 |
|
Erin Feeney |
Hello everyone, from Pimpollo in Juichitan...the place with the most amazing, happy, responsible kids I've ever met.
I'm writing this letter after being here for 12 days and so much has changed in that short amount of time. At first, we arrived from Mexico city feeling tired and disoriented. We felt REALLY uncomfortable with the apparent lack of structure around Pimpollo...there were no organized times for anything, other than eating. The kids were often scattered around doing their own things and most of the time we couldn't figure out where they all were.
Now, my eyes are far more open. The kids wake up, eat breakfast and then most of them (especially the little
niños) go to school, returning around 3 for lunch.
Yesterday I rode into town in the old truck and dropped Madre Esrella off at the school, wandered around with Manuel (a helper who has worked at Pimpollo for 10 years...one of the cutest little boys calls him his father) and then picked up Madre after about an hour. Later, as I was scraping paint off the walls of the kids casa, to be repainted (a VERY long
job) I saw the kids run off the bus and into their rooms, dropping off their bags to immediately start playing. I thought about how wonderful it must be to return from school to a HUGE amount of land, a healthy meal and so many friends to play with and run around having mini adventures with. These kids are kids. They get way more affection than I realized and have a wonderful amount of responsibility. They clean and the older ones care for the younger ones and the disabled children. They do everything for themselves. Sometimes I find myself fighting my instict to take the cup out of a small child's hand and fill it up with water for them, but now I watch as they climb onto the counter, stretch their arms far out to turn on the tap and fill up their cup for themselves....spilling some, but knowing that when they are thirsty they can get a drink. It makes me realize that we may do too much for our children in Canada. These kids also know what to avoid. There are 'dangerous situations' around Pimpollo but never make me nervous with these kids.
They are SO smart and resourceful...and SO incredibly happy. Seeing some of the homes around Juichitan and other parts of Mexico made me realize that the kitchen I had originally thought was falling apart and dirty is actually perfect. The small room that a young family lives in, next to us, has such a nice tiled floor and hammock and clean space. It seemed small when I arrived but now I find myself thinking that they are a very lucky family. It's hard to explain everything in writing, but I'm constantly amazed by how fast perspective can change.
So we have only 3 days left here and are all feeling sad to leave. Even though the language barrier has been extremely hard, I feel a connection with so many of these kids. I feel a connection with Pimpollo in general. The walk down the pathway to the commadore kitchen space with the beautiful trees and wandering goats, the kitchen ladies who we help, the basketball court we play on when the sun gets lower and cooler, the schoolroom with Patti their VERY patient and warm teacher....so much.
Last Sunday we took a trip to a nearby Rio...very shallow part but still refreshing. It was SO fun to see the kids all together in one place acting like such kids. They collected small fish and huge shrimps (which they later cleaned, gutted, fried and ate) and basically played in the water and ate watermelon under the tree. It was so beautiful to be in a valley, with mountains around us in a private part of this river. 2 white cows mooed under the trees near us and at one point decided to run through the river, around our school bus and back across to the trees, to the kids delight and shreeks. Twice a family drove up in their cars for a little dip and it was impossible not to notice the contrast. I loved being with all the Pimpollo kids. I also love being on their bus, looking out. It's such a beautiful old bus with the occasional seat that slips off and slides the kids downwards.
It was wonderful to see Madre Estrella sitting under the tree, looking pleased every time someone would run up and show her yet another shrimp they caught. I can't beleive how she can give so much love and motherly affection to so many kids...she is truly an incredible woman.
We've definitely found our small place here. We have designed our own daily rituals, eating breakfast, helping to prepare the meal, palying cards, painting or helping with jobs (like scraping paint), eating lunch, washing all the dishes for an hour, relaxing a bit, playing outdoor games before 9:00 dinner and then going to bed. It feel very free, relaxed and happy and each day seems to bring a new little adventure. I can't wait to see you all and tell you about them all...I've been keeping a pretty good journal acount.
The other thing I am hugely impressed by is how resources are used here and I've been putting a lot of thought into how it compares to Canada. At home we seem to be told what to use, for what purposes and how. We buy what we need to clean, prepare our home and food and use for our daily lives. Here they are so much more resourceful with everything so things end up having dual and triple purposes and are used to their fullest capacity. They use the plastic mesh bags that the fruit comes in to clean the dishes, one boy was standing on a tire to scrape paint off the wall, their clothes are dried with a twisted rope that holds the edges of their shirts. I feel really brainwashed by conseumerism.
We're going to go to the market soon to buy supplies for a small party we're throwing Sunday. Piñatas filled with candy, waterballoons and a home-made pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. I'm SO excited. I have definitely had a great time letting my inner child out lately (....not like it's that far from the surface on any given day...). I love kicking a ball around with the little ones and I love being the one sitting on the court drawing with sidewalk chalk with the less athletic, sensitive kids while a game of football goes on around us....my young Erin never changed I guess.
We will be travelling to Puerto Escondito early Monday morning for our retreat so I will be able to check e-mails and write for those few days. I'm not sure how much I will be able to write after that, but I will keep in touch to let everyone know.
I hope you're enjoying your summers. You are all in my thoughts here and I love you all.