Explore the campo with Global Justice,
February 23, 2007

Global Justice campo trips
150-0025; 300 pesos
Sosnábar
Sat, Mar 3, 9am–4pm
Boca de La Cañada
Sun, Mar 4, 9am–4pm

San Miguel de Allende is surrounded by over 500 rural communities. Most of us know little of life in these small settlements—home to many of Mexico’s poorest. The Center for Global Justice is establishing communication with some of these communities in an effort to better understand campo life. You can participate in this diálogo comunitario by joining one of our day trips to the countryside. Next weekend we will be taking groups to two communities: Sosnábar on Saturday and Boca de la Cañada on Sunday.

On Saturday, March 3, the Center revisits Sosnábar, a rural community with a unique project. Located 8 kilometers east of San Miguel at the foot of the Picacho Mountains on fertile, flat land, Sosnábar nevertheless sends many of its young men to El Norte. However, it is harnessing remittance money they send home to unlock matching government funds in order to build a church for the community. Visit with its leaders and share a delicious comida prepared by the campesinas. 

On Sunday, March 4, the Center revisits Boca de la Cañada, a community of 350 located at the mouth of the picturesque Canyon of the Virgin. We will have the opportunity to learn about the history and culture of the indigenous Otomí, talk with members of this ancient, proud people, share a traditional comida with them and learn why so many are migrating to the US. You can then hike through the beautiful Cañada de La Virgen or rent a horse and explore it on horseback.

This is your opportunity to venture beyond the familiar cobblestone streets of San Miguel. Each trip leaves at 9am and returns at 4pm from the Center for Global Justice, Calzada de la Luz 42. A 300-peso ticket covers transportation, comida and translation. Advance registration is required. Call 150-0025 for a reservation or email info@globaljusticecenter.org.  Come by the Center weekdays between 9am and 2pm for your ticket.

Mary Ann (Barry) Gambee

Born: November 5, 1908

Died: January 24, 2007

Mary was born in New York City and lived in California, Utah, and the Grand Canyon before settling in Mexico. Mary moved to San Miguel and became the registrar of The Instituto Allende where her husband Martin Gambee taught painting. She was a resident of San Miguel de Allende for more than 30 years and was renowned for her parties, cooking and good humor.

Mary moved to New York in 1989 where she lived with her sister and travel partner, Roberta Robertson until 2000.

Mary lived with her niece, Laurel Robertson, and family until she passed peacefully in her sleep, she was 98.

To contact her family email laurelnyac@aol.com  or write to 36 Dickinson Avenue, Nyack, NY 10960.

Sue Reid memorial service at botanical garden

Memorial Service for Sue Reid Sun, Mar 11, 12:30pm Four Winds Plaza, El Charco del Ingenio

We will share our memories of Sue Reid and then share in some refreshments during her memorial service, to be held at the botanical garden. Her family from Texas will also be present.

Two of Sue’s favorite organizations, El Charco del Ingenio and the Garden Club of San Miguel, are organizing this afternoon of memories.

Sue was very much loved in this community; please come and help us honor her life.

New program for kids at the library

A new and exciting program has started at the Biblioteca Pública: a documentary-style digital photography program for the children of San Miguel de Allende. Children between the ages of 9 and 13 will study the art of photography while documenting their individual life stories.

They will explore their lives through this art form, discovering the richness of their surroundings while creating art and building self-worth.

Simultaneously, they will be sharing their work with children of a similar age at Rooftop Alternative School in San Francisco, California, via the internet and participating in online journaling to open up thought-provoking dialogue between the two countries.

The end of the initial session will culminate in an exhibition of the students’ work. Photographs will be for sale, and all proceeds will go to the individual photographer.

Rooftop Alternative School’s art program has donated five digital cameras for use in these classes and will be facilitating parallel assignments to share, via the internet, with our students here in San Miguel. The director of the program, Elizabeth Rosas, discovered her unique gift for working with children four years ago when she started as an artist-in-residence at Rooftop Alternative School. While there, she developed a curriculum for and taught a schoolwide digital photography program to 580 children from 5 to 13 years of age. During the pilot year of her program, she discovered that children see the world through the lens of a camera significantly differently from adults. They rely on instinct to make a great photo instead of worrying about temporary lack of skills, therefore leaving inhibitions behind. This allows them to create beauty and see the results instantly—which strengthens their belief in themselves.

Assistant director Shannon Day has worked with children for the past 10 years and has been an artist-in-residence at Rooftop Alternative School. She has also taught at the American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco Arts Education Project, University of South Florida and California College of Arts and Crafts.

The program needs the support of the community. Your 100-peso donation will pay for printing; 200 pesos will pay for matting and framing. We welcome donations of digital cameras and hosting of exhibits, or you can sponsor a photographer. For more information email Elizabeth Rosas at libbyrosas@gmail.com. 

Community Relations Committee Report
By Carol Schmidt

The small group of foreign residents who initially grew into the Community Security Committee has turned its attention to broader issues and is now known as the Community Relations Committee. 

How can the Department of International Relations, Tourism and Economic Development, directed by Francisco Peyret García, and its Foreign Affairs office, coordinated by Fabiola Garcia, work to bring accurate information from the city to the foreign community and receive input from the community?

More than monthly meetings and reactions to crises are needed, the committee decided at its February 14 meeting at the Biblioteca Pública. The Department of International Relations, Tourism and Economic Development is creating its own bilingual website, part of the official San Miguel city government website, that will be a place to provide input to city officials and to ask questions. 

It will also include the latest information on the process of obtaining UNESCO World Heritage recognition for San Miguel, which could be awarded at the next UNESCO site determination in 2008. 

A website designer will be hired, and García asks for input from the foreign community on what they’d like to see offered on the site. Email her at fgarcia@sanmiguelallende.com.gob.mx , or call her office at 120-4528 or -29.

Ali Zerriffi, president of the Biblioteca Pública board, also wants to work with the foreign affairs office to include more community resource information on the library websites, www.bibliotecasma.com  and www.atencionsanmiguel.org.  He wants this outreach program to include accurate, streamlined information on exactly how a resident can maneuver through government offices (e.g., how does the permit process work for new housing and commercial buildings?).

The question of the permit process came up repeatedly, with news of the current development controversy, the erection of a multistory parking lot on Insurgentes in the same block as the Biblioteca. The former parking lot on the property was two stories and utilized a mechanical car lift to move cars to second-story spaces. 

Zerriffi said he feared damage to the Biblioteca but could not get to the structural walls to assess damage because they are covered with bookshelves. “The Biblioteca board was given this historic building with the condition that we maintain and safeguard it,” he said.

“The community, both Mexican nationals and foreign residents, reacts quickly to crises, but we need mechanisms to channel this energy and resources in an ongoing manner,” García said. “The forums on development were very well attended, but then a later forum with more information and discussion on water issues was not. This administration would like ongoing participation and concern, and we need to find better ways for this to happen.”

Longtime resident and educational charities member Peggy Bell commented: “We need to focus on the underlying infrastructure problems San Miguel faces, like many other cities—primarily water, roads, sewage and solid waste. Many city programs are only surface improvements, while our deeper problems go unresolved. The city needs to respect and enforce its long-range development plans.”

“The municipality does not want San Miguel to just grow without controls,” responded García. “Our application to be a World Heritage city indicates our desire to protect the best of San Miguel. We are continuing to adjust our application and to make needed improvements so that San Miguel deserves this recognition.” The UNESCO representative who spoke at the city forums recently indicated that once a city obtains World Heritage recognition, there is continued international support to see that the site continues to be preserved. UNESCO will send inspectors to San Miguel in September.

Some of the scheduled improvements include beautifying colonias such as San Rafael and addressing the water and waste needs of pilgrims who leave from Atotonilco. The many street vendors selling religious items in front of the church there will be relocated to another area. Peyret noted that the World Bank has been asked to help in addressing the Atotonilco problems. 

One broad aspect of these interrelated city problems is the microeconomy of much of San Miguel, the small family-owned factories and workshops scattered throughout residential areas, where hazardous wastes like paint thinner and art chemicals are poured into drains. 

It was suggested that the city offer regular collection of hazardous wastes and an education program to explain how chemical waste from the artisan industry contributes to the region’s pollution problems. 

Another concern voiced by committee members was the visual pollution of signs, particularly on the Caracol section of the Libramiento. “A homeowner in Centro must be very careful to paint only with approved colors and materials, and yet a bar gets away with a neon sign,” Zerriffi said.

Peyret commented that the surface problems such as visual pollution are easier to solve than the underlying problems. He raised the question of where to move the city slaughterhouse, a decision that will have long-term consequences for all of San Miguel. The proposed location is nearly opposite the new Presidencia (municipal offices), and he said that himself and other city authorities had voiced their disagreement with the choice. The choice of location of the slaughterhouse was considered an example of short and long term planning. The site on prime land could have a future use for offices and a convention center, and also generates biological waste that could pollute natural streams in the neighboring Botanical gardens and reach residential and tourist areas and even schools. 

The open sewers in San Miguel, along Calzada de Guadalupe were suggested as a priority project. A committee member, who had lived in San Rafael with her children said air borne pollutants caused health problems for people in that area.

“We can’t just work on one problem at a time,” said Bell. “We need to be working on all of them at the same time. They are interrelated and urgent.”

“The legacy of each administration will be judged by what mechanisms are put into place to solve problems after that administration moves on,” said Zerriffi. 

García responded, “We live here, too—we want that continuity and more permanent solutions. When administrations change, so much has to start all over.”

The police force again lacks a bilingual liason, as the replacement for Miguel Kegel, now general manager of the Biblioteca, resigned. Non-Spanish-speaking residents in need of emergency assistance have no direct contact at the police department, though García offered to assist in interpreting when possible. “We want to make one of the information kiosks in the municipal building bilingual to help everyone find their way through city offices and procedures,” she said.

“Many in the foreign community have no political agenda—they just want this city to work. It’s also a question of how all residents feel about where they live. The city would take a big step forward by opening up more and answering questions promptly,” Zerriffi said. “Many in the community have the resources and energy to help, but we can’t do it on our own. You are the government. You need to reach out and open up and utilize these resources. The problems are big enough that we all need to work together.”

Zeyret and García hope that the proposed bilingual section of the city website will be one step to help that to happen.


Carol Schmidt and Norma Hair are authors of Falling…in Love with San Miguel: Retiring to Mexico on Social Security and their website, www.fallinginlovewithsanmiguel.com , includes their blogs, forums, and SMA frequently asked questions.

Biblioteca Pública annual election

The Biblioteca Pública holds its annual election on March 6, 2007, between the hours of 11am and 2pm in the Sala Quetzal. Members should bring their up-to-date Biblioteca cards.