Centeótl

When we arrived in Zimatlán, we found ourselves wandering the streets looking for the only restaurant in town. Zimatlán was not the “village” that most of us had in mind. Instead, it is a small city, bustling people and mototaxis at all hours of the day (and night). Instead of sleeping on a dirt floor, like some of us might have expected, we found ourselves watching MTV for the first time in two months, in the ritzy Hotel Princesa. We use the term ritzy loosely, as the bathroom door needed to remain closed at all time due to a suspicious and unbearable sewage smell the emanated from all drains in said bathroom. Also, Allie found several mysterious hairs in her bed, that did not seem to match any of the members of the group. Luckily, we’re a rugged bunch, we don’t mind living on the edge.

Our first full day in Zimatlán, started off slowly. We ate breakfast in the market, the first of many scrumptious dining experiences involving beans and eggs during our stay. Afterwards, we ventured over to Centeótl, the organization that we would be working with throughout the week. Centeótl is a NGO (Non-Government Organization or GNO en Español) that works with local communities finding different ways to address their needs. This needs, as we learned, can range anywhere from creating solutions for water and land issues, to financing small female-run businesses throughout the Central Valle region of Oaxaca. We would be working with Nicondro who is very experienced with water projects in the area. After meeting the members of Centeótl, and stretching our Spanish comprehension skills to their limits, we accompanied Nicondro to two of the the three villages we would be working with for the next three days. These communities were called La Guadalupe, El Carmen, and La Soledad.





On our first visit, with Don Victor and his family in El Carmen, we were welcomed with open arms and plenty of food. Don Victor dug up jicama from his own field and shared it with us, sprinkled with lime and chili. Some of us played a game of soccer with his grandchildren (and one great-grandchild). Upon returning to Zimatlán we all enjoyed a big dinner of tlayudas, a Oaxacan specialty.



We started the next day, right after breakfast, with a ride out to Guadalupe, where we were welcomed by a surprisingly large group with an even larger amount of food to share with us (about one hour after eating a huge breakfast). One of the major things we have learned here, is there is no turning down food. Eating together is perhaps the most important way of building relationships with members of the community. All of us agree that some of our happiest moments on this trip were sharing meals with different families that we met. After breaking off into small groups to discuss issues such as water, land, air quality, food production and migration, we presented to the community the results of our discussions. This was definitely a test of our Spanish skills as well as a test of our nerves. One thing that we wanted to make clear was that we were there to learn from the community members, and not to teach or tell them what they should do. It was fascinating to see how much of consciousness existed about their land, and especially about how the natural cycles of water had changed over time. Even groups who weren’t specifically discussing water, showed a clear concern for the changes in availability (there is much less than there used to be). After the discussion, we split off into pairs visiting different members of the community. This was another test of our limits. We were not given any specific plans, and many of us walked very far from each other to the distant houses in the hills, not knowing, when, where or how we were going to reunite with Nicondro. We just stopped caring for a while, to live in the moment and enjoy the interactions we were having. Eventually, we all found Nicondro and made it back to the Princesa. Later, we got together to reflect (no one wanted to eat dinner… almost everyone had been fed or over fed by their hosts). We all acknowledged that it was much different not to have a clear schedule, and we learned to throw our expectations to the wind and go with the flow. This would be our mantra for the rest of the week.

We started out the next day in a similar fashion, with discussions that mirrored those of the previous day. The community, El Carmen, faces many of the same issues as La Guadalupe. For some of us, it was a good reminder of how different group dynamics can be in every setting. Some people were definitely more interested in talking to us than others. Regardless, we found that the community members welcomed us into their homes, offering us both learning and eating opportunities. (Beans… eggs… tortillas… the standard). We were taken by one family to each one of their wells (pozos en Español) to give us a better understanding of what they were dealing with. We did encounter awkward moment at one site, where the grandmother confronted us as a group and asked us for a solution to a problem she was facing. She expected us as students from the U.S. to know how to stop her land from eroding into her well during the rainy season. None of us study anything related to water engineering, but we still felt compelled to provide her with some sort of answer. In the end, we really couldn’t and still feel unsettled about it. Nonetheless, her son did offer all of us a ride on the family mule. Later, she still didn’t seem to mind that we didn’t have an answer for her, immediately after she welcomed us into her home to share an amazing meal of chicken and mole verde. Which is really special, considering she only eats chicken once a month at grand celebrations. By the time we left, we all felt like we were saying goodbye to old friends. Many of us hope that we can return to the house of this family.


We’ll keep the description of our last visit to the village (La Soledad) brief, because that’s exactly what it was. At first, the community didn’t seem very interested in talking about the issues we were told to discuss. Some of the women were literally falling asleep in the first meeting… it was awkward. Once we got out of the classroom and into the real world (a concept we keep coming back to in Oaxaca) we were able to get them to really open up to us and enjoy the time we spent together. On this this day, we also got to make tortillas. Some of us were more successful than others (it looks a lot easier than it is). Some of our hosts were amused at how Russ, the only male in our group, was, in fact, the most naturally talented tortilla maker. All, in all, this day wasn’t what we expected, but that is what we have learned on this trip… go with the flow! Once again, it was hard to leave our new friends, and it when we were saying goodbye, many of us realized how much the experience meant to us.




Our last day was a time of reflection and wrap-up to try to understand what we had done for the previous week. Some of us quickly visited an amaranth factory, while others stayed behind to discuss a continuing relationship that the University of Vermont can have with Centeótl in the future. We hope this relationship can be one of friendship and reciprocity. We want to continue cautiously in finding ways to support the organization, without falling into the trap of “helping” without fully understanding our impact on the communities. This concept is something we’re going to continue to talk about in the future, and only time will tell what the relationship will look like. Many of us left feeling like we had been given more than we could possibly hope to offer to the communities. We hope that maybe someday we can return the generosity and hospitality that was continuously offered to us throughout the week. Perhaps if we can never give enough back to the communities, we can at least remember their example, apply it to our own lives and show solidarity.


Signing off from Oaxaca,
Amber, Allie, Russ, Mary Lucia, Elena, Sarah and Taylor