July 2007 Campaign to help the children of Comcaq community (Seri Tribe in Mexico)
Check out the Video! Click here
NEWS!
I just uploaded some pics of the 2007 Seri Tribe campaign. Click on Photo Gallery and scroll down to the bottom and you can also log on to on myspace.com/pelmo.
This trip was amazing! I want to thanks Mr Salvador Lopez, one of my dear students and our mexican liason for the great organization. I also want to thank my dear friends Ramiro, Juan (second timer), Eduardo , Veronica, Bobby and my three children for the amazing help and compassionate mind. They walked in with an open heart with no fear and strong courage. You guys made a difference!
The journey to the tribe was more difficult than last year because of the road conditions and some political problems within the tribe. We drove in with a big truck full of food and oral electrolyte for 900 people. We woke up at 5 am in order to start the day early.
The first tribe that we arrived was Punta chueca and we met with old friends from last year. The elder women were asking for blessings, while the children were asking for food.While Eduardo and I were doing the healings, the rest of the group was divided into giving food, talking to the community elders, videotaping and taking pictures. Everything went very smooth. We were able to visit with the chaman and also with the Council of the elders.
After we finsihed at Punta Chueca we drove to Desemboque, the next tribe, (one and a half hour drive North). The road conditions were terrible due to last year's floods. The holes on the road were as big as craters and one of our trucks broke a muffler, a tail light and something else.
I rode on the back of the truck! What a bumpy ride...
Desemboque is a very magical place, and our cameras shut down as soon as we arrived there, so there is not much footage of the place.
Next year I would like to concentrate on helping with the water supply (they have no running water) and also bring more milk for the children.
My next campaign is Argentina..wanna help? Let me know
Much love and lIght
Diana
We need to raise funds in order to buy:
IV bags
Food (rice and beans packages )
Antibiotics
Fabric to make clothing (they make their own clothes)
Water
As of 6/2807, these are names of Friends and Students who are helping the Seri Tribe.
Doctor Dave and his clinic 2 boxes of Iv bags and butterflies for children.
Kelli English $20
Ryan and Mika Whitlock $250.00
Shasta Wallace $200.00
Rene KITCHUKOVA $100.00
Tonya Martines $100.00
Dennis Cannelis $100.00
Holly Lapetina $500.00
Rio Sabor Brazil $100.00 (on behalf of Solange Guerra)
Don and Michelle Pack $100.00
Gary Van Warderman $100.00
Doug Josefson $200.00
John Sanchez $75.00
Susan Lai $20.00
Beth Laseter $300.00
Rene KITCHUKOVA $250.00
Anonymous $5.00
Kathleen Stupas $20.00
Glenda Sloat $20.00
Steven Wiggs $250.00
Ulrike Parks and family $50.00
Jayesh Pattel $251.00
RENE KITCHUKOVA $100.00
TODOR KITCHUKOV $300.00
Manoj Chadran and family donated $250.00
Michelle Brimley and family donated $75.00
Kristen Melcher and family donated $200.00
Diana Simons donated $20.00
Jeri Sledge donated $100.00
Sheila Angerer and Jeri Sledge (on behalf of Mary G's family) $470.00
Rhonda Best Brown $20.00
Laura Keuschner $50.00
Shellie Ruge $20.00
Your donations are 100% Tax deductible. We need Donations NOW :
You can donate on Line via Pay Pal or you can
Make Checks payable to:
Jangchub Gepel Ling
We need to Raise $10,000 to buy food and medicine to 900 people at the Seri Tribe, (comcaq Community in Mexico) Your donations are 100% tax deductible and 100% will be donated to the tribe. You do not need to travel in order to help. Call Diana now to make a money pledge. 480 212 6747.
Humanitarian Sacred journey into the Seri Tribe with Diana will be from June 30th-July 8th. All your donations are tax deductible. Even if you cannot commit for your time and effort you can still be a part of this by donating money.
$2500 will feed 2 tribes of 200 families (900 people) for one week. (we will donate a truck in your name)
You can also donate as much as you can afford. Ask your friends to help. We need donations!
Make checks payable to Jangchub Gepel Ling or donate ONLINE
mail to: 6834 E Culver st, Mesa AZ 85207.
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To volunteer please call 480 212.6747
Make checks payable to: Jangchub Gepel Ling. Your check is tax deductible
We will be doing things differently this year so it is easier at the border.
Instead of bringing clothes and food from USA, I decided to buy it directly in Mexico.
I will be leaving on June 30th by land, and we will be staying until July 9th.
Below are the prices for the food, and I will be getting more info on prices of IV and fabrics for the women.
Please forward this to your friends.
If you would like to just help with financial aid please call 480 212 6747.
PARA BENEFICIAR A MAS DE 900 HABITANTES DE LA COMUNIDAD COMCA'AC DISTRIBUIDOS EN 2 POBLACIONES:
- 100 FAMILIAS EN PUNTACHUECA
- 100 FAMILIAS EN DESEMBOQUE
POR FAMILIA RECIBIRIAN 12 KILOS (6 KILOS DE FRIJOL Y 6 KILOS DE ARROZ):
- ..... UN BULTO DE FRIJOL, (CONSTA DE 6 PAQUETES DE 1 KILO CADA UNO)
- ......UN BULTO DE ARROZ, (CONSTA DE 6 PAQUETES DE 1 KILO CADA UNO)
ESTOS BULTOS YA ESTAN LISTOS PARA ENTREGARSE, YA ESTAN EMPAQUETADOS POR BULTO.....DENTRO DE CADA BULTO VIENE EMPAQUETADO POR KILO.
SE ME HACE LO MAS FACIL, SENCILLO Y ECONOMICO POSIBLE EN EL MERCADO.
EL TOTAL $2,500.00 USD. APROXIMADAMENTE AL DIA DE HOY.
DESGLOSE:
50 PESOS POR BULTO DE FRIJOL
70 PESOS POR BULTO DE ARROZ
120 PESOS TOTAL
120 PESOS POR 200 FAMILIAS = 24,000 (2300 USD.) + ENVIO A LA COMUNIDAD COMCA'AC "FLETE" ($200 USD.) ===== GRAN TOTAL $2,500 USD. APROX.
June/July 2006 Campaign to Help 150 children from the Seri Tribe in Mexico.
2006 NEWS! We went, and gave them donations of food and clothes! Thanks to all the supporters. Read the Mandala Magazine article about our trip!
Additional Information about the Seri Indians
While the Seris Indians once dressed in garments made of pelican skins and woven plant material, today they favor bright and colorful garb. Older women wear long, brightly colored dresses draped like saris around the torso. Younger women dress in more "modern" clothes and prize nail polish and perfume. Seri women, even the most acculturated, never wear pants or shorts. While a few older Seri men still wear their hair long, most try to fit in with the dominant Mexican culture, dressing in jeans and long sleeve shirts. However, Seri men do not wear the cowboy hat so prominent among Mexican men, preferring no head gear or simple baseball caps. The Seris once practiced facial decoration, both through painting and tattooing. The Seris no longer practice this symbolic decoration. However, it is still possible to see an occasional elderly Seri woman with facial tattoos.
The Seri live in crushing poverty, making only the most subsistent living from fishing, basket weaving, woodcarving and other crafts. Seri baskets are some of the finest in the world. Woven of fibers from the torote plants, and dyed with vegetal dyes, Seri baskets are so tightly crafted they will hold water. Basket making is a long and tedious process. The plant fibers must be gathered and this involves long trips into the desert. Then there is the preparation process in which the plant material is stripped to its pliable interior. The Seri women do this with their teeth. Makers of the finest baskets often have only tiny stumps of teeth left and gums that are so sore and swollen, even the movement of air across the mouth is painful. It is not uncommon to see Seri women with bandannas wrapped across their mouths, both out of shame for the appearance of their mouths and to protect them from the air.
Seri women also make delicate necklaces out of seashells, seeds and reptile vertebrae. As seamstresses, their skills are unmatched. Needles, thread and particularly scissors are highly prized items in the Seri villages. Using scraps of material and sometimes pieces of bone, the Seri women make dolls, with stitching so fine and perfectly spaced it looks machine-done.
The Seri men began the art of ironwood carving. Ironwood comes from a slow-growing desert shrub that is so heavy, hard and dense it does not float. Using primitive knives and awls the Seri crafted figures of the sea and desert: turtles, whales, dolphins, quail, and roadrunners. Seeing how popular the Seri woodcarvings were with the few tourists who visit the Bahía Kino area, the Mexicans began to imitate the Seri woodcarvings. By using power tools the Mexicans are able to produce much more complex carvings, with greater detail than the Seris with their simple hand tools could ever achieve.
The Seris are sailors of extraordinary skill. Once they traversed the waters around their homeland of Tiburon island in reed boats called balsas, sometimes journeying as far as the Baja peninsula. Now the Seri use small fiberglass or aluminum boats powered with outboard motors for their fishing expeditions. The Seris sell their catch to seafood brokers who travel from Hermosillo with refrigerated trucks.
Lack of drinking water is one of the most difficult problems faced by the Seri villages of Desemboque and Punta Chueca. The Mexican government has attempted to drill wells but all have become salienated in a short time. The Seris rely on water trucks to deliver water which they store in 55 gallon barrels outside there homes. Water is so precious to the Seri that they eagerly trade small craft items for jugs it from visitors.
While many of the old ways have been displaced by American and Mexican traditions, the Seri still live close to the earth and cycles of nature. A great many Seri, even the very elderly, sleep outside directly on the ground with only a thin blanket for covering. They have a vast knowledge of herbal healing which they guard jealously. They refuse to leave their villages to venture into the larger towns and cities seeking employment. In fact, most Seris speak only their native tongue and a little Spanish. A very few know rudimentary English.
The Seris are still a matrilineal culture. Goods and possessions pass through the mother's side of the family and a family (and a father) with many daughters is considered wealthy. That's because men must pay the family handsomely for the honor of marrying one of its daughters.
From persecution to poverty, the Seris are, above all, survivors. They are tough and aggressive as those who venture over the 30 to 60 miles of axle-hammering dirt roads to visit their villages can attest. An unknown vehicle driving into the village is instantly mobbed and surrounded by Seris aggressively offering craft items to trade for clothing and household goods. Still, the Seri way of life and culture, teeters on the brink of extinction, with a few Seri steadfastly refusing to adopt the ways and beliefs of the dominant culture.