Ecoalebrije

Today we had the “drop-off,” SIT’s orientation tradition where students are split into groups, given a picture of a place, and have to get there. I was with Matt and Emma, and we were given a picture of an alebrije—the brightly colored painted wooden animals Oaxaca is known for—and told to find Saul in Arrazola. We found out from a man selling shirts at the organic market that Arrazola is a village of about 1,000 people about 20 minutes outside of the city. To get there, we had to ask directions and figure out the local bus system—which was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. Once in Arrazola, we found Saul at his home, where he and his wife work as members of the artisan association Ecoalebrije. Saul, who has lived in Arrazola his entire life, said that both of his brothers have moved to California in order to find work. The minimum wage in Oaxaca is $5 a DAY, and Saul said that, without the artisan association, he would have had to migrate to either Mexico City or the U.S. The artisan association is comprised of 17 families, and in all of them the men and women work together to carve and paint the animals. Before founding the artisan association, Saul harvested the materials for the alebrijes from nearby Monte Alban, but deforestation made it difficult to find wood. Saul and others took it upon themselves to reforest the area, sustainably growing and using copal trees, which are indigenous to Oaxaca. As Saul explained, “cuidamos los árboles para las generaciones futuras,” “we protect the trees for future generations.” As a part of empowering children, Ecoalebrije works with local schools to educate the youth about issues of sustainability. I bought a little turtle alebrije from Saul, and then he invited us to meet other members of the artisan association. After going to the houses/workshops of two other members, we bid Saul goodbye and went to our second destination. Our clue for location #2 was a postcard of a church-like building, which Saul told us was the nearby Cuelapan ex-convent. We took a collective taxi to the convent, which was beautiful but a bit unexciting after our meeting with Saul. We walked around, took pictures, and navigated the bus system back to Oaxaca City.

Check out Ecoalebrije here:

http://ecoalebrijes.org/ecoalebrijes/main.html