Hola once again! Like these beautiful monarch butterflies that come to the trees around Proyecto de Vida every year, I am a visitor from Canada.
This was my final Blog entry about my time with Proyecto de Vida, and concluded by sharing some of the amazing and creative ways that the people of Mexico open their hearts to help the kids.
One of the primary ways people help is with food. Some of the food is purchased, but much is donated by local people or by companies. Here are some examples:
I think this squash came from someone's garden!
Cactus is another garden donation
Delicious when cut and cooked!
Many things are donated weekly from the local market: bread, meat, fruits and vegetables
A company makes a monthly donation of precious milk
Does this brand look familiar to anyone in Canada and the US? ;-)
Lots of fruits and vegetables are donated by Costco
Deborah and Albertina (Director) from the Proyecto de Vida office in Queretaro also make weekly purchases
When visitors come, sometimes they bring a nice lunch or snacks for everyone to share.
Albertina leads a prayer before a lunch brought by visitors
Visitors, both young and old, also often bring gifts for individual kids or for everyone.
Visitors brought each child a gift bag
The gift bags were presented by other children, big and small
Gift bags often include toys
New shoes are appreciated by the girls
Piñatas from the Queretaro Rotary Club
The Rotary Club of Queretaro came one day, not only with gifts, but also with their toolboxes to make some much-needed repairs. What a great way to help!
Electrical repairs were done
This slide was fixed as one of the younger boys watched in fascination
The treehouse had developed a serious lean
The Rotary Club president guides one of the older boys in the art of construction
Great teamwork!
Help doesn’t always come to us; sometimes the kids go to the help. For example, a local ceramics factory has given a part-time job to one of the boys:
One of the older boys in Proyecto de Vida makes greenware, one of the first steps to making beautiful ceramics
Greenware is now ready to be transformed....
...into cups, dishes, and much more!
Completed ceramics are then sold locally, in the city, and even in the US
As I have mentioned in previous blog entries, local people volunteer their time here in many different ways. However, volunteers aren’t always local. When I was there, there were two long-term volunteers from France, and two more short-term volunteers who were coming from Canada to help during Christmas vacation.
Maggie wrote the birthday message in French. The Portuguese on the left is mine.
As a volunteer myself, I can also tell you how much help and care I received from both the staff and other volunteers from Queretaro.
I really enjoyed the enthusiasm and friendship of workers Mariela and Eva, and all the others!
Yes, Brisa the dog helped me, too!
Occasionally, there are people willing to open their homes and adopt brothers and sisters, or there are parents who turn their lives around so that the kids are able to go home, but these happen only rarely (the latter actually happened while I was there). The goal is for the kids to live life as a family inside Proyecto de Vida, growing, receiving an education, and developing as a whole person who is ready to make the transformation into society. It is the generosity of those who volunteer their assets and their time, together with the skills of a loving staff, which make this possible.
So, why help a kids in a project like Proyecto de Vida? Proyecto de Vida founder Eduardo shares some reasons:
As more of the kids approach the age of 18, plans are in the works to continue with them as a family would. Proyecto de Vida is exploring ways for the kids to be able go to university or receive special training in the city of Queretaro so that they can get jobs to support themselves. This will mean finding another house in the city, with supervision, support and love, keeping the kids under the wings of Proyecto de Vida until they are truly ready to blossom on their own.
Finally, as I left Proyecto de Vida, I left with a little music from my friend and Proyecto de Vida worker Julio—a song titled “Wherever You Go” (…whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you).
God willing, I’ll be able to return here one day. May God bless you for sharing your time with me and with the kids at Proyecto de Vida.
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