People vs. People

Day two in Chiapas: Today we went to a small village called Monte Sion where the Chamulan an indigenous community lived. This particular community or settlement of Chamulan is relatively new. Thirteen years earlier the community that they had been a part of forced them out of the village because of religious differences between the people. The displaced Chamulan were outcast for changing their beliefs. In a country with so much conflict in it, it was a tough thing for me to grasp that the conflicts weren’t only from external causes but also for within communities of people. They were fighting with one another and over what; religion, faith, beliefs. I found out as the day progressed that this was a very common struggle for the indigenous people. Many indigenous tribes were becoming fractured from within their own communities because of differences like this one.
We spoke with a woman about her life and the things they had to overcome in order to survive. This community came together and bought land and began to re-build their lives; when they were forced to leave their village they had to leave everything they owned behind. So they began a new life from scratch. They lived a modest existence to say the least. Their houses were made from wood planks from the trees in the surrounding forests, their roofs were tin and the floors were dirt. They had land to grow corn which they make into tortillas; this is their main source of sustenance. They had food to eat, a roof over their heads but not all their needs were met. Water, as in most of Mexico, was scarce and most times there was not enough to go around for all the essentials of daily living. The government was acknowledging them however, which is not always the case in settlements like this one, and we’re delivering water to them once a week which is stored in a large tank that was provided to the people here by AFCB of Belleville Ontario.
We visited with a family who lived there for a while then went for a walk down to the pond where they had been getting their drinking water from before AFCB had supplied then with a water tank. The sight was shocking. The water was murky almost milky looking, with old chemical garbage containers floating around in it. Now this pond was mainly used for washing clothes but when times are tough and water is in short supply what choice would you have.

Later during reflection I realized something about myself. I consider myself to be environmentally conscious and I try to defend the earth as best as I can and reduce my footprints. But when it comes to international support I think I am more geared to being involved with social injustice. It’s a hard thing to get my mind around though. On one hand I feel obligated to do my part environmentally and fight for our earth but I get lost in the steps when it becomes an international problem to fix. on the other hand I think my passion lies with the injustice of People vs. People. Something about another human being harming another sends and anger through my body that creates passion in my thoughts; a kind of energy that pushes me to act. I think this is where I will be most effective in international support; advocating for the people, against the people.