Friday,
April 7, 2006, 5 pm, Internet cafe, downtown Cuernavaca
Hello from Cuernavaca: Attending the Monthly
Meeting at the Newcomers Club– A Presentation about Human
Impact on our Planet
This morning I got up early and had a nice breakfast in the inner
courtyard of La Nuestra. Shortly
before 9 am Andie and I left for her monthly meeting of the Newcomers
Club, a group of about 170 mostly English-speaking expatriates
from all different countries who have settled in Cuernavaca. Andie
Grater has been the president of this volunteer organization for
the last 4 years.
We didn't have to drive very far and arrived at an Episcopelian
Church where several people were already setting up chairs and coffee
for the monthly reunion. Two staff members from the American Consulate
in Mexico City were setting up a table with information about taxation,
voting and other issues relating specifically to US Citizens living
in Mexico. The Newcomers Club often invites speakers or experts
on topics related directly to the expatriate community.
I had a chance to speak with a few of the club members. There was
a gentleman roughly in his late 50s who had emigrated from Israel
three years ago and was now working in real estate and providing
catering services for Middle Eastern foods. I also chatted with
a young gentleman in his 30s who had emigrated from Poland and now
had a wood-working company with his partner, making special wood
toys that they sell throughout organic food stores in Mexico. Then
I connected with a lady who was originally from Germany, and she
and her husband have been working for a long time for a German charity
helping blind people all over the world. She has lived all over
Latin America as well as Pakistan.
Setting up the table for the American Consulate
Cuernavaca's Newcomers Club is definitely a very interesting and
diverse group of people. Most of the members I saw were in their
50s, 60s and up, although I saw a few younger people. The majority
are retirees who have settled in Cuernavaca permanently.
After the initial refreshments were taken, the group settled in
and Andie, as the President, made a variety of announcements. Then
a lady by the name of Ana Gonzalez, talked about the special project
run by an NGO called Caminamos
Juntos para la Salud y el Desarollo ("Walking Together
for Health and Development"). The project was founded
by Susan Smith, a Canadian woman, who has adopted a very poor Mexican
village. One of the greatest problems of this village is that its
water has been contaminated with arsenic, so drinking water is a
real issue. The people of this village are very poor, and every
month Susan asks the Newcomers Club to donate different items, from
pots and pans, to blankets, toys, school supplies and much more.
Then after a few more announcements, Bob Vockerath, a distinguished
looking gentleman in his late seventies, originally from Vancouver,
Canada, got up give a special presentation. He talked about several
books he had read (Plan B and Limits to Growth)
which talk about human impact on the planet and the sustainability
of our human activities.
He talked about population growth, resources, industrial output,
pollution etc. and showed several charts of projections of where
our future might take us. Limits to Growth was first published
in 1972 and several experts modeled the development of these key
factors and projected them well into the 3rd millenium. From about
2050 onwards their models predict a stark drop in population as
resources get depleted, pollution takes on an increasingly destructive
level, and industrial output multiplies.
Andie Grater welcomes the crowd to the Newcomers Meeting
He mentioned some interesting statistics: between 1950 and 2000
the global population increased from about 2.5 billion to 6.1 billion.
Average incomes tripled and so did the demand for grain. Economic
output multiplied 6.6 times from $7 trillion annually to $46 trillion.
The demand for grain is interesting because 1 ton of beef, for example,
takes 10 tons of grain to produce, a very resource-intensive form
of food production.
Bob Vockerath also went into a brief description of the book
Plan B and that its author expounds on 6 basic social goals:
1. Basic universal - primary education
2. Adult literacy programs
3. Family planning
4. School lunches
5. Assisting pre-schoolers
6. Universal basic health care
In addition these social goals are supplemented by earth restoration
goals:
1. Reforestation
2. Protection topsoil on croplands
3. Restoring rangelands
4. Restoring fisheries
5. Protecting biodiversity
6. Stabilizing the water table.
Social goals and earth restoration together are forecast to cost
an additional $191 million per year over and above what is being
spent already.
This contrasts to annual military spending of $975 billion, apparently
in the US alone every year $475 billion are spent on defense. So
if we simply reallocated our spending we would be in a position
to effect tremendous social and environmental change for the better.
A lecture on global population growth and sustainability
The crowd in the room was listening attentively and asked many
questions. I was really impressed by this meeting since many people
in the audience were in their 60 all the way into their late 80s
or beyond and they showed such a strong interest in this topic although
the future consequences of these issues will have a much stronger
affect on their grand and great-grand children.
As someone with an interest in ecological issues, I found this
presentation very informative and concluded that the immigrant community
in Cuernavaca is involved in some pretty interesting things...
Useful Books:
Related Articles:
Mexico 2006 - My cultural immersion
experiment
Hello from Mexico City - First impressions
Hello from Mexico City - A skyscraper,
a little horse and a government pawn shop
Hello from Mexico City - The Zócalo,
the Cathedral, a healing ritual and a university dedicated to a
16th century female poet
Hello from Mexico City - A relaxing
evening in Coyoacán
Hello from Mexico City - Exploring the
Paseo de la Reforma, de Bosque de Chapúltepec and a nice
evening in San Angel
Hello from Cuernavaca - Arrival and
first impressions
Hello from Cuernavaca - Getting to know
my B&B hostess Marta Elena: A true riches to rags story
Hello from Cuernavaca - My first day
learning Spanish and two local icons: the Robert Brady Museum and
the Jardín Borda
Hello from Cuernavaca - A lovely dinner
in a garden paradise
Hello from Cuernavaca - An excursion
to Las Estacas, checking out orchids and a meeting at El Cafecito
Hello from Cuernavaca - An excursion
to Lake Tequesquitengo and a visit to the doctor
Hello from Cuernavaca - A conversation
with Andie Grater, local B&B owner and President of the Newcomers
Club
Hello from Cuernavaca - A presentation
about ecology at the Newcomers Club Meeting
Hello from Cuernavaca - Opening of a
South African photo exhibition and a visit to the Palacio de Cortés
Hello from Taxco - The city that silver built
Hello from Taxco during Semana Santa - The
famous Palm Sunday Procession
Hello from Cuernavaca - A new language
school, visiting 'Casa Vamos' and an evening with a very sad ending
Hello from Cuernavaca - My most intense
day: more language studies, 3 interviews, a guided eco-hike and
dinner at the Marco Polo
Hello from Cuernavaca - A day outing
to the enchanting mythical village of Tepoztlan
Hello from Cuernavaca - My last day
of school and a visit to Cuernavaca's Spring Fair
Hello from Taxco - An eerie experience: Visiting
Taxco's famous Good Friday procession
Hello from Taxco and Cuernavaca - Interviewing
one of the penitentes and enjoying my last day in Mexico
Related Interviews:
Presenting:
Ruben Córtes from Morelos Trails - Local adventure sports
and cultural guided tour operator, expert on Morelos and Cuernavaca
Presenting: Pablo
Buitrón from Fundacion Comunidad, helping local
women empower themselves
Presenting: Jorge Torres from
the Cetlalic Alternative Language School - Learning Spanish with
cultural, social and political awareness
Presenting: Hermilo Brito
from the Ideal Language School - Making Spanish learning fun
Helpful links:
Mexico
Tourism Information
State
of Morelos Tourism Organization
Official
website of the City of Cuernavaca tourism
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