aquí, ahora:here and now

Querétaro, Guanajuato, and Mexico City were lovely, but Oaxaca’s been fantastic. Yesterday I took a cooking class with a woman a former Rotary scholar put me in touch with (thanks, Graciela!) that turned into a brief history lesson on the recent troubles here. My mum leaves tomorrow, and I’m flying down to Chiapas the next day to meet with members of some local peacebuilding projects there. I am most interested in learning about the social, political and economic situation in that part of the country, I think it’ll be a highlight of this trip.

Last week I attended a Rotary friendship conference. Representatives from a bunch of US clubs came down to Cuernavaca and viewed a series of presentations from local clubs. The idea was for clubs to make connections and arrange matching grants. I presented Cuernavaca Nuevos Horizontes’ project proposal.
We got it funded! David is over the moon.
The mobile dental unit project will provide free dental services to the 5000 residents of the community of Cuentepec.

The other day I attended the celebration of a donation that the Rotary Club of Cuernavaca Nuevos Horizontes made to a local medical centre.

This centre is located just around the corner from my host counsellor’s house, in a ‘nice, middle class’ area, but the facilities are, if I’m being polite, modest. Around 40 patients are served every day by the three doctors and two nurses who run the clinic. They’re not specialised: they cover prenatal and maternal health, paediatrics, addictions, family planning, dental care, nutrition, and, often, emergency first aid. A consultation costs just over $2.50, but many patients are unable to pay.

The computer that David’s club donated is the first one they’ve had in their 13 years of operation. The idea is that they’ll be able to streamline their recordkeeping, analyse patient data, andd create health promoting material for distribution. As you’ll see below, healthy messages here are often home-made!

It was heartwarming to watch this ceremony, and to see the positive work that my host Club is doing here. I just hope that the clinic staff will receive IT training that will allow them to benefit from the donation.

Hi Chris

Sorry I haven’t written already. Things have been a bit hectic.

My Rotary counsellor and his family are absolutely lovely. They have four daughters around my age, all of whom visit a lot, and the house is always full of conversation and is a very warm-feeling place. I’ve been enjoying the food SO much. Yesterday I had agua de horchata, which is made with water, cinnamon, sugar, rice flour and milk. And I LOVE Mexican breakfasts, spicy as they are : chilaquiles (corn tortillas sauteed in green chilli sauce) with frijoles (refried beans) and huevos a la mexicana (eggs scrambled with tomato and chilli). Mmmmm.

I’m sitting here with a Mexican flag painted on my forehead. David, my counsellor’s grandson, put it there. Next Saturday, the 15th, is Mexican Independence Day, and the whole city is gearing up for the celebration. I’m not sure if it’s just the time of year, but everyone I meet is so patriotic. People are so earnest in their desire to show me that Mexico is the best place in the world, and to make me feel comfortable in this country.

I went to check out the school, Cuauhnahuac (pron. cwuh-nuh-hua-c), yesterday. It’s set in a huge garden and there’s an English institute attached. They took me to meet my host family, and it was a little strange… my room is completely separate from the house. This could be a good thing, though, as it seems like the usual time for Mexicans to go to bed is quite a bit later than me, and this way I’ll be able to get to sleep early! I also met the other two Rotary scholars, both of whom were very welcoming. I look forward to spending time with them and hearing about what they’ve been up to.

Next week I’m going to a Rotaract meeting and the offices of the local NGO I’ll be volunteering with.

That’s just about all my news. I’ve been trying to get my body clock in order after the horror of a 25 hour journey. Until last night I’d only managed to sleep for two or three hours at a time, but I just made up for it — fourteen hours, until 2pm today!

My Rotary family send you and your family their best wishes. I’d like to add mine to theirs, and extend them to the whole Glen Waverley Club.

Cariños

Louisa

I have arrived at the house of David and Alejandrea Hinojosa. David is my Rotary host counsellor. They have been so lovely and welcoming, inviting their daughter and grandchildren over to meet me. Luckily my luggage arrived only 12 hours after I did!

Tomorrow it’s language test day at the institute. I’ve fallen back into Spanish pretty easily, in between the jetlaggy tired periods. I find that I can chat away well for an hour or two, until I get to a point where I need to use some difficult verb tenses, and then my brain just freezes.