792 thousand sonorans live in poverty

On March 20th of this year there was an article in the paper entitled 792 thousand sonorans live in poverty. 340 thousand people live in extreme poverty in Sonora, and in total 792 thousand live in poverty, and they are located primarily in the south of the state. This article said that the government was going to try to take out of extreme poverty the 43% of the population that lives in it. For this only 1% of the state budget is given, which according to the majors of Cajeme and Navojoa is insufficient, but still helpful. Also, the government will give concrete floors to the 65 thousand homes that don't have one, according to Javier Neblina Vega (Sedesson). This goal is set to be achieved in the next 2 years. I think this is an extremely difficult task, and even more when there isn't enough money, but at least the government is trying to do something about.

Public Schools (Part 2)

In my school, we had to pay 'las cuotas'. Cuota is an amount of money, about 50 or 70 pesos, given each month. Cuotas are supposedly not mandatory, they weren't mandatory in my school. However, I knew some people in other schools who were afraid of not paying cuotas because they were told that if they didn't pay, they wouldn't receive any official paper needed for the inscription. Besides the cuotas, we also needed to pay some extra money in December and April because of the celebrations (the Christmas and Día del Niño party). Besides, we had to pay for the woman who watched the school entrance's wage: 10 pesos per child. Nevertheless, when the woman's children graduated, she quit working there and the school never hired someone else to watch the entrance. My sister even told me that once, the teacher didn't arrive, and about half of her class left the school. Moreover, we had to pay 'Escuelas de Calidad', to improve the school. Personally, I never saw any change. Well, now they built a roof above the basketball courts, and they fixed the restrooms and the fences.

The building was actually pretty big and old; it has a basketball court, a football field, tiers, about 17 classrooms, two pairs of restrooms, the library, the computer center, la tiendita, the principal's office and janitor's room. However, the building lacked many things. For example, in the computer center, there are only 15 computers; one is for the teachers, and the rest for the students. When I was in elementary school, only 13 computers were available since one didn't work at all, but other computers didn't have keyboard or CPU. And we didn't have a computer class, we only were taken there to play in the Internet and draw in Paint. Some teachers taught students how to use Word, or Microsoft Encarta. The football field was enormous. It was like a sandy, battlefield, kind of a dessert to me. It was the best part to play, as well as a part of the school that we used to call 'la selva', because it had a pretty tall tree and many other little trees. It was a green area. But, the tall tree fell down and 'la selva' became boring. The library was excellent; it had many books, either given by SEC or books we gave to school. It was a comfortable place, except for a portrait of Benito Juárez, who supposedly watched you, and had three eyes when no one was around. Also, some classrooms were well-equiped and had Enciclomedia that is an Smartboard. Ah, this part is pretty disturbing: La tiendita, that was attended by a man and a woman. The man sold candies and junk food, while the woman sold tacos, pizza and food. But, here is the nasty part: They NEVER washed their hands and received the money with the same hands that delivered the food. They never wore a plastic bag or something like that. Once, a kid asked for a taco and he gave her a coin, but the coin fell into the meat's pan. And she just introduced her hand into the pan, got the coin out, and kept serving the food. Also, she always took her baby and when the baby was hungry or dirty, she just closed the tiendita, but never went to the restroom. On the other hand, 'Desayunos Escolares' were a blessing. When the school started to serve hot, just prepared breakfats, it was extremely good for those children who used to wait until 10 am to eat a taco. Even thought the breakfast was served from 7 am to 9 am, they were excellent. They served hot cakes, molletes, oats, cereal, arroz con leche, and others. Also, they just costed 1 peso, while a taco costed about 6 pesos.

Finally, I want to write about the principal. She was very exaggerated; my sister told me that when she visted her classroom, she criticized everything about them and told them that they were the worst group of all the school(she used to tell that to every group). Also, when my sister was in her last year, the principal made a escort with the people who had the best grades, she obligated them to practice like two or three hours during classes, and she gave special attention to the daughter of a teacher. Most of the time, she was complaining about us and used to visit each classroom and ask for money to buy an air conditioner or to paint the classrooms. She never did. Well, she fixed some things in the school only when 'an important person' was coming, such as the mayor or someone from SEC or SEP. She really didn't care about missing classes because she always wanted to meet the teachers during classes. Sometimes, her meetings lasted from 10 am to 11 am (or later). That is a huge problem in public education: Teachers do not worry if students lose classes. When there was a huge event, they took us. Sometimes, it took one day. Also, when the kermess was coming, some students lost classes because they needed to practice what they would perform. It also took about one day. Some teachers did not come sometimes, and the principal never send other person to take care of the group, we just stayed fooling around.
But, after all, I keep good memories. Attending public school made me appreciate more private education.

Public Schools (Part 1)

I really can write about this topic since it is kind of a personal experience. I studied elementary school in a public school, and I can say that public education in Sonora has both advantages and disadvantages.

First, let's talk about education itself. As in every school, there is a variety of teacher: The one who does everything she/he can to help the children, the one who never is with the group, the Christian one, the one who reads newspaper instead of giving her/his class, the strict one, the old and bitter one, among many others. Fortunately, I always got the strict teachers and that is why I did good at Taes and Tec. But, what happens to the children who got the other teachers? For example, my little sister went to the same elementary school and in her last year, she had this teacher who was about to retire, but never NEVER attended the classes. Well, a couple of classes, but it was only to sermonize the group, and my sister had a friend who sometimes didn't wear the school uniform (which is not obligatory at public school), and the teacher always threatened with sending her back home. My sister had also this funny teacher who was metrosexual and said weird things all the time, such as that culture wasn't important. He also was kind of obsessed with Bours being a drug dealer, and that Fiestas del Pitic were made to 'move the drugs'. And, she also had this Christian teacher who taught the group Creationism instead of the other theories about how the world was created. We had also a physical education teacher who was very rude. Once, she called 'fat'a little boy.
I, on the other hand, got really good teachers. Especially, I remember a teacher who was truly strict, but I learned many things. But, sometimes she was very mean and rude. "Niños del Teleton"and "Cerebros de hormiga", were as she named us a couple of times. However, I would like to believe she was just kidding.

What is going on with people?

Since the year when Calderon became president, I have been wondering, what is going on with people? Why do they complain of the national situation but still vote for mediocre candidates? WHY?

First, I want to write about Sonora. Before the tragedy of ABC, everything was alright; Elías Serrano and Pano Salido were the favorites candidates, all indicated that they would win the election. But then, suddenly a daycare named ABC burned down. People not only in Hermosillo, but also in Mexico were concerned about the babies and how to heal the surviving babies. But then, I am not sure of the stupid guy who came and told that relatives of Eduardo Bours were the daycare's owners, and about IMSS and that it was their fault and bla bla bla. And all people started to chase them until they went to jail. Only a few people still were concerned about the babies and how to send them to a hospital specialized in burns in the United States. Even though it was actually their fault, Elías Serrano, Pano Salido and us did not have to pay for it. People in Sonora started to think that the two candidates were just like them and among other things. But, are they the same just because they belong to the same political party? I don't think so. I still keep thinking if Sonorenses are so spiteful that they prefered to vote for two guy, who actually look like thieves, than to keep their decision, to be strong, to move forward. "But, is that the tragedy of ABC was a crucial factor." Not true at all. The old governor did many good things for Sonora, and he made some mistakes as well. HELLO, HE IS A HUMAN, TOO! But, did he do something when their friends and relatives went to jail? He did nothing. However, I wonder why people didn't think twice before voting. Now, they complain about tandeo and that they barely have water when they need it, but they mainly complain about insecurity and all the crimes that have took place in Sonora in the past months. Where is your wonderful and fabulous Guillermo Padrés Elías? What has he done, besides taking your water away? Has he solved any problem? What about the economic crisis? Does Sonora have enough jobs? Are people staying here, or they prefer moving to the US? I'm not writing about the bald guy who is supposed to be our mayor, because I don't really know what he has done. I think his wife has done more things, but I really dislike her, and I'll explain it: My mom is a teacher in kindergarden that is located in Olivares, before Javier Gandara won the election and the daycare burned down, this "high-class lady" came by and told the principal of the kindergarden where my mom works, that they would build something else there because she pleased. Oh please! Her husband hadn't won the election yet, and she was already planning. I wonder why people complains if they were the ones who made that happen.

Unsafety Streets in Sonora

Last month, some of the local newspapers around the state of Sonora published some notes about the unfortunate events that had disturbed the calm of the citizens. There were several explosive artifacts (granades) that were thrown by unknown persons to four different cities in our state, Oregon, Navojoa, Hermosillo, and Cananea.

The first attacks were registered in Obregon. Five fragmentation granades were thrown against government buildings. Fortunately there were no injured people registrated.

After these attacks to the city of Obregon, more attacks resulted in other cities. In Navojoa there were two fragmentation granades that exploded in a restaurant and in a gas station. In the capital, Hermosillo, there were two granades thrown to the principal entrance of the PGJE, but only one exploded. In Cananea, there were three explosives thrown, two against banks and one against a gas station, but only one of the three granades exploded.

It is believed that the responsibles for these attacks chosed that locations because of the amount of people that attend there. The more damage they cause, the more panic they would produce among the people. It is also said that this attacks are in response to the new governor, Guillermo Padres, because of the “war” that he has started against drug trafficking.

It is not fair that innocent citizens suffer the consequences of the acts of revenge of the drug dealers. I am not against what the new governor says and imposes refering to the dug trafficking subject, but it is not correct to recall all of his ideas for punishing this crime in public because this sort of things could happen. Criminals take revenge against innocent people to demonstrate that they are more powerful and willing to do whatever it takes in order to continue with their trafficking. It is worth saying that we should all take some precautions, more than usual. There is now no safe place anywhere. TAKE CARE AND BE CAREFUL!