By Julie Cowles

Pastel colored colonial buildings, centuries-old churches drenched in history, vendors selling freshly sliced mangos, indigenous women hawking brightly colored shawls, the sounds of the accordion players that line the streets… My senses are flooded each morning as I walk to the children’s center where I have worked as a volunteer each morning for the past 7 weeks. For me as a visiting foreigner, the beauty of Oaxaca has not been buried under the conflict that currently exists here.