Mexico Trip Report

Feb.18 - March 5, 2007

Goals for This Trip:

• Hold Servant Leadership classes with CDC. (Centro de Compartimiento) board/staff
• Listen to needs of the young women of CDC.
• Introduce SL classes for the wider community of Juchitán
• Visit Pimpollo College Students in Tuxtla Gutierrez
• Visit Pastor Benny Cruz/Vicente Guerrero community in Oaxaca City

     1.   SLS Classes

• All classes were held daily at the CDC student house, and facilitated by GlennCross, Cheryl Broetje and Kristin Lietz, director of Casa Isabel, who also acted as our very capable interpreter. CDC staff/board met from 7-9 am. Courses presented included The Servant As Leader and Life of the Beloved. An open class, including two school teachers, two non-profit program directors, several college students and an incredibly ‘awake’10 year old boy was convened from 5-8 pm daily around the topics of Power and Privilege (week 1) and The Servant As Leader (week 2). Participants in both groups told us repeatedly that these concepts are brand new for them, and urgently needed in their society, which is dominated by the few with the most political power, which is easily used in a coercive manner in order to achieve conformity.

     2.   Visit to Tuxtla Gutierrez

• This city of about one million people lies four hours to the south of Juchitán, and presents a very different image than Juchitán. The Oregon based group Friends of Pimpollo had suggested that servant leadership classes might augment the current program of the seven college students they are supporting there. Although very similar in our desires to help advance higher education for students that might give up otherwise, the Tuxtla students live in a house without a resident house parent that might offer a more holistic and structured opportunity for personal, spiritual and social development in addition to the focus on academics.

• While there, we met with Chelo, the woman who currently volunteers to oversee the students, who is a founding member of Pimpollo Orphanage, and her husband Felix. They presented themselves as a mature, loving and committed team regarding their passion for the continuing growth of kids growing up in Pimpollo. We had a wonderful conversation with them regarding the need for serious leadership development from a Christ-centered perspective, and left them with a Spanish copy of Servant as Leader. When they asked us if we could bring this course material to Tuxtla, we suggested that a next step in exploring that possibility might be that Chelo would plan a time when she could meet with our CDC board and staff in order to gain more understanding of how CDC integrates academic, spiritual and social development in its program of leadership development.

      3.  Visit to Oaxaca City

• Folks from the group Mission Oaxaca, asked us if we might make time to visit with the pastor of a church they are working through in order to build house foundations (Pisos) in the community of Vicente Guerrero which has grown up around the garbage dump of Oaxaca City. Pastor Benny Cruz and his family have founded several churches in that community in their desire to stand with and bring hope to the poorest of the poor there.

•  We spent parts of two days with Benny and his mother, Gloria, who preaches, along with her husband and other members of their dedicated family. Benny enthusiastically told us and the congregation he was preaching to Sunday morning in the town of El Tule, that by being introduced to what is happening with CDC and the basic concepts of servant leadership development, his vision for what’s possible and important for those their mission serves has been greatly furthered.

• He repeated to the people that day several times, what is becoming known in Mexico as our mantra of sorts: ¿Que es su sueno?! (What is your dream?) And he reminded them that God has a unique plan…something special for every single one of them to do while here on earth in order to help extend the Reign of God…it’s not just about waiting till they die and get to go to heaven!

Other notes:

En route home, we happened to see a copy of the Wall Street Journal. On the front page was an article featuring the new Wal-Mart in, of all places in the world, Juchitán, Oaxaca!!! Whatever you may think of Wal-Mart as a global power, their presence in this city is adding value in some ways, one of which is currently helping to keep the cost of tortillas down in a country where prices have risen drastically due to the U.S focus on buying corn for ethanol.

The article features a Juchitécan woman who received her computer degree at a school some of our students are currently attending, who now works at Wal-Mart, and with a $12,000/yr salary, has moved into Mexico’s middle class in a country where 40% of the business conducted in Mexico still happens through the ‘informal sector’, where no taxes are paid, and no health or other benefits received.

A CDC board meeting was held. Casa Isabel is now officially recognized as a legal part of CDC. Donations for Kristin Lietz’ mission offering a home and continuing education for middle/high school girls can now be sent through CFS in the U.S or directly through CDC in Juchitán (Bank wires can be costly, but our bank has chosen to waive the monthly costs of $70.00 U.S)

 One of the stereotypes of Latin American is that they are lazy. What we have learned is that these people are often suffering chronic fatigue due to untreated health issues such as parasites, iron deficiency, lack of basic nutrition, etc. In addition many young girls choose to eat paper in order to stay slim.  Anahi and Agustin, both former residents of an orphanage, are now the parents of a beautiful son, Alex. But Anahi is severely anemic. She received a blood transfusion during our visit. The good news is that while once they had little hope for a bright future, today Agustin is employed with benefits, by the architect who built the CDC facility.

Finally, Rosie the director of the Servant Leader House, Lupe, Lucero, Yamira, Eneydi, and Olga, and Kristin director of Casa Isabel and Lucy are grateful for you continued support of the CDC program. It costs $300/mo to house, educate, and mentor these young women. Please consider sending a regular monthly gift to help these young women succeed.

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