Day 4: Zapatista community
Today we had the opportunity to visit the autonomous Zapatista village of Fray Bartholome
The Zapatistas are a leftwing group of organized indigenous people. In 1994 the Zapatista uprising sought to reclaim indigenous ownership of land and local resources, and defend the rights of indigenous people. In 1996 the Federal government and the Zapatistas reached an agreement called the San Andres Accord. This accord was intended to protect the rights and further the indigenous people of Chiapas
We were welcomed to Fray Bartholome by the entire community in their little one-room school house. We were introduced to all of the community members and thanked them for allowing us to visit. Zapatista communities are generally closed to outsiders and you need the permission of the Good Government Junta to be welcomed. The members of the community took the time to share with us what their day-to-day lives are like. Fray Bartholome is a community that centers around agriculture, and they grow organic corn and beans, squash and peas with local native seeds. Though they cannot grow enough on their small amount of land to feed the entire community, they are able to exchange goods or services for what they need. The community is attempting to become self sustaining through increased knowledge of better farming practices. This training is provided by DESMI, who Horizons of Friendship and in turn OPSEU supports. The entire community including women and children attend these training sessions.
As a child and youth worker, I was very interested to hear about and witness the lives of the children in this small community. The children attend school daily where they are instructed in languages, maths, social studies, health, agriculture, history and science. All of the children are taught together in the same classroom by an “education promoter” from the Junta. School supplies are scarce as the community has very little money to purchase them, so I was glad I could bring some to help out. After school the children are involved in taking care of the house, child care, cooking and working the land.
After the talk at the school, our delegation was taken on a tour of the community by the leaders and adults. I got side-tracked playing games and picking flowers with the children. As a result, I think Emily and I got the best tour. The children were very proud of where they live and enjoyed showing us their homes and livestock. They also had fun attempting to teach me the name of everything in Spanish. Although the children could not speak English and I can’t speak Spanish we were able to communicate just fine with gestures and smiles. I sang songs to them and taught them some hand games. I was sad to leave as I was having such a good time. The visit ended with hugs, laughs and smiles. It was endearing that as I left the children were running up to get one last hug or bring me more flowers.
The community as a whole was extremely grateful for our visit and the support we provide through the work of DESMI. One thing in particular helped me to understand the importance of the work done through the OSPEU Social Justice Fund and partner organizations. They said “it gives us strength to know we are not alone. People in neighbouring communities have seen that you came to visit us here. All around us people know we have international support. Thank you.”
Kaylan Bartholomew
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