La Soledad is a small village that participates in Centeotl’s programs http://www.grameenfoundation.org/where_we_work/latin_america_caribbean/mexico/centeotl/
A couple of years ago, TV Azteca, planned to air a new reality type show. The idea was to place celebrities in a marginalized community to see how long they lasted carrying out the local way of life. The TV leaders choose ‘La Soledad’, a village set beautifully against a background of oak covered mountains. Until a few years ago, this village was without basic water and electricity services and only accessible by a small trail. Luckily, the initial TV plan did not work out. Someone might have realized that turning a town’s poverty into a set for entertainment might not be the most sensitive thing to do. In the end, the CEO of TV Azteca, Esteban Moctezuma Barragan, became interested in funding a housing project in La Soledad in collaboration with Centeotl. Mr Moctezuma flew to la Soledad personally by helicopter to oversee the inauguration of 30 new houses . Pictures: http://procesofoto.com.mx/search.html?pg=3&qry=azteca.
With support from Centeotl, the residents of La Soledad have started multiple development projects, including a wooden toys workshop, fish ponds, and amaranth crops. Nicandro, Domingo and Elda, who carry out many of Centeotl’s programs, took the summer program group (mostly students from UC San Diego) to visit this town and attend an amaranth workshop.
It is traditional in Oaxaca that when you arrive somewhere you acknowledge and greet everyone. As residents of La Soledad, mostly women, arrived to the workshop, they shook hands with every single person in the student group, about 20 people. When Nicandro asked the women to tell us about their community, they only smiled to each other. One said that they felt shy because there were so many ‘gueros’ present. As Nicandro began to tell us about the town, the women added a few details here and there.
During the second part of the visit, we observed how to make ‘agua fresca’ with the amaranth leaves and alegrias, a candy made with roasted amaranth grains. We also had time to buy some of the locally made toys, and to take a quick tour of the fish ponds, and the communal chicken coops. To say goodbye, we shook every single person’s hands and thanked them. I could sense their hospitality when many responded ‘we hope you come again’.
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