Japanese fishnap Mexican fishies!

As if Japan needs more fish!

Japan has a reputation for being excessively aggressive in their international fishing activities. I had no idea Mexico was a victim.

During my new years trip to Mazunte, Oaxaca, a group of friends bravely woke up early in the morning to adjourn on a 3-hour boat trip to check out sea turtles, dolphins, and per chance whales. My friend Kevin shared with me a disturbing story told by his elderly sea captain, let’s call him Juan.

Juan is a 60-something year old tour guide and fisher. According to Juan, large Japanese ships have been fishing the Mexican Pacific coast’s bluefin tuna in recent years, setting up large nets overnight and bringing in tons of fish. Juan’s also an activist and has attempted on several occasions to dismantle these nets in the middle of the night, only to be attacked by Japanese tranquilizers.

I was shocked by this story. Granted, this is no proper investigative journalistic piece, but this is just a small taste and a very human recount of what is really happening in Oaxaca’s waters that I wanted to share. Not only is the global fish supply quickly depleting, but many poor fishermen in Mexico’s Pacific Coast are found helpless and enraged.

What’s going to be done about it?

Japanese fishing ship...they're huge!

jose dance jose baila

Uploaded by movus5 on Mar 6, 2007

Jose de Piña Palmera baila al ritmo del reggae

An experience to follow Una experiencia a seguir

Uploaded by eduardogarciav3 on Jun 10, 2008

Testimonios de usuarios y usuarias del Centro de Rehabilitación Integral Piña Palmera

Piña Palmera

Uploaded by eduardogarciav3 on Sep 29, 2008

Video en el que Flavia Anau, coordinadora del CAI Piña Palmera habla sobre el trabajo con personas con discapacidad en la costa Oaxaqueña

20 years walking together 20 años caminando juntos

Uploaded by eduardogarciav3 on Oct 12, 2008

Video de Piña Palmera

Early Intervention Intervención Temprana

Uploaded by eduardogarciav3 on Mar 23, 2009

Un taller semanal de terapia en la casa dado por El Centro de Atención Piña Palmera A.C., localizado en Zipolite, Oaxaca, México

Recycled Paper Papel Reciclado

Uploaded by StarbuckArak on Apr 15, 2009

El taller de papel reciclado del Centro de Atención Piña Palmera A.C., localizado en Zipolite, Oaxaca, México.

Historias de Piña palmera

Uploaded by urgandacomunicacion on Jun 23, 2009

Testimonios del trabajo de Piña Palmera en la costa de Oaxaca

Piña Palmera. Una comunidad de esperanza 1/3

Uploaded by ilcetv on Oct 13, 2009

INSTITUTO LATINOAMERICANO DE COMUNICACIÓN EDUCATIVA (ILCE).
SERIE: RETOS Y RESPUESTAS

Piña Palmera. A community of hope 2 / 3 Piña Palmera. Una comunidad de esperanza 2/3

Uploaded by ilcetv on Oct 14, 2009

INSTITUTO LATINOAMERICANO DE COMUNICACIÓN EDUCATIVA (ILCE).
SERIE: RETOS Y RESPUESTAS

Piña Palmera. Una comunidad de esperanza 3/3

Uploaded by ilcetv on Oct 14, 2009

INSTITUTO LATINOAMERICANO DE COMUNICACIÓN EDUCATIVA (ILCE).
SERIE: RETOS Y RESPUESTAS

CAMPAMENTO PIÑA PALMERA 2010 "EXELENTE LILI 2"

Uploaded by ALEXROBLESGARCIAS on Aug 4, 2010

November Video: Tolo habla de Jaime/Tolo talks about Jaime

Tolo, a resident of Zipolite, member of the wheelchair basketball team and ex-patient at Piña Palmera, talks about his friend, Jaime. Tolo explains what most people that knew Jaime (before he died of stomach cancer) took for granted about him: despite his polio, he was exceptionally strong and a fantastic lifeguard.
Tolo, poblador de Zipolite, miembro del equipo de basketbol en sillas de ruedas, y ex-usuario de Piña Palmera, habla de su amigo, Jaime. Tolo explica lo que la majoria de la gente que conocieron a Jaime (antes de que se murió de cancer en su estomago) dieron por sentado: que, a pesar de su polio, Jaime era muy fuerte y un salvavida excepcional.

Sending a message to Bono, Piña palmera. U2

Uploaded by Clubdelaserpiente on May 9, 2011

Piña Palmera supports mexican comunitiies since 1984 thanks to the help of hundreds of hearts, dedicating their love their time and rtheir work to this noble cause.
Bono, Piña Palmera wishes you a happy birthday and invites you so that together we can continue spreading the love between all our brothers.
We can be reached at www.piñapalmera.org

Desayunos con causa en el Hotel Arcoiris, mayo 2011

Uploaded by symsistemas on May 13, 2011

Desayunos con causa en el hotel arcoiris, entrevista con Rebeca, quién nos da a conocer como podemos Ayudar a a Piña Palmera mayo 2011

Piña Palmera

Uploaded by annierempe on May 31, 2011

Piña Palmera es una organizacion en la costa de Oaxaca que ha abordado la tema de discapacidad por 20 años. Estos son algunos de las programas de Piña Palmera.

VISIONARIS PIÑA PALMERA Pina Palmera Visions

Uploaded by luiscarpizotrueba on Jun 24, 2011

03:21

Atardecer en Zipolite Sunset in Zipolite

Uploaded by tonoreca on Jul 28, 2011

Dusk @ Zipolite, Oaxaca. Just lovely.

Debut en Piña

Uploaded by tonoreca on Jul 28, 2011

Cambie la letra de la rola "Bonito" original de Jarabe de Palo para echar la risa con todos en la Noche de Sorpresas del Campamento de Verano de Piña Palmera. Piña es una asociación que ayuda a personas con discapacidad en el proceso de rehabilitación integral trabajando con ellos y su familia. Si quieren saber más: www.pinapalmera.org

Piña Palmera Programs

Uploaded by annierempe on Sep 15, 2011

Piña Palmera is an NGO that has tackled the issue of disability for more than 20 years on the southern coast of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Part 1 - The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (Chs 1-3)

Uploaded by CCProse on Sep 29, 2011

Part 1. Classic Literature VideoBook with synchronized text, interactive transcript, and closed captions in multiple languages. Audio courtesy of Librivox. Read by Meredith Hughes.

Playlist for The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling:http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1C902B909B16712C

A walk in my shoes

Uploaded by tonoreca on Sep 30, 2011

En Piña Palmera, se realizan talleres de sensibilización. Usando ciertos aditamentos, se simula una discapacidad para empalizar con personas que viven esto día con día.

Concierto por la Paz Zipolite 2011 (Fernando Amaya)

Uploaded by feruiza on Oct 2, 2011

A convocatoria de La Agencia Municipal, Piña Palmera, Parque Zipolite y Prestadores de Servicio de Roca Blanca Zipolite, se llevo a cabo este Evento por la Paz y la Diversidad, el 1 de Octubre del 2011 en el Adoquín de Roca Blanca. En este video, Fernando Amaya interpreta Pato Cholenco, acompañado por Fer Escobar en la guitarra melódica.

Concierto por la Paz Zipolite Octubre 2011/Pinotepa de Álvaro Carrillo

Uploaded by feruiza on Oct 3, 2011

A convocatoria de La Agencia Municipal, Piña Palmera, Parque Zipolite y Prestadores de Servicio de Roca Blanca Zipolite, se llevo a cabo este Evento por la Paz y la Diversidad, el 1 de Octubre del 2011 en el Adoquín de Roca Blanca. En este video, Fernando Amaya interpreta Pinotepa de Alvaro Carrillo, acompañado por Fer Escobar en la guitarra melódica.

Piña Palmera y La Economia Solidaria

Uploaded by Jeffarak on Nov 28, 2011

Patricia Matias explica un poquito acerca de la economia solidaria y que significa al centro Piña Palmera, localizado en Zipolite, Oaxaca, México.

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling - Whole Book

Uploaded by CCProse on Nov 30, 2011

Classic Literature VideoBook with synchronized text, interactive transcript, and closed captions in multiple languages. Audio courtesy of Librivox. Read by Tim Bulkeley.

Life on Death Beach LOS DELFINES The Life Guards, Zipolite

		Home Backstory Trailer/Clips News/Screenings Press Production blog Los Delfines Piña Palmera Contact
			The Lifeguards at Zipolite are called "Los Delfines", Spanish for "The Dolphins". They have been patroling the beaches of Zipolite since 1997, before which the group was called "Los Busos" under different leadership. Until '97, however, the group had never received formal training in water rescue or CPR. In 1997, a representative from the United States Lifesaving Association trained the dozen or so men and boys and provided them with professional equipment. Since then, the number of drowning deaths in Zipolite has dropped every year. 2008 was the first year in the memorable history of the beach that no lives were lost.
					The tragedy of the lifeguards of Zipolite is their precarious balance between being lifesaving heroes and under, or unemployed beach bums. Even with professional training and equipment, the municipal authorities continue to throw their hands up in helplessness and blame lack of funds on the state. Local authorities have consistently helped with sporadic donations of equipment and money, but never enough to constitute a living salary for even one lifeguard, let alone for the whole troop. For these reasons, Los Delfines has and continues to change membership year to year, and unmanned beaches are not uncommon during low tourist seasons.My interactions with the townspeople indicated a general approval of the lifeguards' abilities and actions as human beings and as protectors of Zipolite's tourism. Visit the lifeguards website here.
				JeffArak@Gmail.com

Life on Death Beach

		Home Backstory Trailer/Clips News/Screenings Press Production blog Los Delfines Piña Palmera Contact
			Almost dying on Death Beach was one of the most exhilarating and goal-adjusting events of my life-- and something that I may never get over. Initially it was a desire to give a group of men some recognition that propelled me into this project, and some hope that I could find a way to convince the authorities in Pochutla that they should be paid. In a town that relies on tourism, one would hope that the people literally saving tourism from drowning would be compensated or at least given a certain amount of respect by the powers that be. What I found was a lot of rhetoric and not a lot of help for these twelve men and boys who feel compelled to continually risk their lives in some seriously amazing acts of heroism. *** In July of 2006, I was finishing some research for my senior thesis in the Southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Upon finishing my investigation, I headed to the coast for some much needed rest and relaxation. We visited a few beaches in the municipality of Pochutla, a once thriving agricultural center that now relies mainly on tourism, both foreign and domestic. One afternoon, my girlfriend and I waded out into the water of a beach called Zipolite and were sucked out by a quite ferocious riptide. As we were contemplating our options and trying to stay above the crashing waves, I remembered reading something about Zipolite being an old Zapotec word for Death. Needless to say, this didn´t make me feel any better. Only minutes passed, however, before two lifeguards crashed into the surf with flippers and kickboards and pulled us back up onto the sand. "Los Delfines", as they called themseves, had us sign a registry and asked us if we could spare any money--because the lifeguards in Zipolite don't get paid to save lives. Two years after my brush with death, I returned to Zipolite and began working at a local rehabilitation clinic for people with disabilities living in the coastal region of Oaxaca. The clinic, called Piña Palmera, was founded by an American man and a Swedish woman in the mid eighties. For a decade, it operated as a sort of orphanage and school for unwanted or unruly children. Little by little, over 25 years of innovative and compassionate work with children and adults with physical and intellectual disabilities, Piña Palmera has grown to be one of the most renowned and authoritative voices in the international conversation regarding disabilities and human rights. Today, the staff works mostly with people outside the physical center, in dozens of surrounding rural communities. During the nine months that I lived in Zipolite this past year, I became quite involved in the collective and individual lives of the Delfines and the patients and staff of Piña Palmera. In ways that surprised me at first, the narratives of each group began to parallel each other. For example, a lack of financial resources and attention on the part of local authorities to quite basic problems of accessibility and funding for social services at Piña Palmera, mirrored a similar struggle for salaries and equipment among the lifeguards. It became quite obvious that these similarites were not coincidental, however, but rather resulted from existing under the same political, social, economic, circumstances, on both a regional and a national level. Life on Death Beach, the documentary, is a nine month study of life in a town called Death, and an attempt to reconcile the fact that rather than washing up onto the shore, skinless and bloated, I was saved, accepted, and eventually loved by a community struggling to build a future for itself. With this film, I hope to contribute to that future.
				JeffArak@Gmail.com

MAP Colonia Roca Blanca, Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

MAP Colonia Roca Blanca, Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

MAP, Lodging Roca Blanca, Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

Theory Of A Deadman - "Hurricane" Lyric Video

Uploaded by RoadrunnerRecords on Jan 17, 2012

Lyric video for Theory of a Deadman's "Hurricane," from The Truth Is...