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Global Urban Trek 2008
Mexico City, Mexico - City OverviewIn 1990, Mexico City had a population of over 15 million inhabitants, 18.5% of Mexico's total population. Currently, it "is the second most populated city in the world after Tokyo." It was built atop several lakes, where today 18-20 million "inhabitants live in a constant hustle and bustle that can be seen in the multiple activities which unfold in its streets: vehicles in perpetual motion, hordes of pedestrians, street-corner restaurants and hawkers of every sort. This scenario plays host to the poverty of many of its inhabitants, but also to the luxury and refinement of others."
Serious urban problems have accompanied its rapid growth. The high rate of air pollution is caused by industry and over 2.5 million vehicles. Housing is crowded into one room units or 3 to 4 rooms with 6 or more people living together. There is no running water for over 400,000 people in the Federal District itself. Waterborne diseases such as typhus and cholera are constant threats. In the northeastern and southeastern peripheral areas of Mexico City, 25% of its residents use firewood or coal for heating and cooking (82% in one area alone!). In 1995, an average of 550 crimes were reported daily in the Federal district, a 25% increase since 1994. According to Operation World, over seven million of the 18 million poor in Mexico City "live in squalid squatter housing in desperate economic conditions," including lack of basic services such as water, electricity, drainage, and paved streets. Street children are exceedingly numerous.
Even with all its urban challenges, it is a city full of rich cultural heritage and an enormous sprawl of places to know and visit. Some of the sites include the display of art and paintings in the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) constructed in 1934 and El Zocalo, or the city square, where the National Palace, which houses the government offices of Mexico, is situated. In Xochimilco, visitors can take a boat ride in a painted "trajinera" (small boat) through a beautiful landscape of trees and flowers. The National Museum of Anthropology, a world famous collection of pre-Columbian art, takes at least two days to see. A museum and ruins of the most sacred site of the Aztec empire and other artifacts can be seen at Templo Mayor. There are also numerous malls, shops, and restaurants which line the busy streets of the city.
[Info souurces: Pick, Butler, 1997; USA Today , May 1998; the internet; Oberai, 1993]
Ministries:
The Mexico City Global Urban Trek will be partnering with ministry organizations that seek to transform the lives of the urban poor. This community transformation is spiritual, social, financial, and educational. The students will break up into 4 or 5 teams and most students will live in the communities they will be serving.
The emphasis will be for the students to learn, from both the ministry workers and the people they are serving, the meaning of incarnational ministry. Students with a heart for those on the margins of society around the world will have the opportunity to experience this work and discern God's call for future ministry in this area. In addition to the placements with the ministry organizations, there will be time for the team to get together and debrief their experiences and see a few of the cultural sites in the city.
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