Current Project:


First Step is currently looking for two volunteers to teach English in Ziquítaro Michoacán for the Winter semester (February – June 2010), the Fall semester (August – December 2010) or both. Volunteers will be teaching English classes to community members of all ages. Classes will take place both in the local public schools as well as in the town center. Volunteers are not required to have a teaching degree, although experience teaching is preferable. Basic Spanish proficiency is required. If you are interested in teaching these semesters or any semester in the future please email Rachel Miers at rachelmiers@gmail.com for more information and/or an application.





Current Fundraiser: Cookbook

Obtaining non-profit status is a slow process so in the meantime we are heading a few fundraising efforts in order to provide the volunteers with a living stipend as well as buy needed classroom materials. As part of a school project, some of English students worked together with Katherine Ferry and Rachel Wickland to compile a bilingual cookbook with some of their favorite recipes (about 15 in total). We are selling the book (which can be sent via email in PDF form) for $12 or I send you a hard copy for $16. All of the proceeds will go directly to the project in Mexico. If you would like to buy a cookbook you can email me your request at rachelmiers@gmail.com (note whether you would like the PDF or hard copy version). I will then give you the address to which you can send a check. Any extra donations are greatly appreciated! Thanks for your help and staying posted with the blog!

Town Profile

Location:
Ziquítaro is located in the central state of Michoacán, Mexico and is roughly one hour and a half driving distance from Michoacán’s capital - Morelia. Ziquítaro is considered a “rancheria” or ranch town as it is a small community which originally developed around a ranch. There is no official sign or paved off ramp for Ziquítaro just a dirt road turnoff on the side of the highway. Ziquítaro is located about 5 kilometers (three miles) away from the highway.

Commerce & Population:
With the exception of small family run convenience stores operated out of houses, Ziquítaro boasts no established commerce as employment opportunities are minimal. A majority of the town is dedicated to sustenance agricultural production. While many town members work in  the neighboring town six kilometers away, the majority choose to immigrate to the United States, their primary destinations being California and Texas. It is estimated that 2000- 3000 of the town's 4000 members are living and working in the US. Consequently, a large portion of family income is derived from remittances - the money sent from those working in the US. Due to this out-migration o Ziquítaro is inhabited primarily by women, children and the elderly.

Educational Opportunities:
Ziquítaro offers public schooling from kindergarten to junior high. The nearest high school is located a short bus ride away in a neighboring town. The junior high is a “tele-secundaria” literally translating to “TV junior high”.  This educational program, which began in 1968, was enacted as an attempt to bring enhanced educational opportunities to impoverished rural communities. The telesecundaria program uses minimal resources as lessons are imparted through televised lesson plans which are sent to the schools via satellite and shown to students with the guidance of a Procter. Junior high, and in many cases elementary school, is often the last formal education the town’s children receive as immigration becomes a viable and attractive possibility once a student turns 14.

Religion:
The majority of the town members are catholic thus allowing for the church to assume a central role in the community. The town’s priest, Manuel Vazquez Rubio, has been working in the community for two years and has enlivened the town with his religious sermons as well as his work and supportive presence in the community. Much activity and energy revolves around the town’s religious festivities which span from December to January. The importance of the festivities are reflected by the significant increase in town population; on average over 1000-1500 town members return from the US to visit family members and take part in the communal religious celebrations, causing the town’s population to nearly double.



Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Cost of High School By Rachel Wickland


The nearest high school to Ziquítaro, is a private school in the CEC y TEM system in Penjamillo (a town about 15minutes away by bus). CEC y TEM stands for Colegio de Estudios Cientificos y Technologicos de Estado de Michoacán. Unlike a high school in The United States, you must enter under a specific area of study (much like college). The four areas of study offered at the PLANTEL 01 Penjamillo school are Technician in Analysis and Technology of Food, Technician in Internal Combustion, Technician in Administration, and Technician in Information. The school also offers extracurricular activities, one of which includes a regional champion women’s basketball team.

Now let’s consider the cost of going to high school for someone living in Ziquítaro. We will already assume that there is a cost related to the students attending high school because it limits their availability to work for an income. Then, we consider the charge for the entrance exam you must take upon entering the system, which costs $100MEX. An entering student must also buy uniforms ($300MEX), pay a registration fee for the year ($200MEX), daily transportation (to and from Penjamillo at $7MEX each way), and any food they will eat while at school if they do not bring it from home (usually $20MEX). Variables that add to the cost of school are: homework and projects that require the use of the Internet($10MEX/hour), extracurricular activities that require the student to travel, school supplies, etc. So then, we break down the cost of the first year of high school as follows:

Entrance Exam $100MEX
Yearly Registration $200MEX
Uniforms $300MEX
Transportation $2520MEX ($14MEX x 180 day scholastic year)
_______________________________________________
TOTAL $3120MEX*/ year ($222.86USD^)
$260MEX/ month ($18.57USD)

*This figure does not consider the cost of variables and assumes the student brings food from home.
*This figure was derived using the current 14-1 exchange rate.

Through the educational section of the program, Oportunidades, that you have no doubt read about in past blogs, support for a student in the first year of high school is $610MEX for young men, and $700MEX for young women. This easily covers the tuition and all other associated fees of the high school, with extra to spare. For a family not involved in Oportunidades, however, the cost can be daunting. The other day, I casually asked around for the average monthly income of an average family living in Ziquítaro, and the median answer I received was between $2000MEX and $3000MEX per month.

There is still much to be investigated in this area of Ziquítaro, because it seems apparent that with any funding from Opportunidades the cost of high school would be easy to cover, and virtually all barriers to continuing one’s education resolved. However, we also have to consider the culturally charged issues of keeping the woman in the home, the idea that a “real man” works, the fear of entering the unknown, lack of confidence in their ability to perform in the high school, and the fact that many people from Ziquítaro have a skewed self-awareness as a group of “country-bumpkins” if you will.

For these and so many more reasons, I pound into my students every day that yes, THEY CAN DO IT! Yes, YOU ARE INTELLIGENT! Yes, YOU CAN FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS! I truly hope that Katherine and I can be examples of success for our students and that our examples will spark the desire within them to continue their education, even in the face of the challenges presented above.
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