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There are a lot of people in this community who don’t know their
rights and don’t speak Spanish.
I could help them with that.
THE TIME LEFT. HUMAN RIGHTS AND FINE LIVING.
El Tiempo que Resta is a non-profit organization
dedicated to human rights and common development.
We understand human rights from a perspective different
to the general and dominant one. Which pretends to be universal,
but in reality it dims the characteristics of each culture.
Moreover, it leaves unattended some of the main contemporary political problems.
This perspective of human rights, centred in the society instead of just
in the individual, pays attention to the environment and culture according to
the view of the native peoples of the Americas and the world.
It also allows us to treat the social life and the human rights
that cover completely the human experience.
For common development, we begin on the views of the people
in each town, region or country to build in an autonomous way
a perspective of fine living according to each population.
We start from the deepest thoughts of each individual, each culture, each region
to create this perspective of human rights and common development.
Centred on the here and now.
Centred on the democracy of each community,
the feasible things and the things that reaffirms life.
We’ve thought carefully for a lot of time about what to do, how we could...
gather all our experience. Everything that we know about academic aspects,
social sciences, politics and cultural aspects, so that all of these knowledge
could be reflected in the best quality of people lives.
We created a first model, a first prototype called COSAPAC.
Colloquium of Knowledge and Common Practices.
Back then, we asked people what they needed to develop,
to improve, to have a better quality of life.
People always answered us the same thing. That they need work,
education and services to improve their quality of life.
After talking to the people about this project,
we found out that they want university education. That’s how the CUSAPABV was born.
University Colloquium of Knowledge and Practices for Fine Living.
We call this model a transmodern and transpardigmatic model.
It is transmodern because it allows us to recover all the knowledge
from the communities from ancient to present times.
It is also transparadigmatic because it allows us to understand
that there is more than one way to know.
This community has had enough!
Michoacán is a region that, from the native peoples perspective,
has the P'urhépecha signature. Before the European occupation,
the P'urhépechas were settled in most of the state of Michoacán
and other proximate states. However, today there’s presence of other indigenous groups.
Some of them from long ago, some other from recent times.
We can find Nahuas at the coast. We can find other groups
closer to the centre, towards Querétaro.
The COSAPAC and the CUSAPABV want to focus in the P'urhépecha region,
primarily in the zone near the lakes. The P'urhépecha region is divided in four.
The Tarascan or P'urhépecha Plateau,
The Lakes, The Wetland and the Ravine of the Eleven Towns.
Today there are more than eleven towns, but that’s the historical name.
We are going to start in The Lakes, particularly in Santa Fé de la Laguna
and other proximate villages. This has been a very important
centre of resistance since the 1970’s.
Here we see that people are very rooted to their language and their culture.
We want to take into account the wisdom of the communities
of the P'urhépecha people, from their own historical context.
Considering the struggle in defense of land,
the conservation of natural resources, the fight for the territory.
Most of all, we want to give an education based on 23 00:02: 48,800 --> 00:02:50,000 the culture of our people.
Intercultural Preparatory School Santa Fé de la Laguna, Michoacán
My wish is to continue with my studies, I would like to continue studying.
And I know that if I set my self to it, I can do it.
But I don’t have enough money to go somewhere else to study.
I’d like to be able to continue with my studies here.
I would like to have an university here. Because I don’t like to...
To sit around and do nothing. I like to move everywhere. I like to work.
This experience has been able to build political alternatives
from the powers of the community.
That’s why El Tiempo que Resta is interested in contributing to develop
a knowledge perspective, which is multiple and has a lot of recognition
in The Americas and the World.
For example, regarding medicine,
P'urhépecha herbal medicine is one of the richest of the world.
Its classification complexity is even superior to the scientific one
of Carl Linnaeus.
It has many other virtues like the perspective of power among the common
tradition, called the kaxumpikwa.
And many other elements that, even today in the XXI century,
would allow them to think about some aspects of culture and knowledge with their
own philosophical perspective, different to the European and Western one.
There is very little information written in P'urhépecha language.
That’s why it is important for this young people to rescue their language.
One of the reasons is that the media overtakes us.
When I’m not studying, I help my parents making jars.
Sometimes I read to them. I like to explain them things.
I believe that people here don’t know how to manage their lands.
For example, the trees of the hill are running out.
Even though we’d like to recover our own forms of knowledge,
it doesn’t mean we are against the technology that exists nowadays.
That is used among all the educational institutions around the world.
We need to be aware of the fact that all the technical, technological and scientific
resources may be useful, as long as they are used respecting nature.
El Tiempo que Resta is interested in Oaxaca because is one of the richest
regions of Mexico.
Politically, it has the largest number of municipalities.
Ethnically, there’s a variegation of different native groups under
fighting conditions and a huge risk due to new mining companies, to wind power,
to different ways of exploitation which have been developing in the last lustrums.
The biggest dream about this University Colloquium is to
contribute to the community with improvements to their own process.
We believe that our people will have the capacity to generate better life conditions.
Here, very few people leave for studies. Either for financial problems,
or because they’re not accepted in public schools, so they have to pay
for private education. Also, when they’re not accepted in some school,
they become discouraged.
Personally, I would like to continue with my education so I could help my family,
because they have been good to me. Thanks to them I’ve been able to study.
That’s why I’d like to continue, so that I can help them in the future.
Most of the people my age have dropped out of school due to financial problems.
There are very poor people.
Some, even younger than me, have to start fishing and become
fisherman for the rest of their lives.
We are losing all our customs and traditions. We’re losing everything here.
Young people aren’t interested anymore. They like other things.
I would like to help people to preserve our sea, all the sea products,
because they’re running short.
Also, I’d like to learn about growing crops for a better management of our lands.
We’re trying to put our two cents to recover their native experiences and
their struggling and transforming potential.
Also, if the community wants it, we try to recover their language.
Rather than to recover, to preserve their strength.
In cases where the population doesn’t speak the language anymore,
we’d like to can create spaces to recreate their language.
Above all, we want to develop university life, what we call
Colloquium of Knowledge and Common Practices,
starting from forms of knowledge that go beyond modern capitalism and
beyond the established knowledge.
At the same time, this new conception of knowledge should include everyone,
from the ones that learn to the ones that teach, since deep down
we are all students and teachers.
We’ve realized that if our work has no structure, if it doesn’t start with education,
it will be very hard to overcome the social gap of this unprotected classes
that have been excluded from the system.
My parents were humble people, they were peasants.
Therefore, they weren’t able to give me education.
They didn’t have the resources because they earned just enough to eat.
If I... I feel sad. Not because I’m poor or humble.
because I’m poor and humble.
It’s that I don’t have enough for my children, for their education,
We live from day to day. I wish...
Since I have no education, I can’t do more.
I can’t give more or help my children more.
Here, we do what we can, at home, at sea. I wish I could do something more,
but I don’t even know how.
Specially, thanks to all those people who gave us their support. Without your help, this documentary wouldn’t have been possible. THANK YOU!