A great week in San Lucas Toliman

Today was my last day working with Ajkem’a Loy’a this week. I traveled with a grant from W139 to teach them how to use the internet. A paper-based workshop to explain what the internet and email were, started off the week with a holistic understanding even before sitting in front of the computer.

We then had a couple of days of mixed time, between their workshop space and the local internet cafe in town. It was a fantastic experience. The first reply they received to one of their emails was an amazing, and surprising moment for them. Their finding pictures of our June collaboration on a website was exciting for them, and thrilling for me to watch. And then, seeing them realize that googling could become a design tool, was exactly what I was hoping for.

We’ll have to wait and see if they are able to practice (they can check their email for $.30 for 30 min.) as much as they should to not forget everything we worked on this week. I have been emailing for 16 years now, and it was a beautiful experience to not take for granted every little thing I’ve learned, and even more exciting to revisit those early days of email with a group who had not imagined they could ever actually understand what those young kids are doing in front of the computer for so many hours a day.

Today I was invited to three of their homes. It was extremely humbling and moving to see how they live. The lucky ones live in spaces with enough beds for herself and her two children. Others, a mother of four, shares a bed with two of her children, while the other two sleep in the neighboring bed. They have no floor other than patted down dirt and never have the luxury of walking around without shoes on.

It’s always a sad goodbye, but I feel fortunate that I’m able to do this kind of work, and hopeful for a return next year with students who can share these experiences of working in the developing world.

(NOTE: This may have to be my last post in only English. Now that the women of Ajkem’a Loy’a are reading I’m hoping this blog will now go bilingual! Any volunteers out there who will help me translate previous and future entries?)

Share

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on email
Share on print

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Time flying by…

Time has proven to be a highly treasured element on this trip. In the past two weeks, we have experienced incredible progress with both Ajkem’a Loy’a and BARCO. It has

Read More »

Barbie a la Maya

We learned that some of the children make garments for their barbie dolls. This particular one is an interesting outfit designed from local textiles. It reminds us of one of

Read More »
Categories

Related Posts

Our student team

Every time I travel with a team of students for an international project, I truly believe that group could never be surpassed in their energy, skills, support for one another,

Read More »

Next Steps: San Lucas Toliman

Pascale and 5 Parsons students who will be focusing on the development of new products with Ajkem’a Loy’a have arrived to San Lucas and they will continue blogging from there

Read More »

Business Workshop: Pricing

Anna, David, Jane, and Nika led this workshop on valuing time and pricing. They started with a laughing ice breaker in which all participants had to laugh for a whole

Read More »