Community Development in Chiflón
– Submitted by Amna Fatani
This summer I am working with Juventud Utopía, a local organization
based in Cuernavaca that has been directly involved in the development
of the Chiflón community since 2010. The Chiflón de los Calderos
community is based in the eastern Colonia of Chula Vista in Cuernavaca,
the capital city of Morelos, the second smallest state in Mexico. The
residents of Chiflón are of a native indigenous background and they
speak the indigenous language of Nahuatl. Because they are a
marginalized community and are not very active in the political sphere,
the indigenous community in Chiflón has not received much support from
the government in the past. And while this has been changing in the last
few years with more programs targeted to the indigenous community, the
history of marginalization of this community has led to many households
that are dependent on the drug cartels for support, especially
economically. Indeed, the shift away from the drug industry has been
difficult for many households.
Juventud Utopía runs a range of community development initiatives
including building stable housing for the community, supporting La
Esperanza with fundraising events and educational activities for the
children, building environmentally conscious orchards for members of the
community to grow and cultivate their own produce, and helping
establish sustainable microbusinesses and enterprises that could support
an overall shift from the drug industry to more legitimate sectors.
Utopía depends on grants and awards to secure funding for their projects
as well as university students who volunteer with them to complete a
social service mandate to get the work they need done.
I am in Cuernavaca working with Juventud Utopía with three main
tasks; teaching critical and philosophical thinking to the school
children, facilitating an extensive course on critical and philosophical
thinking to the university volunteers who work with Juventud Utopia in
their development projects next year, and creating an evaluation system
for the development projects Utopía is implementing in the next five
years in Chiflón.
Through working with the students at the “La Esperanza” (“The Hope”
in Spanish) elementary school at Chiflón de los Calderos I had the
pleasure of being a small part of the development of this community, The
first day I attended La Esperanza, the teacher asked me (politely, but
firmly) to introduce myself to the students in Nahuatl. “NotōcāAmna.” I
didn’t understand then but came to realize that he was illustrating a
part of his culture through this request – pride. The indigenous
communities in Mexico have been for a long time, and still for the most
part are, a marginalized population in Mexico and all of Latin America,
yet this didn’t stop them from being proud of who they were. That was
why it was important for him that I introduce myself in Nahuatl (and
later end up taking some Nahuatl classes) to the children.
Teaching critical and philosophical thinking to children in this
community was an enriching and fulfilling experience as the children
were so advanced in how they grappled with issues. These children did
not only know what they wanted out of life, they were also very
appreciative of the opportunity to be at school, whilst their siblings
and most of their neighbors children were in el centro selling products
in order to make a living for their families.
I read many development blogs that talk about the importance of being
empathetic, patient and, most importantly, modest with the communities
you work with. For me this experience was the first time I had to really
challenge myself to immerse myself in conditions of poverty. It has
been a truly a humbling experience, which has given me many insights on
the problems that face the poor of Morelos, their interactions with
their democratically elected governments and their realization of the
importance of their education and political participation to improve
their situation. My past experiences have always been to educate the
young people in middle and upper income level communities in Saudi
Arabia, helping them improve their personal freedoms with restricted
participation in public life.
The children I worked with at La Esperanza were very genuine in their
desire to learn. Yet they face significant challenges due to the
conditions in which they live in – the everyday struggles of securing
food for everyone, the difficulty of getting a good night’s sleep before
school, and the balancing of education with household chores and
responsibilities. One of the students will complete grade 6 next year,
and says he insists on both going to school and working after hours so
that his family may never have to go back to the drug industry again.
