“Let Us Be Your Eyes and Ears in Mexico”

A Letter from Videographer Sarahy Flores Sosa

By Sarahy Flores Sosa
The Other Journalism With The Other Campaign

February 2, 2006

We can be your eyes and ears to see and hear the reality of those who have no voice.

While we were traveling throughout the Mexican Yucatan peninsula – a trip rich in food, scenery, history and culture – we were saturated by testimonies of struggle. We found a country so rich and yet so poor, enshrouded in inequality throughout history.

Sarahy Flores Sosa doing lens work during Marcos’ visit with indigenous artesans of Chichen Itzá Photo D.R. 2006 Ellen Fields

In Chichén Itzá we spoke with a native artisan. Inside the ruins she told us, “That is where my house was.” And now she cannot enter these lands to sell her handicrafts, lands that are more hers than anybody’s. “When I’ve tried to go in, they throw stones at me to drive me out, as if I were a dog. Once I had my bag of crafts with me and I fell,” she said, laughing. Meanwhile, the Barbachano family of hotel magnates has an exclusive spot inside the ruins to sell art and craftwork with the support of the authorities.

Chichén Itzá is known for its great woodcarvers, who have abandoned their profession because they can no longer live off of it. But the custom has not been lost, and the youngest members of the town still carve and go out to sell after school to the few tourists who pass through the residential neighborhoods, while their parents work in the fields or at minimum-wage jobs as laborers or bellhops in the big hotels. One of those children told us that he thought they were prohibited from entering because the tourists must not like children, but that he believed Chichén Itzá belongs to everyone, not to some more than others.

And there are so many like that who tell their stories, fighting, trying to change at least a little their reality so that their children can have a better future where they can live with dignity. We, the Other Journalism, want to give you the chance to see the other side of the coin, the side that doesn’t shine but is the most valuable.

You’ll be able to see these testimonies in The Other Documentary, coming soon to a screen near you…

In the meantime, you can make donations online, here:

http://www.authenticjournalism.org/

Or send your checks to:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism
P.O. Box 241
Natick, MA 01760 USA

– Sarahy Flores

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