Day 6 - The End of CECW

I’ve become quite intrigued by the paradox of the nopales. These beautiful desert trees stand like sentinels on the dry plains along the highway, in the valleys between the mountains and on their rolling foothills that give San Miguel her shape. They’re strange plants with trunk and branches made of large cactus leaves, and they hang outwards with such weight and stiffness they seem impervious to wind. Most interesting, however, is their fruit, for while the leaves of the nopales are edible, their golfball sized fruit, bright red when ripe, is surprisingly sweet, but their tiny needles are so numerous and sharp that these ‘tunas’ are almost impossible to eat. They must be prepared carefully. Perhaps because these desert trees are particularly abundant on the grounds around the school where our program’s workshops are taught, or perhaps because I’ve been consistently amazed by Mexico’s unique landscape, as I learned of a more explicit image Mexico through the participants personal stories in a workshop on Saturday, I was reminded of this strange desert plant, and her fruit began to parallel the amazing complexity of Mexico and her people: their hope despite hopelessness.

 To explain further, this Saturday we concluded our weeklong study of constructive engagement in conflict, and to move toward a more direct application of the theories we’ve taught, such as types of manifestation, evasion and effective confrontation of conflict, we began with a rather intimate group activity in which participants were encouraged to share stories of their own personal experience of social issues in Mexico. These could include anything from an account of gang violence, a period of economic instability in the household, friends’ stories of problems with drug abuse or teen pregnancy... anything that could help to illustrate to the group the pressing reality of Mexico’s present crises. To my surprise, however, the participants needed no illustration. I was expecting half of the group to have a relatively grave story to tell, and at that I thought I knew I could be setting an unrealistic expectation, but in a period of two hours all 22 participants told of a time in their lives where some sort of crisis threatened their safety or security, and the rest of us listened.

I could hardly believe the stories these young people told, but not because they seemed exaggerated. Rather, the harsh reality of their stories shocked me. These were kids, aged 15 to 18, and they’d experienced the kidnappings of family members, death threats to their family businesses, periods of economic desolation, early pregnancy, physical attacks on their homes or family businesses, family members lost in gang violence. To me, an American from a middle class background and a relatively secure community, this was a foreign world, and I was amazed at their courage, their strength, but even more so, their spirit, and their hope. Whenever one in the group was overcome with emotion the rest would wait in silence, those nearby would offer a hand or a kleenex, and the individual would recover and the story would continue. This solidarity in the face of what now seems to be, truly, a country in crisis, is what so impressed me, for despite experiences that no adult should have to tell of, these young people hadn’t let their hearts be hardened. Rather, though they may show a stoic front in the face of the world that has shown itself to be so ugly, they care dearly about their families and their friends and the future of their country.

We followed the session of shared stories with workshops exploring the future of the Mexico of their imagination. First they listed qualities of an optimistic future, a world with green energy, drug free borders, little immigration and economic stability. They then created an image of a pessimistic future, characterized by drug wars in the absorbing the country and poverty bringing the economy to a standstill. But in conclusion, they described a realistic but hopeful future for their country, one they intend to reach for but also intend to achieve, one inspiring because of its painstaking realism. One participant insisted on a revolutionary change, a new constitution that would eliminate corruption and allow for true functioning democracy. Though this idea was eventually struck from the list because it seemed to impossible to achieve in ten years time, the same intelligent radicalism that motivate such a drastic overhaul was the driving force behind the remaining points on the list of ideas. In reflecting on this list, I later realized something I found truly fantastic: these young people understand their country yet they’re unafraid to dream. Despite the fact that their experiences have shown them an ugly truth in their country’s current state, they still, somehow, maintain true impassioned hope. And in this way I think of the parallel of the nopales and their tunas, for just like these young visionaries this plant has accepted and adapted to the harsh environment of this unyielding land, but this has made its fruit no less sweet. They’ve both learned to live with the desolation of the present and protect within themselves the precious hope that awaits a better future.


- Luke Pizzato (AC '10-'12) - USA