Driven by interests in sustainability and Spanish, Christopher Lane spent his summer as a Jean Donovan Fellow working in Chiapas, Mexico with Yomol A’tel, a coffee, soap, honey, and textile cooperative. The cooperative aims to provide work in harmony with the planet to provide economic security for community members, many of whom are Tzeltal. One of his tasks was working in the plant nursery where he would take care of coffee plants, aromatic plants that would be used for soap, and crops that would be used for consumption. This included a lot of seedling transplantation from a nursery bed to grow bags where roots would strengthen. On other days, he would work in the coffee plant packing roasted coffee into bags and doing coffee taste tests where experienced workers would determine if the roast had been done correctly. About once a week, he would accompany coordinators of the honey cooperative, Chabtic, to collect honey from various farmers throughout the region and perform honey inspections. His primary project was shooting footage for two fundraising videos that describe to potential investors how a new honey and soap plant would further diversify the cooperative. 

 

Briefly describe a time of great joy you experienced during your summer experience. What does this tell you about who you are and what you value?

 

A frequent time of joy that I experienced during my summer experience was Matz. It was a 15-minute break each day where we would eat food, swap stories, and appreciate each other’s company for a little while at work. Although I haven’t experienced many different work environments, the breaks I am accustomed to are normally individual and tend to be spent on a phone or eating alone. With Matz, everything is put on pause so that coworkers can come together to convivir or coexist in English. I feel that it is one of the aspects that shows what Yomol A’tel values; it acknowledges that we are human and that we should spend time with people close to us. My JDF buddy, Isa’s post, “It is People. It is people. It is people” got me thinking that Yomol A’tel has a very similar philosophy. It really is about the people and taking care of those that are in your community. For example, there is a clear acceptance of the Tseltal language at the workplace. All signs are in both Spanish and Tseltal, and the majority of workers speak Tseltal at work, a key piece of maintaining the vitality of a language. It has taught me that I value a work environment where people are free to be themselves and where people can embrace a work-life balance. I know that one day I will want to work with a company or organization where my team is caring and open. I am extremely thankful for the time I got to spend with my coworkers who had the patience to deal with me while I took the time to learn my way around in Chilón and at work.

 

Briefly illustrate a time of difficulty during your summer. Did you overcome this difficulty?

One of the difficulties I experienced during the summer was being in a house with 3 Spaniards. I’ve grown up accustomed to Latin American Spanish and so their form of speaking Spanish, Castellano, made communicating a little difficult at times. In addition to that, it had been a while since I had been in a context where only Spanish was spoken. At times, I felt that it wasn’t so much the communicating, but the fact that the two of them knew each other pretty well and my other roommate also understood the context of Spain a lot better than I did so it made it easier for them to talk about things. I love them all to death but sometimes I found it hard to participate in conversations, especially at times when I had a lack of context about Spain. Towards the beginning, it was pretty difficult but it became easier over time. At first, I had a really hard time with the accent, but slowly after lots of questions and asking them to repeat things, it all became more natural. My listening improved and my fear of asking questions has definitely reduced.  I think that maybe having another SCU student would have made this a little bit easier, but at the same time I feel like being immersed in Spanish was an incredible learning experience. In Spanish classes, I’ve often heard that being in a context where there is a necessity to use a language is the best way to learn. Now, I completely agree and hope to continue to expand this learning during my semester abroad this fall. Reflecting upon these difficulties, I want to say that it is not my roommate’s fault at all that I had difficulty communicating at times. Naturally, people tend to gravitate toward subjects that are familiar to them, so obviously Spain was an easy thing to discuss. Overall, it didn’t get in the way of our relationship and we developed amazing friendships.

 

Has my experience created in me a desire to do something different? Think differently? Be different? How?

I’ve learned that there isn’t just one way to run a company, exist as a family, or live a life. For starters, work doesn’t have to be a thing that you dread when you enjoy what you’re doing and the people that you are doing it with. When you live in the bubble of what you’re used to, it is easy to get accustomed to things and not venture out. Comfort is an amazing feeling, but leaving the bubble is equally necessary for growth. And one of the things that I love about this type of learning is that it isn’t necessarily academic skills that you learn. It can be, but I find that you mostly learn social skills like finding commonalities between yourself and another person. In my case, I’ve had the privilege to learn it all in Spanish and I find myself using these skills now that I’m in Ecuador. My idea of how family works has also changed significantly. Most people 

I’ve also had the idea of doing some sort of sustainability-oriented career reinforced throughout my experience. Yomol A’tel does a great job of encouraging sustainable practices throughout its supply chain, and it made me excited to apply my studies to real job practices. In regards to life lessons, one of the most prominent has been that I love collaboration (it just has to be with the right people). In the past, I had always dreaded group projects because certain people would slack off and the workload would be split up unevenly. After seeing how fun it is to work in an atmosphere where everyone is passionate about the work they are doing, I now totally see myself working in a team-based environment. 

 

Now that you’ve had this summer encounter, what do you plan on bringing back to the Santa Clara community? How will you share what you learned/experienced? What impact do you hope your sharing will have on the SCU community?

One of the ways I will share what I experienced through the JDF would possibly be through the thesis I plan on writing this academic year. It will be rooted in Latin American revolutions, and I hope to take what I learned about Zapatista communities and possibly do a comparison between the Salvadoran (what my current research is in) and Zapatista revolutions. Since I visited various Zapatista communities, I might be able to add details on what life looks like post-revolution for certain Zapatistas; in tsibuteelek, they were partners of the cooperative that produced coffee and aromatic plants.  I will also definitely share the experience with my friends and professors. Specifically, I think of sharing the important role that cooperatives can play in local communities. I am also willing to share my experience with future students interested in the program so that the ignation center can maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with Yomol A’tel. Upon returning to campus, I hope to use Spanish as much as possible. This could be at local tiendas around SCU (there are some great ones in Comunidad Washington) or even with some of the on-campus workers who speak Spanish. I’ve had conversations with them before in Spanish and I’ve always felt that they open up to you more when speaking Spanish. My learnings could also translate to Spanish classes at SCU where I can share what I’ve learned about indigenous languages in Chiapas. In these classes, we’ve often discussed linguistic discrimination and the large amount of indigenous languages becoming extinct in Latin America. With that being said, it was incredible to see and hear Tseltal spoken throughout Chilón and even in the workplace at Yomol A’tel. 

If you would like to learn more about Yomol A’tel, please visit the cooperative website: https://www.yomolatel.org/

Christopher Lane '24
Political Science and Spanish double major, minor in Sustainability
Jean Donovan Fellow
Yomol A'tel Chilón
Chiapas, Mexico

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