15-7
Raising social awareness using the example of criollo and hybrid maize:
When you stop to think about it, the differences between criollo and hybrid
maize have a kind of symbolic meaning.
After health workers have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each
type of maize, have the group imagine that these represent two kinds of people.
Hand around samples of each kind of maize and have everyone think quietly for a
few moments. Ask them to consider how the two kinds look, whose needs they
serve, and their present and possible future effects on people’s health. Then ask
them to relate their ideas to different approaches to education, health care, and
government.
You might start by asking questions like these:
• Who do these two different types of maize remind you of? Why?
• How do the different types (of maize and people) relate to the needs of the
poor?
• What type do our schools try to produce? What type does the army try to
produce? Why?
• How do these different types of maize compare with the kinds of health
workers different programs try to train?
The group can carry on with their own questions and answers. It will be
interesting to see where the discussion leads!
WARNING: In leading a discussion like This one, you will need to be careful that people do not
conclude that they, the ‘natives’-because they appear darker, more irregular, and ‘less perfectly
formed’—are less worthy than the more uniform ‘white’ variety. Help them understand that,
in spite of appearances or what they have been told, they have a hardiness, strength, and
ability to survive under difficult conditions, that the more demanding, artificially developed,
more uniform variety often lacks. If the discussion is led well, people will end up with a new
appreciation and respect for both their native crops and themselves.