COVID-19 IN THE MOUNTAIN

 

It is always a pleasure to say "Hi" to Valentina when I drive by her house

People have been writing to me and asking about the COVID-19 situation in la Montaña (the Mountain) of Guerrero. It sounds like a simple question, but I find it difficult to give a simple answer. Forgive me for trying to explain the situation as best I can. But first, please allow me to give a little background.

Rosalinda graduated as a nurse thanks to a bursary from Mission Mexico

The Mountain of Guerrero has about 500,000 people living in about 700 villages and towns and one city. That city is called Tlapa de Comonfort. It has a population of close to 100,000 people, and it is called “the heart of the Mountain.” The reason for this is that it is the main place to go to in order to find hardware stores, banks, paper stores, government offices, hospitals, clothing stores, hotels, gasoline stations, autopart stores, restaurants, universities, etc.

These women from Tototepec are eating the first cobs of corn from the 2020 crop

Most of the people in the villages and towns belong to one of three indigenous cultures: na savi, me phaa, and nahuatl. Take away the teachers and the governing officials in these places, and you are left with people who seldom have a full-time job but who have families to feed. Most of the people plant corn and beans and maybe some squash or other vegetable in the rainy season (June to October), but even with a decent crop, life is difficult, and everyone has to try to do something to earn a little bit of money.

A family in Tlapa gave me some used clothing that I could share with this family

If someone is fortunate enough to get a job in construction or in a store or working for a not-so-poor family, a common salary is 1,000 pesos a week. That is about 60 Canadian dollars a week – about 10 dollars a day if you are fortunate enough to have to work only six days a week. Take travel and food and lodging out of that 10 dollars a day, and little is left over for anything else.

Josefa was walking to town to sell a heavy bag of squash; fortunately,
I passed by with the Mission Mexico truck

So everyone has to do something. It can be working in one of the stores or restaurants or businesses, doing cleaning or dishwashing or whatever might be needed. It can be wandering on the streets to sell fruit or vegetables or shoe laces or needles and thread or tortillas or bread or pens or plants or sandals or T-shirts – you think of it, and someone sells it. Other families (with children and all) just pack up during the dry season and go to work in the huge agricultural fields that have irrigation in the northern part of the country of Mexico. Many people (especially the young) illegally enter the United States and send a bit of money home every month to help their needy families.

Two of Mission Mexico's best friends: Abel Barrera, director of the Tlachinollan 
Human Rights Center of the Mountain, and Father Cesar Ivan Balbuena Sanchez,
parish priest at St. Francis of Assisi inTlapa

So life is difficult at the best of times. Any unexpected circumstance (an accident; an illness; a loss of a job; a death) can turn a difficult life into an almost-impossible life. Health care is not free here, and many of the indigenous peoples avoid going to a hospital simply because they know they can’t afford the care. Many of the indigenous also feel left out or discriminated against if they speak only their native language.

Kenia received her bilingual teaching degree (Nahuatl and Spanish)
thanks to a bursary from Mission Mexico

Now throw in COVID. Schools were closed; offices were closed; restaurants were closed; travel was restricted. People lost their jobs. People were told to stay at home. How could they do this when that home had no food in it? People were told to keep a safe distance? How could they do that when they were struggling to sell items on the street to everyone who came near? They were told to wear a mask; most didn’t because they didn’t want to buy one or because they prayed to the Virgen of Guadalupe, so they trusted that she would protect them. On any given day walking the streets in Tlapa, I daresay that still, not 20% of the population are wearing a mask or even giving a thought to safe distance.

Some little friends in Barrio Nuevo

So is there COVID in the Mountain? Of course there is. But it is not necessarily documented, so it is impossible to give numbers. As mentioned, few people go to the hospital. When they do, it is often after everything else has been tried (prayers, incense, candles, cleansing), and the medical personnel at the hospital (there is only one that receives likely COVID patients) lament that they came too late.

Fortunately, Roberto recovered without going to a hospital

The prevalence of the virus means that even now all classes at all age levels are online; no schools are open to receiving students in the classroom. In the Mountain, this presents incredible challenges. There are so many places without Internet, without electricity, without computers, without parents who read and write to help their children. I have an incredible respect for the teachers of the Mountain who do everything they can to help their students in some way. But certainly, nothing is easy.

I was fortunate this day; the dirt road caved in, but I didn't roll down the ravine;
these men came and got me mobile again.

A huge factor in terms of life here is the number of Mexicans in the United States (and some in Canada) whose life was changed because of COVID there. Hundreds of Mexicans died in the United States; one of Mission Mexico’s partners here, the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain, has been playing a major role in repatriating the remains or the ashes of victims; this is an important reality to the native families in their indigenous cultures.

Meeting in Teocuitlapa with youth assisting in children's education in their villages

But hundreds, if not thousands, of Mexicans lost their jobs in the United States due to the closing of so many businesses there. That means no more monthly payments sent to the needy families in the Mountain. Families who before counted on that money to just barely get by are now facing misery as they struggle to survive on their own.

Modesta appreciated getting some eggs on this day

So what is life like here in the Mountain during this time of COVID? It is heart-breaking; it is difficult; it is super challenging; it is desperate in many instances.

Mike with Cepillo and Checo, two Mexican Marist brothers who help
coordinate the Champagnat High School of the Mountain

But it is not hopeless. Mission Mexico has more than twenty years partnering with Mexican friends and organizations in trying to bring life and hope to this poorest region of Mexico. Our efforts have had to adapt to new situations, but we have not abandoned the struggle – and definitely we have not abandoned the people. Our efforts to make a difference, especially in the areas of health and education, are not flourishing at the moment – but they are ongoing. Lives continue to be transformed, hope continues to be nourished, and love continues to hold the upper hand in this most difficult of times.

On many of the roads I travel, I come across more burros than other vehicles

Gratitude is extended to the people of the Diocese of Calgary for not abandoning Mission Mexico during the time of this pandemic. Yes, the closure of Catholic churches and schools in Alberta meant necessary cutbacks in the support that could be offered in the Mountain. But the people of the Mountain understand that COVID is afflicting life in Canada too, and they pray everyday for your well-being and health.

Little Yashira almost died in April; without Mission Mexico,
maybe she would have. But she is fine now.

Is the future uncertain? Of course it is; no one knows what is going to happen next. But the Diocese of Calgary is trying very hard to maintain its commitments here in the Mountain. Please, people of Calgary, please consider going to www.missionmexico.com on the Internet; you can learn more, and maybe you will feel called to share just a bit with the impoverished indigenous peoples here in the Mountain of Mexico. And please consider being generous with the diocesan-wide "Mission Mexico Collection" in parishes on the weekend of December 12-13. Thank you, and God bless.

Driving the mountain roads in early morning or late night often offers
some incredible skies