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La Marcha!

We spent all morning painting posters and preparing flyers for the march at la casa de Doña Nancy. 







At 3:00pm, we met in Parque Sutiaba, gathered under the shade of a large, leafy mango tree. The stilt walkers in their fluorescent outfits and capes, a boy juggling pins, the dance group dressed in flowy traditional skirts of blue and white,  all the kids and their families from our project, everyone standing around and waiting in anticipation for the march to begin. 



Then Felix arrives and begins to lead the group in a few exercises to kickstart our energy and excitement. We formed a circle and twirled strips of colorful crêpe paper like the ribbons that circus performers use, dancing to the beat of drums. Everyone was shy at first, giggling and half-heartedly twirling the ribbon. 





Then all of a sudden, a drunk man stumbles into the center of the circle, dancing with such gusto that everyone begins to laugh hysterically. 



We passed out the posters that were painted this morning at la casa de Doña Nancy, with spray paint and acrylic paint.

 

Then after practicing our chant, we were off! 





"No queremos tu piropo....Lo que queremos es tu respeto!" 













The march proceeded through the streets of barrio Sutiaba, the sound of drums and the sight of stilt-walkers drawing curious families out of homes and onto their front porches. 


Periodically, when there was a large crowd watching, Felix would pause the march and have us gather in a circle to do our chant or for the performers to show off some of their fancy skills. 




One of the stopping points was in front of a basketball court, where a large group of rowdy teenage boys paused to watch our demonstration. There was a mini skit involving two of the performers dressed as clowns, acting out a situation of street harassment in a funny way. 



We ended the march in front of la casa de Doña Nancy, where the audio equipment was set up. A large clown skit was performed, which asked for audience participation in yelling "Stop!" when they spotted something wrong about the situation. I was filled with happiness when one of the little boys from our project bravely yelled stop, pointing out that it was wrong when the girl was told by her mom that the reason why she was being harassed was because of her skirt. When Felix asked, "Why is this wrong?" another girl from our project raised her hand and answered that a woman has the right to walk around without being harassed, and that it doesn't matter what she is wearing. You would not believe how proud I was! These are kids who were initially afraid to raise their hands during our workshops. Even just the simple act of participating in the march takes a lot of courage, and I commend all the kids and their mothers and families for their bravery. 

We ended the march with a lovely folkore dance presentation, performed by the youth dance group from Xuchialt. 




When everything was finally over, I was overwhelmed with feelings of joy! I ran around giving every person I could find a hug, so proud and happy with how everything worked out and incredibly thankful to have made so many friends throughout the course of this project. 


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