Cuernavaca Center
for Intercultural Dialogue on Development
was Founded May, 1977

OUR HISTORY

CCIDD is a Mexican Non-Governmental Organization initiated in 1977 in conjunction with Roman Catholic Ecumenical Bishop Sergio Mendez Arceo. It was founded to enrich the Christian Churches and related institutions/people of the Ameritas by promoting/facilitating greater contact and dialogue between north and south and thus assisting all to better understand and respond to God’s call for our time. (October 1993 Mission Statement)

Raymund Plankey, from Vermont, USA, has been the constant presence at this amazing Center since the beginning. Ray was a lay missioner in Chile when Salvador Allende was overthrown and assassinated by a military coup in 1972. He had married Chilean Gabriela Videla while in Chile. The Bishop of Cuernavaca, Don Sergio Mendez Arceo had been in Chile on various occasions in the 1970’s and was engaged in dialogues with the church in Santiago, Chile. After the military coup when General Pinoche was put in power as military dictator in Chile, Bishop Méndez Arceo invited many to come to Cuernavaca. Raymund and Gabriela moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico to begin a new chapter in their lives.

Within a few years CCIDD was born with the idea to inform Christians in the north, the USA and Canada, about the reality of Christian struggle within Latin America. Ray, Gabriela and other friends talked about how to inform the populations north of Mexico about the reality of people’s suffering in Latin America and a social analysis of this reality. The idea was reverse mission: learning from the reality of those who are poor by being immersed in this reality and reflecting upon this experience. The idea of praxis: informed reflection- the see, judge act model of education was welcomed and CCIDD had its beginning.

In May, 1977 CCIDD welcomed its first group, Duke University divinity students. The center began with rented facilities in the Latin American Hotel. In 1984 the center moved to Francisco Leyva Street as buildings were purchased. Currently CCIDD continues on Leyva Street. In 2007 CCIDD celebrated the 30 year anniversary! To commemorate the anniversary Ray wrote Questioning Myths of God and Country, 50 Years: Memories of a Catholic Lay Missionary. Additionally, research was done on the archives to list groups who have participated in CCIDD. Over 10,000 people from Canada and the USA have come these past 30 years. See various archives of staff members and groups present over the years. Students from universities, colleges, high schools, professors, theology and social work groups, Christians of many denominations have come and experienced CCIDD. Pastoral leaders and NGOs have been to CCIDD.

Additionally CCIDD has claimed an important presence in the Mexican community of peace and resistance in Cuernavaca. They are members of the Foundation Don Sergio Mendez Arceo and help to educate many in the work for social justice, human rights and a deep spirituality of God’s love and goodness for all.

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In recognition of CCIDD's 30 years as a cross cultural, immersion and social justice center, CCIDD Founder, Raymond Plankey, has written a personal history of the Center, 30 years of Memories, the CCIDD Story, Its Struggles, Its Achievements.

In this document Ray relates the story of the beginnings of the Center in 1977 after he and his wife, Gabriela Videla, arrived from Chile with the onset of the military coup by General Pinochet.

As Ray developed the program he focused on "our mission... to help our materially comfortable churches in the United States and Canada to learn from the reality and vision of poor Christians in Latin America" through a process he referred to as "reverse mission". In reading the history you will see that Ray realized that "the heart of the program must be experiential learning". The program will awaken you to new questions about yourself, your life, your purpose. Ray poses an important question, "what does this have to do with me and my Christian faith?"

There are six APPENDIXES accompanying A History of CCIDD. These are:

APPENDIX I CCIDD VISION/MISSION STATEMENTS

APPENDIX II CHRONOLOGY: BOARD AND STAFF

This appendix includes listings of staff who worked at CCIDD these past 30 years as well as the board members who worked in leadership for the Center. See the listing as we remember those who are deceased from CCIDD staff and board. Additionally see about marriages given the CCIDD Mexican experience with many couples remaining in Mexico

APPENDIX III CHRONOLOGY: VISITING GROUPS

Included here is a listing of groups from Canada and the United States who have participated in CCIDD programs from 1977-2007. Thousands have been to Cuernavaca these past thirty years. This file on groups is not complete. If you know of any additions, kindly contact us at ccidd@cableonline.com.mx.

APPENDIX IV TESTIMONIES: PARTICIPANTS, LEADERS, STAFF

CCIDD has been a transformative experience for many participants and staff members. In honor of the 30th anniversary of CCIDD, a number of people have shared their testimonies of their experiences at CCIDD. This is a sampling of the many notes and comments received after individuals and groups have shared in the CCIDD cross cultural immersion experience.

APPENDIX V ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY PARTICIPANTS AT HOME

Participants who have come to CCIDD have reflected on their experience and have written articles which have been published in their local areas. Here are some of those articles from the past thirty years:

Abrazame by Karolyn Edwards, Blending Salt and Spice by Bedlen C. Lane, Encountering God by Hazel Jack, Face to Face by Walter and Joan Farquharson, If Your Kids Starving to Death by Patricia Samples, La Estacion by Suzy Prenger, Latin America Experience by Fr. Brian McCullough, Life on the Fringe by Rosamond G. Steere, Reflections from Mexico by Andrea Utrie, Religion, Politics Clash by Frank Aukofer, Six Months in Mexico by Dorothy Badry, Spring Break Revelation by Phil Minden, The Mexican Experience by Brother Philip Armstrong, Today I Saw the Gospel by Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B., Trip to Mexico Brings Poverty Home by Barbara Watkins, Visit to Mexico by Teresa Coyle. A Conscious-Building Experience by Stan Moonyham, Mary's Song by Pastor Kim Erno, and Transformation by Christa Herich, SLW.

Enjoy the reading of 30 Years Of Memories, The CCIDD Story, its Struggles, Its Achievements! Many thanks to CCIDD Founder, Ray Plankey, for his time and effort in sharing the story!

For a Word version of CCIDD History click here!