Red flag for Sanmiguelada? 
By Jesús Ibarra, May 4, 2007

“The Sanmiguelada (the running of the bulls) has not yet been cancelled,” said Mayor Jesús Correa, denying a report published in the Mexican daily La Reforma newspaper on April 14. The event which attracts thousands of young Mexicans to drink and party in San Miguel has continued to be a point of controversy for the city due to the number of injuries sustained each year, damage to public and private property and the questionable level of tourist expenditure.

The Sanmiguelada, scheduled for September 22, is one of the town’s most famous, or infamous festivals with celebrations lasting all weekend, well after the 60 minute running of the bulls.

Last year approximately 50,000 visitors—30,000 more than the year before—descended upon the unprepared city despite the presence of local, regional and state police. Gunshots fired into a crowd on the corner of San Francisco and Reloj wounded two people and provoked public outcry about the event. For city authorities repairs to damage of public property totaled several million pesos.

Discussions continue among the departments of tourism, traffic, public safety and the Sanmiguelada organizers, the Peña Taurina. “It is not a decision that can be taken unilaterally,” said Correa. “We have to hear from all involved parties.”

Their decision may also be influential in San Miguel’s classification as a world heritage site as UNESCO officials are expected to visit the city during September. 

Alan Alvarez, director of Public Security, proposed that the local restaurant and bar association cover the 5.2 million-peso event. “The association has until Tuesday, May 1 to come to a decision,” said Alvarez. “If they do not respond by then, we will cancel the event.!

Shooting threatens sanmiguelada
By Tania Noriz, Atención archives, September 29, 2006

Gun shots fired during the sanmiguelada (running of the bulls) last Saturday wounded two people and have put local authorities under pressure to find a solution to escalating problems surrounding the event. An unprecedented 50,000 visitors—30,000 more than last year—inundated the city with an excess of youthful energy, alcohol consumption and, by the next day, trash. Lack of security, disorderly conduct, garbage, too few portable toilets, illegal alcohol consumption and the shooting left authorities in a quandary: either restructure the event to avoid greater problems next year or discontinue it entirely.

“The next administration will have to meet with business owners, the Peña Taurina and authorities to re-evaluate the event and will have to balance the gains in revenue the event generates against the losses,” said city council secretary Gonzalo González. 

“

The figures

—50,000 visitors (2006) 20,000 (2005)

—325 security officers

—70 traffic officers

—375 arrests for brawls and alcohol consumption in the streets

—560 emergency calls over the weekend

—15 illegal businesses fined due to illegal alcohol sale

—5 traffic accidents, 3 due to alcohol

—18 detained cars due to alcohol consumption

—51 injuries during the running of the bulls 5 serious injuries (3 from bulls) the remaining largely from dehydration

—2 gunshot wounds

—3 car accidents, 2 deaths

Where does the money go?

A report on the San Miguel Walk, 2007
By Barbara Erickson

If you have ever slipped a peso into the Cruz Roja can at a crosswalk, or paid 50 pesos for a charity entry fee, donated clothing, or perhaps written a substantial check for any charity, in the back of your mind, the questions sneak in: “where does the money really go?” “How do they use these funds?” Here is how….at CASA.

The fourth annual San Miguel Walk took place last January 24, in conjunction with the Annual Pilgrimage to San Juan de los Lagos. This year, 31 local walkers and 32 CASA midwifery students and teachers walked alongside the pilgrims for one day. Through their combined efforts, and the efforts of many other volunteers, supporters and donors, US$20,168 was raised. The overhead cost of the walk—US$2,203—was underwritten by the chairs with help from their friends. So all of the twenty thousand dollars raised went directly to CASA.

Last week I sat down with Alejandra Saucillo Romero, Directora del Programa de Prevención de Violencia, and we talked about how the money raised by the San Miguel Walk was changing her program. The first thing that came to her mind was that the program was now fully funded for 2007: a relief for her to know that she can focus on her work and have the support she needs to continue. And she is busy!

There are 21 new cases of domestic violence at CASA already this year. Twelve are cases of family violence against women, including a 13-year-old girl who was raped by an uncle and is in her 7th month of pregnancy. Nine are cases of adolescent abuse, the victims ranging from 8 to 15 years old. In all of these cases, CASA provides at least one of the following services: medical, legal, psychological or being accompanied for legal proceedings. Eleven of the cases are in the process of denunciación, the first step to actual legal action. Alejandra works hard with other CASA volunteers to help victims of family violence take this first step of the legal process. Traditionally, families do not report violence or abuse because other members of the family are involved and this would “go against the family.” Funds are used to help with the legal expenses: someone to write the complaint, to provide legal advice, to help the victims understand the legal process and their rights, and to appear with them at the various h
earings. If necessary, help is provided for medical expenses. Through all of the process, psychological help is provided to all the family members who seek it.

Your funds are also being used for ongoing training that Alejandra provides to CASA’s young counselors, Los Promotores, in issues of domestic violence and gender equity. She also helps the theater group write appropriate plays and scenarios, assists the radio program group with the same and together with a second psychologist at CASA sees new patients.

Funds are used to provide materials for all of these programs, as well as to bring people to CASA for training sessions.

Funds from San Miguel Walk are also being used for CASA’s anti-violence work with rural church groups. This training program was launched in 2006 to educate communities on the prevention of violence, teach women how to pursue their legal rights, promote gender equity and to form leaders to serve as competent liaisons in the community—capable of identifying and assisting women and youths at risk for violence. It has taken a long time, persistence and patience to get this program off the ground but in 2007 Alejandro and the assorted CASA teams working with her are seeing fantastic results. There are currently nine groups affiliated with nine different churches in distinct villages receiving the training and in many cases, on an individual Sunday, hundreds of women and children in each of the communities will be participating! On Sunday, April 22 CASA’s founder and current advisor, Nadine Goodman accompanied Alejandra and the radio and theater teams to Corral de Piedras where the women received copies of the CASA guide on how to legally pursue your rights in the case of domestic and sexual violence (published with funds from San Miguel Walk); learned about CASA’s radio program on Station Radio Reya, frequency X and watched a performance from the CASA theater team in which a young woman is unfortunately raped by her stepfather. Nadine has some 26 years working in Mexico and feels that the coordinated work of Alejandra and the multiple peer counselor teams with the various church groups is the best work she has ever seen CASA accomplish.

Currently groups are taking place in the churches of Corral de Piedras, Laguna Escondido, El Moral and Santa Marías, to name a few. Funds are used for transportation to these communities and for all the books and materials for each group. Participants receive a diploma at the end of the course and recognition in their communities as well. Soon Alejandro will be moving on to new groups affiliated with new churches in new communities and she hopes that the outreach work she is doing will bring awareness to more people than she is able to reach just in her CASA office. She told me the best part of her work is helping people understand that they have options in their lives and that they can get help.

So this is where the money is going, day by day, making a significant difference! 

For information on how you can help CASA, please call Barbara Erickson at 152-0129.

Sunday, April 29, Nadine and her husband and cofounder of CASA, Alejandro, were at the NYC premier of the film, The Business of Being Born at the Tribeca Film Festival. The executive producer of this fabulous film is Ricki Lake, the director is Abby Epstein and director of photography is Paulo Netto. CASA is featured in the film. Stay tuned for more information on the film—including when it will be in San Miguel de Allende!

Making mattresses at St. Paul’s
By Carol Sedestrom Ross



Every Wednesday morning between 10am and noon, a group of volunteers spend two hours rolling plastic bags into balls and stuffing them into pre-sewn mattress forms. Sometimes there are as many as 20 volunteers, some Wednesdays as few as three or four. Visitors are always welcome. Overall, we actually have many visitors, some of whom return year after year during their winter or summer visit to San Miguel.

The project was originally started in the late 1990s by Rita Krug, a former resident of San Miguel, who decided someone needed to do something about the plastic bags that littered the streets. She began gathering bags and inviting her friends to help her roll and stuff them into mattress forms. Her delicious lunches guaranteed a good supply of volunteers.

When Rita needed to return to the US, Toni Allen, a mattress volunteer and member of St. Paul’s, was concerned about what would happen to the project. She went to St. Paul’s with a request to take over the project and it has been happening there every Wednesday since 2000.

Depending on the number of bags and the number of volunteers, the group produces one, or sometimes, two mattresses a week. It takes between 1000 and 1,200 bags to stuff the heavy, weather proof fabric which gets sewn closed after it’s stuffed. The project has a collection basket outside the door of Border crossings (in the courtyard) and another at La Conexión. Bags may also be left at St.Paul’s any day between 10am and 2pm. Bags should be clean and dry and flat.

Once six or seven mattresses are complete, they are delivered to villages on the campo surrounding San Miguel. At approximately five feet in length, they are primarily meant for children who would otherwise be sleeping on the ground. Sometimes they work for small elderly women, and once a man asked if he and his wife could hook them together for a bed for themselves. All the mattresses have fabric loops on one end so they can be hung out of the way during the day.

There are no pre-planned delivery destinations. Suggestions of where to send the mattresses come from many sources. A particularly useful source of recommendations are the 27 drivers from Feed The Hungry who deliver food every week to the villages. They often make suggestions because they see the conditions under which many of the villagers live. If you have suggestions, visit the project on Wednesday and let Tony know where you think people could use a weatherproof, waterproof and vermin proof mattress. The mattresses are left as a gift from the heart—no praying, no preaching, no proselytizing.

The Mattress Project has been recognized by the state of Guanajuato’s Ecology Department who gave the volunteers a certificate for their work in cleaning up the environment, and invited the volunteers to come to the Women’s Pavilion in León and teach a class of about 60 men and women how to roll the bags and make the mattresses. Just recently, Toni Allen was interviewed by a reporter from a US magazine. And earlier this year, a young man from Guatemala came to photograph the process hoping to get it started in his country.

You can help the project by volunteering your time on Wednesday morning at St.Paul’s since rolling bags requires no special skill and it’s a good way to meet people in town. And/or you can drop your plastic bags (now becoming a major problem with the opening of two big grocery stores who bag everything in plastic) at Border Crossings, La Conexción or St.Paul’s. The project is an ingenious way to provide a warm bed for a child while at the same time helping to keep our beautiful environment free of discarded plastic bags. The Mattress Makers say, “thank you for you help,” but please don’t knot the bags.

Secret places of San Miguel
By Linda Whynman

In 1968, a small group of expatriates living in San Miguel de Allende began meeting once a month to exchange plants, discuss gardening in general and the challenges of gardening in San Miguel in particular.

From this humble beginning, the Garden Club of San Miguel has developed into an organization of 72 members whose purpose is to promote interest in flowers, plants, gardens and floral arranging and to promote civic interest and community projects to benefit the city and surrounding areas.

In the past the Garden Club has contributed financial assistance to Campaña Por Una Ciudad Limpia (Campaign For a Clean City) with the hope of creating a network of activism and education on the importance of a clean community, planting of trees and neighborhood clean-up drives as well as providing funds for the ongoing maintenance of the Biblioteca’s many trees and plants. The club has enjoyed a close relationship with El Charco de Ingenio, the botanical gardens, and has contributed to the construction of three new greenhouses near the conservatory, a windmill which provides an independent source of water to the gardens and a tree barrier to encroaching housing projects. The club was responsible for the funding and construction of a public drinking fountain in Parque Benito Juarez which included a tile mural of the padre and his dog finding the pure water for the early settlers. Additional funding was provided for a vegetable garden for ALMA—a wonderful home for the aged, poor people of San Miguel—to sustain the residents with fresh vegetables.

To promote educational facilities in the community, the club donated funds to Bellas Artes for their scholarship fund for Mexican students who wish to study art at El Nigromante and to the Save the Laja organization, which is dedicated to the greening of our watershed by showing villagers how to control floods with rock dams, tree plantings, field terracing, fences and installing ponds. Most recently a tree fund has been established with contributions to be used for the purpose of planting trees in communities to increase moisture, cut down on dust and airborne bacteria and beautify previously barren streets. 

On an ongoing biannual basis, the club presents a flower show of creative floral arrangements and horticultural exhibits intended to promote public education about horticulture and flowers.

All of these and future projects to improve and beautify San Miguel have been and are made possible, in part, by proceeds of the sale of our annual Garden Club calendar.

The deadline for entry of photographs in the 2008 Garden Club of San Miguel Calendar photo contest is May 15, 2007. The Club is delighted with the response already received but wants to encourage all residents and visitors, whether professional or amateur photographers, to send your favorite images of San Miguel places or events before the deadline. This year we are looking for photographs of less frequented or “secret” places you have discovered in San Miguel or perhaps a different perspective on our more notable places of interest.

The rules for entries are simple:

Photographs must be horizontal placement and maybe be enhanced by any techniques now available to the medium.

Digital or print photographs are equally acceptable, but do not send negatives.

Photographs should be of San Miguel de Allende or its environs. This includes images of events since within the calendar, the month in which the events occurs will feature a photograph representative of the festivities.

Enter photographs which you feel best capture the unique essence and magic of San Miguel. A maximum of five entries per photographer are accepted.

Each photograph submitted must be of sufficient quality to be enlarged to 8 x 10 without distortion, a minimum of 300 BPI.

Entries are accepted until May 15, 2007 at Box 32A, Border Crossings or electronically at GardenClubSMA@yahoo.com. Those sent via email may be reduced in quality/size for the purpose of transmission. Printed photographs or CDs will be returned only if the entry includes your name, address and telephone number.

The Garden Club of San Miguel de Allende Calendar, in which the photographs will be featured, is an eagerly awaited personal calendar as well as popular gift for friends and remembrance of our lovely city for tourists. Proceeds from calendar sales are donated to beautification and educational projects within our community. This is the chance for your photographs to be published and at the same time to contribute to the community. Each photograph will feature the photographer’s name, which could enhance or begin a career!