27-27
VILLAGE THEATER
EXAMPLE 3: SMALL FARMERS JOIN TOGETH-
ER TO OVERCOME EXPLOITATION
Poor nutrition is a common and serious problem in most areas, yet its causes are
complicated, often rooted in social injustice.
In the Project Piaxtla Clinic in Ajoya, Mexico, health workers give advice about
eating well, but often the people say, “What can we do? We don’t have any land.
We have already borrowed maize and gone into debt. After paying the high interest
rates, we never have enough left to feed and care for our families well— no matter
how hard we work!”
In this part of Mexico, poor farmers often borrow maize from the rich landholders
at planting time. In return, the landholders demand 21/2 to 3 times as much after
the harvest. That is 150 to 200% interest in five months! This high-interest loan
system is one of the main causes of malnutrition in the area. Because of this, the
village health team formed a cooperative maize bank, to loan maize to poor farmers
at much lower interest.
After the cooperative maize bank had been operating successfully for more than
2 years, the health workers put on this play. The play helped make everyone in the
village aware of why the maize bank had been started..
1)
2) The beginning of June.
3) This is the home of a rich landholder,
Don Brutelio, and his wife. Dona Explotiva.
Here, on a Sunday afternoon, they sip beer
and eat chocolates. Their servant, Bootkiss,
is sharpening tools for the coming planting
season.