Oaxaca Project Update No.1

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The Oaxaca project is off to a fabulous start! Volunteers arrived to their communities Sunday after 3 days of briefing in Oaxaca City. Throughout briefing, Volunteers got to know the group, leaned about Oaxacan culture, cuisine and customs, and enjoyed both the sun and showers of Oaxaca. Community nutrition Volunteers received technical training from Puente a la Salud Comunitaria and Un Kilo de Ayuda on the subjects of nutrition, malnutrition and amaranth promotion in Oaxacan communities. As part of this training, Volunteers participated in interactive workshops on cooking local recipes with amaranth cereal, flour and leaves as well as planting amaranth. These activities will prepare Volunteers to make house visits and lead their own workshops on cooking and cultivating amaranth in community. Digital culture Volunteers heard from local organizations that work with indigenous communities in the region to preserve and celebrate their cultural heritage. This small, but closely-knit group also created project blogs that they will be updating throughout the summer and learned interviewing techniques for carrying out oral history investigations with youth in their communities.

The twenty communities where Volunteers will be working this summer represent the cultural and geographical diversity of Oaxaca. Some are high up in the Sierras (mountains), while others are closer to Oaxaca City in the central valley. Most communities are Spanish-speaking, but others speak Mixe, Zapoteco or Chinanteco as their first language. Almost all of the communities follow the traditional system of government know as usos y costumbres (uses and customs), which allows communities to self govern. The Volunteers will be able to learn more about this deeply rooted tradition and other aspects of local life as they begin their project activities this week.

During their first week, Volunteers will develop a work plan for the summer, including classes with local kids, activities with youth counterparts, house visits and planning their community project.  We look forward to seeing all that they accomplish over the next 7 weeks.