Week Four: Activism in the Community

By Lisa Johnson

Maria Elena Gaspar, Crossing Borders student, and Javier Garcia pose for a

picture after speaking about the Base Christian Community they are involved with.

As we continue our Crossing Borders journey, we recognize the importance of embracing life. As the week began, we had an eco-tour of San Anton (the neighborhood we live in) led by a local social worker who is involved in community projects. We learned about the current and past environments of the community. Due to excessive pollution, the community is suffering from unclean water and a polluted atmosphere. The pollution is increasing due to the largely populated city. Cuernavaca is a fast growing community and this makes it difficult to create a well-built city with sewage and waste disposals. Many people throw their garbage and waste into the river. We learned that the community is creating more trash receptacles so people can throw their garbage away. Also, the increase in the use of plastic over the years has been a great problem so the community started a recycling program. Another thing that the community is providing is the knowledge of how to construct and use dry toilets which are more environmentally friendly.

You can also see the community at work in the Base Christian Communities (BCC). A BCC is close to a Bible Study with a small amount of people where they take situations from their daily lives and compare them to a story in the Bible. They look at the Bible through their eyes as a source of liberation and hope. Then they act within the community. We had the opportunity to speak with Javier Garcia and Maria Elena Gaspar from a local youth group that is part of a BCC. As we, the Crossing Boarders students learn about Theology Liberation this youth group is acting. In the BCC they talk about the Reign of God. As they speak about this, they emphasize Jesus here on earth so protecting the environment and the earth is an important goal to accomplish. Some community activities they participate in are protests against decisions about the community that would hurt the environment and create an unjust atmosphere. They also get children involved in working with looking at their current reality and how to change it if need be. They volunteer in the area providing assistance with food or gifts at Christmas. Also, when people are protesting for justice they go and provide food for those who are participating. These groups take social justice to the next level. They learn, march for rights, create relationships, and utilize the talents they have to better the lives of others by getting people involved and empowering them to make change for the good.

This was an eye opener for me to see a youth group learn about liberation theology and how to use what they learn to benefit their community. They truly have been an inspiration to this community in Cuernavaca. One of their main points is to get to know Jesus, and they expressed to us that you couldn’t be a follower of Jesus if you don’t know Him. It is very interesting to see kids so young have such an influence on the community. They truly look at other’s viewpoints and where people within the group are coming from. They try to understand that everyone is coming from a different background and thinks about things differently. Appreciating these differences creates hope for change and is a great thing to learn as we all continue to truly live our lives.

Polluted water running through Cuernavaca on our eco-tour.

Week Three: Globalization in Context

By Linnea McCalla

Students enjoying refreshments at a local café in the rural indigenous community we visited. The presence of a café serves as an example of how globalization has changed communities on all levels.

This is one of the few corn fields we saw during our visit to the rural indigenous community.


This week was spent exploring the historical context in which Liberation Theology emerged and the development and affects of globalization in Latin America. Globalization is a phenomenon that is greater than the exchange of economics between two different countries. We defined globalization as: “the events and actions of one part of the world [that]are affecting people in distant lands more quickly and frequently” ([i]). This definition opens up the term globalization as being more than just economic transactions between countries; it is also the cultural and political exchanges between countries. One example that was mentioned in class was the existence of the World Wide Web. This tool fosters the exchange of cultural/social, political, and economic beliefs between people at a rapid rate.

Our group explored the affects globalization has on rural communities by spending a weekend in a small local indigenous rural community here in Mexico. It is a Nahuatl community that has held on very closely to its culture. While there during our two-day rural home stays, we got to spend time with families. We also had the privilege of speaking with a few of the local people about their experiences. We were educated on the spiritual beliefs of the community, traditional medicine, and the effects of globalization on local farmers. It was really interesting to hear how globalization—culturally and economically—has affected the traditions of the community. What stood out to me the most was when one of the women was sharing her experience as a farmer in the community. She explained that the local tradition—especially the harvesting of corn—has lost its initial value in their society because of the economic pressures that come along with farming[ii]. The various trade agreements that Mexico has with other countries have strongly influenced the way traditions are lost.

Because of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and other trade agreements, the import of goods such as corn and corn seeds to Mexico have increased over the years[iii]. The prices of these imports are cheaper than the local supply of these goods. In addition, instead of using traditional corn seeds because they last longer, families buy the less expensive ones—that have a dramatically short life-span—and are caught in a vicious cycle of continuously purchasing these seeds in order to provide for their family.[iv] In order to provide for their families, about 60 percent of Mexican heads of families migrate to the United States or Canada to look for jobs.[v] In my opinion, this shows that globalization has opened the job markets across country lines which has positive and negative effects on communities. The positive outcome is that people are able to leave their situation in pursuit of—what may or may not be—a more promising one. However, the negative impact is that indigenous cultures, such as this one, are slowly depleting. For instance, what used to hold cultural clout—the harvesting of corn—is now viewed as a burden.

[i] Judy Shevelov. Lecture Notes: “Overview of Neoliberalism in Mexico: Economics, Politics, and Social Issues to Consider.” Gender and Social Change. 2 September 2008.
[ii] Woman in rural indigenous village. (Protecting her name.) 6 September 2008.
[iii] Guest lecturer on NAFTA. (Protecting his name.) 4 September 2008.
[iv] Woman in rural indigenous village.
[v] Guest lecturer on NAFTA.

This is a picture of three pieces of corn and a conch shell being offered as part of a traditional practice. Each color of corn is placed in a strategic place representing a different meaning. The North is black representing the place of the dead. The South is red representing the mother, women, and the land. The East is white representing the sun and the source of life. The West is the color yellow in order to represent hope and the sun setting. This reemphasizes how important corn is and how the destruction of the traditional corn seed correlates with the destruction of traditional values.