Another week has passed by!! October already! I think I need to post the next part of the Tequila and Lemons story. Fortunately, it has a good ending. Last Friday, I tripped of again to the CAMPO headquarters. (I am getting to know this place well!) The taxi dropped me off nice and early (7.30am), still very dark, and the street was very deserted. The coordinator had advised me that the two staff members that I would be travelling with would be there around 7.30am. No. All was very quiet. Oh! No I thought. Don’t tell me I have done it again. I leaned up against the fence and waited. Luckily, they both arrived around 8.00am. Phew!!! Again for privacy, I shall call them Paula and Marco. They seemed very nice, though a little cautious of the strange lady from Australia. After about half an hour of sorting out all their gear, we were on the highway heading south towards Lake Chapala. After about an hour we stopped for breakfast and coffee, and Paula and Marco quizzed me on my background and why I was interested in CAMPO. They then explained why they were making this trip.
They were visiting a group of women who lived in three small villages Toliman, Zapotitlan and Copala in the mountains about 4 hours south of Gadalajara. CAMPO had been working with these women for about 10 years, supporting and advising them on the development of their small business enterprises. Two years ago the group was quite active, however over the last two years the numbers and interest had dwindled. Because of this,the management of CAMPO had decided that they would not be supporting it anymore, and if the women wanted to keep the group going it would be up to them to take over the responsibility. It seemed that Paula and Marco were very disappointed that this had happened and felt that it could have been handled in a better way. The meeting that we were going to that afternoon would be to advise the women of the change and to help them take the first steps towards taking on the responsibility of running the group themselves.
We were back in the car and on our way again, through the rich green rural area around Lake Chapala. Soon we turned off the main highway and started to climb up into the mountains. There was a noticeable change in the road conditions, the two lane highway had turned into a narrow windy road with lots and lots of potholes!!!! However, the scenery was breathtaking!!! Lush green mountains and valleys! Every now and again we passed through a small village. Finally, we arrived at the small town of Zapotitlan and we pulled up at a small house painted a very bright purple, to visit one of the ladies involved in the group.
I must say I was humbled by the generosity of this tiny lady as she welcomed us to her very basic home. We visited the area where she makes punch and jam from local plums. She also proudly showed us an official document stating that she was licenced to produce cheese. Then we were invited to the kitchen for lunch. When I asked to use the bathroom she showed me where it was and was a little embarrassed and said "es pobre". I assured her it was fine.
After lunch we then drove to the next town Toliman, I had to admire Marco’s ability to negotiate the curvas peligrosas (dangerous curves) and potholes. Toliman was a very quaint, neat puebla nestled in a little valley. Here we visited two other groups of women. The first was a home of a lady who has a sewing business set up in a sort of a shed connected to her house, and the other was the home of a lady who makes and dispenses natural medicine from the plants in the area. Her business was very impressive. Rosalba, took us on a tour, showing us the different stages of production and the final product all neatly labelled ready for distribution.
Well it was time to return to the other town for the meeting. Six adults and one child climbed into the car (I am still not sure how we managed to fit) and we renegotiated the road back to Zapotitlan for the meeting.
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