Roanoke Times

& World-News

New River Current: Sunday, January 28, 1996

• PEACE WORK A GROUP, INCLUDING NEW RIVER VALLEY RESIDENTS, JOURNEYS SOUTH OF THE BORDER TO HELP BUILD HOMES AND UNDERSTANDING. STORY AND PHOTOS BY LISA APPLEGATE IXMIQUILPAN, MEXICO - IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE UPBEAT JOLTS OF SALSA MUSIC BLARING FROM THE CASSETTE PLAYER, YOU COULD HAVE HEARD A PESO DROP. THERE WE SAT, PACKED LIKE METRO BUS RIDERS DURING RUSH HOUR, SQUEEZED BETWEEN SLEEPING BAGS AND OVERSTUFFED LUGGAGE, IN A CHEVY VAN WITH A LEAKY TIRE, ON THE WAY BACK TO THE SNOWY NORTH, WITH NOTHING TO SAY. IT WAS ONE OF THOSE MELANCHOLY SILENCES THAT FALLS HEAVILY ON PEOPLE AFTER AN EXPERIENCE HAS CHALLENGED THEIR PERCEPTIONS OR CHANGED THEIR VIEW OF THE WORLD. VIRGINIA TECH SOPHOMORE JAY SIN MIGHT HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT HOW RELAXING PHYSICAL LABOR REALLY IS. HE SPENT SEVERAL HOURS IN THE HOT SUN, PLANTING DOZENS OF PRICKLY NOPAL CACTI, AND LOVED IT. ROANOKE NURSE PAT GARVIN COULD HAVE BEEN REMEMBERING THE DOZENS OF HEALTHY CHILDREN SHE EXAMINED, AND THE FEW WHO NEEDED MORE MEDICAL ATTENTION THAN SHE COULD PROVIDE. BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY SENIOR DAN WHALEN WAS PROBABLY REMEMBERING THE FUN HE HAD TEACHING A MAN HOW TO PLAY SOLITAIRE - AND WITHOUT KNOWING A WORD OF SPANISH. I WAS WONDERING HOW I WAS GOING TO EXPLAIN THE WONDERS OF THIS TRIP TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS - LET ALONE TO NEWSPAPER READERS. PROMOTING UNDERSTANDING FOR THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF THIS YEAR, I JOINED 21 STUDENTS, PROFESSIONALS AND RETIREES ON A TRIP SPONSORED BY A BLACKSBURG-BASED HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION CALLED PEACEWORK. WE RANGED IN AGE FROM 16 TO 78 WITH BACKGROUNDSAS VARIED AS A CANADIAN NURSING ASSISTANT, A RETIRED PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND A CHRISTIANSBURG HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR. ALMOST HALF OF THE GROUP WERE COLLEGE STUDENTS, MANY OF THEM INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT MAJORS. SOME, LIKE VIRGINIA TECH SOPHOMORE SARAH HAMMOND, HAD NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE UNITED STATES. WHATEVER OUR HISTORY, WE TOOK VACATION TIME AND PAID $750 TO PEACEWORK TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF A CULTURE SO INTERTWINED WITH OUR OWN - AND TO DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE WHILE WE LEARNED. WE LIVED AND WORKED IN THE MEZQUITAL VALLEY. NAMED FOR THE MESQUITE FORESTSTHAT COVERED THE AREA BEFORE DEFORESTATION STRIPPED IT, THE VALLEY ONLY GETS ABOUT 12 INCHES OF RAIN EACH YEAR. THE OTOMI, A MEXICAN INDIAN GROUP THAT SPEAKS NAHNU, MAKE UP ABOUT 90 PERCENT OF THE VALLEY'S POPULATION. THE ARID, ROCKY LANDSCAPE PRODUCES LITTLE FOR THE AGRICULTURALLY BASED COMMUNITY. TO MAKE A LIVING, MANY OF THE WOMEN SELL CRAFTS IN THE WEEKLY MARKET AT IXMIQUILPAN (EECKS-MI-KEEL-PAN), THE VALLEY'S LARGEST TOWN. OUR WORK WAS HARD: MIXING CEMENT FOR NEW CONCRETE HOMES ORIGINALLY SPONSORED BY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, OR PLANTING THE NOPAL, A CACTUS USED FOR FOOD. IT WAS LABOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY CAN, AND DOES, WORK AT EVERY DAY. "IT'S NOT THE RESULTS OF THE PROJECT THAT ARE IMPORTANT," EXPLAINED PEACEWORK DIRECTOR STEVE DARR. "THIS GROUP IS PRESENT TO HELP THEM GET THROUGH A PORTION OF THE PROJECT. MOST [FOREIGN] PEOPLE ARE AMAZED BY THE AMOUNT OF ENTHUSIASM RAISED WHEN THEY COME TO HELP." CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING, HE SAID, DOES MORE TO PROMOTE PEACE THAN ANY GOVERNMENT COULD ACCOMPLISH. BY THE TIME WE SCRUNCHED INTO THAT VAN, OUR HAIR FELT GRIMY AND OUR CLOTHESWERE TINTED BROWN; CEMENT COVERED OUR SHOES AND TINY CACTUS SPINES PRICKED OUR FINGERS. I, FOR ONE, WASN'T READY TO LEAVE. A WALL
• DIVERSIFIED CLIMBING STRUCTURES
• HERITAGE HALL RESIDENT GRATEFU|
• LESSONS IN DIVERSITY STILL ARE NEEDED
• COLLEGE BIG CONTRIBUTOR TO VIRGINIA EDUCATION
• EVERYONE WINS IN THIS GAME
• IN BUSINESS
• POWER OF GRASS-ROOTS PROGRAMS
• PICTURE SOMEONE SPECIAL
• EVERYONE WINS IN THIS GAME