Reply To: Exercise 10: 10 Valuable People
Exerercise 10: People of High Value
I did not speak to 10 valuable people. I did talk to people, I visited communities where I thought I was going to talk to people but in which that didn’t work out as I had envisioned. Nonetheless, I had a number of contacts that were helpful and that moved me forward on my project.
I had been referred by a priest here to a mission church in a pueblo outside of Merida. I think it was his thought that I could do something to “help” them as they are a community of very poor people. I spoke with the madre who is the spiritual leader of the mission and she was open and inviting for my visit. However, there was no opportunity for me to talk to the people of the community during my visit and on the way back to Merida she shared with me that she had spoken with some of the leadership people in the congregation and that what she presented to them wasn’t of interest to them. I don’t know what she said, but I didn’t have the chance to speak with them myself.
I then visited the “home” church that is in my neighborhood the following Sunday. I was hoping to speak with people in that congregation after the service but the service was a special celebration that joined the Spanish speaking and English speaking congregations and was therefore very long and I was unable to stay for further discussion. I plan to go back to try again to speak with people who may be interested in joining me.
1. I met the incoming Secretary of Citizen Participation (a position with the incoming City Council) in a small group setting. I had the opportunity to present my idea and he was enthusiastic about my project and had the following to contribute:
1) Get Mexican people involved.
2) Follow up with his office for possible support in school projects that include children’s art and participation.
3) Inform him of events, send photos etc.
2. I spoke individually with the woman in this office who is responsible for migrant relations. Her background is cultural anthropology and she had the following suggestions:
1) Clarify what your goal is. Is the goal “just” picking up trash? Is there a longer term idea or underlying value? This helped (again) clarify my intention to build community and raise awareness of not creating trash in the first place.
2) Get concrete with what you’re doing so others can join you now.
3) She suggested that I collect along a path of the cities “Puntos Verdes” (recycling centers) and I could then immediately have a place to dispose of the collected waste without taking it home.
4) There is a “cultural center” at the local coffee shop where we met that is new and that is an open space for community members to use in whatever “cultural” enterprise they would like. She introduced me to several people and suggested it might be a space I could use for meetings and introducing the project to others.
3. I returned to speak to a restaurant owner that stopped me in the street to ask about the progress and to reiterate his interest in the project.
1) Invite people to join me on Sundays and take photos.
2) Get a Facebook page up right away where info and photos can be posted.
3) Follow up with a graphic artist contact (he plans to go with me to make an introduction) to get a decal/poster designed and produced.
4. Radio reporter informed me that the interview he taped of me on the street was used in a radio program on community events, the first in a series of “La Ciudad que Queremos” (The City we Want”).
1) Provided a contact of a woman who is also involved in radio and other media suggesting she would do an interview in English about the involvement of expats participating in beautifying the city.
2) Offered further assistance with contacts when I want.
I have felt like I need to make some decisions about the project before proceeding with more conversations. I am at this point continuing with the idea of inviting others to join me on Sundays and to develop a decal or small poster that I can give to businesses and individuals who commit to maintaining their properties free from trash. I also will start a Facebook page that allows them to share their journey of “loving Merida” in photos and stories. I will do this as a step toward the solution I have already stated, as stated below.
New Problem: Same as old problem
New Solution: Hold a clean-up event in either one or both a church community and a school community based on city pride and stewardship. Establish a leadership group from the communities involved to develop the details of the event and to take ownership of it.
REFLECTIONS:
I have not found it easy to stay within the structure of the recommended exercise. As I take some further concrete steps, I think I will have further questions and will be better able to make contact with “valuable people” actually fruitful. I continue to feel encouraged by the response of people with whom I speak. I also find myself discouraged when I walk down the streets and am confronted with how big the problem is. At these times I go back to Zoi’s question about is the real goal trash (it is at least partially true) or something else. I want this to be a way to build community and consciousness. Community connects us in ways that increases our desire to take care of one another and consciousness also opens us to our part in caring for the environment around us. I continue to focus on the “task” of trash while keeping these foundational ideas in the front of my mind.