Delegations
The Chiapas Project : A Catholic Worker Community
2007 Delegation Dates:
June 14th- 23rd 2007
October 14th- 21st 2007
A grand portion of our work in The Chiapas Project is that of education. With delegations I am never sure just who is educating whom but I can say that no one who has come to Chiapas from the United States has remained unchanged.
With a seven or eight day experience, we who mostly live in Chiapas try to expose the delegates to a sampling of our work and the lives of those with whom we work … of the poverty, the great faith, the tangible aspects of building and the complexities of life in Chiapas.
Various delegates have written with great hope of their time visiting in the region but the very best works are those of the young people. Shana, at 13, is thus far the youngest to come. Claire at 17 came once on the delegation and came to join us for five months
In these last few years we have had 12 delegations, mostly small but all packed with interest.
In 2007 we intend to schedule two delegations but also hope to have others ask us to schedule more. For three or more people we can put a delegation together. With at least three weeks notice, we can also help make plane arrangements.
In order to cover the costs of accommodation, meals, local transport, translators and various unusual expenses, we ask each person within a delegation to contribute $600 for seven days.
Accommodation — The hotels we use are not only lovely but the owners are very active with Social justice issues.
Meals — which somehow play an inordinate role when held in common to sort of go over the days events
Local Transport
Translators — This coming year we intend to hire the translators from another Catholic Worker community in Coatepec, Veracruz to allow them to help support their Worker community.
Various Unusual Expenses — such as when we enter into the communities in resistance we need to apply for permission a couple of days ahead of time. This usually requires hiring someone temporarily to do the paperwork.
GETTING HERE
There are two options for getting here:
Our nearest international airport is Tuxtla Gutierrez, which is two hours away. Tickets range from $650 to $1350 round trip.
Alternatively, tickets to Mexico City or Cancun can usually be found from most cities in the US for around $500 round trip.
From either Mexico City or Cancun it is possible to get a “Cristobal Colon” bus to San Cristobal. Bus fares change every six months but are usually around $60 each way.
Although these busses take between 16 and 19 hours from either Mexico City or Cancun to San Cristobol, it is very important to keep in mind Mexican busses are like nothing we have ever experienced in the US! They are large, very comfortable luxury liners sometimes equivalent to Business Class on an airplane!
Drivers and crew are professional and other passengers are very friendly. Busses show movies, often In English, on overhead televisions and all have clean bathrooms. For hot food, snacks, drinks and alternative bathrooms, busses also make regular, scheduled stops at established restaurants where local people also often sell their delicious homemade specialties to passengers.
At the Mexico City airport there are secure taxi kiosks in the main terminal which have been specially created for safety. Your name and destination details and that of the driver are registered prior to your departure and confirmed with the company upon youre arrival. These secure taxis can take you to the Southern Bus Station, which is the departure point for all busses to the south, including San Cristobol.
If you plan on coming on a delegation and choose to come by bus, please let us know ahead of time and make arrangements for coming a day early and leaving a day later.
SPEAKING SPANISH / TRANSLATIONS
The delegations, for me, are a refreshing way to revisit what we do each time people come to visit.
Yet, I have come to recognize a great failure in my make-up. I have a difficult time when visitors come from the U.S. when they are not part of a delegation. My difficulty usually involves the lack of Spanish by those good people who want to come and help. The problem for me is that experience has shown me that I spend more time translating than working with the people we are trying to serve. The delegations are a way for people to learn about the culture and I can devote my time and my brain to working on making the delegation experience meaningful. It seems that I can either think and work in Spanish or in English but going back and forth makes me have to empty my brain.
