We arrived back in San Cris yesterday at about 5pm after a long week in the field. On Monday we drove to a small town called Tonala where Lisa, Tito and I got dropped off at the Hotel Tonala. Ramon and Janet continued on to a town called Tapachula. Before they headed out, however, we all grabbed lunch at a seafood restaurant called M-Force. This was extra special because we were about 20 minutes from the beach, so it was fresh! The day was full of travel, and we didn’t do any field visits.
On Tuesday, a teacher and his son picked Tito, Lisa and I up from the Hotel and took us to 2 preschools. My role was to conduct water quality analyses for each school. Tito did the technology survey, and Lisa looked at the UN right to water factors. However, there is currently a large teacher’s strike, so the kids weren’t at school. Teachers, parent committee heads, and school directors came to the school to help us conduct our tests and surveys. Janet and Ramon joined us again that evening, and we decided to go see Deadpool 2 after we finished our work. It was totally in spanish, and even so it was still a super funny movie.
The next day, the 5 of us decided to do the 3 schools together since we only had one car. Every single school needed a water intervention because they were all consuming dirty water. Most probably needed a sanitation intervention, but that parameter is harder to measure because it is hard to track where the dirty water goes after it is used. Some say they have septic tanks, but have never emptied them, meaning the tanks must be full and/or leaking. Some drain right into the river that the students and teachers then use for hand washing or even drinking in some cases.
After this long day, we ate and decided, since it was our last night, to go to the beach!!! There had been a bit of rain, so the waves were massive, but we all ventured in. The water was super warm so we were able to stay in for awhile as the sun was setting. That was a blast and a nice surprise.
The final day, a teacher brought us to 2 schools where we did the last of our surveys and tests. We then headed back. On our way back, we passed some toll roads where the teacher’s strike had taken over the toll booths in massive numbers. They took the money that would have been charged to support their protest. They also caused a traffic jam by parking trucks in a whole lane. It was wild to see them in action. In the United States, they would probably be sent to jail. Here, many of the strike leaders disappear, are killed, or jailed as well. But there were still huge numbers of protesters that were able to protest.
By the time we got back, we were all exhausted. Poor Ramon was the only one of us able to drive, so he really crashed when he got back. The rest of us were also tired and called it a night very very early.
I had a great experience this week in the field getting to know the various leaders in the teaching community, seeing the variety of states that the WASH systems are in, and getting to know my colleagues.
One observation I had from the field was that, since we had to eat out the whole time, I realized how hard it can be to stay healthy in Mexico. Because the water quality is questionable, it is often better to order a soft drink than a glass of water. The convenience store snacks do not include any fruits or healthy snacks, rather lots of very sugary snacks and salty chips. And the integrity of veggies at restaurants is also questionable, so it is best to avoid foods like salad. This was something I had not thought about previously, but even after one week I felt blah from my diet.
Overall, going to the field is super informative and a great way to see how people in Mexico live day-to-day, especially when it comes to visiting schools since that is where all of the children get their starts. I get to see the differences in their education vs. ours and I also get to know a little more about what the communities are like.