NEWS FROM CHIAPAS....

Well, I thought I would send you some news from Chiapas...  There is so much that swirls around us, and so much we do not understand  So many cultural differences...   Despite the I Pads and Internet, Smart phones and international cell phones, Skype, Facebook, etc, etc, sometimes we are clueless on the meaning of things, or completely oblivious to what might be obvious to you all back home.   We don't see any News, there is no TV.   The INternet here, despite its amazing and miraculous presence, has been down for several days.  In fact, it has really only worked one day since arriving.   That, of course, is not all bad.  Kinda makes you let it go, sit back and really enjoy the experience, without constantly being in contact with the world you left behind to enjoy the  experience!     So I write, and will post later...

Unbeknownst to me, there has been a major, country wide Teachers' Strike.  Try to imagine that... the whole of Mexico, from preschool to universidad, has been shut down.  Hard to get an exact answer on the cause, and the dissenting parties.  Mexico has called for 3 major reforms, one of which has to do with upgrading the school system here.  Sounds like a worthy cause.  The school system, such as it is, is pretty pathetic.  Children do not attend school, school days are short, teachers are not qualified or are not committed (I'm making sweeping assumptions from my observations here...), and education is not equtable (for example, for the rural or Indigenous folk lack schools and teachers, both.   On the other hand, I'm sure teachers are not paid much, and are not respected.  So there is protest, and strike.  However, there is backlash and confusion and many people do not even know the issues.  Just sad that all children, lacking academically already, are out of school, perhaps until November.   Some parents have banded together, and are trying to teach the kids, saying, that due to the teachers choosing to strike, they do not want them back.  They want all new ones hired.   Ha...There are roadblocks, common in Mexico, both to make a point, shake  down anyone who wants to pass, and make money for the road blockers.  We thought it might keep patients away, but so far, not.  The roads our patients travel on are not blocked...