Volunteering in Xiloxochico, Mexico

Children gathered around a kite in Xiloxochico, Mexico. Tyrel Nelson photos.
Children gathered around a kite in Xiloxochico, Mexico. Tyrel Nelson photos.

Volunteering in the Community of Xiloxochico, Mexico

By Tyrel Nelson

Pupils dressed and lined up for their traditional partner act performance.
Pupils dressed and lined up for their traditional partner act performance.

It’s a late afternoon in late October.

Enthusiasm and globos—mini hot air balloons made for kids—float over the packed patio of Escuela Primaria Nicolás Bravo, a bilingual Nahuatl-Spanish institution for the indigenous children of Xiloxochico (She-low-show-cheek-o).

Parents and board members continue to pour in, joining students and staff to not only welcome our Global Citizens Network team from Minnesota but also to celebrate the third anniversary of their elementary school. A three-piece band begins to play.

A Partner Activity

Seated beside Vicki, our Nahua guide, I am captivated by the traditional performances of the pupils. The first is a partner activity.

The guys wear sandals, white shirts and pants, cream cowboy hats, and don red handkerchiefs around their necks. The gals, who are barefoot, sport bright white dresses, which have very colorful collars and shoulders.

While the boys and girls shuffle across from each other for most of the song, they ultimately ditch their partners for audience members. Team leader Holly and I get pulled into the mix, mimicking our partners’ moves until the music ends.

The Dance of Old Men

children runningThe next interpretation is the Danza de los Viejitos (Dance of the old men). Nine of the boys wear masks of decrepit dudes with white facial hair.

They initially limp around with wooden canes, some reaching for their lower backs to demonstrate the aches and pains that come along with agedness.

Then the youngsters pick up the pace. Although their movements become much livelier, the “seniors” wheeze, cough, and quiver all the while. A few of the fogeys even fall down, shaking their canes in the air out of fake frustration.

The dancing subsequently leads to a smorgasbord. Endless servings of soup, tortillas, tamales, corn, squash, and enchiladas are passed around. And just when I think I can’t have another bite, more local dishes are handed to me. I frequently lean back in my chair for a breather before returning to my food. I also look up from my plate to chew the fat with numerous individuals who stop by the head table.

New Hilltop Restrooms

Many of them inquire about the work our team will be doing, about the new hilltop restrooms and retaining wall for the school. I see the excitement in their eyes. Because the townspeople built Escuela Primaria Nicolás Bravo themselves, they have a strong connection to the three-room structure.

Thus it’s no surprise the residents are eager to partake in the latest construction projects too.

A beautiful overlook in Xiloxochico.
A beautiful overlook in Xiloxochico.

I step away from the feast to use the existing boy’s room. Ambling around the corner of the building, I approach the ramshackle latrine, which appears like it couldn’t withstand a light breeze blowing through the Sierra Norte.

I open the creaky door and am instantly bowled over by the liquid surrounding the lidless bowl.

My squeamishness quickly turns to seriousness, however, when I think about the kids having to stand in the foulness sousing the outhouse floor. The need for new restrooms couldn’t be more apparent.

Setup Role

The next morning Holly, Amy, Ed, and I shoulder a delivery of retaining wall block from the school to the hill out back, which is about fifty yards from the building.

But since there are only four of us, Vicki explains that we make a bigger impact in a setup role, especially because we are staying in Cuetzalan, and, therefore, have much easier access to materials. Our guide says the community will happily provide the manpower if we get them what they need.

So, for the remainder of the week, we leave Hotel Taselotzin (an eco-lodge operated by a Nahua women’s co-op) early each morning to follow Vicki down the steep cobblestone road into Cuetzalan. We visit a mason on the edge of town in order to order rebar, sand, gravel, and bags of cement.

Another jaunt leads us to a hardware store in the heart of the municipality, where we purchase chain link fencing to go atop the retaining wall. And despite multiple misses, we finally get a face-to-face meeting with a local builder, who helps us pick out and arrange the drop of the tiles and toilets for the lavatories.

Civilians and volunteers of all ages hard at work.
Civilians and volunteers of all ages hard at work.

Securing the supplies, the five of us then hop in the backs of canopied pickups, scrunching between campesinos (peasants) and live chickens in boxes.

The ride to Xiloxochico takes about twenty minutes.

Getting to Know Xiloxochico

When we reach the grounds of Nicolás Bravo, we check the status of the projects, noting any material requests from the volunteers.

Afterward, Holly, Amy, Ed, and I fulfill another team objective: to form and strengthen relationships with the people of Xiloxochico.

For instance, we eat lunch every day with a host family, whose house is a stone’s throw away from the school. Considering the couple has one daughter who attended Nicolás Bravo and another who is a current pupil, they wholeheartedly support the institution and those who help further its development.

Good Food and Conversation

Not only does the family provide us with great food and conversation, but we also witness the father mixing cement on the school patio one afternoon … after he has already put in a full day at his job. We are also invited to Escuela Telesecundaria Leonardo Bravo—Xiloxochico’s secondary school.

Entering the open-air gym, we are introduced to the entire student body. We then help the faculty hand out some year-end awards. Last but not least, we spend quality time with the youths of Nicolás Bravo.

We pop in their classes. We play soccer, red light – green light, and do the hokey pokey with them. We snap countless pictures with the schoolchildren. We bring them a surprise to boot.

A child swinging at a paper mâché duck hoping for candy.
A child swinging at a paper mâché duck hoping for candy.

On our final afternoon in Xiloxochico, many villagers gather in the street in front of the elementary school to watch their youngsters swing at a paper mâché duck.

Given there are fifty-some-odd kids waiting in two single-file lines (one for the gals, the other for the guys), I do my best to give as many students as possible a shot at the piñata.

The spectators laugh—Vicki being one of the loudest—while I raise and drop the bird at the last second, causing the batters to whiff again and again.

Finally, I am given the nod to let one of the hitters bust the duck open. Thank-yous and candy wrappers float over the packed patio of Escuela Primaria Nicolás Bravo.

A Talk Among the Tombstones

The next night is the first in November and our last in Cuetzalan. Incense and angelitos (little angels) fill the air.

According to the locals, the souls of dead children descend from heaven at midnight to reunite with their loved ones for twenty-four hours. The four of us absorb the vibrant, tranquil ambiance of Day of the Dead in Cuetzalan.

Altars throughout Town

Everywhere we glance are striking marigolds and cock’s combs, sugar skulls, handcrafted skeletons, as well as toys and candies left for the angelitos on exquisite ofrendas (altars) throughout the town. Perhaps due to the warming glow of the candles, we are eventually lured into the cemetery like moths to a flame.

Touring the marble town, we look back on our experience in Mexico. We feel good about the progress of the projects. At our final check-in, the toilets were being installed, and the retaining wall was well underway.

We reflect upon the piñata too. Not only do we chuckle about the many cuts and misses, but we also discuss how impressed we were with what occurred after the duck went down.

Colorful flowers decorate a religious spot in the area.
Colorful flowers decorate a religious spot in the area.

Instead of piling on the pile of sweets, the kids, amidst shouted instructions, immediately returned to their formations. They patiently stood while the teachers slowly walked down the lines, giving every student a couple pieces of candy.

This demonstration of respect, of selflessness, was the last image Holly, Amy, Ed, and I saw in the community of Xiloxochico; quite fitting for the people who had exemplified “community” all week long.

For more information on how to become part of a Global Citizens Network cross-cultural expedition, visit their website.

Tyrel Nelson
Tyrel Nelson teaches English and continues to write in his native Minnesota. His author page can be found here.

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