4/15/14: Week 10
In our final class before Easter Break, our class engaged in reflection, knowledge-building, and plans for the future. We started off our discussion with the final two KGB presentations, delivered by the groups who watched Reportero and Aqui y Alla. Reportero, a documentary set in Baja California, Mexico delved into systemic issues in Latin America such as drug trafficking, organized crime, and political corruption. This documentary provides a critical viewpoint towards the increasing threat that censorship places on journalists in the region. In fact, according to the film, 76 Mexican reporters have died in the last 11 years. In an act of positive bilateral cooperation, the US printing companies have vowed to ensure freedom of expression in Mexico by printing articles written in Mexico and sending them back over the border for distribution. This newspaper has become a national phenomenon that proves that nations are capable of transcending political corruption. Our presenters recommended this movie to the rest of the class, saying it provided in-depth, honest, gritty information.
The other KGB presentation focused on Aqui y Alla, which centers on the life of Pedro and his family living in Mexico. Pedro has just returned from the United States, where he works in order to earn extra money to sustain his family. In Mexico, he picks us where he left off, working odd-jobs and being a caring father to his two young daughters. In light of his wife’s pregnancy, there is the looming possibility that Pedro will have to go back to the US to acquire the financial capacity to support the growing needs of his family in a system that has deprived him of many basic needs/rights. The main idea of the movie is to show how immigrants who come to the US from Central America do not necessarily want to leave their communities, their “gente de verdad”. It shows how our role as Pericleans is to respect the cultural values of communities that we serve and understand their situation from their perspective.
This week was very exciting, as it was our FIRST Cookies to Go-Go of the semester. We spent some of our discussion reviewing logistics and making sure people understood their responsibilities to like the event on Facebook, spread the word of the event, and show up to their shift on time with cookie dough.
Here are the announcements from committees from that day:
Hope for Honduran Children–Working on Sundance Film rough draft, seeing
someone about producing the film
Technology–We have footage from the induction ceremony that will be
edited, organized, and posted. Thanks Lauryl!
Historians–Put your pictures up!
Hogares Sanos–Introductory meeting/dinner with Suyapa with the women
NEXT week to discuss plans for the rest of the semester/next semester;
Working with Lasso, etc. for transition of new volunteers and leadership
Prom Com–Drew knows a “sticker guy”
Other announcements: Friday–Aware Fair, BE THERE! With your shirt on, preferably! Periclean will be represented, so it is important that you try to make it! Happy Easter break!
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