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La Caravana 43: community report-back

In mid-April, La Caravana 43, a group made up of parents and fellow students of the 43 missing student teachers from Ayotzinapa arrived in Olympia. Their visit to Olympia consisted of two events, one at the Washington State Labor Council and one at the Evergreen State College’s Longhouse. Both events entailed a panel made up of two parents, two students, and a member of the Free Nestora Committee. The events were both successful, drawing large crowds that filled both spaces and participated in thoughtful question and answer periods.

For the week La Caravana 43 was in Olympia, the Evergreen student, Movimiento Estudiantil Xican@ de Aztlán (MEXA), put together an art exhibit consisting of 43 chairs each with a picture of a missing student. The exhibit was displayed in the Evergreen Library Building.

There was also a substantial fundraising effort, over $400 was collected in the two days, and the organizers, which include South Puget Sound Solidarity with Ayotzinapa, Free Nestora Committee in Olympia, Mexa de Evergreen, Heroico Batallon de San Patricio, received a large grant from the Evergreen State College’s Diversity Fund. There were also generous donations of food from the Ramirez Family Grocery store, The Jalisco Tortilla Factory, the Heroico Batallon de San Patricio and the Olympia Food Coop, which were used to feed the members of the Caravana 43 during their stay and were much appreciated. The organizers would like to thank everyone who came and shared their time and resources with this effort.

We would like to extend our appreciation to all those who came and supported these events. There will be ongoing work on this effort and you can find updates about future events by visiting www.caravana43.org, http://www.facebook.com/OlympiaCaravana43 and http://freenestora.org.

Becca Echeverria grew up in Northern Washington and currently lives in Lacey. They plan to attend the Evergreen Masters in Teaching program in the fall and hope to be a High School English teacher.

 

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