1 de junio 2010 - Mazahua Rural Schools / Universidad Ieboamericana

Happy birthday to me! We started the day very early. We were up and ready by 6:30 and out the door by 7:15. Today was one of the more eye opening experiences of the trip thus far. After a three hour bus ride to (name of village), a Mazahua village, we visited some indigenous schools. Our group was led by the former director of indigenous education under the Vicente Fox administration, Sylvia Schmelke. In the village we were divided into groups for visiting the various school sites. I was part of the last group which led us up a hill to a school with a marvelous view. The school was a primary school, similar to elementary school except that they included 6th grade, and educated over 500 students from the Mazahua people. Me and another two people entered a 6th grade classroom and got to observe some of the teaching.

Mazahua 6th grade classroom at Escuela Permiera "Lic. Benito Juarez"

Now in America teachers often complain about class size and classroom management. This class had over thirty students and during our visit not once did the teacher have to stop talking to us to correct his kids. They were so well behaved and spoke very politely when spoken to. The language of the classroom is Spanish, but most children go home to their parents speaking Mazahuan. It is sad to learn that the language is almost being eradicated due to the standards of the education they are receiving. The country of Mexico uses the same curriculum across the board. The textbooks come from Mexico City and a child in northern Mexico would be studying the same exact thing as a child in southern Mexico on the same exact day.
The school itself was very small to be containing so many children. There was no running water and the bathrooms, according to a colleague were deplorable. Sanitation is definitely a problem, but the people are living in utter poverty. One of the schools actually had a child who was profoundly deaf and had no language. The teacher knew ASL but the child was struggling to understand. The view on special education is also an interesting topic. When asked how many children receive special services in the school, the director replied that there is only one. The child apparently has some language issues and has trouble reading.

Children at Escuela Primera "Lic. Benito Juarez Garcia"

After that visit we took the long road back to Mexico City. When we arrived, we were at the UIA which is the Universidad Iberoamericana. There we ate another king’s meal, which was insanely cheap, around 50 pesos, which is about 4 dollars. We then listened to a lecture, by Nancy Gurrona, about the current state of the country and some issues and perspectives on the Mexican people from someone in Mexico. We then listened to another lecture from Sylvia Schmelke on the education system in Mexico.

The whole group at Universidad Iberoamericana

We arrived back at CG and almost immediately were out the door to get something to eat. This turned out to be another long walk as the restaurant seemed to keep moving one block further the more we walked. The restaurant we were trying to find was Sanbournes, a chain restaurant in Mexico, which serves a traditional as well as other ethnic foods. My wonderful friends treated me to a piece birthday chocolate cake which was wonderful. I love my new friends. We ventured back to CG and proceeded to enjoy some more cerveza and tequila…almost a little too much. No mas tequila…