Mission in Mexico - Part 9

Saying good-bye is hard.

This is another in a group of posts to let you all know what I’ve been doing in Mexico.

I was working with a little girl on sounding out words when something changed in the room. It was one of those times when things just sound different — the normal chatter had stopped, and when I looked up, all the kids were looking at me. One of the little boys giggled, and one of the psychology students that I’ve been working with walked in the room with a big cake. The good-bye party had begun.

It was my last day in the tutoring program where we work with children who are behind in school, and at the same time observe them to attempt to discover any psychological issues that we can help with. There are four psychology students in the local university who are part of the program, and I’ve been helping these students to notice signs of anxiety, or depression, or more serious problems. Now they were organizing this party for me, which included notes from the children and homemade enchiladas.

The farewell parties continued at the orphanage called Casa de Esperanza (House of Hope), where we celebrated with chocolate donuts. The donuts weren’t the best part — every one of the children gave me a hug on my way out.

As I look back over the last couple months, we’ve been able to do some good things. Some kids are reading better, while others have mothers who are now in therapy dealing with their own issues and learning to be better parents. We’ve started a series of parenting classes for the community. Two new families have sought out help because their children were having trouble in school. And the psych students are getting some good experience.

That’s just one program. I’ve picked up donations from the U.S., driven vans, helped to teach elementary school and high school, led a psychology group at the local orphanage, and worked on developing the nonprofit fundraising strategy for Manos Juntas. I’ve also developed a new website for them: manosjuntasmx.org, where you can see a little more about the individual programs here. It has been a busy time.

In my last week here, I traveled to another part of Mexico, near the city of Merida in the Yucatán peninsula. I’m there to evaluate a school in the small town of Cacalchén that Manos Juntas may begin to manage. The school is currently being run by a ministry of the Korean United Methodist Church of Greater Washington, and they have decided to transition away from supporting it. We are trying to discern the current finances of the school, evaluate the employees, and talk to the parents of the students. As we do all this, we are also learning about the needs of the area. What new programs would be helpful? Could they benefit from the experience we have gathered in our current ministries? Changes like these are hard, and we want to make sure we know about any possible issues.

This school is an oasis in the middle of this rural area. It currently has 86 elementary school students, and many families have seen their children go on to college after studying here. The school provides a religious education that isn’t available elsewhere in this area.

I’ve decided that I’m coming back. I’ve got to figure it all out, but the people here have really touched me. They’ve been generous, they have opened their homes to me, they’ve put up with my mistakes in Spanish, and they’ve shown me what it means to struggle to make the world a better place. We have also had a good time together. I feel like the people that I’ve met here have become my friends, and I want to do what I can to continue to help.

I’m ending all these posts the same way:

Everything is funded through donations. Giving is easy through the United Methodist Advance site - click here. Every little bit helps.

Please send a prayer or kind thought down this way. They all help, too.