Top Ten Myths (or are they…?) of the Oaxaca Valley Pueblos

10.  The common cold is generally caused by going barefoot or drinking cold beverages.

 

9.  Physical ailments ranging from a stomachache to a pulled muscle can be treated with some combination of chamomile tea, Vapor-rub, Alka seltzer, and/or lime juice. 

 

8.  If you feel inexplicably out of sorts, you might have an evil spirit inside you.  To get it out, have someone rub a whole raw egg all over your body, then crack it into a glass of water and bury the contents in the yard.

7.  If you admire a cute baby but don’t touch or kiss it, your gaze will stick to it (you’ll “give it eye”), and it will be cranky later.

 

6.  Never get married or engaged on a Tuesday.  

 

5.  To ward off lightening, throw two machetes down in the yard in the form of a cross.

 

4.  If you swim or bathe without getting your head wet, you’ll get a fever. 

 

3. To repel flies, hang a plastic bag full of water from the ceiling, or place lime halves stuck with cloves on the table. 

 

2. To repel witches, place an open scissor on the floor in front of each entrance to your house, or keep a black dog on the premises. 

 

1.  If someone is roasting a rat, and you think it smells good but you’re too proud to taste it, your teeth will start falling out. The only cure?  Eat some roasted rat.

 

Article by Teresa Ponikvar.

Photo by Duncan Smith.

 

Big Ambition Coupled with Small Steps

By Shelley Tennyson, Volunteer Program Manager 

A few weeks ago, I shared with all of you the experience and incredible success of our first Business Training Program class through the post “Let’s Get Down to Business.” If you can recall, we were filled with excitement for the next few weeks to come and could not stop smiling on the bus ride back from our first meeting. While our enthusiasm and excitement has remained, our smiles have changed to a more pensive and concerned look…

We started out with lots of eagerness on the part of the women, with lots of desire to share what they are doing and the difficulties they run into as well as their pride in their work.  However, by the third meeting, reality set in. There were church meetings and festivals getting in the way of the schedule, and attendance dropped dramatically, to the point where we felt it was necessary to start again.  We decided to reach out to the women and create a more formal commitment; Lucy, a volunteer helping to run the business training, and the Director, Carlos went to the usual Tuesday collection meeting to see who wanted to participate, and 15 women made a solid commitment to come to 5 sessions.

Twelve women came to the first session, which talked about how to track income and expenses.  None of the women there had been doing this, and there was agreement among all that this is a very important first step.  Their homework was to set up a “cash book” in order to start tracking their income and expenses.  The next week, only 7 of the 12 showed up, and the first one to show was 20 minutes late.  None of them had done their cashbooks.  Thus, all we were able to accomplish was to have each woman set up a cashbook for the week from memory.

The next week there were two women, with a third showing up at the end of the meeting.  Granted, it was the beginning of Semana Santa (Easter week), but all had agreed the week before that the meeting day and time would be fine.  We decided to go ahead with lesson 2 on profits and losses, mostly to see if it would benefit the two in attendance.  It did, and we decided to carry on with those two in order to test the remaining lessons.

The problem?  There are lots of ideas surrounding the attendance of our business class.  First, these women are already stretched to the limit, working incredibly long hours for very little money.  Second, we are asking them to do something very foreign to them: write down what they make and what they spend.  They’ve been operating for generations without tracking anything, and asking them to change is not easy.  The third problem is that even though they’ve made a commitment to the classes, there are many competing community events drawing their attention.

The solution? Part of what we are trying to do here is to give the women a much better understanding of their businesses so that they can maximize their profits, earn more money, and be successful entrepreneurs. We decided that the benefits of such a program are invaluable and therefore should be mandatory. Any women applying for a second loan from us will now be required to attend and complete our 3 week Business Training Program. 

Probably the more difficult part will be to get the women to start tracking their income and expenses, and looking at their actual profits and losses. It’s probably a lot like people who go to Weight Watchers with great intentions, but who don’t really want to follow the diet after years of eating what they want.  Stay tuned for my next post, and we’ll see whether or not we are experiencing more success.

 

Big Ambition Coupled with Small Steps

Big Ambition Coupled with Small Steps

 

By Shelley Tennyson, Volunteer Program Manager

 

A few weeks ago, I shared with all of you the experience and incredible success of our first Business Training Program class through the post “Let’s Get Down to Business.” If you can recall, we were filled with excitement for the next few weeks to come and could not stop smiling on the bus ride back from our first meeting. While our enthusiasm and excitement has remained, our smiles have changed to a more pensive and concerned look…

 

We started out with lots of eagerness on the part of the women, with lots of desire to share what they are doing and the difficulties they run into as well as their pride in their work.  However, by the third meeting, reality set in. There were church meetings and festivals getting in the way of the schedule, and attendance dropped dramatically, to the point where we felt it was necessary to start again.  We decided to reach out to the women and create a more formal commitment; Lucy, a volunteer helping to run the business training, and the Director, Carlos went to the usual Tuesday collection meeting to see who wanted to participate, and 15 women made a solid commitment to come to 5 sessions.

 

Twelve women came to the first session, which talked about how to track income and expenses.  None of the women there had been doing this, and there was agreement among all that this is a very important first step.  Their homework was to set up a “cash book” in order to start tracking their income and expenses.  The next week, only 7 of the 12 showed up, and the first one to show was 20 minutes late.  None of them had done their cashbooks.  Thus, all we were able to accomplish was to have each woman set up a cashbook for the week from memory.

 

The next week there were two women, with a third showing up at the end of the meeting.  Granted, it was the beginning of Semana Santa (Easter week), but all had agreed the week before that the meeting day and time would be fine.  We decided to go ahead with lesson 2 on profits and losses, mostly to see if it would benefit the two in attendance.  It did, and we decided to carry on with those two in order to test the remaining lessons.

 

The problem?  There are lots of ideas surrounding the attendance of our business class.  First, these women are already stretched to the limit, working incredibly long hours for very little money.  Second, we are asking them to do something very foreign to them: write down what they make and what they spend.  They’ve been operating for generations without tracking anything, and asking them to change is not easy.  The third problem is that even though they’ve made a commitment to the classes, there are many competing community events drawing their attention.

 

The solution? Part of what we are trying to do here is to give the women a much better understanding of their businesses so that they can maximize their profits, earn more money, and be successful entrepreneurs. We decided that the benefits of such a program are invaluable and therefore should be mandatory. Any women applying for a second loan from us will now be required to attend and complete our 3 week Business Training Program. 

 

Probably the more difficult part will be to get the women to start tracking their income and expenses, and looking at their actual profits and losses. It’s probably a lot like people who go to Weight Watchers with great intentions, but who don’t really want to follow the diet after years of eating what they want.  Stay tuned for my next post, and we’ll see whether or not we are experiencing more success.

Getting More for Your Money

By Susan Bean Aycock, English Program Volunteer

This week, $50 bought me not quite all of a pair of shoes in Dallas. Last week, the same amount provided me the opportunity to buy into the hopes and dreams of half a dozen women in rural Mexico.

I had signed up for a tour by En Vía to its new locale, Diaz Ordáz. We were three women: Cynthia from the US, Junko from Japan, and myself. All of us had already spent some time in Mexico and weren’t new to the idea of microfinancing, but none of us had ever been to this little town. We were going to meet the women who had requested loans and hear their business proposals.

Our tour group of Cynthia, me and Junko with
prospective borrower Estella and her son

Even in April, it was already hot at 10 a.m. when we got to the house of the first prospective borrower, Estella. Mother of a nine-year-old son who stood shyly in the doorway, she told us that she had learned to embroider last year in a state-run course and now made napkin and tortilla basket covers to sell locally. She buys the printed cloths and thread at a close by market, Tlacalulo, and thus far she makes a profit margin of just a few pesos per napkin, but is she excited to be creating her own income for her family.

Raquel making bread in her family’s bakery.

Then it was on to Raquel’s, whose family has been baking bread for two decades, she has recently learned decorative cake making and wants to expand the family facility to include a vapor oven that can cook more specialty breads. The family sells its wares door to door, changing the selection daily.

Evailda’s house was next, a small ranchito where we found her husband, son and assorted animals, but not Evailda herself. Her husband jumped into his mototaxi to go get her – it turns out her mother had died that week and the funeral procession we had seen coming into town was for her. The family stood graciously in their yard and explained the process of buying chicks to resell as cut chicken meat: a profit margin of pesos per chick, hoping that none die in the holding period.

We finished the tour at Sandra and Zenaida’s tiny store, where locals buy staples such as soap, detergent and chicken feed. They would like to buy more inventory (and maybe sell one of the seven jars of Dippity-Do under the counter), plus stay open longer hours.

Evailda with her son and husband, discussing
plans to sell chickens.

Then we were solemnly invited to drink hot chocolate (a local specialty) and sweet bread at a large home gathering, which turned out to be a funeral reception for Evailda’s mother. We ate, drank and had a long conversation about the burial customs overlaid by Spanish conquistadors on the indigenous culture. We were strangers made friends, welcomed into the open arms of a grieving community.

For $50, I got to buy into the hopes and dreams of a group of women I will never see again, but my day’s experience will become part of the fabric of their lives because it will help fund their dreams. And unlike the shoes, it’s something I’ll have forever.

Lost in Translation No Longer: English and Poverty Alleviation in Teotitlán

By Anthony LaMesa, Volunteer, English Program Coordinator

At Fundación En Vía, we are constantly reflecting on how our programs can evolve to better meet the needs of the individuals we serve. A good example of this is the English program’s current effort to revamp its adult curriculum to better reflect the priorities of our students, who primarily work making and selling weavings in Teotitlán del Valle.

Have you ever felt frustrated purchasing a soft drink or asking for directions in a foreign country? What if your livelihood depended on that simple conversation? In Teotitlán, there are vastly more weavings available than tourists to purchase them. As a result, for our borrowers and English program students, every conversation counts – and it counts big. Living in or close to poverty does not afford one the luxury of having a major sale lost to translation.

Recognizing the challenge that many Teotitlán weavers face in communicating with English-speaking tourists – who comprise the vast majority of visitors to the small Oaxacan pueblo – the En Vía English program is now providing its students with the language tools necessary to more effectively engage with non-Spanish speaking customers.

Whereas in the past our English curriculum focused on merely translating the vocabulary of weaving from Spanish to English, in addition to teaching students the language of simple retail transactions, the improved curriculum, under development, empowers students to articulate – with details and persuasion – the tremendous amount of effort and skill that goes into each of their rugs. Such language ability will allow Teotitlán weavers to command the fair prices for their rugs that they deserve to be paid – and, at the same time, allow tourists to better understand the nuances of this fascinating craft.

Faced with the challenge of implementing this dynamic new curriculum, our volunteer English teachers are rising to the occasion. In the picture below, Volunteer Teacher Andy Healy, a veteran educator from the United Kingdom, uses color images of various weavings to engage his students in a simulated retail experience – one complete with questions such as, “How long did it take to make?” “Where was it made?” “How long did it take?” and “Is this unique?”

Simple questions requiring simple answers, but the ability to answer those questions in a convincing manner can mean the difference between a 5,000 peso sale and a tourist taking his or her money elsewhere. By empowering our students to communicate with increased clarity, confidence, and conviction, En Vía English teachers are working in concert with the lending and business training programs to alleviate poverty in Teotitlán one woman at a time.

Meet Marta!

By Samantha Wattson, Volunteer, Program Manager

Every Tuesday we head out to Díaz Ordaz and Teotitlán de Valle for our weekly borrowers meetings. Here, we dispense loans, collect money, and discuss the many questions, challenges, and successes that the women experience. It also gives us a chance to simply connect, and spend time together outside of the tours. In the last few months, I’ve met the most inspiring women and I’d like to share one of their stories with you.

Marta Rosalía Gonzales García is 29 years old with two children and a third on the way. She has received 5 loans from our program, investing them in 3 different businesses. Almost everyone in Teotitlán is a weaver; and like most everyone Marta is a also a weaver. Her husband weaves, her parents weave, and in a few years her children will learn the family trade. With so many weavers in such a small town competition is inevitable, and with it comes price erosion, community conflict, and for some the inability to sell anything at all. Realizing that competition was fierce and that the income from her tapetes (rugs) couldn’t be her only source of income, Marta decided to take a huge risk. 


Rather than invest in her weaving business, she used her first En Vía loan to cultivate beans and corn. The cultivation of these crops provided a new source of steady income during the “slow season.” Marta then used her second loan to invest in the planting of fruit trees, which will not give a return on investment for another few years. However, the earnings from her bean and corn paid back the loan on the fruit trees. Her past three loans were invested in her weaving business. She decided to focus on the growth of her weaving business after connecting with a buyer who is now placing consistent orders for her tapetes. She hopes to maximize this connection so that she can hire other women in need of work. 


In her own way, Marta is a visionary in her small town of Teotitlán. She has made investments in different areas to maximize her earnings throughout the year, and has taken calculated risks to provide a better future for her family. By diversifying her investments, Marta hopes to benefit her community and provide her children with choices and inspirations outside of the traditional family business.

The Feeling of Being a Part of Something

By Elizabeth Macias Rojo, Volunteer, Program Manager 

Gaining first-hand experience in the fascinating world of micro-finance was an amazing opportunity for me. As a volunteer Program Manager I had the opportunity to work on various projects within the organization: I taught English and recruited volunteer tutors from around the world, I worked on marketing campaigns to spread the word about this new micro-finance organization in one of the poorest states of Mexico, I managed the organization’s financial database, and my favorite part of it all, I connected with the women of Teotitlán del Valle and Villa Diaz-Ordaz through our borrower meetings and tours.

In the six months that I have been working with the organization I have seen it grow in various ways. We increased our class attendance in our free English program, implemented a new business-training class, launched our microfinance program in a new town - Villa Diaz-Ordaz, and most excitingly, became incorporated as a non-profit in Mexico.

I feel honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of it all, but more significantly I have seen how micro-finance can help a community by empowering women and allowing them to use the skillS they have to get themselves out of poverty and improve the livelihood of their family and community. After six months of getting to know the women, I feel like they have welcomed me into their community with warmth and now, when walking around the town the women greet me with a gentle two-hand handshake and the Zapotec word for good evening, “xac shi,” and a running “hello” and big hugs from the children.

I came to Oaxaca and joined En Vía’s volunteer program looking for field experience in international development, but what I gained was much more than I expected. I was able to get in touch with my roots, learn about indigenous communities in Mexico and be a part of something great.