Public Transportation

El dia de ayer, entregando oficios, hicimos 2 horas y media en entregar 3 oficios. Lo sorprendente es que nos tomo ese tiempo para recorrer un total de 12 km. Esto me lleva a preguntarme que tanto tiempo le puede tomar a alguien que toma el camion todos los dias para transportarse alrededor de la ciudad.. como el ninio de CODENI que tenia que ir desde el centro hasta casi el aeropuerto.

Post by Jorge Perez

Last Day

En este ultimo dia, nos dimos cuenta que en realidad, a pesar de ser un proyecto de servicio a la comunidad, aprendimos mucho, desde como ver a los demas y la situacion en la que viven y a abrirnos los ojos en cuanto a lo que es verdaderamente nuestra ciudad

Post by Jorge Perez

CIrculo vicioso

La pobreza es la basa de mucha problematica. De aqui, salen ramas tales como la prostitucion, crimen, drogadiccion, etc. La falta de educacion en mucha gente a creado problemas en las casas y en las calles. Para disminuir la pobreza en el pais, se tienen que manejar muchas otras cosas tales como las mencionadas anteriormente.

Post by Andres Olazabal

La politica

Hace rato tuvimos una paltica en la cual hablabamos de como los partidos politicos influencian la desicion de la gente de manera muy estupida. Mencionaron como representantes de partidos politicos llegan a zonas rurales y les dan tortas y refrescos para que voten por ellos. Si en esto se basa la desicion de la gente en quien nos va a representar, entonces el pais es una basura.

Post by Andres Olazabal

discucion de clase

entablamos una convercacion de varios temas que fueron muy importantes. vimos como cada quien tenia diferentes puntos de vista pero definitivamente llegamos a un mismo punto. horacio jzl

oficios en el centro de gdl

mi grupo fuimos el dia de ayer a entregar oficios para hacerposible lo del dia del ninio. lascalles estaban en construccion y el trafico esta infame. recorrimos 12 kilometros en 2 horas y media .. ahora imaginense lo que la gente que usa el camion tarda en llegar a su destino.

I look up to Nanci

Not only to Nanci but all the kids from CONEDI. They work, study, and most important have a life. At least Nanci is happy from what i got to know her. And for that I look up to Nanci.

A Proud Mama

Yesterday we went to CODENI and I was supposed to be teaching one of the kids how to write poems. However, the teacher told him that all he needed to do was copy poems from a textbook. An approach that I thought was totally wrong. So, instead, I convinced him to write a poem of his own. His name was Sergio and this was the poem he wrote:

MI VIDA SIN TI

Eres como una rosa roja
Que en las noches brilla
Como un diamante
Y tienes tus labios
Como perlas

Eres mi vida
Eres mi razon de vivir
Sin ti la vida no es nada
Sin ti no se vivir


So, needless to say, I felt really proud of him, and was very glad that he developed the necessary confidence to write a poem of his own, and be willing to expose his own thoughts.

-Maite RyV

"No tiene un billete que me regale?"

While we were playing with the kids in Codeni, Mr. Gerber showed up and started playin this kind of waterless water polo with us. One of the kids that was playing with us came to Mr. Gerber and asked him, "No tiene un billete que me regale?" This question really shocked me due to the fact that this usually happens in the streets and not inside institutions. The kid was a good boy, i helped him out with his homework and he seemed pretty smart. Good boy, bad situations.

Luis alberto ramirez

No hay diferencia.

Llegamos con la mentalidad de "hay que entretener a los mocosos", ellos terminaron entreteniendonos. Jugando un juego que parecia que alguien iba a salir muerto. El que tenia el balon era tacleado literalmente por sus otros amigos yy no lo dejaban llegar hacia la porteria. Nos divertimos mas que los ni;os, y al parecer no somos tan diferentes.

KARLA(:

For Gods Sake!

Wicho and I were helping a kid research about the Middle East and we were telling him that the Middle Eastern countries are mainly Islamic. He didnt know what Islam was, which is understandable, it is a religion practiced very far away. Then came the teacher and said, "Its ok if you don't know what the Islamic religion consists in but what is catholisism about." He responded that being catholic is to go to mass and to pray. Besides this he could nt think of anything else about catholisism. 

We this five minutes of discussion i have had an epiphany, I finally understand why Mexico is so catholic. BECAUSE THE MAJORITY OF ITS PEOPLE DONT KNOW WHAT CATHOLISISM IS!!!!!! I actually feel relieved. Here I am thinking that people actually believed all the things the church and the bible say, it is indeed a relief that people go to church only because they are told to and not because they believed all about it. 

This kid is an example of hundreds of thousands of kids that live in the lower class or poverty in Guadalajara and that go to church only because it is the tradition. He didnt even know who Christ was!!! 

In a way the church has gotten to a lot of people but for all the wrong reasons. It is only natural that the lower class is the most devote. 

Alexa

Tocayito

Today's experience of interacting with these children made me realize that yes, although we might come from different backgrounds, most children do have a lot of similarities and parallels in life. Boyfriends and Girlfriends for example; people from ASFG have them and so do people from CODENI.

My first interaction with the kids was sitting down with a couple of girls to help them do their homework. The girls proudly told us about their boyfriends. They introduced me to Nacho, my tocayo. I think meeting Nacho made me think even more about these parallels because I began thinking about what I was like when I was little. I found that my tocayo and I (at a youner age) shared a lot of similarities such as not wanting to do homework and wanting instead to do mischief and the things I like to do.

Nacho

Hablame de tu

Supuestamente iba a estar en recreacion y y por alguna razon acabe en tareas. Donde conoci a Nanci... Una nina de 11 anios que nacio en Guadalajara. Nanci no tenia tarea pero decidio que queria colorear. "Puede ayudarme colorear." me decia Nanci, "Si Nanci pero nada mas si me hablas de tu" le pregunte porque no me queria hablar de tu y me dijo que nada mas le hablaba de tu a sus amigos que en su casa la forma educada es hablarle a todos sus mayores de ud. 

Como senial de respeto me hablaba de ud. cosa que me incomodaba y preferi convencerla a que me hablara de tu al final lo cambie un poco mas no del todo.

-ana pau

In a Rich Man's World...

Today we spent about an hour cutting paper bills. 5 pesos, 10 pesos, 20 pesos, up to a 100 pesos. And, while doing it, I couldn't stop hoping that the money could somehow become real. However, the truth is that real money is very hard to get. So, for now, all we can really give the CODENI kids is the illusion of money. The illusion of having it, and then spending it on clothes that were actually donated. And, yet again, the simple illusion is more than what other kids can get. 

- Maite RyV

El dinero cansa.

Pensando en recortar y juntar pacas de dinero suena bastante facil, pero hacerlo te agota, y mas si es dinero de papel con fotografias de maestros en ellos. Ojala y fuera tan facil de hacer y de regalar dinero, pero te das cuenta que aunque sean 200 pesos lo que estan recibiendo las personas, trabajaron por este dinero y se merecen esos 200 pesos.

KARLA.(:

Money, money, money

Ojala fuera tan facil. Imprimir, recortar y distribuir dinero. El mundo seria un mejor lugar para algunos. El equipo esta en CODENI contribuyendo nuevamente para el tianguis. Esta vez estamos cortando y contando dinero para darles a los ninios y lo puedan "gastar" en ropa y juguetes el sabado. 

El sistema esta dividido en tres categorias para los ninios: Sobresalientes, Perseverantes e Inconstantes. A los sobresalientes se le da la generosa cantidad de mil pesos para gastar en el tianguis, a los perseverantes quinientos y a los inconstantes 200 pero lo importante es que todos reciben algo. Como ya he mencionado antes este sistema me parece apropiado para la situacion en la cual los ninios con los que estamos trabajando se encuentaran. Siento que el sistema les da la satifaccion de haberse ganado ese dinero que van a gastar. 

Ojala fuera tan facil ayudar a la gente necesitada, estoy segura de que si yo pudiera imprimiria y cortaria mucho dinero para repartirlo pero claro que no es asi de facil. It is a difficult world out there and in CODENI kids are being prepared for that world but it cant all be done to scale. 

Alexa

The Minutes before..

   We meet the children are taken up by doing last minute preparations for their greatly awaited tianguis. We are organizing the dollars and once again using teamwork to get the job done quickly. By reading the other groups blogs i noticed that my expectations were right about these kids and i'll just have to wait only a couple of minutes to be completely sure about them. They seem to be exactly like a memory i had when i was younger with my maids son, who was an extremely talented soccer player, but in the same conditions of poverty, fortunately not a street kid. But they seem to live in the same kinds of conditions and well all i can do is wait to see if its the same kind of person im expecting. 

It all sort of boils down to this day because we've just met the association, we have met the place, and know we meet what this organization is all about, the kids. I hope its a layed back, positive enviroment and I'm going to try and spread as much sensitivity and positivity as I can, because i think that thats what they'll need.

-Diego

My team

I know that all week I've been making silly posts on our blog to keep everyone motivated, but I must say that I'm quit proud of our team.  Everyone has been on time and no one has been absent, including today when we are working after the normal school schedule. Tuesday and Wednesday we showed a lot of team work preparing the Tianguis Codeni.  No one complained each time we rode the bus to our work site.  Even today, Karla and Alexa managed to squeeze in an afternoon basketball game and still make it on schedule.  

Well, tonight we will learn what all of that effort was for.  In an hour, we will be working with a few dozen CODENI kids.  I'll let my team speak for themselves in future posts.  

Away we go...

-Mr. Paul

PS : We had a good time too...

today we are finally going to meet the kids and im looking forward to it. this isn't the first time i've helped out people, i've been to places such as la huizachera, where people are living in extreme poverty so i kind of have an idea of what i'm going to do or how it is going to be.

luis

Finally!

We are done organizing the clothes by gender, age and it seemed like it was going to be an eternal task, but we got it done a lot more efficiently and rapidly. The initial intention was to group and then to put a price for the kids to buy the clothes with their hard earned points, but its an overwhelming amount of clothes so we ended up deciding that it wasn't necessary. So they are just going to put prices by table not by object.

-Diego

Public Officials Do Care

Even though we could only deliver one of the four letters needed to organize the Children's Day Parade, the one letter we could deliver brought a very pleasant surprise. The Public Official in charge of the office very kindly offered us not only the space needed for the event, but offered us several other workshops for the children. I can only hope that the people we meet tomorrow are as nice as this man.

Post by Jorge Perez

Entregando oficios

Hoy fue un dia muy dificil. En la manana tratamos de organizarnos para conseguir los patrocinios y despues tuvimos que ir todos a entregar los oficios al centro. No fue un dia muy productivo pues delos cuatro oficios solo pudimos entregar uno. Habia mucho trafico y nos perdimos. Espero que manana si logremos hacer mas trabajo.
Alejandra Gonzalez

El dia de hoy..

A pesar de que no hemos hecho mucho, al menos ya estamos todos organizados de los patrocinios que planeamos conseguir. Espero que la directora nos de chance de poder salir de la escuelapara poder adelantar algo ya!.
Maria Jose

El dia de hoy..

We Rock

Humility aside, I just need to say it: We Rock!

Today, as soon as we got to the CODENI house we began working on our piles of clothes. Without really planning it, we came-up with an efficient system and didn't stop working until we were done. 

The teamwork was unbelievable. Someone folded clothes, someone carried those clothes to their assigned place, someone introduced the clothes into a large black bag, and finally, someone tagged the bag. Even Mr. Gerber helped out.  (there is a photo to prove it)

Anyway, the feeling of working hard for a good cause is hard to describe, all I can say is that it feels AWESOME. . Plus,  I think the best reward we can get is seeing the kids. I'm looking forward to that encounter, and today, I'm proud of our team. 

-Maite RyV

Superhero?

Even Batman came out to help...

-Mr. Paul

Maniana

La verdad es que estoy nerviosa. Mi abuelita me dice que tengo corazon de pollo, haha, porque lloro de todo. Tengo miedo de que maniana no pueda ocultar lo triste que me hace sentir que halla ninios de mi edad, que deberian estar en la escuela aprendiendo y jugando, que tengan que trabaja y vivan en una situacion tan dificil y peligrosa. 

Leyendo los comentarios de mis companieros que ayer trabajaron con los ninios me siento un poco mas relajada y espero que para mi sea una experiencia tan bonita y educativa como lo fue para ellos. Lo unico que quiero es poder ayudar y espero que mi debilidad de caracter no afecte mi trabajo con los chavos maniana. 

Alexa

yes yes i like day two

Andres Cepeda

El dia de hoy fue un dia muy interesnate. Vimos un video muy encantador en el cual nos ense;aron que fuerte y dolorosa puede ser la vida. Todo el mundo tiene mucha pobresea, pero en nuestro paiz podemos apreciarla mas profundamente en las calles de la ciudad etc. Estos dias que e visto como es la sociedad en realidad fuera de mi mundo me e dado cuenta de muchas cosas que ahora puedo apreciar ampliamente.

Emphasis on work and looking after oneself

CODENI rewards the kids based on their efforts and gives them points with which they can later buy material needs such as clothes and blankets.

The idea behind this is that the kids should learn that with work they may be rewarded so that when they are ready to leave out to the real world, they are used to working to maintain oneself.

I think this is a great method in that the kids, in a way, already sort of work in CODENI and are payed with points with which they can buy clothes at the CODENI tianguis. The points thus become some sort of currency. I think this is a great way to prepare kids for the real world and to have them develop good working habits.

Nacho A.Z

la practica hace al maestro

hoy volvimos a nuestro trabajo, separar ropa. ayer fue lento y desorganizado estuvimos alrededor de cuatro horas y nuestro trabajo fue minimo. no creiamos que acabariamos de separar todas las bolsas que hay. hoy en una hora, se puede decir, llevamos lo que ayer hicimos en cuatro. el trabajo en equipo mejoro el compromiso del gurpo se nota en la fluidez y la organizacion que tenemos para acabar con este tianguis. TEAM WORK

-ana pau

Wednesday 18/03/09

So far, today, we arrived to CODENI and continue with our labor, separating clothes in categories such as boys, girls, babies, and adult clothes. When we are done, we are going to put prizes to the clothes so tomorrow we can "sell" them in the fair. Kids will have activities were they will win fake money so at the end they can spend it buying what they need. Here we will see if the kids have learned to share their money and they stuff also for their parents, brothers or sisters. I hope everything goes well tomorrow so we have a good time with the kids.

Ricardo Estrada

pues esta chido aqi en la clase

estamosesperando a que nos den la salidapara comenzar a arreglar las cosas que tenemos que hacer para el dia de ninios ,, pero llevamoscomo dos horas sin hacer nada .,., yo creo que asi vamos a hacermucho aqui sentado. estoyesperando que me dejen ir con el d fruti queko, pero pues a ver para cuando...horacio jzl

what to expect

i used to be clueless about what to expect from the kids in codeni but after talking to some of my friends in the other group, i have and idea about what it is going to be and im looking forward to it, i hope this experience makes be a more mature and humanized person.

luis rmz

yes yes i like codeni

Andres Cepeda

El día de hoy aprendí muchas cosas nuevas. Nunca en vida había sentido o echo algo similar. Hoy conviví con muchos niños que tienen muchos problemas económicos y problemas familiares. Estos niños diario están involucrados en violencia durante sus días en algún sentido de la palabra. Juegue con ellos tochito o algún tipo de football americano muy divertido. Me gusto mucho convivir con los niños y aprendí muchas cosas nuevas. Mientras esperaba a que fuera recreo me metí a todos los talleres y pude convivir con todos los niños. El taller que mas me gusto fue en el de juego porque conviví mas con todos los niños y los conocí mejor.

Comment on Ale's post

I do think we are lucky to be receiving the education we have been experiencing since kindergarden. It is amazing to see however, that some of these kids are extremely bright. I had to work on some math with a 11 year old, an I was amazed that he could do multiplication tables faster than I can, and I'm pretty good at it.

Post by Jorge Perez

comment en el post de jorge

Yo tambien escuche cuando preguntaron si hablabamos español y tambien me dio risa, pero al igual que jorge me sorprendi que preguntaran esto.

Alejandra Gonzalez

experiencia codeni

me parecio muy interesante poder convivir con los niños. me di cuenta de como piensan y como viven con su familia, al igual de lo mucho que importa codeni para ellos. son niños entre 6 y 17 años y todos son muy amigables. tuve la oportunidad de jugar con ellos y tambien de ayudarlos con sus tareas escolares. fue una experiencia muy padre ya que vi como es la vida fuera de la zona en donde vivo.
gustavo de alba

Experiencia con un niño

Hoy tuve la oportunidad de convivir con un niño de 11 años que se llama Nacho. Él va a la escuela cerca de las oficinas de CODENI, pero al preguntarle si vivía cerca también, se rió y me dijo "Vivo después del aeropuerto." Se me hace increible como un niño tan chico tenga que agarrar un camión él solo a altas horas de la noche para llegar a su casa. Me da lastima creer que el y muchos otros niños viven esto día con día.

Andres Olazabal

El interactuar con los adolescentes en CODENI

Al estar en CODENI el martes 17 de Marzo nos toco convivir con los adolescentes en lo cual fue algo totalmente nuevo para mi. Al interactuar con los adolescentes fue algo mas dificil para mi. Yo creo que cuando interactuas con el adolescente como tiene mente mas propia es mas dificil poder establecer una comunicacion. En mi caso cuando estaba en el taller de educacion cuando estuve con dos niñas, al principio las dos parecian que tenian mucha pena. Siendo amable pude establecer la comunicacion fue muy interesante poder estar trabajando con los adolescentes en las lecciones de ortografia, matematicas etc. Una cosa emocionante y nuevo el estar con los adolescentes y poder establecer una comunicacion concreta y fluida.

eduardo obregon

Tareas con los niños

Ayudar a los niños a hacer sus tareas fue una experiencia muy buenas pues pude convivir con ellos. Al estar aqui me di cuenta que somos muy afortunados en recibir la educacion que tenemos, pues habia niños que iban en tercero de secundaria y no sabian dividir bien. Fue una experiencia muy buena porque los niños te platicaban y te hacian reir mucho y ademas sentias la satisfaccion de ayudarlos en algo con lo que tuvieran problemas.

Alejandra Gonzalez

en coment en el post de horacio

Yo tambien estuve con el en el taller y de hecho cuando me menciono lo de clase de victor, pense exactamente lo mismo.
MARIA JOSE PANIAGUA

al ver la instalacion de codeni yo.....

al ver las instalaciones de codeni me dije a mi misma.... Que bueno que los niños puedan venir a un lugar nuevo en los que puedan trabajar en un ambiente seguro y poder tener actividades recreativas para poder comprender mas en el mundo en el que viven. Aparte la casa es nueva y esta en muy buenas condiciones y tienen un buen plan de lo que quieren hacer y deshacer con ella para el beneficio de los niños.
MAria JOse PAniAgua Rojo

en comment al de a si hablan español

soy horacio y si jajaja a mi me dijo uno que por que hablaba como gringo...

codeni instalacion y contribucion

soy horacio, hello friends
mis estimados compañeros de clase al yo estar en el taller de actividades me senti como en la clase de victor para los que lo tienen pues saben que hacemos posters de varios temas. Los niños de codeni tuvieron que hacer lo mismo que nosotros. Eso fue el trabajo en equipo ellos como nosotros tienen que trabjar en equipo. gracias por su tiempo y ahi disculpen por la falta de puntuacion.

Ah.. si hablan espanol?

I was shocked to see that after akwardly stand there for about 10 minutes waiting to be told what to do, one of the kids finally chose one of us to help him. He chose Eduardo.. and said, "Yo quiero que me ayude el guerito ese, como se llama?" The teacher replied, ¨Preguntale.¨The kid, name Jose Juan then said, ¨Ah.. si hablan espaniol?"

I thought it was kind of funny but concerning at the same time. Its as if they are exposed to so little things, and yet to so much. I wonder what else they might ask as we help.

Post by Jorge Perez

Alex and Alexa

Yesterday I met with my best friend, Alex. He is a really good guy but do some issues and misunderstandings he was kicked out of home by his mother a couple of months ago. Alex is 18, not a kid anymore but not an adult either and now he has to live alone. he was never the cleanest guy or the best dressed one but now after a couple of months of leaving alone he looks dreadful. he is as skinny as a Zimbawean boy, no offense intended, and he looked like he hasnt showered in days. 

Alex works in a vidrieria, his hands are full of cuts, rough. He makes forty pesos more than minimum wage. those 90 daily pesos are barely enough to pay rent, services and eat. I cant imagine how someone can sustain a family with minimum wage. Alex is going through a rough time but he is always whiling to work hard and have a smily face when he does. he has dreams and he is working hard to achieve them. I think Alex is a great example of hard work and I am very proud of being his friend. 

The important thing is not the problems and obstacles that we encounter along the way but the attitude we take towards such. 

Alexa

So far so good!

It's safe to say that during our first of cleaning out and reorganizing the donations made in the plastic bags found here in CODENI, there is more useful and actually good donations than useless donations, in fact the only discarded donations are the ones with holes and dirty ones. We are off to a good start but there is a long way to go we have (sarcastically but literally) two floors to go.

-Diego

United Mexicans

Apparently  people are obsessed with giving away underwear, upper-wear, bathing suites and socks; but because of these donations, these simple donations I can say mexicans are united. Mexicans show that they care about others and would rather give clothes to those that need it, than to those that don't. Mexicans care about their country and are willing to be a part of those that can change it.

KARLA.(:

A Good Bra

Sorting through piles of skirts, pants, shirts, and yes...underwear, I realized just how lucky we all are. Let me explain it like this: I would never, ever, ever wear a bra or a thong that didn't come with a tag in the first place... from a store, totally clean, without yellow spots, without holes. 

And most importantly, I can choose NOT to do so. I am lucky enough to have options. I have the luxury of spending 50 dollars on a bra that is exactly the color and size I want. With just the right amount of push-up I need to show off my new shirt.

At this point, the following question arises: Why on earth am I so obsessed with my bra?

Well, actually, I'm not, or I wasn't until today. Realizing that many girls don't have the option of choosing a comfortable bra really made me realize how much I take for granted. I mean underwear is something so basic: you were it everyday, you don't think much about it, no one even sees it - it's not something you wear to show off - it is something personal and at the same time very essential.

And some girls don't have it. And, interestingly, they probably don't care about it. I'm probably the only one who will ever emphasize the need of a decent bra. Somehow, to them, shoes and a shirt seem more important. And although I understand the need, I certainly cannot identify with it, and I'm glad I can't. I feel grateful about that. 

- Maite RyV

1st day at work

Here we go!

The first day is done...

... but we're just beginning.

To be continued on Tuesday.

-Mr. Paul

Que tanto impacto han creado en nosotros?

Esta clase trato de muchas estadisticas, algo que de alguna manera crea un impacto sobre los estudiastes, pero que no da una clara idea de la realidad. Al visitar a ninios en CODENI y estar en contacto con el problema, el cual en este caso es la pobreza, habra un mayor impacto y creara mucha mas conciencia en nosotros que solo escuchar numeros.

ANdres Olazabal

Que tan conscientes somos?

Viendo todo lo que hemos hecho hoy y como han reaccionado todos, me pregunto como es que vamos a ver estos mismos temas una ves que terminemos con la semana...

Si es que tu opinion sobre algo tan importante como los derechos de los ninos cambia, como puedes tu hacer algo y aprovechar esta semana para hacer una diferencia?


Post by Jorge Perez

I realized today that everyone has an imaginary line between what they on the news and what they think is really going on in their communities. But really you don't have have to look so far outside the world to see child abuse or poverty, I think it's crazy how the places we all live in, somehow isolates us from the realities of poverty that only lie minutes away from our homes. I think everyone in general is very prejudicial towards kids and instead of doing that we should try to inform them of organizations like CODENI.

I think the immediate solution would be to create a huge advertisement campaign that will create an overall awareness for the population because honestly I had no idea just how serious the child abuse and how close to our neighborhoods these problems could be at.

Diego

Problem?

Is the blog working?

My name is Chuyita:

I am a girl from Chiapas.
My parents hit me.
My uncle rapes me.

If I'm lucky,
I'll eat twice a day
And shower once every two months

I need to escape
The streets can't be any worse than this...



But sadly, they are: Kids who escape from their own situations fall into even worse ones as they are exploited by "padrinos" who abuse them and then send them to plead for money.

From here, there's no more escaping.

Ana PAu & Maite

Reflection

during the last activity, i noticed that while discussing with my friends about child labor/abuse, many people never notice what is happening in their surroundings. Kids from 5-17 years of age leave their houses and stop going to school to ask for money or work in the streets. In some parts of the world, kids have to prostitute themselves to get some money. Some, from the society do not care for this people and they treat them as less. Even police men punish this kids for no reason.

- Ricardo.

friend discussion

my friends and i discussed the importance of organizations and individuals trying to help kids in the street.


luis rmz.

Teamwork

So, which group is working the hardest?

Blogging

So far, so good...

Treasuring Cents

"Hey! I got 10 extra cents": Alexa's enthusiastic response as she compared her own peso and 10 cents to the 5 other people who only had a peso.
Today we did this activity, were we used pesos to represent the distribution of wealth in our country. Through it, I somehow became attatched to the 10 pesos I was holding (yeah, i was rich). Anyhow,our reactions after we each received our assigned quantities were very representative of the real world. As the "richest" guy said, "yei, I'm a politician" or Ana Paula (who was poor) attempted to steel my peso, i realized how screwed-up our country was (no offense intended).

-Maite RyV

Not only in Africa

I think it is important to keep in mind that extreme poverty is not always so distant from us and that it is a reality here in Mexico, not just in Africa.

Nacho

almost half day through...

something to keep in mind...
what characters we want to be during our short journey?
the wife?
the husband?
the people drinking beer?
the few ones capable of stepping down from the comfortable train??

The Economy of Mexico in Miniature

First we have the poor...

... and then we have the rich.

Confusion

20 minutes into our workshop, we're all trying to figure out our family's monthly budget. The result? Confusion...

Dali

The Spanish painter Salvador Dali is most famous for work that is surreal ... an adjective that describes my reaction to poverty, it being so different from the life I have. I attached some of his paintings to our blog, but the filter at our school is blocking them. Hopefully everyone on the web can appreciate the connection.

-Mr. Paul

Organization

We had our first meeting today with the students. Everyone has been informed of the task that stands in front of us. They look excited to me. Less than 48 hours until the learning begins.

- Mr. Paul

Friday's coming...

... and I'm ready to get started.

- Mr. Paul