DIFferent houses make a difference
By Krishna Villena November 21, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

On November 13, Mayor Correa, Martha Ramírez Castro, president of DIF (Department of Family Integration), and the first lady of the state of Guanajuato gathered with other guests and residents of the community of La Petaca to hand over keys to the new owners of houses built under the DIF program Mi Casa DIFerente (my DIFferent house). 

It was a day of celebration for the homeowners and also for DIF: in the community of Rancho Seco, in Celaya, on the same day DIF presented its 10,000th new dwelling.

Mi Casa DIFerente is designed to help poor families in the state of Guanajuato living in makeshift cardboard or wooden shacks, single mothers, the handicapped and elderly and those without access to financing.. 

The state and municipal governments donate construction materials and the chosen families build their houses themselves by hand

Building materials are awarded to applicants who undergo and pass a socio-economic screening after filling out an application form at the DIF office. 

The current average cost of a DIF house is 36,000 pesos. Through the state DIF, the federal government contributes approximately 26,000 pesos and the municipality contributes 10,000 pesos. The two available types of houses are designed depending on the needs of each family.

The vivienda básica (basic house) measures 42 square meters and has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchenette-dining room and a porch. The vivienda sin barreras (barrier-free house) is identical except for handicapped-accessible features such as ramps and bathroom support bars.

Reyna Ramírez, a resident of La Petaca, said that the house that DIF gave her daughter was a great help. “My daughter had to leave her husband because he used to hit her a lot, and he doesn’t give her money for their children, so she really needed this house.”

Surrounded by huizache trees and other vegetation, the house was built by several members of her family. Happily, Mrs. Ramírez said, “We made it! With a lot of effort and with the help of my son and another son-in-law during their free time or on Sundays.” 

Martínez Castro and Correa cut the inaugural ribbon and attended a ceremony in which keys were also given to Casa DIFerente recipients from other communities such as La Campana and Rancho Nuevo de Banda.

María Herminia Olalde Vértiz, a resident of La Campana, said she was very proud to be chosen “to represent my neighbors and to thank Gaby, Major Correa and his wife and all these people I’ve met for the first time and to let them know that there are still a lot of people who need a house.”

Correa said, “I really enjoy coming to these events because families truly appreciate the help of the government.” Regarding the families’ house-building efforts Correa commented that the dwellings are constructed not only of raw materials but also of “fatigue, sweat and sometimes even blood.”

Martínez Castro echoed this by saying “the fight gives them the strength needed to work for the house of their dreams for years.” She said she felt their effort in the roughness of their hands, and “that roughness is nothing but the result of their work.” Martínez Castro also praised the women, because “in almost all the communities they are the ones building their homes, carrying the bags of concrete.” 

A Bicultural Bazaar at Café El Chai
By Kimberly Kinser

Holiday arts and crafts bazaar
Café El Chai
Fri & Sat, Nov 28 & 29, 10am–5pm
Salida a Celaya 24

It all started when Manja Argue, an extranjera crafter, gave one of her crocheted dolls to Arleta Jeziorska’s 18-month-old son. Jeziorska has operated the Café El Chai for only five months and offers a varied menu, including pirogis and all varieties of brewed tea.

Jeziorska suggested to Argue that she sell the dolls, but the Instituto Allende was not going to have a craft fair until after Christmas. So the women joined forces to produce a bicultural arts and craft bazaar the two days after Thanksgiving.

The Café’s maxim is “Health, Peace and Plenty.” Jeziorska’s dream is to have a rich cultural center based on the permaculture model of sharing and exchange. Although permaculture focuses on the agricultural sustainability of a community, Jeziorska’s focus leans more toward cultural sustainability. The large room off the street will house other cultural events as more people wander down to Salida de Celaya to see what they can contribute to this new community in San Miguel.

On Saturday at 1pm the bazaar will feature music and a fashion show of garments made from recycled fabrics and materials. Maylen Pirche and Rachel Rodea have created Proterra, an ecological, textile art project with items made by hand using 100% natural fibers that have been transformed, recycled and reduced to promote a better world. Teresa Beck and the Cuna de Naturaleza Colectivo, a nonprofit collective, will also be modeling garments of their own design made from vintage and ethnic fabrics for everyone from crones to toddlers to your favorite poodle.

The children’s choir from the Santa Julia orphanage will sing on Saturday at noon under the direction of Elsmarie Norby, who also offers five of her CD titles, including her own original solo piano, Mexican songs for children and a Christmas collection. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Anyel music program in local orphanages.

The vendors run the gamut from practical to whimsical, homespun to elegant. Patricia Miller designs and creates silver jewelry using mainly Mexican materials, especially fire opals and other stones from craftsmen who mine in Querétaro and Guanajuato, along with coral, turquoise and fossils. Cristina Almanza Rodríguez, from a long line of San Miguel painters, decorates furniture, wooden kitchen utensils and other decorative pieces carved by local vendors. Pat Parnall creates unique notecards from her original watercolors of people and places in San Miguel. 

Fico Hernández Soto operates El Taller Paloma y Fico in San Miguel and specializes in repuiado en metal, or repoussé, the art of embossing or pressing shapes into metal to create a design.

Sheryl Dunn and Vivian Lohmeyer will bring practical, colorful covers for your five-gallon water bottles along with plastic bag holders, shower caps and doggie raincoats, all easy to pack. Lino Arteaga, a San Miguel native, will have his colorful, expressionistic ceramics on view and for sale. Mostly self-taught, Lino brings a whimsical Mexican palette and sensibility to his work. Betsi Griffith designs and constructs one-of-a-kind jewelry sets using unusual semiprecious stones, glass and metals. Twenty vendors in all will display their wares. 

Children’s Science Club opens 

Science Club
Saturdays, 10am
Second-floor terrace 
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Free 

Rita De Brito, Alicia Rivero and the folks at the Biblioteca Pública are happy to announce the launch of the school-year Science Club program. 

The program was on hiatus for a few months because the majority of the volunteers whom De Brito trained over the summer did not return. The two organizers placed the program’s funds (raised by our local community) in a Lloyd’s account with the hope of increasing them. These funds are on reserve to support the Science Club and launch next year’s Science Camp program.

José Luis Mendoza, the library’s cultural and artistic director, has hired an assistant who will help run the Science Club on Saturday mornings. Activities of the club will include lab work, work with insects, microscope work and experiments and investigations. José Luis will screen movies with science themes in Teatro Santa Ana as well.

The bilingual program is appropriate for children ages 8–12. Participants must register with José Luis before attending the free program. His office is located near the Teatro entrance. 

De Brito and Rivero, at sciencecampsma@gmail.com, are looking for more volunteers, either adults or teenagers.