Arts & crafts for migrant and indigenous children

We want to say goodbye to this year by telling you about the music that accompanied us since November, with the flute making workshop of Mr. Don, the musician who accompanies the Dance of the Black people during the August festivities, one of the most traditional festivities of the village. During these festivities, Don plays for 5 days without stopping, he is the only flute player who visits all the houses in the village. 

On the first day of the workshop, Don, who is an elderly person, arrived on a bicycle. All the children identified him very well because of that and were excited. The first activity to break the ice was to ask all the doubts about the elaboration of the flutes, the dance, the materials. Don mentioned places that the children knew and they were all very attentive. They asked him to play the sones (songs), and when he played them, the children began to make the sound of the drum with their hands. It was impressive to hear all the questions that the group had, and we even recreated the order of the dance and the sones, full of laughter.

The next day we all went together to cut the reeds at the river, we made a tour of the territory, we walked through areas of the town that the children do not usually go through on their own. Along the way the children were talking a lot about where not to go, mentioning that "there are drunks on that street" or "there are junkies on that one", the whole group was very alert about the dangerous areas. This moment was very powerful for us, because we were able to contain the group and they were able to feel safe. 

We noticed that there was little reed in the field, but we were able to gather enough. After cutting the reeds, we played in the field and then began to cut the pieces to make the flutes. 

On the third day, we learned how to make the mouthpiece and on the fourth day, Don helped us make the fingering holes with a metal pick. We had a hard time finding beeswax, which is needed to varnish the flutes, and is what helps us make the sounds. Don told us how we could identify the bees that create the wax and in which trees in the village they are found.

The children worked very hard to make their flutes, but some of them broke, others did not fit, and at the slightest distraction and play the work went wrong. At the end the children showed much admiration when they realized how much work and concentration is needed to make the flutes. This workshop has been very nice, because the approach of the children with the guardian of the craft has built very strong bonds and has increased the desire of the children to be apprentices of the local culture, because the teachers are characters that children identify with, and we also identified them when we were children.

There were some parents who stayed to accompany their children and as the days went by, they also approached Don. Kenia's parents, for example, who came from Mexico City, stayed for the entire workshop, so the work could be accompanied by more adults and we were able to advance more quickly with the flute making. 

Don is the only person in the community who continues to make the flutes. We wonder who will continue his tradition?What will happen when Don is no longer around? Who will continue with this craft? Will the dance of the blacks come to an end?

Every day we recognize more and more the dynamics of life of each child, in the moments of play we can notice with the images they bring to the game what they are exposed to, what their families do, and we have managed to create a safe environment, where they can talk about what they live and what they dream, as well as listen to the dreams of others. 

Thank you for allowing us to close this year 2023 full of love, music, tradition and a lot of ambition to continue creating spaces with our children. See you soon to tell you how this great dream continued, with the young guardians of crafts.

This summer Una mano para Oaxaca’s community center was filled with stories that moved our hearts and reaffirmed the importance we have as adults, caregivers and parents to guide the children of our communities to know how to live well, to love the territory and respect life. Children are currently exposed to violence, anxiety, abandonment and many deficiencies. 

For several weeks, in the afternoons, we took the route of the murals of traditional trades that decorate our community [Program we created since 2018]. Many of the children had already seen the murals here and there, but they didn’t know the stories behind the murals nor the guardians of traditional trades that were represented on them. Many of the children came from one of the poorest neighborhoods in town, and those who knew the most about the town were the children who have the least attention in their homes, they had walked or cycled all over town, who told us what the town was like through their own eyes, and how it is imprinted in their young memory. Those more privileged children know very little of the village and in general spend more time in front of screens. It is very evident the relationship that exists between the little sense of belonging to the territory, child abandonment and the lack of security with which the children live in the community. 

We accompanied this program with one of our didactic materials of “Art and heritage for children”, in which the children were able to recognize the emblematic characters of the town, some of them with their own personalities.

Our colleague Sara, the leader of the program, told us: "Edgar, one of the children who participated in this program, is the son of Toño, the brickmaker, and when we went to see the mural of the bricks, I asked him if he wanted to be a brickmaker, he said no, that he wanted to be a baker because Paco, the baker, lets him watch him make bread. And I remembered that it used to be like that, our parents would take us with other artisans to learn a new trade. During the tours we met Axel, a boy who when he was younger went to our programs, he was working with the “talachero” (who fix car wheels). The talachero told me that Axel came by himself, that one day he approached him and asked to learn because he had nothing to do at home and was bored. I congratulated Axel for having the courage to learn." 

The program reinforced the bonds between neighborhoods, children and families. Itzel, the program's co-leader, told us, "We went over the main economic activities in the village and what their own family members do. The children loved it, through games and talks, they learned, shared ideas and took activities home that involved dad, mom, neighbors, grandparents so that the whole family could recognize the traditional activities that are done in the village."

Whenever we work with new groups of children, we are always surprised by the capacities they have to create, imagine and change their realities. 

It is urgent that the responsibility we adults have in upbringing and education be recognized in our communities in order to open safe and dignified learning spaces for youth and children. Little by little, by creating more experiences like these, you help us to include new agents of change, who also dream of other possible realities, freer and safer childhoods. Thank you very much for boosting these possibilities!

Links:

• Murals program "Ruta Sabor y Arte"
• Interview to children who participated