It’s been 2 years since the launch of the children’s book, The Stellar Queen of Oaxaca, that I
wrote and self-published. The story is about a woman named Reyna I met and
befriended years ago while I was living in Oaxaca City, Mexico. She is visually impaired, since birth, from a
genetic defect that her father had. In
order to survive, her father played accordion as a way to make money on the
streets. There are no social programs for people with disabilities in Mexico,
and most people have to endure this kind of life in a state of poverty, unless
they have other family members who can care for them.
At a young age, a man pursued Reyna and made false
promises. She ended up getting pregnant
with her one and only child, Sabina. In
a Catholic and patriarchal culture, this would have been seen as a major social
stigma.
Instead of giving up, instead of going into bitterness,
Reyna chose to be a role model to her daughter instead, to show her there are
more possibilities than meets the eye, literally and figuratively. Reyna decided that she wanted to learn
English as a Second Language, much to her parents’ disapproval. They couldn’t
understand why she would waste her time getting an education. But Reyna
persisted.
In Oaxaca, they value democratic education greatly. They
offer free or low-cost education to its citizens. Reyna took advantage of these programs. At the
Infantil Esperanza, the organization for street children where I met Reyna,
they funded the translation of her textbooks into braille and aligned her with
volunteers, like myself, who could help her learn English through conversation.
Reyna’s commitment to learning, toting this huge textbook around with her,
while having her daughter in tow and walking without sight, was beyond
inspiring. She automatically made
friends with foreigners so she could expand her understanding of the world,
while also having the possibility of people who could offer financial support
in some way. She never begged, nor did she ask. One just couldn’t help but fall
in love with her and her courage and just want to see her succeed and do well.
The Stellar Queen of
Oaxaca was my answer to help Reyna, because I am someone who doesn’t make a
stable or large income as an entrepreneur and artist.
I thought that this project would be easy to deliver and it
had the potential to be widely successful – not in a grandiose way, but in a
way that would touch people’s hearts and raise awareness of the issues in
Mexico and Reyna’s path as a leader.
I had visions of Reyna being a role model both in Canada and
Mexico for people living with disabilities.
This book was also my way of intertwining the feminine quality
of Mexico – which is seriously bruised and battered – and present the
sensuality and soul of the culture so others could be touched and moved to
preserve it. I wanted people here to feel the magic of Oaxaca City, from what I
experienced, as one of the divine and thriving centres in Mexico, where art,
music, social change and cultural preservation were revealing itself.
I wanted to make a difference for the children who lived
close to the streets in Mexico, where they were abandoned because of their
parents wanting to make a better life in the U.S. or they had to do migrant
labour. Poverty breeds so many problems
and no one can really be blamed for how they earn their living there. It’s a sick system on all class levels.
Regardless, I still saw hope in the most vulnerable kids having a brighter
future, a different outcome than what was expected of them –the army, the drug
trade or prostitution were some of the only options.
My dream has been that the book would be published in
braille and Spanish and it would be distributed in Oaxaca City.
My Canadian, liberal-minded self wanted to see this project
make some profound waves. But I had to check my cultural arrogance. I had to think first and foremost of Reyna’s
well-being and get real. Sadly,
kidnappers and thugs linger heavily in the background of Mexico. Even since I was last there, there has been a
rise of kidnappings of regular storekeepers and average citizens, because drug
dealers are getting desperate. I became
very aware, as I was making big plans for the book, that if some people know
that Reyna is connected to a foreign woman, then her and her daughter’s life could
be in harm’s way. My life could be in harm’s way if I travelled back there.
Isn’t this so sad? A simple children’s book, meant to open
the hearts of kids and parents alike, to make a difference in the world, has to
have a certain level of hiding because of the darkness and corruption that exists
in the world? Yet, I understand, deeply,
the state of affairs in Mexico. I can’t even blame the drug dealers – they were
once kids who were abandoned and left for dead when they were young. They, too,
are caught in a horrible world, where they never had the benefits of dreaming
and imagining a different life. They have lost touch with their sensuality and
gentleness. They only know desperation and greed and violent ways.
I have to trust that what I’ve done so far with the book –
distributing 200 copies and sending money to the Organization for
Streetchildren and to Reyna – will make a difference. That it will have some
kind of ripple effect in the lives and consciousness of the world. Where the
child’s heart of Mexico will eventually return to a good place within each
person. Where parents and children alike are given a fair chance at a better
way of life.
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