CHIAPAS TRIP JUNE 2021
Due to Covid-19, a trip to Chiapas was not possible in 2020, but in spring 2021, things were looking up. Our coordinator had been vaccinated, the staff at the family-run hotel where I always stay had had their vaccines as well, and some of the communities were experiencing herd immunity. So I decided to go and it was an extremely rewarding visit.
I was able to meet with a good number of both current and former scholarship recipients. Gabriela, who has been studying architecture in university, will graduate in 6 months and as her final project she is designing a remodel of the Mujeres’ house in San Cristobal, which will include more workshop space, more toilets (currently there is just one) and an upstairs. We are gratified that she is using her new skills to give back to the cooperative. I had a 2 hour meeting with Martha, who was on scholarship with us from 6th grade through nursing school, and is now working in a clinic in her community (see photo below.) I spoke with Erika, who started in a teaching program at university. She just completed her first year and was not particularly happy with the online classes, but this past year there was no alternative. Her sister Pati starts secondary on a scholarship this year but has already been helping the younger students in the children’s program for the past year. Yoli is continuing her studies of English and was elated that she had passed the test required after year 2 of university that allows her to continue. And these are just a few.
1 accompanied 11 women and girls to the optometrist and 7 pairs of glasses were ordered. Many were prescribed eye drops. The best drops are Systane and must come in the individual plastic vials, not the bottle, which has added preservatives. These drops are very expensive, about $30 a month. But the girls who need them the most are those spending a lot of time in front of a computer screen. In addition, the air in their houses is extremely dry due to the fact that cooking is done with a wood fire. We feel that glasses, eye exams and eye drops are an essential part of life for students, so we have made arrangements for drops to be ordered and purchased for the next calendar year.
Due to the lingering pandemic, I limited my visits to children’s programs this year. But I did attend the one in Zinacantan. There were 3 scholarship girls helping the children, and I could see that each child (there were 11 attendees that day) were working at their own level and receiving individual attention. I also got a look at the mini-library. (See “Programs” for more information) and glad to see that the books were in use and being borrowed.
Our coordinator, Carmen, and I purchased 6 laptop computers to replace some of the very old ones we bought years ago.
So it was a very fruitful trip.
Judith
Nurse Martha and Judith