By Buzz McClain
Martha A. Galicia Osorio came to George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Mexico to develop mediation skills and earn a master’s degree.
Little did she know that after a few months at Mason she would be back in Mexico, this time not in her home of Pachuca, near urban Mexico City, but in rural and mountainous Oaxaca, where she would be in the middle of a long-standing territorial conflict among indigenous residents.
The two-month assignment was an internship to practice peacebuilding methods between the residents of San Sebastián Nopalera in the mountains and those in Zimatlán de Lázaro Cárdenas in the foothills.
More than a century ago, some of the villagers of Nopalera resettled at the bottom of the mountain to escape control by local authorities.
Eventually some of those in Zimatlán returned to Noparela while others wanted to legally separate the territories, which Noparela resisted. In 2010 the dispute turned violent, with arson, gunfire and nine deaths. Clearly, the situation was ripe to practice mediation.
At one point during a meeting with a dozen glaring leaders who were suspicious of her intentions, Galicia Osorio asked herself, “Could three credits be worth this?” Thankfully, her 19-year-old son Estaban was accompanying her and standing by.
“It’s not a good idea to be a woman alone in a ‘traditional’ town such as that,” she said.
Galicia Osorio, who is a lawyer by trade, discovered the women of the affected towns were marginalized, and she came to focus on them as central to her studies. At community meetings, “all the men sat on one side and all the women sat on the other, at every meeting,” she said. “The women of those communities are supposed to be passive and wait at home for something to happen. It’s very stressful.
“They told me how frightened they were in their houses, hearing gunshots and seeing fires, all alone because their men were out working or fighting. It was the women who said ‘we need you.’”
Galicia Osorio put her School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution trauma-healing training to use. “I had the tools, and I put into practice what I learned.”
Through various workshops and counseling sessions she feels she successfully empowered the women to advocate for themselves, and for the future of their region.
As for the men?
“I didn’t have enough tools to measure if I was successful,” she said. “But conversations of reconciliation have begun. They changed their perspective and that’s a fact.
“And when I came [back to Mason], my professors and colleagues explained to me that this is the first stage of a process. I built trust with the community, they know me now, they know what I can offer them, and next time it would be easier.”
“Martha demonstrated a tremendous amount of professionalism, initiative and skill in moving forward with a project of this magnitude after one year of coursework,” said Lisa Shaw, field experience director for the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
“She experienced all of the challenges of fieldwork that include building trust and relationships with indigenous communities that are distrustful of outside interveners.”
Shaw was impressed with Galicia Osorio’s understanding of the complexities of the conflict “and her awareness of her own biases as she entered into this conflict setting.”
Galicia Osorio said she’ll be returning to Mexico, but perhaps to a different conflict zone.
“This is the just the beginning for me being involved in conflict resolution in Mexico,” she said. “My country has many conflicts. My country needs everything, every approach possible.”
Besides, she added, “I need three more credits.”