Pat Huckle in Oaxaca

Impressions from Oaxaca
Pat Huckle, Oct. 2002

First the smells: a streetful of rich chocolate, pungent aromas from piles of chiles and spices, sweet smelling gardenias carried in baskets on the heads of women vendors. And music everywhere, anytime: a small boy with accordion, wooden flutes, guitars, the Oaxaca state band, and my favorite, the sweet cumbia and danzon marimba tunes floating through the zocolo. The sense of centuries preserved at Monte Alban and Mitla, in cherubs on the ceiling of my 19^th century office. And colors, of course, buildings in bright yellow, purple, blue and the pale green stone. “Ambar de Chiapas,” the vendors chant, and others carry rebozos, rebozos and embroidered blouses of every color. The Tehuantepec giant flowers on silk or velvet, the bright reds of back-strap woven fabric, the colorful dances and indigenous clothing. The whimsical alebrijas, lizards and cats and dragons, a bold chicken, anteater and black polar bear. Delicious cheeses, the seven types of moles, tortillas and pan integral, papayas and mangos.

All part of why so many tourists have come to Oaxaca, perhaps for the many fiestas and folklorico dancing, or for the many art galleries and artists; some massing in large groups in the zocolo, maybe from France or Germany, visiting together the restored 16^th century ex-convent Santo Domingo, now a museum and botanical garden, or Monte Alban, maybe daring to eat “chapulines,” fried grasshoppers, or mango-flavored ice cream. Mexican families on the weekends, with parents, kids and grandmothers, taking hot chocolate in the morning, buying balloons in the zocolo. Some come to absorb this magical environment, and then stay, buying houses in San Felipe or Etla, showing up for readings at Amate Books (this week Alice Walker), teaching English or volunteering with community groups. And a sprinkling of foreign researchers conduct doctoral research and work with NGO’s. Tourism, both within Mexico and by foreigners, is a major industry in this second poorest state in Mexico.

What the tourists can only see lightly is the face of poverty, perhaps in the begging children or old women huddled against buildings in the center of the city. They can also hear the protests and see the buses stopping traffic for demonstrators around the zocolo, lately involving students and teachers and taxi drivers. Behind the charm lies the complexity of rural/urban migration, lack of infrastructure (only 46% have access to potable water), consequences of drought and overuse of some physical resources, as well as lack of education and economic opportunities. There are about 3 million people in the state, 59% of them under age 15. The average daily income in Oaxaca is $4.60 a day (in Mexico, $8.14, U.S. $100). A taxi driver, talking about the effects of 9/11, told me that it takes 100 pesos (about $10) a day to live, and women were only earning 30 pesos, that the taxis and small businesses, including hotels, have had a hard time. Most people have only a primary education (Oaxaca, average 5.4 years, Mexico 7.2 and U.S. 13), and the rate of illiteracy is also very high, 23% for Oaxaca, 11% Mexico and 3% U.S.) About 50% of Oaxaquenans are indigenas and speak one of the 16 native languages (zapotecos and mixtecos the largest groups), with about 20% speaking Spanish. And as you may know, about 40% of people born in Oaxaca are living and working in other parts of Mexico, U.S. or Canada, which causes another set of social problems, especially for women and children left behind. (Statistics from Oaxaca Handbook, Bruce Whipperman, Moon Travel Handbooks, 2000, citing census reports).

My base with the Autonomous University of Benito Juarez (UABJO) is at the Institute of the Science of Education, where Hia Marquez and I are putting together a “diplomado,” course for next spring, which will present new theories and strategies about education and women’s future, they hope as a precursor to a master’s degree program in gender studies. In November, I’ll present a course on International Women’s Movements, including the film “Performing the Border,” which speaks to the effects of the maquiladoras and the murders of young women in Juarez (available at SDSU).

There are many research and action projects around women’s issues here. One of the most well known is La Casa de La Mujer (Women’s Center) “Rosario Castellanos,” in operation since the 1970s. They offer courses and counseling on reproductive and sexual health, violence against women, and have a documentation center. Under the leadership of Margarita Dalton, they formed a group for studies about women, which publishes Entrelineas, for exchange of ideas and points of view on a wide range of women’s issues. The new Instituto de la Mujer de Oaxaca (IMO), one of 12 federally-funded Mexican offices, focuses on legal and political changes in support of women. Dr. Gloria Zafra, with the Sociology Institute at UABJO, works with IMO as an adviser. Her research on women tortilla makers (Mujer, Trajabo y Salud en Oaxaca) was published by UABJO and IMO, and she is currently doing research on women artisaneas. IMO also sponsored a two- day conference on art and culture from a gender perspective, which brought together local and national artists and writers. Two other interesting activities I’ve learned about are a microcredit project with very poor women, modeled after successful ones in Bangladesh; and a photography project in the local prison. There are many other NGOs, focused on human rights, family and children’s rights, environmental issues, indigenous rights, women and politics, local and transnational, who speak for and with women about their needs and concerns.

Immersion in another culture has both pains and pleasures. I’m learning to be patient with the process, and it’s not easy to slow down my usual compulsive pace. Walking everywhere, knowing the phone line quits when it rains, locating organizations and remembering they might be closed mid-day; gradually, I’m coming to know my way around. Also, as my Spanish improves, my ability to make connections gets stronger. Gradually, I’m meeting more activist feminists, and coming to understand the richness of this very diverse society. Overall, I’m most grateful to have this opportunity. And more convinced than ever that we must all try to put ourselves in other places, try to get inside other cultures as much as we can.

Maybe you’ll think about a trip to Oaxaca.

Professor Huckle is working in Oaxaca fall semester 2002, on a Fulbright grant, and will return to SDSU in January. She can be reached at huckchina@yahoo.com (when it doesn’t rain).

Related web sites include:

Mexico Connect, the State of Oaxaca (beautiful photo essays): http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/oaxaca/oaxacaindex.html

LANETA: http://www.laneta.apc.org

Grupos de Estudios Sobre la Mujer: http://www.laneta.apc.org/oaxaca/genero/casamuje.html

LaNeta en Derechos Humanos: http://www.laneta.apc.org/oaxaca

Women Beyond Borders: http://www.womenbeyondborders.org

MADRE International Women’s Human Rights Organization: http://www.madre.org

AWID Association for Women’s Rights in Development: http://www.awid.org



	Pat Huckle in Oaxaca

Home Program History Newsletter About the Program Class Schedule Master's Program Faculty Community Bread and Roses International Colloquia Internships Scholarships	Impressions from Oaxaca Pat Huckle, Oct. 2002 First the smells: a streetful of rich chocolate, pungent aromas from piles of chiles and spices, sweet smelling gardenias carried in baskets on the heads of women vendors. And music everywhere, anytime: a small boy with accordion, wooden flutes, guitars, the Oaxaca state band, and my favorite, the sweet cumbia and danzon marimba tunes floating through the zocolo. The sense of centuries preserved at Monte Alban and Mitla, in cherubs on the ceiling of my 19^th century office. And colors, of course, buildings in bright yellow, purple, blue and the pale green stone. “Ambar de Chiapas,” the vendors chant, and others carry rebozos, rebozos and embroidered blouses of every color. The Tehuantepec giant flowers on silk or velvet, the bright reds of back-strap woven fabric, the colorful dances and indigenous clothing. The whimsical alebrijas, lizards and cats and dragons, a bold chicken, anteater and black polar bear. Delicious cheeses, the seven types of moles, tortillas and pan integral, papayas and mangos. All part of why so many tourists have come to Oaxaca, perhaps for the many fiestas and folklorico dancing, or for the many art galleries and artists; some massing in large groups in the zocolo, maybe from France or Germany, visiting together the restored 16^th century ex-convent Santo Domingo, now a museum and botanical garden, or Monte Alban, maybe daring to eat “chapulines,” fried grasshoppers, or mango-flavored ice cream. Mexican families on the weekends, with parents, kids and grandmothers, taking hot chocolate in the morning, buying balloons in the zocolo. Some come to absorb this magical environment, and then stay, buying houses in San Felipe or Etla, showing up for readings at Amate Books (this week Alice Walker), teaching English or volunteering with community groups. And a sprinkling of foreign researchers conduct doctoral research and work with NGO’s. Tourism, both within Mexico and by foreigners, is a major industry in this second poorest state in Mexico. What the tourists can only see lightly is the face of poverty, perhaps in the begging children or old women huddled against buildings in the center of the city. They can also hear the protests and see the buses stopping traffic for demonstrators around the zocolo, lately involving students and teachers and taxi drivers. Behind the charm lies the complexity of rural/urban migration, lack of infrastructure (only 46% have access to potable water), consequences of drought and overuse of some physical resources, as well as lack of education and economic opportunities. There are about 3 million people in the state, 59% of them under age 15. The average daily income in Oaxaca is $4.60 a day (in Mexico, $8.14, U.S. $100). A taxi driver, talking about the effects of 9/11, told me that it takes 100 pesos (about $10) a day to live, and women were only earning 30 pesos, that the taxis and small businesses, including hotels, have had a hard time. Most people have only a primary education (Oaxaca, average 5.4 years, Mexico 7.2 and U.S. 13), and the rate of illiteracy is also very high, 23% for Oaxaca, 11% Mexico and 3% U.S.) About 50% of Oaxaquenans are indigenas and speak one of the 16 native languages (zapotecos and mixtecos the largest groups), with about 20% speaking Spanish. And as you may know, about 40% of people born in Oaxaca are living and working in other parts of Mexico, U.S. or Canada, which causes another set of social problems, especially for women and children left behind. (Statistics from Oaxaca Handbook, Bruce Whipperman, Moon Travel Handbooks, 2000, citing census reports). My base with the Autonomous University of Benito Juarez (UABJO) is at the Institute of the Science of Education, where Hia Marquez and I are putting together a “diplomado,” course for next spring, which will present new theories and strategies about education and women’s future, they hope as a precursor to a master’s degree program in gender studies. In November, I’ll present a course on International Women’s Movements, including the film “Performing the Border,” which speaks to the effects of the maquiladoras and the murders of young women in Juarez (available at SDSU). There are many research and action projects around women’s issues here. One of the most well known is La Casa de La Mujer (Women’s Center) “Rosario Castellanos,” in operation since the 1970s. They offer courses and counseling on reproductive and sexual health, violence against women, and have a documentation center. Under the leadership of Margarita Dalton, they formed a group for studies about women, which publishes Entrelineas, for exchange of ideas and points of view on a wide range of women’s issues. The new Instituto de la Mujer de Oaxaca (IMO), one of 12 federally-funded Mexican offices, focuses on legal and political changes in support of women. Dr. Gloria Zafra, with the Sociology Institute at UABJO, works with IMO as an adviser. Her research on women tortilla makers (Mujer, Trajabo y Salud en Oaxaca) was published by UABJO and IMO, and she is currently doing research on women artisaneas. IMO also sponsored a two- day conference on art and culture from a gender perspective, which brought together local and national artists and writers. Two other interesting activities I’ve learned about are a microcredit project with very poor women, modeled after successful ones in Bangladesh; and a photography project in the local prison. There are many other NGOs, focused on human rights, family and children’s rights, environmental issues, indigenous rights, women and politics, local and transnational, who speak for and with women about their needs and concerns. Immersion in another culture has both pains and pleasures. I’m learning to be patient with the process, and it’s not easy to slow down my usual compulsive pace. Walking everywhere, knowing the phone line quits when it rains, locating organizations and remembering they might be closed mid-day; gradually, I’m coming to know my way around. Also, as my Spanish improves, my ability to make connections gets stronger. Gradually, I’m meeting more activist feminists, and coming to understand the richness of this very diverse society. Overall, I’m most grateful to have this opportunity. And more convinced than ever that we must all try to put ourselves in other places, try to get inside other cultures as much as we can. Maybe you’ll think about a trip to Oaxaca. Professor Huckle is working in Oaxaca fall semester 2002, on a Fulbright grant, and will return to SDSU in January. She can be reached at huckchina@yahoo.com (when it doesn’t rain). Related web sites include: Mexico Connect, the State of Oaxaca (beautiful photo essays): http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/oaxaca/oaxacaindex.html LANETA: http://www.laneta.apc.org Grupos de Estudios Sobre la Mujer: http://www.laneta.apc.org/oaxaca/genero/casamuje.html LaNeta en Derechos Humanos: http://www.laneta.apc.org/oaxaca Women Beyond Borders: http://www.womenbeyondborders.org MADRE International Women’s Human Rights Organization: http://www.madre.org AWID Association for Women’s Rights in Development: http://www.awid.org
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