December is a month of fiesta
in Oaxaca. Traveling by bus
recently I saw several groups of young people on bicycles traveling with a
flower-bedecked truck, on bike pilgrimages to the various shrines, Guadalupe or
Juquila. Yesterday we took part in
a pilgrimage from our village to the town center of Tilantongo for the feast of
Our Lady of Guadalupe. Some walked
down into the deep valley and up the other mountain side cross-country, while
we drove our old pick-up truck for those who weren’t able to do the walk. Then we all met outside Tilantongo and
made the rest of the way all together on foot to the church, taking turns
carrying the banners of our village, San Isidro, and the Virgin of
Guadalupe. There we were met by
other groups arriving in pilgrimage from other, even more distant, villages
across the mountains.
These customs are an
expression of faith and the joy of celebration in community, with all members
young and old. Also participating
will be those extended family members who have migrated out to Mexico City or
other urban centers and always love to return to their villages of origin and
to the community life which is still important to them. Presents are generally
not a part of the Christmas celebrations, but since most families in the village
live without television, they don’t seem to feel they are missing anything.
There is much in the
indigenous rural life and the values of a non-money based economy that we
admire here and believe can provide some guideposts for our U.S. culture, now
seemingly based on extreme consumerism. Yet at the same time there are many
basic necessities here that we have been able to help with, through the
generosity of many of you who have contributed to these efforts.
We are happy to be able to
report the success – finally – of the great water project which has taken
nearly two years to complete. All
the labor has been done by local residents, and it has been enormous, but we
now have water piped to every house in the village. For the first time in the history of San Isidro, people will
not have to make the trek with their donkeys to the spring – or some simply
having to carry the heavy containers on their backs - to fill their water
jugs. Our oldest resident, 95 year-old
Maria, who lives with her 94 year-old husband, Florentino, at the top of the
mountain, joked recently, “Well, when are you going to get that water? You know I don’t have much time
left!” So Maria was the first to
get her water tap.
One of the needs in these
communities is for some small, cooperative projects to create a modest income,
needed for some of the things that people can’t grow or produce
themselves. One such project is
the new nursery, started earlier this year, which will produce organic fruit
trees and ornamentals. To produce
some start-up income, the participants decided to do a poinsettia project, with
the first plants ready to sell for Christmas. Poinsettias, which originated in Mexico, are always an
important part of the Christmas celebrations here. Everyone is excited that the first plants are now ready and
will be on sale in the Tilantongo market this weekend! 
Another interesting project has been the carpentry training. Some time ago, Phil started teaching
one of the older boys in the neighborhood some basic carpentry skills, with his
table saw and some basic tools. That
effort has now resulted in 3 older teenage boys who can make doors, tables,
beds, cupboards, and book shelves, as well as complete bee boxes for starting
honey projects, and the composting toilets that we’ve introduced here. These three boys: Angel, Daniel, and
Pedro are now launching into their own business, taking orders and delivering
their finished projects on foot here in the village and the surrounding
area. Phil is helping them to get
their own power saw and other equipment soon, so that they will be completely
independent with this. We are also
making the contact with a couple of master woodworker friends in Oaxaca City, who
will give some training at higher levels as well.
