{"id":2396,"date":"2016-11-14T09:59:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T09:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/six.stimulatingminds.co.uk\/?p=2396"},"modified":"2022-04-13T10:02:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T10:02:02","slug":"growing-up-in-conflict-a-letter-from-a-mexican-student-from-ciudad-juarez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialinnovationexchange.org\/legacy\/growing-up-in-conflict-a-letter-from-a-mexican-student-from-ciudad-juarez\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing up in conflict – A letter from a Mexican student from Ciudad Juarez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Growing up in conflict- A Letter from a Mexican student from Ciudad Juarez<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dear SIX,

As a student from Mexico, the SIX Summer School in Colombia is the best event that I have had the opportunity to be a part of. I met incredible people from all over the world, who had fascinating knowledge and experiences to contribute.

I think that the SIX Summer School offers much more than what is promoted. The closing of the event does not signify the end, but quite the contrary. Even now (a few weeks later), I am continuing to gain knowledge and experiences from the people that I made contact with at the Summer School.

As a student, I felt a little inexperienced compared to the other participants, however, the SIX Summer School gave me the opportunity to contribute on an equal standing. It gave me the opportunity to demonstrate my own social background and story, and above all, to learn, and to listen to everything the various participating organisations and people had to offer.

It was interesting for me to see the projects from other parts of the world. I think one of the most important takeaways for me was the importance of different contexts. Social innovation does not occur and cannot be applied in the same way in different regions.

Contextual analysis is fundamental as each place has unique and different resources available.

I want to share my story. I am from the most violent city in the world \u2013 the homicide level in my city is above the levels in Afghanistan and Iraq. I lived through one of the most difficult eras that my country has faced: the war between the drug cartels. The war that began as a conflict between few groups fighting over drug trafficking became a bloodbath for power. People who weren\u2019t part of the problem were killed. The cartels used bombs, homicides, threats and kidnapping to impose their power on our society.

Furthermore, the department responsible for our security was corrupted and had people working for the gangs. I can say that no one from my city was safe from tragic events \u2013 everyone of us has someone close to us who has been affected by the violence.

The war between cartels reinvented our definition of society, we arrived at a point in which were no longer citizens from the same community. Our sense of belonging was reduced to only our own family as a huge feeling of mistrust had been generated between individuals within the city.

At the Summer School, someone said that \u201cthe biggest social division is in the daily living\u201d and that\u2019s what I felt in my city.

I think that it\u2019s very important to understand the different contexts to grow a global movement of collaborators \u2013 we need to explore other regions and understand the situations of others. We need to understand what social innovation means in different contexts.

Somebody mentioned that everything we know has context of where it comes from. We need to appreciate them and see the small relationships that exist between different regions. As much as there are disappointing situations in the world, I also found that there are also exciting examples, such as Seoul and Amsterdam, where changes are happening. These examples should be shared widely so that more people feel motivated to be involved in the society they are in.

Additionally, SIX Summer School left me with a number of challenges to face, and share, to try and improve things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n