Bonnie Watt

el otro lado

Last spring, when I told to my professors I was taking a leave of absence from college to return as a volunteer to Casa de los Ángeles, the general response was negative. “Do you really want to just be a babysitter? When—if ever—will you finish your studies?” At the time, I was left speechless by their reaction, which is a rarity for me. I didn’t know how to explain to them how much more rewarding volunteering at Casa is than “just” being a babysitter. Now, after spending almost nine months working at the daycare, I’d know exactly what to say to them: Casa isn’t simply a daycare. Everyday, Casa is bringing about small revolutions—social, economic, and political—on a very personal level, while providing a safe place for everyone who happens to wander throughthe door, an achievement few international aid organizations can claim.

When I arrived last August, it was my fourth visit as a volunteer at Casa. The moment I saw Donna and Miguel at the airport, I felt like I had returned to a second home. Even though quite a few things had changed, at the daycare as well as in town, both seem to share an amazing ability for keeping the best parts even while expanding rapidly. My original plan of returning to school after one semester of leave quickly disappeared within the first week I was in San Miguel and I am so glad it did. Now, with a little less than a week remaining of my time in San Miguel, it has become clear to me why I keep coming back.

The past nine months have taught me so much, about myself, about running a non-for-profit, about babies and children, and, of course, about Mexico. I’ve had so much fun chasing children around the patio, giving them piggy-back rides, and watching them grow and change so much (in such a short time!). I met so many wonderful volunteers, from all different walks of life and parts of the world. I celebrated birthdays and first communions; I cried at many despedidas. My Spanish improved slightly, thanks to the help of patient teachers, mothers, children, Yazmin and Miguel. But, the best part of my experience at Casa has been watching all those little revolutions evolve. I have always considered myself to be a bit of a rebel and, while I lived out some of those fantasies studying with the Zapatistas, it’s at the daycare where I have most strongly felt the power of individuals to bring about real, long-lasting change in the world.

When mothers first come to the daycare so often they seem so timid and broken by society. Both their and their children’s right to a dignified life has been denied. They work jobs that can hardly cover basic living expenses, usually they do not receive any support from the fathers of their children, and few have even a high school education. Casa provides these families with the opportunity to lead a dignified life. Children who attend the daycare get an invaluable head start on their peers, learning social and educational skills early on, preparing them to succeed when they leave Casa for primary school.

But, I think the most revolutionary, everyday occurrence at Casa is giving Americans the opportunity to see el otro lado and the affects of the extremely disruptive immigration patterns that have emerged between Mexico and the US. Though immigration has been fiercely debated in the States, rarely do the pundits mention the families left behind by the increasingly cruel imaginary line that divides the two countries. It is impossible to spend time as a volunteer at the daycare and not develop new perspectives on the “question” of immigration from Mexico. I can hardly imagine what my life will be like next week when I return home to Chicago. How empty it will seem without my friends at the daycare, but I know I will return to Casa soon and that it will just be bigger and better than ever before.