Mexico…Monday

My job today was kitchen duty. I spent the day with Jan Feliciano-Cruz. She has been a missionary in Chiapas for 33 years and is truly a blessing. She lives concern for others, spending her days feeding Americans and caring for her husband, Pablo. She makes remarkable sacrifices for her faith. Life has many rewards as well, but it is not easy and I truly admire her servant’s heart.

I got to watch women and children today. This is a dangerous place to live, horrific by American standards. Construction materials are placed for convenience and accessibility, not safety. Men use their machetes and sometimes lay them on the ground. NO child touched a machete, youngest to oldest. Not one. One lay in the middle of the compound all day. It was like it was not there.

Children play without hovering parents. Often you will see a ten or twelve-year-old with a baby strapped to her back or side. Once during the week I saw a mother warn a child about a danger. One time a child fell and bumped her head...but she was about two and just lost her balance. Children balanced on a stick in the ground next to the deck. Children played ball on the deck and when the ball did escape down the hill, they (literally) ran down the steep hill to rescue it. The 10, 11, and 12 year old boys came the last day to work with us. They were swinging a pick-axe like it was a spaghetti noodle. No one got hurt. No one even came close. They scooped buckets of dirt onto their shoulders and carted them across the slick hillside for dumping. They climbed onto a five foot hill of big rocks, rolled the one they wanted down the pile, worked to get it on someone’s back, and carried it to build the wall.

All the children were strong, agile, sure of themselves, and very much a part of the community. They were very proud when they accomplished a task. These small boys got to eat lunch with the men that day...a reward for working like a man all day.

No question the Mexican world is a dangerous place for children. Common childhood diseases can often result in death for a child in Chiapas. But you had to wonder if the extreme protectionism of the states has resulted in a different kind of disability. I wonder what complete freedom to explore means to the creativity and social interaction of children?  I wonder what it might mean to us to explore our faith journey like these kids explored their world. We can watch our elders, but might be joyfully free to try something new, something different, or something we watch others do well. Mistakes were learning experiences, not failures. I think the joy of trying was most of the fun. Pride in accomplishment, the reward.