Chiverías and Jicarero, Morelos

Yesterday, we sadly said goodbye to fellow members, some of them left from Xoxo, and others had to go back home to Monterrey and straight to work. So, we decide to go to a civilian collection center established in a Cross Fit center called "Tempo" where we were assigned to assemble more food pantries to be delivered and also, to start organizing things like medicines in the compound.

Chaotic events bring the best and the worst in people. Handing out food pantries is extremely difficult. More is the starting number and more will always be needed. And on that subject, let me be completely clear about this, it's not that any of these food pantries are not needed in these areas, but stocking up or getting advantage of people who want to help out is also common within an impoverished community behavior. I've seen this before in other places for other reasons; people saying they have not received any aid while they received it, or several people from the same family, getting in line again to get double or even triple rations of food. Again, I'm not saying they should not get them, they will use them. It's just people that deliver these are sometimes insulted when not all of them get one, some of these brave people have been chased out from some municipalities, risking their lives as they make these rounds.

We handed out a number of food pantries in the Chiverías municipality and of course, were not enough, so we went back again to the collection center, assembled more and went back to deliver them. Some people were angry, they had been waiting under the sun for them and those additional others that didn't get them were really mad. One man, chased us on a motorcycle to tell us some of the people we had given these food pantries had collected hundreds of these items and were stocking them on their houses.

All along the road we found donations from private citizens. Not a single van from Morelos government, though. 

The rest of our food pantries were delivered at Jicarero where a boy, took us to where the aid was needed.

Then, we went back again to make some more. 

At first, when I saw these messages on donated items, whether food, water or toys, I thought not only about the reason they were marked which was to avoid being sold or labeled by governmental reasons later. But as items kept coming in, they helped evidence not only the large amounts of people that were behind them, but they also served a third purpose, they fueled me to keep going.

Finally, we ended up, reorganizing the collection center because tomorrow the gym resumed partial activities. It was the final effort needed from us towards the people that have helped so many in Zacatepec and the nearby municipalities. 

While we were doing that, we learned the Morelos' governor and Osorio Chong were at the center of Zacatepec. On social media, people were taking about "taking" the food pantries inside the stadium and delivering them by the civil society. Both politicians were booed and yanked as quickly as possible from the area.

Recibimiento a Osorio Chong y Graco Ramírez en... por xedjc

Even Peña Nieto's military's chief of staff in Joquicingo, Morelos found some tension in the municipality while he was there delivering speeches. Some other governors or politicians were even chased down or physically attacked.

We were physically drained. By 9 pm. we headed back to Mexico City under large lines of traffic. As I walked towards my apartment I felt tired but strangely, not depleted. I have a house where I can sleep, I have a bathroom where I can bathe, I have a fridge that keeps my food, I have a bed where I can sleep, if not soundly, due to these events, peacefully. Thank you, Universe, my clock is still ticking.