Thursday, July 17, 2008

Orphanage offers chance at success for Mexican youths

from the Statesman Journal

This is a profile of an orphanage in Mexico. Churches in Oregon work with this orphanage sending volunteers and donations their way. Info on how to donate is at the bottom. - Kale

by Dick Hughes

Mario kept his promise: He was graduating.

Now we had to fulfill our part of the bargain.

So last week found my family 2,594 miles from Salem in the steamy rainforest of southern Mexico.

We joined the rows of proud parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and guardians as the middle-school students marched in formation to receive their certificates and grades.

Yes, middle school. With elaborate ceremony, Mexican schools celebrate success at each stage — primary, middle and high schools.

Making it through middle school was a big accomplishment for 16-year-old Mario.

His mother died several years ago. He and an older brother are among 80 youths at Hogar Infantil, an orphanage in Ocozocoautla de Espinoza, Chiapas.

My wife, son and daughter started volunteering at Hogar several years ago. I was a belated convert.

Initially a skeptic — why volunteer at a Mexican orphanage when there are so many pressing needs right here in the Mid-Valley? — I'm now an apostle.

Hogar Infantil is the difference between a life of opportunity and one of crushing poverty in Chiapas. All the kids learn useful job skills while performing their chores around Hogar, which is known as the ranch. About one-fourth of the residents go on to college.

A young woman who was raised at Hogar returned to the orphanage last week to encourage the youths to work hard and stay in school. She's now a doctor.

Another resident will finish her industrial-engineering degree in September.

One young man gets up at 4 a.m. to travel by foot and bus to his computer-science classes. He'd tried living with a relative but returned to Hogar — "this is my home, my family." To help pay for college, he spent a year in national service as a teacher in indigenous villages so remote that he had to hike two or three hours to reach them.

A man who became a university professor, having grown up at Hogar and coached soccer there, has his eye on politics.

These stories are in sharp contrast to the countless children of Chiapas who toil long hours in fields or stores — or, in tourist areas, beg on the streets.

That likely would have been Mario's fate if academic or behavioral issues forced him out of Hogar.

Many children wind up at Hogar simply because their parents can't afford to take care of them. Some kids were removed from abusive homes; others are orphans.

But that sanctuary from societal poverty comes with high expectations: Residents must fulfill their responsibilities in school and at the ranch. With school out for a short summer vacation, the older boys, including Mario, arose before 6:30 a.m. Sunday to plant corn by hand. The previous days had found boys of all ages wielding machetes to cut grass and weeds. The girls made tortillas and did household chores, including helping prepare the simple meals.

And, of course, there were the goats, pigs, chickens and other animals to tend to.

For all the hard work, Hogar is a caring, supportive environment that builds a lifelong commitment among the residents. Kids look out for one another. They've learned to share, to get along, to resolve disputes among themselves instead of running to adults for solutions.

Even in that environment — still economically poor by U.S. standards but immensely rich in friendship, love and family values — some kids can struggle.

Free-spirited Mario was one.

Donations from Americans provide most of the operating money for Hogar, which receives no government funding.

Contributions are tax-deductible, as Hogar is 501(c)(3) non-profit.

You can help by sending a check to Hogar Infantil, P.O. Box 7049, Salem, OR 97303. Or go online to www.mygiftoflove.com.

Link to full article. May expire in future.

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