On Saturday the dUS national soccer team beat the Mexican TRI 2-0 in a World Cup 2006 qualifying match. But to ignore the physicality and playmanship of the game and reduce this match to a pure score would be like reducing my experience in Tijuana over the past 8 months to a single blog entry. Nonetheless, with the goal of sharing some tidbit of my time on the pitch, I'll give you the score and a little bit more.
Since my arrival to Tijuana on February 4th, 2005, I've learned about construction, about Tijuana, about the dUS, about the human condition, and about much more. But more than anything, my time here has been a voyage down the endlessly changing river of my own person. Like the words I spoke to so many volunteers, "We can change the world by first changing ourselves." I have matured. I understand more about my relation to the rest of the world. I have better defined my goals and my dreams.
I have also been fortunate enough to witness the same growth in others. Misael, in the picture at left, often watched from the sidelines as the volunteers helped build the beginning stages of his house. But as the process continued, he took on a leadership role in his family, participating in the construction, asking questions about the technique, and inspiring his siblings and friends to join us in building his family's dream.
His is one of many similar stories I could share. Dulce, a single, working mother, learned about her own value as a mentor and motivator for the youth volunteers that helped build her home. The fact that I have learned the same is yet another piece of evidence that a human is a human...is a human...is a human. We value our friendships, we love our family, we want the best for our kids. And somewhere in our common web of values, we start to differentiate between "me" and "my neighbor." We differentiate between US and them. We force people to cross perilous desert and mountains that stretch the border between the dUS and Mexico in order to complete the same goals that we have or, like the record 415 people since Oct. 1st 2004, die trying.
These are the symptoms of our illness. The gap between the rich and the poor are increasing. The dUS spends more per capita on health care than every other country, but is ranked 27th in the UN Health Olympics. The rich in the dUS, Mexico, and many other countries, are pocketing taxes, benefits, and other products of the people. 2 billion people worldwide will suffer a pre-mature death due to lack of access to clean drinking water, while others use it to water their lawns. A country will jump at the chance to spend money to fight an oil-based war but delays in a critical response to domestic emergencies. You know how the list continues...
And then there is ESPERANZA ("hope" in Spanish). Hope in friendships, hope in community, hope in trust, hope in "love your neighbor as yourself." To have had the opportunity to help participate in
esperanza for the past eight months is nothing short of incredible. I leave my experience with motivation and an understanding of the problem and of a solution. I am tired yet energized, sad yet happy, discontent yet content.
The last week of this chapter in Tijuana was filled with goodbye fiestas, mostly for my sister, Martina, for whom it is time to return to school (see picture at left) - I'll be coming home for two weeks and then returning to Tijuana for a year. Each good bye was bittersweet. They were a celebration of friendships formed and friendships that will continue for a lifetime. People that neither she nor I had ever met came to say thank you and goodbye. We talked, ate, danced, sang, and enjoyed each other's company one last time, for this time.
I hate goodbyes. There's pressure to express inexpressible sentiments. There's pressure to say things you sometimes don't feel. They are very climactic and thus, imply a subsequent
denouement. I would prefer more continuity, a recognition that although we may not be in the same physical location, we as human beings will continue to be interconnected by our daily activities: breathing the same air, drinking from the same water source, using energy from the same sun. Instead of a goodbye, I envision a conscious recognition of an ever expanding understanding of our fellow earth inhabitants provided by every new friendship/aquaintance, for better or for worse.
Fortunately, the fiestas were not a good bye for me, but a "see you soon." After eight months in Tijuana, I cannot deny that I have established roots. I love my co-workers, I love the lifestyle, and I am in love with a beautiful muchacha (at left). You can take
El Chino out of Tijuana, but you can't take Tijuana out of
El Chino. I'm returning in two weeks to continue working with Fundación Esperanza de México and with Fronteras Unidas until August 2006. It will be difficult to be away from my home in Seattle, but it would also be difficult to be away from my home in Tijuana.
And so, now that I've reached the end of this blog entry and done a brief overview of the play, it's time to get to the score. But you know what? I just can't do that. Because it's not dUS vs. Mexico, but dUS with Mexico, with Seattle, and with the rest of the world. Scores are irrelevant. We are all on the same pitch, working towards the same goal. The more we are ball hogs the harder it is to reach the goal. The more we pass, the easier it gets. It's our responsibility to know our neighbors before waging war (both active and passive) with them. You can't wage war with friends, but you can surely sit down with them and enjoy life. Here's to enjoying life.
Until next time,
Marcel "El Chino" Tam
