Cont. from front page,

A new project is now underway to open a library in Cruz del Palmar, a rural community of Otomí origin whose residents, headed by Professor Magdaleno Ramírez, have shown outstanding willingness to organize and institute governmental and educational programs to benefit their community, among them the recently opened videobachillerato, a high school in which classes are taught via videocast with the assistance of a teacher. The first such school in the area, known as the VIBA, benefits several nearby communities. 

The Biblioteca Pública has already donated 150 books to Cruz del Palmar, mostly science and literature, according to librarian Rosario Muñoz, who has also developed a plan to manage the community’s library, which will serve as a cultural center offering art, music and dance workshops. 

“A cultural center would be very important in Cruz del Palmar, since it is an Otomí town and it would help them to retain their traditions,” said historian Graciela Cruz López. 

The library project

“When I came to work at the library more than a year ago, I noticed that the program founded by Stirling Dickinson no longer existed,” said Miguel Kegel, current general manager of the Biblioteca Pública. He had the idea to open a public library in Cruz del Palmar, which he knew from his previous job in the Public Security Department.

When Kegel visited the community again, he noticed a small, abandoned building that could be used for the library and cultural center, and he spoke with Professor Ramírez about the proposed project. “I told him that Cruz del Palmar could become a cultural center for all the nearby communities,” Kegel said.

Kegel and the library staff immediately began working. Librarians Juan Manuel Fajardo and Rosario Muñoz prepared a package of books to donate to Cruz del Palmar. “We organized a workshop and trained some young girls in the community to help us. The objective of the workshops was to ask the people about their real needs regarding a cultural center. We had some funds from the Rotary Club, and we asked for the support of Verónica Agundis, head of the Education and Culture Department, Don Patterson, head of the Ecology Department, and Bob Leonard and his wife Sue, who are experts in community projects, to help us make the cultural center project a reality.”

Kegel explained that as plans for the cultural center were taking shape, the state government authorized the opening of the VIBA. Lacking any other venue, the lecture room they had planned for the library had to be used for the new school.

However, Kegel announced that plans for the cultural center and library are ongoing. “We are only waiting until another building can be constructed on the land the community donated for the VIBA project,” he said. He added that a library management program has already been presented to the residents in the community. 

Professor Ramírez said that there is another building that could possibly be used as an alternative site for the cultural center, an unused 18th-century church that formerly housed a school. This building was also previously inhabited by a police station, but it was never fully and properly maintained by the police department.

School days in Cruz del Palmar

Currently, Cruz del Palmar has a kindergarten attended by 40 children, an elementary school with 180 students, a junior high school with 100 students, and, since last September, a VIBA. 

The installation of the VIBA was a very important event for Cruz del Palmar, since before it opened young people in Cruz del Palmar and nearby communities could not go to senior high school or had to travel long distances to Atotonilco to attend school. 

“My daughter Marisa wants to be a teacher. However, I had told her that she would have to stop studying when she finished junior high since the closest VIBA was far away,” said María Ramírez, a resident of Cruz del Palmar. “Now that the VIBA has opened, she can continue studying. I only studied through third grade, so I am very happy that my daughter has the opportunity to continue studying. It is not expensive to study in the VIBA; we only have to pay a tuition fee of 590 pesos and to buy some notebooks.”

Verónica, 15, said that she is proud of being one of the first girls in her community to attend senior high school in the new VIBA. “However, I think that it is very important for us to have a cultural center and a library also, since we do not have anywhere to do research for our homework. We also need computers to have access to the Internet,” said Verónica.

Most of the students at the Cruz del Palmar VIBA are female. “We have 27 girls and 3 boys,” said teacher Manuel Gómez Díaz, who commutes every day from Empalme Escobedo to Cruz del Palmar. Professor Ramírez thinks that the main reason fewer boys continue their education after finishing junior high is that they emigrate to the US. “It is a tradition to leave school after junior high. Most of them go to work in the US; others just do not want to study.”

Ramírez noted that there a lot of boys in the community who are neither studying nor working. “I am trying to convince them and their parents that it is better to study,” he said. 

Cruz del Palmar, an Otomí town

In her book San Miguel de Allende: Spirit of the Inside Land, historian Graciela Cruz López wrote that Cruz del Palmar was officially formed by Otomís as an Indian town (Pueblo de Indios) in the 17th century.

Cruz López said that Otomís are not originally from the San Miguel region. “There was an important Otomí migration, mainly from Tlaxcala. Many of the Otomís came with San Miguel’s founder, Fray Juan de San Miguel.” 

Doña Braulia, 85, is one of the few people in Cruz del Palmar who still speaks the Otomí language. “I learned Otomí because my grandmother did not speak Spanish; she only spoke Otomí, so she used to ask me things only in Otomí,” said Doña Braulia. Her husband, Don Valente, who passed away some years ago, also spoke the Otomí language. “Years ago, people in Cruz del Palmar spoke only Otomí, and they did not know Spanish. Today, they only speak Spanish and Otomí is almost forgotten,” said Doña Braulia. 


Folkloric ballet in Cruz del Palmar

Martina, a young woman from Cruz del Palmar, is one of the organizers of a folkloric ballet in the community. “We perform dances from Jalisco and polkas,” said Martina.

“We decided to form the group to present something different at the community festival on January 1 to attract more people.” 

Martina said that currently the group lacks costumes. Dancers perform in borrowed or rented outfits and have only been able to buy a few hats and decorations with the little money they have earned by performing in nearby communities.

The troupe consists of seven boys and seven girls ranging in age from 7 to 21 years. “We hope to receive the support of an institution so that we can buy outfits, which cost about 30,000 pesos,” said Martina.

Art auction raises over 500,000 pesos
By Jesús Ibarra

On December 4, Carmen Gutiérrez, Biblioteca Pública President Ali Zerriffi, and General Manager Miguel Kegel handed over a check for 257,384 pesos raised at the Art for Tabasco benefit to Banamex manager Alejandro Pérez Rocha and assistant manager Rafael Martínez. Bank officials announced that the Fondo Social Banamex (Banamex Social Fund) would match the total amount raised by the art auction—more than 500,000 pesos will be sent to the flood victims.

Disastrous floods in Tabasco last month devastated the state, affecting more than one million people. While national and international efforts sent assistance to the southern Mexican state, local gallery owner and artist Carmen Gutiérrez felt compelled to help. With the support of more than 80 local artists and businesses, Gutiérrez and the Biblioteca Pública held an art auction November 18— the target US$25,000.

“They [the Biblioteca organizers] asked me if I was sure we could raise that amount,” said Carmen. “And I was, because I trust in the people of San Miguel.”

The Sunday art auction drew more than 100 San Miguel residents, foreigners and nationals to the Biblioteca, ready to support the flood victims. A sudden downpour and hailstorm forced the guests to evacuate the central patio and move to the Teatro Santa Ana. The event collected more than 250,000 pesos in cash and checks and was a great success. 

Gutiérrez expressed her gratitude to the 75 artists who donated their work, and the many local stores, galleries, restaurants and businesses who contributed to the auction, as well as the staff of the Biblioteca Pública who helped with organization. “It was a community effort so I am proud of the San Miguel community and very thankful,” said Carmen.

Blood donations needed in San Miguel
By Jesús Ibarra

Due to the low supply of donated blood at General Hospital Dr. Felipe G. Dobarganes local doctors are appealing for community support to establish a campaign to donate blood. San Miguel does not have a community blood bank.

“We have a severe problem with blood availability here in San Miguel,” said Dr. Roberto Maxwell. “In emergency cases we sometimes have to call Celaya or León to get the blood, especially when it is a not common type in Mexico, like the negative types.” 

Dr. Maxwell explained that in Mexico, unlike in the US, people cannot pay for blood as they would pay any other hospital cost. “When a patient needs blood it is provided, but the patient must pay for it with blood—not with money. He or she has to bring in people to donate their blood to the hospital. Any blood type is accepted as repayment.

One problem in San Miguel is that patients often do not bring in donors to replenish the blood supply. If blood must be brought from another city, the hospital is then not able to repay its debt with donated blood. The only two blood banks in the state are located in Celaya and León.

Chemist Patricia Méndez López, in charge of the blood depository at the General Hospital, explained that her department is not the same thing as a blood bank. “We only have the blood we use in the hospital; with this blood we can also help other nearby medical units. But if we do not have the necessary blood, we must call to León or Celaya,” said Méndez. “We only store the blood. All the serology studies are done in León. When we receive blood we send it to them after it is analyzed, and they send it back. The blood bank in León has a record of all the blood deposits in the states it manages. So when a certain type of blood is needed, the blood bank knows where to get it.” 

Méndez commented that there are only two volunteer donors who come in twice a year to donate blood. “Two is a really low number for San Miguel’s population. We are asking those who are eligible to come in and donate blood regularly. Donating twice a year is fine.” Méndez explained that donors are examined by a doctor before they give blood and their blood is analyzed—a screening that normally would cost around 2,000 pesos. Donors are allowed to rest and given a snack after donating blood. 

Blood donors must be between 18 and 60 years of age and weigh more than 50 kilograms (110 pounds). Those who have hepatitis, epilepsy, heart disease or HIV infection; who have undergone major surgery or childbirth in the past six months; who are currently on medication; and women who are menstruating, pregnant or nursing are not eligible to donate blood. Donors with piercings or tattoos can give blood.

According to Méndez, the hospital manages 25 to 30 units of blood type 0, 5 to 10 units of type A and 2 to 4 units of type B, all positive. The negative types are less common and they only can be obtained in León or Celaya. 

“Everyone should have three or four donors available, in case of an emergency,” said Dr. Maxwell—especially if one has a rare blood type.” 

Maxwell would like to see a group organize a blood donation campaign and have a blood bank in San Miguel. “If people received a small incentive, maybe they would donate blood. When the donation is voluntary, the donor does not have to pay any money to the hospital.”

Blood donations can be made at the General Hospital Dr. Felipe G. Dobarganes, Avenida 1 de Mayo, #7, Colonia Ignacio Ramírez, with Patricia Méndez López.