Que Sería? A visit to Queseria's Migrant Labor Camp

Que Sería? 

Roughly translated, the question begs: What would be? Or what could be? 

Or possibly even, WHAT IF?

Quite aptly named, the town of Queseria sits at the bottom of an active volcano. A volcano that constantly spewed a combination of ash, lava, and smoke throughout our entire time in Mexico- a constant reminder of just what could be...

Arriving to our third Mexican show, which happened to be in a migrant labor camp in the above mentioned Queseria, we were greeted by about 50 of the most curious and dirt streaked small faces I had seen in a long while!

Quesería is located high on the slopes of the Colima Volcano. The surrounding hills, composed of ancient volcanic soils, provide ideal conditions for growing sugar cane; therefore a large sugar refinery is in operation. The workers who burn and cut the sugar cane on the mountain are indigenous peoples who speak Nahuatl or Zapoteca and are brought up from the Southern regions of Mexico by labor bosses. These families often live in what could be called a ramshackle box- at best. The housing generally consists of one concrete room per family, with an attached lean-to for a kitchen. Though material possessions were few among the local children, delight and curiosity were available in abundance. This was easily one of our most delightful audiences to date!

Project Amigo, the organization that arranged and supported us through our visit, has been active in this camp for many years. Over time, Project Amigo has built two classrooms, a kitchen, children's bathrooms, brought in playground equipment, and hired three teachers to educate the migrant children. There was an interesting glimmer of western influence in the donated clothing the children were wearing; and there is nothing more ironically heartwarming than seeing a shy and tiny dirt-streaked face framed by a Superman pajama top.

From little to less in Lujan, Argentina.

One of my favorite things about doing Circus of Smiles work is that it allows me to experience the local approach to schooling, education, child welfare and shelter. My background before running off to join the circus was in education, so I love seeing the similarities and differences between countries as we travel to new places. In Luján, as I have mentioned before, there is a pretty wide economic divide between the different neighborhoods. We got to get up close and personal with this reality on our third visit to town when we did 7 shows in one [very long and exhausting] day.

I would say the most obvious difference we saw that day was between Escuela #920 in Barrio Parque Lasa and Guardería Infantil in Barrio Ameghino. These two also happened to make up one of our favorite spots to visit, and our least favorite, respectively. What it really comes down to is a child centered environment- or lack thereof.

Escuela #920 in Parque Lasa. Notice the conga line being led by a boy in a wheelchair.

*Staff and instructors. There was an obvious gap in the amount of training and education received by the two teams of instructors. The classrooms in Parque Lasa were well planned out with imaginative play areas, developmentally appropriate toys and student created artwork on display. In Ameghino, most of the teachers were tucked away in the small kitchen drinking maté (a very popular local tea) and at least half of them had cell phones in hand when we arrived.

* Safety. To be set up for success, a child (or any person) must feel safe- both physically and emotionally. Escuela #920 is one of the most inclusive schools I have come across. All children are welcome in this school; they have some of the most loving aides there to support students with different abilities. Acceptance of all needs and abilities has been instilled in all the students and staff. When a little boy with hearing aides and physical deformities was invited to help us onstage, the cheering support from the entire student body was inspiring. The Ameghino daycare, on the other hand, was full of small dirty faces that obviously hadn't been wiped after snacktime some hours before. There were crying children left in cribs, and a few toddlers trying to climb a fence to the outside of the school were met with yells and insults instead of a teacher walking over to redirect. Oh, how I wanted to give a lesson on positive redirection and pro-active instruction!

Guardería Infantil in Barrio Ameghino.

 * And finally, environment. This is the area that seems to be most affected by the neighborhood's funding abilities, and honestly contributes a lot to the above mentioned bullets. Whereas the school in Parque Lasa had a beautiful campus and multiple classrooms, the daycare in Ameghino was in a small room borrowed from a local church. It had a dirt floor and some roughly constructed sharp edges. Really, it was a place children go when their parents need to work and can't afford to send them anywhere else, not a place that would inspire a child to want to come to school.

Animal Juggling in Ubud

During our third kindergarten performance for the Bali Children's Project, Tyler pulled out his animal juggling. Listen carefully and you can hear the kiddos telling us the Indonesian names for the animals. Right after our performance, the children sang us popular nursery rhymes in English- BINGO being the first.