Meet the new Resident Assistant Intern!

Hola!

My name is Galina and I’ll be taking over as the resident assistant intern from mid-June until late August. Although I’ve been in Cuernavaca for almost a year, I thought I should introduce myself and share a few things about me.

                I spent most of my childhood and young adult life in Omaha, Nebraska, where my parents and brothers still live. It has never felt like home, but I love visiting my family. I’ve never been one to plant firm roots where I live… I consider home to be a good community of friends and family, not specific geographical coordinates. Ever since I was a child I’ve been a restless being. I tried (and usually failed) at almost every sport. In middle school I tried out a different color of eyeliner every day. In high school I jumped around from different social groups every semester. Then came college, where my first 2 years were more about discovering what I didn’t want to do with my life. After graduating from high school in Omaha, I moved to New York City to attend art school. My time in New York was short lived, but involved a lot of personal growth. I quickly realized that art was better as a hobby rather than a career, and after living on Trader Joe’s pasta for 9 months I decided it would be a financially wise decision to move back to the Midwest. Since I was very against moving back to Omaha, I thought the Twin Cities met my ideal of being in an urban setting but still within driving distance to Nebraska. Augsburg was the only college I applied to and luckily I was accepted!

                My first semester at Augsburg was slow moving. I didn’t know anyone in town and lived off campus, so I found it difficult to put myself out there and meet people. To solve this issue, I signed myself up for a travel seminar with Augsburg´s Center for Global Education to hike different mountains in Mexico. After 11 days, 3 different mountains, and wonderful people, I decided to change my major and entire academic path even before boarding the return flight to Minneapolis. I am now a Cross-Cultural Studies major at Augsburg, which is an amazing major because it actually requires you to study abroad for at least one semester or do two short travel seminars. Within a couple months I signed myself up for a semester program with CGE Mexico.

                Well one semester turned into a full academic year in Mexico… and here I am! Still here in Cuernavaca for the summer. My time in Mexico has by far been one of the most impactful periods of my life. I’ve grown into a strong woman with a voice that can’t be silenced. In Mexico, injustice comes in many forms. Mexicans face daily setbacks to the point where you would expect them to simply give up. And yet, here in Mexico I have never experienced so much hope, passion, and resourcefulness. Mexicans are relentless fighters against the systematic oppression that has occurred in this country since the Spanish conquest. CGE offers experiential learning, which fits my learning style perfectly. Rather than sitting in a classroom all day I´ve met with speakers on LGBTAIQ issues, peace activism, women’s rights, religious rebels who are changing the church, environmental activism and more. I’ve participated in the circles of indigenous ceremonies and I’ve had a seat at conference tables among U.S. government officials of the U.S. Embassy of Mexico. I´ve climbed to a peak of one of Mexico´s tallest mountains, and I’ve dug my toes into the sand of the Pacific Ocean. I can easily say that my year in Mexico has been the best year of my life.

                After 9 months of being a student with CGE, I’m proud and honored to take on the position as International Resident Assistant. Without the wonderful professors and staff of CGE, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today. It’s a wonderful feeling to become a part of a team that has been my friends and family for the past year, who provided me with the education and resources that changed my life. To the students coming this summer, I look forward to meeting you! And to those who are contemplating a travel seminar, summer session, semester, OR academic year here in Cuernavaca… come! It was the best decision of my life.

Saludos!

Galina

                

Art for social change

Yesterday our summer students went to visit Alejandro Aranda, an artist and print maker who lives in Cuernavaca.  Alejandro started creating graphics for the student movement in his youth and never stopped.  Today he continues to create art that speaks to social problems of violence, exclusion, and injustice and inspires hope through images of people organizing to create a better world.  He works directly with social movements and creates with their needs in mind because as he said, "Art should be of use, not just appreciated for esthetical beauty." He hopes to raise print making and popular art to a more respected place in the art community.

We learned about the Mexican revolution, Emiliano Zapata, the EZLN, an indigenous town called Tlamacazapa, and much more as he told stories through his prints. Then we got to go see his workshop and even made small prints together!

To learn more about Alejandro Aranda and his artwork, see his website: http://alejandroaranda.prosite.com/

Privileged

Fourth poem by Jaia Chang:

Privileged

We all have the privilege to marry who we want, when we want and where we want

but there are some who are pressured to marry at a certain time and place

so they can get paper work to prove they're a married couple.

Because the husband is undocumented

so there won't be any deportation

Little did they know it was bound to happen

all the paper work was nothing, it wasn't any proof to the government it was just pieces of papers

with one mistake the government wanted him out

yet the love was too strong to let it go

she kept on fighting while his faith and hope was dying

The dreams they thought they were going to have with one another came to an end too soon

having to say good bye was too soon for a newly wedded couple

the time that was spent wasn't enough yet it was not going to be enough

she wanted to fight, he wanted to give up and be deported that exact day

with one look they hated each other that very moment

she wonder why he didn't fight, he knew the process too well and didn't want to stay

what can he do, what is else is there that he can do?

She left without her husband all the dreams about their future down the drain

yet the next time she sees him will be the last time she sees him and it will be their final good bye

Something keeps telling her there's something she can do more, something she can do to prevent this

but it was all too late, her husband's gone

All she had left was the memories of them

when the final goodbye came, there was no hug no nothing but a touch of a finger tip

and that was the end but it wasn't the end of her fight.

She tried bringing him back to the United States but because of his past, whatever she does is never enough

the amount of time and amount of money that came out of her pocket to try to bring her husband back and on top of that dealing with her emotions and holding herself together while being away from him

But the fight finally ended when he invited her to live with him in Mexico.

Truth is the fight kept going on, and today the journey hasn't ended yet.

- Jaia Chang

This is a true story.  To learn more, check out: http://thedeporteeswife.wordpress.com/

Worker's rights

Third poem from Jaia Chang:

Worker's rights

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to question your rights?

Americans can speak so clearly about their rights and they have the right to voice about it

but have you ever thought about all those who couldn't voice their rights?

Or those who don't even know what their rights are as a documented immigrant working in the United States?

Yet they're still being tortured to work long hours in the fields in the hot sun without any breaks

no water breaks, no shade where they can sit and be out of the sun for a little while

Why didn't they say anything?

They couldn't yet they didn't know what rights they had as a worker here with papers.

Even though they were here on a working contract/visa, the say in anything and the power to voice something is very limited since most don't speak the language.

The working conditions weren't just hard, their living spaces were horrible

Small living space that wasn't enough to be paying high rents and dealing with bed bugs

Can you imagine yourself living in a space like this?

Yet having to deal with emotional feelings of being depressed and the fear of not making enough money

But trying your hardest to work as many hours as you can even if you're in pain physically

The struggles he fights, the depression he overcame and having to deal with physical pain

the day he thought and felt like he was going to die, the feeling of not being able to say good bye to his family yet he was forced to take some medication and back to work

The pain got worse, he ended up in the hospital going through surgery alone

and the fear of not being able to pay for his bill was on his mind

He knew too well it was too good to be true when they said his company will cover half the expenses

all he needed to do was sign the paper

little did he know the paper stated he will work to pay for the expenses

and after 3 days his supervisor demanded him to work a couple hours to pay them back

But he had enough, he didn't want to pay anymore, he didn't want to work anymore

instead he wanted to be home and that's exactly what he did

he went back home.

- Jaia Chang

“It felt like prison”

Second poem from Jaia Chang:

“It felt like prison”

Photo credit: New York Times

All the stories, all the lies people came back with

who knew it was going to be lies when it sounded so real so dreamy

who wouldn’t want to live that life? The dream life

If you had the choice to live the dream life to provide for your family would you?

All the people risking their lives to cross the border each and every day so they can experience the dream life, little did they know their life was going to be changed forever 

but we Americans think that Mexicans cross the border to chase after money and wealth something we all don’t have enough of but saying that they take all our jobs  when in reality those jobs are jobs we wouldn’t want to do
jobs we wouldn’t even consider thinking about but we want them out of our country

we want our government to do something about it, we want policies to pass to control it

when we don’t want to listen to why they cross the border, why they want to be in our country

when in reality there are two sides to every story

yet we Americans want to listen to our side, to the right side never considering asking why

why are Mexicans coming over, why are they crossing the border undocumented.

Even after all the bad treatments that workers were getting, the low wages, bad living conditions

They kept returning even after being deported.

Have we ever considered asking ourselves why we treat undocumented workers so badly? Why we torture a human being who just wants to make a living, who wants to work and send money back?

Yet we talk about depression, human dignity and respect

but many workers don’t even receive that

Have we ever thought that Mexicans are human beings, and they have feelings?

That they can have depression being away from their homeland being away from their families

yet they’re scared for their lives going to the store, going outside their house

doing anything and getting caught, the fear of deportation

And we live freely, go to the store without fearing for our lives, driving on the roads without having to worry we need papers and lastly we don’t have to worry about deportation.

And we complain when our rights are being taken away or aren’t given to us.

We have the right to speak and the right to voice our rights

while many immigrants don’t have the right to challenge their rights, when there are’t any rights to start with since they have a new identity, new social security number while others just work for cash

Have we ever thought about the rights of immigrants and what we do can affect them?

Think about it.

- Jaia Chang

Poems from the semester

We're happy to share poems written by Social Work Spring 2013 student Jaia Chang.  They are the creative product of her reflections from the past semester.  We will be posting a poem each day for a week.  Enjoy!

Amatlan

The land of the indigenous the land thats sacred

The land that belongs to everyone, the land that doesn't and shouldn't have any ownership

yet today land ownership is still an issue, no answer has been found yet.

The place where people still fight to have a voice in society today

where society has come in and tried to change the way things are

adding new roads, wanting to add water lines that connects the houses

the place that makes their own tortillas at every meal, harvest their own corn

and crops year after year yet the government came

and tried to change that by giving them a new crop to grow and adding fertilizers

but members of the community stood their ground and didn't let the government take away their indigenous corn and said no to fertilizers

the land where women are the reflections of mother earth

where generations live together on a plot of land

a land where many hold many memories and saw many changes throughout time

and histories go back, go way back, still believing in traditional medicines and healers

using herbs to cure sickness and believing that there's an inbalance in the spiritual and physical world

but access to social services limited for indigenous people who live in Amatlan

You hear all these wonderful services the Mexican government's providing for their people

but little does the truth come out

The services limited, not enough to make a living

Yet indigenous citizens relied on it, making the best out of every peso they got

with one mistake the government has the right to take the family off the list

and if one missed a meeting, there are consequences that follow.

But through all these struggles, all the battles, at the end it's about power, and about money

about who has more of it

- Jaia Chang

Internships at CGE Mexico

Some of the best experiences of CGE Mexico students come from working at their internship placements in and around Cuernavaca.  Students do hands-on community work and learn new skills to enrich their future professions while earning academic credit.  Its a great way for students to more fully integrate into the community and learn cross cultural communication skills.

Check out our newest video that profiles four former students at their internships.  They discuss day to day life, new knowledge, and how the experience adds to or impacts their future plans.



Thanks to Mandy Skinner, former student and volunteer this spring, who created the video.