In and around Tapachula!

Hello again! Since I last wrote I’ve been around all of Chiapas, and I have seen some pretty amazing things!

I will begin with a funny story: Today we drove a truck into a ditch on the side of the road, and it took us two hours to get it out, as we had to build an entire new road in the ditch so that the truck had something to drive on. Luckily half of the town came out to help the silly gringos, so it was okay. ☺




And now for the rest of my entry: After we spent time in Nuevo Progreso, we took a couple days off and went to San Cristobal, an awesome little colonial town in Chiapas. It was my third time visiting there, but it was definitely the most informative trip I’ve had. John had a friend who is a tour guide, and he took us around the city to a bunch of different sites that were incredible.

First, we went to Cañon del Sumidero (Sumidero Canyon), and we took a two-hour boat ride on the river that runs through the canyon. We saw waterfalls, caves, 1,000 meter cliffs, and even crocodiles! There were lots of crocs in the water, and they swam up close to our boat. Upon seeing crocodiles in real life, Matt and I decided that we now know why ancient peoples used to revere them as gods—they are incredibly powerful creatures that look like something from another world. Awesome!




Then, our tour guide Esteban took us to this town called San Juan Chamula, which is an indigenous village outside of San Cristobal. Everyone in the town is the same religion, and there is only one church. If you do not belong to the church, then you move out of the town. The rituals that these people perform are captivating. They drink alcohol, kill chickens, and sacrifice eggs and Coca Cola during their rites. The whole religion is incredible in its details, but I cannot even start to explain them here. (Just go to Chamula if you are ever in San Cristobal!)

After being awed at these people’s customs, we took off to another indigenous town called Zinacantan. There, we learned about traditional indigenous clothing, ate homemade black corn tortillas, and tasted poosh, an alcoholic drink made from cane sugar that is typical of indigenous people.



After exploring the city a little more, stopping at some cool reggae bars, and relaxing for a bit, we took off to Tapachula on Sunday. We finally went to see the kids at Mision Mexico (the orphanage), which was a blast. I love them so much!

This past week we have been checking up on all of our already running water systems in this area. We have visited six sites so far, and we have seen a very wide range of results. Some communities are producing a stable amount of water; some are not. Some communities modified on their systems, adding filters and moving tubes and pipes, showing an incredible sense of ownership. Some communities were very appreciative of their systems, telling us how much of an impact the systems have made on them. One community, which has a system installed in their primary school, told us of the “radical change” that has occurred in the health of young people, as they no longer have stomach problems. They went from drinking bacteria-infested water from wells and taps to drinking purified water that they know is guaranteed to be clean. It is such a success!

Not all the places were doing amazing, but even those with problems were trying to fix them. Seeing the systems become part of the communities, in any capacity, has been a really important thing, since we need to make sure that the people are sustaining the systems.

Aside from systems, we have gone a couple of other places in the area. Yesterday we went to see a family with five kids, four of which are deaf mute. It is incredible but sad how these kids live. They do not have shoes, but yet they have the most incredible smiles of any children I have ever met. They communicate in hand signals and expressions and are really fast learners. Only the youngest girl speaks, and she “translates” for them to others. But yet they are poor, and they need help. They need shoes. They need clothes. They need beds. They need doctors. They need something—anything—to have opportunity in life. So if you are reading this blog and feel compelled to give, please help us help these kids. It is the dream of many people to get them clothes and shoes, to get them a computer, and to hopefully find a way to get their hearing tested and cured (either with hearing aids or surgery). If anyone needs help, it is these adorable kids.


Here they are. So cute.

That’s about all for now. Hope all is well wherever you are.

I miss you all!

Ammy