Ten years ago, land within the city limits of San Mateo Ixtatán cost less than $100.00 an acre. Now it costs $75,000.00 an acre. You read that correctly, $75,000, 750 times more expensive. There is a direct corollary between the beginning of the emigration of young men to the United States 10 years ago and the rise in the price of land. These young men leave their home dreaming of building for their families a nice new home, with indoor plumbing, electricity, tile floors and beautiful details. The population in San Mateo is growing and urban land is growing scarce. This has driven the price up as the norteños outbid each other in their quests to build.
To segue a little….informal studies have shown that there is a minimum of $2,000,000 going into San Mateo every year, sent by workers in the States. This money goes into building houses and into some businesses, such as transport vehicles. We believe that a good deal of it gets piddled away in everyday unnecessary purchases. From data collected at our little school store, we have calculated that the average Yinhatil Nab’en student spends 50 cents every day on his morning snack. This adds up to $2.00/week or $88.50/academic year, more than the cost of tuition. I believe that since people in San Mateo have never had money before, and since there has never even been a bank there until recently, that thatn there really has not been an opportunity for money managing skills to find root. This is something we are thinking about including in next year’s curriculum for the Yinhatil Nab’en School.
September is the month of the week of independence celebration. This means marching band and parade. Last year we supposedly just used two drums. I don’t think any of the schools really had any instruments…until the end of July. The mayor gifted about 30,000Q (more or less $5000) worth of instruments to one of the other schools and nothing to anyone else, and another 3000Q to bring in a trumpet player and band person to give lessons.
So, I figured we would play to our strengths—marimba in the back of a pickup truck, bells, smaller rhythm instruments, and a little singing—with the brave hope that our kids don’t get performance anxiety and an inferiority complex. Until…the parents petitioned and now we have a 45 piece marching band. Our kids are just beginning to read music, most have never touched these instruments before, I (the music teacher) know nothing about band repertoire and basic band theory, and it’s all crammed into one month of prep time…this is what I *believe* is called “experience.” I am finding that “experience” is often a very unsexy thing. It’s a growing thing. And we’re 15 days until show-time.
Heather Hightower teaches Music and English at Yinhatil Nab’en (Seeds of Knowledge) High School.
Teaching is perhaps the best teacher of energy. Just about everything that comes my way is a challenge, or rather, an opportunity of some kind to be a conscious person. Whether it be a comment from a student, a request for help, an “untimely” knock on the door after hours, or managing school routine without school space and enough teachers to govern. And it is not that there are more opportunities here than there are in the States…more likely, all of us hanging out in other countries feel like we are doing so much because we are allowing ourselves to be more open to the gift of daily life.
I am not trying to “give” to these “poor” people. Really, who among us is poor? One volunteer once said, “It makes me really sad to see these kids playing with empty plastic soda bottles.” In my view, it warms my heart to know that there are still people on this earth who do not need a $35 fancy super ball in order to play and have a good time. Who, really, is the poor one? Who is poor? The rested, centered, bright-eyed, intuitive, smart 17 year-old who is able to prioritize his family and be ok with his decisions, or the over-committed, stressed, sick, depressed, award-winning 17 year-old early-decision into an over-priced private school? Who is poor? The family and friends coming together to build a cement or adobe home eating a hot meal together on break, or the lonely, anxious, dieting mother trying to decorate her home like a pro? Who is poor? The barefooted, weathered grandmother with ripped, bow-legged legs whizzing up the mountain-side or the sickly, thin-skinned grandmother crying herself to sleep at night in a retirement home in between mandatory medications? Who is poor? The strong family in a dirt floor adobe house or the chemically sensitive, allergy-ridden kids and neurotic parents in a housing development?
Heather Hightower is teaching Music and English at Yinhatil Nab’en (Seeds of Knowledge) High School.
The Millenium Goals of the United Nations address the problems of extreme poverty, low education levels, the high incidence of AIDS incidence, etc. (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ ). By 2015 it is hoped that many of the conditions under which much of the world lives will be greatly improved. Under the goal of “Ensuring Environmental Sustainability” one finds “Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.”
The Ixtatán Foundation has taken this as one of its own goals and is working with the students of the Yinhatil Nab’en (Seeds of Knowledge) High School to produce simple ceramic water filters right in the community of San Mateo Ixtatán. These filters will bring clean water to the 50,000 people living in the area of San Mateo.
Ron Rivera of Potters for Peace www.potpaz.org/ has supplied us with expertise and a filter press so that we can begin to produce filters. They are extremely effective filters, made entirely of local clay and sawdust and designed for household use. A family that uses one has no need to boil water or buy chemicals to purify water, thereby saving money, time and flavor. We expect to produce them for $10.00 US.
Katie Jackson, Esther Johnson and Brian spent a month teaching a mini course on health, hygiene and water quality. This set the groundwork for the filter project. These filters will not be effective in the community if the people using them do not understand how dirty water causes disease.
After the course, in July, three students went with Brian and Katie down to Managua, Nicaragua to pick up the press from Ron. Their assignment was to produce a complete report for the rest of us when they got back. They took photographs and video, they took notes and a week after they got back they presented a powerpoint presentation to the rest of the school and the parents. They continue the work as they give presentations to each of the ten elelmentary schools around the town.
Our students are also making filters. The goal is that by the end of October, each of our 52 students will have made his/her own filter to take home to his/her family. This work has given us the foundation to build ahead towards a San Mateo Ixtatán with plenty of clean drinking water.
If you have been there recently, you may have noticed that the Ixtatan Foundation website is gorgeous but has not been updated in some time. I met with our new website guru today and we discussed all kinds of changes to be made. Look out for new pictures, updated information, and new resourses throughout the web to be coming soon!
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Starting today, this will be a journal of the happenings of a Charlottesville, VA based non-governmental organization (NGO) attempting to work in a small indigenous town in northwestern Guatemala. We work with members of the community, San Mateo Ixtatan, to help maintain the high school that we jointly created 5 years ago. This was the first high school in the entire region of 50,000 people, most of which are Chuj Mayans. The hope is to foster education and innovative learning, and later, a better standard of living for everyone living in San Mateo Ixtatan.
The goal of this blog is to bring into focus the challenges of everyday life in rural, indigenous Guatemala and how we are in the process of bringing about meaningful progress.
Any suggestions, comments, or support would be great! Please visit our foundation website to learn more!
