous people in their traditional wear proudly displaying their Our Lady of Guadalupe photo. They were making their way through the city centre toward the Our Lady of Guadalupe church to pay their respects to Our Lady on her Feast Day. We left for Tsomanotik later that afternoon and once there were given a tour by Sr. Kathy of this agri-ecological centre which features sustainable agriculture and development. We were shown the lush gardens where vegetables and corn are grown, rooms where mushrooms are grown, the compost areas, the dry toilets and the rabbits.  We were later welcomed by our hosts Bet and Daniel Barrios who were busy hosting a group of high school students from the Ibero American Prep School in Mexico City for a week long Tsomanotik experience.

On Tuesday 13^th we took the opportunity to visit a Dominican Sister of Mary, Sor. Soledad Ortiz who is Director of the San Martin de Porres Children’s home in Comitán. She had attended CCIDD in July for a three week English course given by Sr. Kathy and Dominican volunteer Renessa. She warmly received us and gave us a tour of the children’s home. We had a tasty lunch with her and two of her religious sisters. She invited us to visit the nearby Tenam Puente pyramid ruins which we ended climbing to the top of. We also had the opportunity to visit the Comitán city centre.

On Wednesday we began to get more involved in activities with the students, assisting Bet and Daniel where we could and accompanying the students in their Tsomanotik experience. One of the more interesting dynamics was that facilitated by Miguel Angel Paz on sustainability using the key words crisis, alternative and the bridge generation of the 80’s who would contribute to creating a sustainable world out of the current capitalist neo-liberalistic structured one. We broke out into groups and acted out what the face of crisis looks like in our world today and the signs of hope arising from this. On Thursday and Friday we visited a small town Matamoros in Chiapas and assisted Bet and Daniel as coordinators of groups of students with the purpose of collecting information to assist the community. We and the students also engaged in fun activities with the local kids of the community such as games, football and making Christmas cards. Mass (which is held about once every two months in this community) was said by Fr. Jesús, or  Fr. Chuy as he is popularly called, and it was a grand affair, with a traditional indigenous offering of corn and beans at the offertory. It was generally great fun being with the students. We also visited the Chiflon waterfall and Sr. Kathy and Renessa climbed to the top with the students. We returned home on Saturday grateful for and energized from our solidarity experience in San Cristobal and in Tsomanotik, Comitán.

Renessa Tank Pack DVI

Indigenous women and Mary's Pence on the journey with us in solidarity

December 8

Today we visited the indigenous town of Cuentepec.  The women there made us a fantastic dinner of sopes (soap-uhs).  The women remove corn kernels from the cob and grind them by hand to make masa.  The masa is then flattened and cooked beans placed in the middle.  The masa is folded, sealed and cooked on a griddle, served with very hot, freshly made salsa, onions, cheese and sour cream.  The sopes were served along with sliced jicama, and freshly squeezed (by hand) orange juice.  After dinner we learned how the women, with the organizational help of Maria Luisa Mejia Lagunas and a grant from Mary´s Pence (www.maryspence.org), they were able to form a cooperative that has a revolving loan fund, with projects to build a bakery, teach composting for small agriculture, and sewing classes.  They are now able to grow food for their families (opposite of the government urging all farmers to grow monoculture for export), sew clothes for sale to visitors (like us!), and have even started to have savings accounts with interest.  The cooperative decides what interest they will charge for the loans and whether a particular person (not a coop member) will get a loan. 

It is remarkable to experience the welcome and hospitality of those for whom the world has been pretty inhospitable.

Candy Krepel

Associate Sinsinawa Domincans

Visting Mexico City on the Journey

December 5^th 2011   - A dose of Mexican History and Human Rights in Mexico

Our Journey in Solidarity took us to Mexico City D.F (Distrito Federal or Federal District is another name for Mexico City), firstly to the Fray Francisco de Vitoria Human Rights Centre and after lunch to the National Palace for a tour of the murals of famous Mexican artist, Diego Riviera.

After a quick breakfast we left Cuernavaca for D.F. at 7.30 a.m. in a rented bus - the group of 9 participants, DVI volunteer Renessa Tang Pack, Sr. Kathleen and Isabel of the CCIDD Program Staff and and were joined later by tour guide/ interpreter Charlie Goff (who also owns a language school in Cuernavaca), Sr. Aline and Sr. Brigitte of the Dominicans of the Incarnate Word at the Vitoria Centre.

The highlight of the visit to Vitoria Centre was being able to meet with one of the key players on the human rights scene in Mexico - Dr. Miguel Concha O.P., a Dominican Friar and Director of the Fray Francisco de Vitoria Human Rights Centre. He generously gave us two hours of his time to provide an overview of the political, social and economic realities that Mexico is currently experiencing and related this to our duty as Dominicans to speak out against injustices, to ask pardon for the time we have been apathetic in our duty in this regard, and to continue the legacy of Montesinos in promoting the dignity of the human person in a capitalist, neoliberal economic system and culture of violence.

Among the topics discussed were the negative aspects of politics in Mexico – which is pervaded by corruption and fraud and concentration of power, the monopoly on media by the two media giants in Mexico, the Movement for Peace and Justice with Dignity led by Javier Sicilia which Fr. Miguel himself has participated in since its inception in March of this year after the death of Javier Sicilia´s son,  the narco-trafficking war  and the government’s policies on  militarization which have contributed to a culture of violence. Fr. Miguel also provided us with interesting statistics on Mexico.  From the narco trafficking in these past five years there are 225,000 people displaced, 60,000 deaths and 2,500 children who are victims of this narco-trafficking. He stated that almost 60% of people in Mexico live in poverty with 25 per cent living in conditions of extreme poverty. Moreover according to the OECD, Mexico is in the second to last position of countries in terms of economic justice.

After Fr. Miguel´s talk we also were given an informative presentation by the General Coordinator of the Centre, Ana Luisa Monroy, on the death penalty and the many Mexicans who have been on death row in the U.S. and did not get due process from the law.

After a quick and hearty lunch at Sr. Aline´s apartment in D.F., we left for the National Palace at the Zócalo. Our very capable tour guide Charlie Goff, gave us a history of the development of Mexico City since the era of the Aztecs and most interestingly Mexico City in those times was comprised of several lakes whose beds were later filled in with earth to create our modern day Mexico City. No wonder that some buildings such as the Cathedral in Mexico City and the Old Basilica seem to be sinking. Moreover with the 1985 earthquake in Mexico the fact that the city was built over a lake bed was a principal reason why the shockwaves from the quake caused so much damage. He also told us about the education system in Mexico and that UNAM is one of the worlds leading universities where the students pay minimal tuition costs if they can afford it of 1200 pesos per year.

At the National Palace were amazed at the murals by Diego Riviera which were created between 1929 to 1935. They depicted the important aspects of Mexico’s history such as the conquest of Hernán Cortes, colonization, evangelization and exploitation of the Indians, the Mexican war of Independence led by Frs. Hidalgo and Morelos, the rise of socialist and Marxist ideologies/movements in Mexico, traditional indigenous life comprising growing corn and other fruits of the earth, market life, weaving, rubber collecting, trade in cocoa beans and human sacrifice.

Charlie was a great tour guide explaining the symbolism in Rivera’s art and he even later on showed us one of the rooms of the palace where Sor. Juana de la Cruz. a famous Mexican nun and writer, (she is featured on the 200 peso money bill) actually would have entered as a member of the Court before she entered the convent. He read us a moving excerpt from her writings. There also was a free Christmas concert that was going to be held later that night in the National Palace by the National Mining Orquestra that we were wishing we could attend, but alas it was getting late and the leg of our Journey of Solidarity in Mexico City was coming to an end since we had to head back to Cuernavaca in time for our scheduled Cena/ supper and get some much needed rest for the remainder of the Journey!

Renessa Tang Pack,

Dominican Volunteer International

Journey in Solidarity December 4 and 5

Greetings from your Dominican Family in Cuernavaca, Mexico! We have two very full days to summarize for you... on Sunday, following our morning reflection, we entered into dialogue with Bet and Daniel Barrios, Dominican Laity from Mexico and also ministering in Chiapas. We were amazed at hearing their stories about working for justice and peace. Following our conversation, we participated in Sunday Liturgy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church here in Cuernavaca, and entered into the spirit of these faith filled people. We spent the afternoon marvelling at the Diego Rivera Murals at the Palace of Cortes Museum and ended the day watching and discussing the video, South of the Border.

After a short night's sleep, we began our reflection looking at the Good Samaritan and focusing on Who Really is Our Neighbor? Three women from the area shared their stories of border crossing into the United States during our Immigration Dialogues session. Our group met in the afternoon to prepare ourselves for tomorrow's joouney to Mexico City and concluded with a dialogue on Social Analysis asking ourselves: What are we hearing, experiencing? What questions are arising?

Okay, here's some fun facts! You would have  loved today's soup featuring lentils, pineapple and plantains. The wild parrots entertain us by day and the lizards by night. We have a pool but it's too cold to use... even though we are enjoying the 80 degree temperatures. We've changed some money for Christmas gifts but have a hard time remembering what the exchange rate is. Some of us don't speak Spanish but it hasn't kept anyone from talking. We pack ourselves everyday into the van and off we go following the call of Montesinos!

OP journey Mex december 3 and 4

December 3 Our Journey in Solidarity took us to historical sites of the early Dominicans in Morelos, Mexico.

We left Cuernavaca in our CCIDD blue van, all 13 of us. Vicente from CCIDD staff was our driver. It was about 75 minutes to arrive at OAXTEPEC. The nine visitors plus Renesa Tang Pack, Internatioanl Domincan Volunteer with us in Cuernavaca and Aline Ussel OP, our guide. In the small village of Oaxtepec  we entered the ex convent of the Dominican Friars from around 1528. We were given a tour and the key elements of the restored facility were explained. The Dominicans were assigned these regions to the west of Cuernavaca as the Franciscan friars stayed in Cuernavaca and the closer communities. Frescoes in color were still in place on the ceilings in most areas. The structure is a large two store building with wide cement and stone walls and pillars. It is square with the open courtyard in the center. On the first floor was the de Profundis hall and the dining room. In the dining room we were able to see a partial drawing of Jesus with the thousands and the multiplication of the loaves. Outside in the courtyard on the pillars there were life size frescoes of many saints, tha majority being Dominican saints. These were quite striking in their clarity after some 475 years. Each corner  had on the walls drawings barely visible of scripture scenes of the life of Jesus. The  second level housed their large dormitories where each friar had plenty of space  a magnificent view outside.
currently the facicilty is used by the community for children's religious education classes as well as a public library.
The church structure Sister Aline explained well for us. The interior is Gothic in a pure style. It is stark and austier. The original sanctuary and altar had been replaced with a more modern neo classic strusture. There were only a few statues, one being St. Dominic. This church and convent are known to be the first or one of the first of the Dominican institutions in Mexico. The museum was used for education for the community and had several displays of medicinal plants, small animals and insects in the area. Children are givien information on distinct poisonous insects to avoid and plants to be used for healing. Tourist come to the area. It is good to sees the community using the facility.

Later we traveled about 20 minutes to another village in Morelos, Tepoztlan. Sister Aline gave us a tour of the church and museum/ ex convent of the friars. This structure was developed a little later than that in Oaxtepec.
This convent had simple frescoes in the ceilings in the walkways. the one room which was the dining room had frescoes of various Dominican saints. It also was a two story structure. It was known that many more friars lived in Tepoztlan. Being imersed in the midst of the mountains, the views were stunning from the second floor. The church facade was the most interesting with the mixture of religious and Indigenous spiritual images. Inside there were varios clothed statues, a lovely Pieta, carved in wood. Mary's face was filled with anguish as she embraced her son. Jesus taken down from the cross. Another modern and valuable piece of art at the church in Tepoztlan is the mural design at the entrance to the plaza in front of the church. there is a gigantic mural all made with a variety of seeds, differnt sizes and colors. It shows the Aztec histoy as well as the presence of the Dominicans in the parish. Each year the mural is redone after the rainy season.

As Dominicans we appreciated the opportunity to walk where our ancestors have walked and pray in their space as well. Today both churches are ministered by diocesan priests.  We enjoyed a delicious meal in the market, eating tacos, tlacoyas, and drinking horchata. What a grand journey into our past to know the places and persons who have gone before us.
Journey of Solidarity in Mexico
Cuernavaca

OPjourneyMexico december 1

December 1 nine travelors arrived from  the US  arrived in Cuernavaca, Morelos Mexico for their Journey of Solidarity as Dominicans recognizing the 500 years of Dominican preaching in the Americas.
Those on the journey are from Sinsinawa, Pam Mitchell, Jeri Cashman, Robi Huddleston, Liz Sully, Miriam Brown, Candy Krepel an associate and Paul Krepel her husband, Giulii Zobelein OP from Mission San Jose, CA and Joy Peterson PBVM, Sinsinawa Promoter of Justice and Peace. Kathy Long OP Sinsinawa, Renessa Tang Pack, a Dominican Volunteer International and Aline Ussel OP, Rosa Perez OP from Incarnate Word Dominicans in Mexico welcomed the group along with  the CCIDD staff of 15.

On Friday, December 2 the group experienced a deep immersion in the reality of Mexico. El Pregon young adults engaged the group in a profound presentation giving a panorama of the pain and oppression in Mexican society.  Impunity, electoral fraud, corruption are trying to destroy the Mexican society and turn youth away from any possibility for a future of hope. Young men are kidnapped and forced to turn against their conscience and their families to kill and perform acts of violence against others. Fear is instilled in many throughout the country by organized crime groups like the Zetas who were trained in the USA as well as drug cartel groups. However there is resistance; there are many who are working in community organizations to name the victims of violence and stand with their families and loved ones as an act of courage and resistance. These young activists shared from their hearts the struggles in which they are engaged to provide a Mexico with a new direction.

Later in the afternoon the Journey in Solidarity group met and dialogued with a group of folks in a human rights organization in Cuernavaca. We shared back and forth in the World Cafe format at five distinct table conversations. Our focus was to express the significance of the preaching of Antonio Montesinos and former Cuernavaca Bishop don Sergio Mendez Arceo as mentors for us today. The conversion of Bartolome de las Casas and his ensuing work in the Americas especially in Chiapas, Mexico with his long years of defense of the rights of the Indigenous was a key question at the second round for the solidarity Cafe. Those who are in the struggle, the suffering ones are the current profetic voices before us today.

Our evening closed with shared comments on what solidarity means for us. It calls us to be with those who suffer, not to leave people alone, to engage with others in the struggles for justice.

On a lighter note the group enjoyed the sunshine and warmer weather here, met the CCIDD staff, and enjoyed the Mexican menus. We imagined with John Lennon's singing what the world can be. it is good to be here.

Keep us in your prayers as we journey as neighbors, Mexicans and Americans, Domincan sisters and brothers across borders.
In solidarity,
kathy long for the group