Hola a todos!!
On Tuesday, June 19th, we had a day full of
activities! Early in the morning we took
the bus to a rural school just outside of Cuernavaca. Valentin Gomez Farias is a public, rural,
elementary school. Melanie and I
observed in a 4th and 5th grade classrooms. We were especially impressed with the 5th
grade teacher. It is her first year in
the school however she seemed very informed about the community and the
students. She had a great relationship
with all of the students and kept them engaged in their work. Students were working on a summary of a
story. A few of the children even came
and asked us to read what they had written.
The Fulbright group was very moved by the visit to this school and
really loved it. The kids were great and
we excited to practice their English!
After class, we had a testimony of a women from Guatemala
who migrated to Mexico at a young age.
She has two names, one being her real name and one being a name that she
had to adopt when she came to Mexico illegally.
She was also forced to lie about her heritage and where she came
from. Her and her husband came to Mexico
for a better life. Along with fake names
they had to lie and say they were part of an indigenous group in Mexico. Their children however were able to have
their real names since they were born in Mexico. After many years, they were able to visit
Guatemala however it wasn’t the experience they were hoping for. People were not very accepting of them
because they chose to leave the country where they were from. Her family members were very happy to see her
but they were nervous because they could get in trouble with the law if
officials found out that they were housing them there. They would love to return to Guatemala to
live the rest of their lives but feel obligated to stay in Mexico because their
children were born here. This testimony
was very moving and eye opening for many of us.
There are so many people in Mexico that have to leave their families to
go to the United States for better wages.
Families get torn apart and relationships are harder to maintain with
the distance and time.
After lunch a few of us spent our free afternoon celebrating
Suzy’s birthday with a cake and going to the circus. The circus had all kinds of animals including
leopards, jaguars, monkeys, a hippo, a bull, donkeys, horses, elephants,
alpacas, and camels. It was a great
time!
Becca and Melanie
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