Trying to understand and communicate what we see, hear, read, and learn

11 September, 2010
Lansing, MI
For the past several weeks, I have been reading El Diario and the El Paso Times, two local papers that report on happenings in Ciudad Juarez. I am fluent in several languages, including those used by both papers. Yet, I know that even within my own native language of English, my fluency varies as I move from domain to domain.

For example, as a college student in the 1960s, I became proficient in the linguistic domains of demonstrations, as well as academics. My pedagogical domains developed over 20 years in classrooms. Living and working with Mexican and Central American migrant families in the Pacific Northwest, I improved my usage of a domain of Spanish pertinent to raising children under ever-changing conditions. Graduate studies in educational policy prepared me to use both languages at both national and international levels. None of these experiences, however, introduced me to the vocabulary of murder, terror, and despair I have been reading about in Juarez.


At the moment, MPT team members Angie and Nina are on the ground in Juarez, living and working with families there. Megan and I remain here in the States, continuing to raise money for the Peace Team and attempting to provide whatever support we can. We research on the internet; we draft grant applications; we continue to offer fair trade goods for sale. Through media in our home communities and this blog, Megan and I share what we learn from our research and what we learn from Angie & Nina during our weekly Skype conversations. Those connections allow us to strive to maintain and continue to develop as a team.

Last night Nina and Angie told us of the work they are beginning this week, making connections with mothers and children caught up in the violence of Juarez. Their words made me cry and also smile, thinking about how well they are serving the MPT mission of

seeking a just world grounded in nonviolence and respect for the sacred interconnectedness of all life.

I offer these word clouds created and edited from my newspaper readings from the first ten days of this month as my contribution in support of that work.

NOTE: If the images are too small for you to read, hold down Control & press + until you can see them clearly.


Created at http://www.wordle.net/

From Sandra - Why I am going to Juarez

Hola, soy Sandra!

This fallI will be serving as part of the Michigan Peace Team in Juarez, Mexico because I feel called to respond to an invitation from the city's residents to help create awareness of the possibility and potency of non-violence.

I invite those who read this blog to consider what it must feel like to raise a family in a city referred to by the international press as the Murder Capital of the World. For my part, I plan to provide some insight by using my skills as a narrator of life histories to communicate the stories of women and families who live under the daily threat of violence.

Firmly believing that meeting violence with violence is NOT the answer, this summer I am training with my team mates from across the U.S.A. to learn to foster a non-violent response that will be stronger than the code of silence that now reigns in neighborhoods controlled by drug cartels. As international witnesses we will stand in solidarity so that our nearest neighbors to the south will know that they are not alone.

The experiences and skills we learn while in Juarez will inform the work that each of us does in our home communities. In my case, this means continuing to work with a communal garden recently started in my neighborhood with the goal of nourishing a culture of cooperation so that we feel safe and connected.