justicia, agua, y arte

I'm in Famatina, La Rioja Province. It's way up in the mountains; we can see some snow capped mountains up here! It's another beautiful view surrounding us in the north of Argentina. I'm sitting in a Panadareia run by three women having a "cortado" and some bolas de fraile (Spanish for OMG that's really good). I can tell they were just made.

Yesterday we met with the city council, mayor, and toured the cultural center, walnut orchard and farm, and a tomato sauce processing plant. We hiked (and it was no easy terrain) up the mountains following the stations of the cross which end with a giant cross about 1580km above sea level. Finally, we visited a protest site in the mountains.

This area is very rich in minerals and precious metals--specifically gold and platinum. We were hiking on granite and could see the mineral content as we hiked. At our evening meeting we learned the geological history (beginning with Pangea and ending with 20 million years ago--yours truly tried to translate that for my team. I thought my brain was going to explode when we covered the first 25 million years and he flipped to the 30 million years ago slide).

The cliff notes version: Pangea--enter earthquakes and volcanic activity and tectonic plate movement. S. America seprates from Africa, takes a turn toward the South Pole...brrrrrrr...cold....glaciers. More earthquakes and volcanoes, don't forget tectonic plate movement and boom...S. America is closer to where it is now. Glaciers and movement (not to mention several million years) compress the different type of rock and carbon. Glaciers melt...and voila! Famatina is a valley between the north and south Sierras which lead to the Andes. I can now say "tectonic plate" in Spanish.

I digress...so precious metal = cash. Cash makes the government happy. Government wants to mine. Problem: If there is mining the people of Famatina and the other "valley pueblos" will lose their primary source of potable water. BIG PROBLEM.

Probably the most profound for me as we became more aware of the issue and the community integration was the artwork. The art around Famatina is profound. It tells stories of the indigenous people and their commitment to the earth. It speaks of the importance of water to this community and the people. The colors and figures drew me in and communicated the pain, fear, and distress of the people concerning mining and lack of water. It also communicated a humility and almost selflessness of the people, as the art was not just about the "people" and what they want (I'm not in anyway minimizing the importance of water...)but a profound respect for the earth and who the land belongs to. The people are very spiritual--connected to a creator and an earth to be taken care of as it takes care of the people. I was engaged and touched by these murals around town.


Justice is one of my core values that I am passionate about; especially issues surrounding access. Whether it is access to water, food, health care, education--why do some have access to "x" and others not? Who "owns" the: land, water, the distribution of resources, etc are questions I ask.

This issue is central in the community of Famatina. There have been protests, every where you go you see "Famatina no toca!" signs. The protest site has flags, posters, ribbons to mark where their "handmade" irrigation canal (no pipes people...dug, in the ground, sophisticated yet very simple irrigation to get water from the mountain to the people in town) The council people and mayor talked about this as their central issue to deal with. It wasn't clear who is driving the mining project: the Argentine government or private business. Then we watched a video on the protest/issues and it was clear that the US and Canada in particular are offering mega $$ for the export of these metals. I was a bit embarrassed.

Finally, we visited a winery in Chilecito. Their wine is all "Fair Trade" certified. We got into a great discussion about how the mining/water issue would affect their company. This winery is one of the biggest in the country; situated in a very small town. The town's economy and job growth depend upon this business. We were fortunate to have a very open discussion about the issues which affect them/Argentina and US as well as the importance of Fair Trade. What impressed me and I'm not sure I knew this before, were the projects funded because of the fair trade distribution. The winery was able to build a school and created wells for potable water for nearby cities. I asked if they considered adding this information in their literature. I wonder if, in addition to the labor, growth, and production side of Fair Trade, if more people in the US would be more attuned to the justice issues and perhaps commit to FairTrade if there was more awareness of the outreach projects.

I don't have to think about access in my life; no matter how committed I am to access as a social justice issue. I have fresh water with no imminent threats. I don't have my art supplies here; however, I found myself imaging what my artwork would look like from the perspective of solidarity with these people.

I continue to ask the questions: Who does the land/water belong to? How can I be more aware of what I have and what is being taken away from others? How do I contribute to creating access for those who have none?

I listened to people share their perspectives, I observed the art speak profoundly; my words don't do either justice. I am grateful for my passion of social justice to be tapped and always reminded how I am a part of a global community.

**I have some great pictures of the artwork and etc...I'll load them and update this blog as soon as I can get to a PC**