Our program was hosted in the community of Amatlan, Morelos, Mexico. For our

We were very interested in the fact that Amatlan, in Aztec legend, is considered the birthplace of corn. Corn is what many Mexican people place their very existence on. Without corn to harvest, life would have been altered drastically for the entire present day community, not to mention the ancient civilization that once occupied this area.

To pursue this theme, we took the group on a tour to the remains of an Aztec temple called "The Temple of the Corn." This hike is 30 minutes away from present day homes and follows a well-used dirt path. The actual site though is mainly overgrown with trees and grass but the base structure of where a building once stood is still evident.

The two local community members who led the hike to this sacred site also led us in an ancient ceremony. This ceremony involved each of us offering gifts to a stone altar made of rocks piled into a mound. It was also a time for each of us to offer prayers of thankfulness for being in the community and to offer prayers of safe keeping to our loved ones back at home in Canada.

This "Educational Activity Day" turned out to be a spiritual event for our group. Amatlan still has ties to its ancient Aztec ancestors and the residents were more than willing to share this knowledge with us on a profound level. Being a participant in this ceremony was a unique experience for us considering not many people have the opportunity to do the same.