Sixteen high school students from Pachuca, Hidalgo, visited Goshen High School on November 1, and Goshen College November 2. Eye2theWorld, Inc., a non-profit in Goshen, sponsored the event to bring students from the two countries and schools together with an opportunity to learn about the differences and similarities in their cultural environments.
The visiting students attended classes and stayed in homes of families associated with the high school. All of them know English since their home school, Liceo Anglo Frances, requires their learning several foreign languages. The school’s Director, Mr. Joaquin Araiza, sees this trip as an opportunity for students both to practice English and to experience a bit of American culture.
On November 2 the group visited Goshen College, toured the campus and sat in on classes.
The visit to Goshen was just a part of a larger tour of schools and cities in Indiana. Under the direction of Dr. Juana Watson, President of Eye2theWorld, the group also visited Lafayette, Indianapolis, Bloomington, Columbus, Kings Island in Cincinnati, and Muncie prior to their stop in Goshen.
Although “cyanidation”—the use of a sodium cyanide compound to separate a precious metal from finely ground rock—has become less common in other forms of mining, it is still the dominant practice in gold mining. Some 90 percent of gold mines around the world employ cyanidation to harvest their loot.
But of course not all the cyanide gets recovered. Some of it gets spilled, and some is left within mine waste that is often buried underground woefully close to groundwater, leaving neighbors and public health officials worried about its effects on drinking water and on surrounding ecosystems and local wildlife.
