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Mazatec Family Update.

Hello friends. Many friends asking about the family and the situation in the Sierra Mazateca that I preferred to write this blog post for all of you who asked me other friends who would like to know.

We had scheduled a second visit to the Mazatec Sierra this month.

The main reason was to give them the possibility to have work with our visit and get resources for the critical situation they are living in. People who wanted to come but were not able because their borders were closed,

or required a "freedom pass" they are not willing to get, so they could not arrive to help, but they are asking me what happened, how is the family, how is the situation in the Sierra.

Julia who passed away last December,

the mother, and grandmother of everyone there, was an incredible warrior, and a nonstop working person. She grew corn, made hand tortillas and prepared food to sell, invested all her "free time" making beautiful embodied clothing, table cloths, pillows etc, to sell, she harvested her coffee cherries, dried the seeds, grinded them, and toasted them to sell coffee, to bring resources home, she would go collect mushrooms that healers bought from her for ceremonies, she would chop wood for her own kitchen and to sell to others. etc.

I don't even know how many other things she did to hold the economy and wellbeing of her house, family, and many animals.

The animal family

All her nonstop love work was only to keep her home and family well and healthy.

When she died most of the people in the house happen to be teenagers, children, and babies. They don't really understand yet how to keep the house family and health working smoothly as Julia did for them.

The pandemics also affected the Sierra economy and jobs, so there are no jobs,

even when they look for them all the time. Despite they live in nature and they get a lot from it, they still need money, especially for the children and babies. A friend was telling me she thought that Nature provided them with everything... Yes, when it's time to harvest crops that take three, four, six months, and others like coffee that take a full year. Yes, they do have food, they also dry seeds and store them and also sell all they will not use, that is where they mainly get their economic resources, but after some months they are finished. While crops grow it's different.

Sometimes it doesn't rain enough, or it rains too much, then crops are lost by draughts or drowning or mountain slides and there will be no harvest. For them is really rough to sacrifice their animals to eat them, it only happens in critical moments. They prefer to sell them even when they know their fate than sacrificing them themselves.

Only people who live in nature know it's not a beautiful story, but it's daily tough, rough work from sun to sun, and at times for nothing. Yet when everything works fine, and when the crops are growing you cannot eat them, you still have to wait months to harvest, meanwhile, you have to take care of the crops every day, get rid of harmful weeds, plages, animals that eat them, etc. Then there is no food and there is hunger if they can't purchase food. Still, they also need clothes, shoes, house maintenance items, and other things that nature does not provide.

Sadly they were expecting our arrival, it was their hope to pass the bump this time...

but we did not arrive. No one that wanted to go was able to travel to go visit them.

Even before we had scheduled the dates to see them, very ashamed and shyly, they asked me for economic help, (because we are family) I did send them all I could but was not enough for 15 people, most of them very young.

This time no one sent donations for the family, despite some offered to do so. Life is complicated this time, who knows what happened, so I could not send more as I promised.

Knowing that it's dangerous times and that as well there are no jobs anywhere, still they think that where there are millions of people there are more chances to maybe find a job.

Three of the oldest teens have been offered work in government branches in faraway cities, but to get the job they have to accept to be vaccinated.

These teens have told me, "I know this means I will either die soon, or reduce my life many years, but I have no choice, I have to help my family and myself, I cannot see them struggling, I have babies, I must try" This broke my heart.

Note to the readers: (A day after the post was initially made) Before you overreact, get angry, feel offended and write me back to insult (as it is already happening) Since ever Mexican indigenous genetics and metabolisms cannot deal with the stuff the government plunges into them, they do get really ill, and many do die immediately or a bit after, Of course, they are worried about any of these subjects. (please do your research) They have always healed using their herbs, traditional cures, and natural remedies, sacred plants, together with their curanderos, rituals, and medicine people. They are indigenous people, not system gears. They are into nature, they don't use chemicals, that is why their bodies react so aggressively to them. Nature heals. Big pharma creates customers. This post is about humanitarian help. Not about the fashion needles. If you have your reasons to get injected or not, it's your very respectable decision. We only hope it is done after extensive and deep research outside mass media. Comments about that topic are out of place here. For your understating Thanks!

I have no way to stop them to go find what they need despite the dangers this might bring them, the only way for them to stay home with their dear ones is if they had some resources to wait till November that is when they harvest their cornfields and their coffee trees to sell the product and get resources from there.

But November is still very far...

So, friends... this is what is going on,

That's why I was not answering your emails asking... Sorry for that...

I would have preferred to remain silent, but many of you who know the family kept asking how was the rip and how is the family.

So if there is interest to know how they are, and if they are struggling, maybe there is also the will to help them survive the difficult period... I know almost all humanity is having it rough this time. Some more than others.

Friends, if any of you is in a situation to help this family and their babies bypass the difficult moment, that would be such a beautiful gesture of unconditional love and true help.

Another note. (A day after the post was initially made) I will gladly share the telegraphic receipts. That's the only way they can get the donations of the sendings to the Mazatec Sierra and the messages of the family receiving the resources. This is because we have also been told (again by people that have never met us,) that we are doing abusive emotional manipulation using an indigenous family as bait to profit. Really? How sad... What is the matter with people lately?