In slang terminology, the Spanish word pedo translates, put nicely, to "flatulence" and the members of CAMBIO obviously have a sense of humor if their next event is themed ≠PURO PEDO!
The evening of performances will feature over a dozen local artists, including poets, actors, storytellers and musicians. Among the performers will be 2002 Albuquerque Slam Team poet Colleen Gorman and local band GEODESIC, specializing in deep, alternative rap. There will also be a few short video clips of Palestinian rap videos and from independent short films.
CAMBIO member Sof°a Mart°nez, a student in the doctoral program of Education at UNM, put it bluntly when she said the term puro pedo basically conveys the idea that "all this stuff is nothing but a bunch of bull."
UNM alumni and CAMBIO staff organizer Riti Sachdeva describes "≠PURO PEDO!"
"It's a creative dialogue about the war," she said. "It's about the war, but it's also about speaking out against the local things that happen - police violation, globalization, commercialization - it's trying to make all the connections."
≠PURO PEDO! is another of what the group has come to call "Guerilla Pharts" or according to Mart°nez, "positive, subversive activity against war propaganda and for peace."
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Guerilla pharts came into existence after the events of Sept. 11, 2002 as a way of coming to grips with the fears that exist within our society.
"We've been concerned-especially after 9/11-that violence, 'terrorism,' would increase - not necessarily from other people, but between countries," Mart°nez said. "There's a real push to create fear in our society that we need to come to grips with. There's a time that you have to be cautious. But there's a difference between being cautious and careful and being overcome with a sense of fear."
Sachdeva says that guerilla pharts are about "connecting a local agenda with a global agenda. We see it as a community-building thing where people come together, hang out and share ideas."
CAMBIO, the Spanish word for change, is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that started eight years ago. The organization centers on social justice issues and family styles of organizing with an emphasis being put on children and women.
CAMBIO sponsors a number of activities throughout the year, including a Wilderness Training Project in northern New Mexico, in which youth partake in hiking and fishing, learn about herbs, the oral history of the region and how to set up a campsite.
The organization also put together a groundwater contamination simulation in which they educated children about the effects of water pollution.
Aside from intense community involvement, Mart°nez says the organization is "for people that are youthful at heart forever and who never know what they want to be when they grow up."
≠PURO PEDO! will take place this Friday, April 25, from 7:30-10:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church on the corner of Girard and Lomas Boulevards. For membership opportunities and involvement with CAMBIO, contact 344-4028 or email them at info@cambio.org.
