Last week Jamie and I had the opportunity to visit Oaxaca, Mexico. We were advisors to a group of North Park University students who were serving at a children’s home during Spring Break. I’ve done trips similar to this before, but each time I am grateful for the experience. There is something really valuable in being removed from my usual environment and encountering a completely different reality from my own. If you’ve read my blog for a while you’ll know how much I love to travel…and of course I took lots of pictures! Here is a glimpse:
One of the first things we did was visit the Sunday market in Tlacolula (the town nearest the home). A little boy and his family were sitting outside tying these snap dragons into bunches to sell – such amazing color!
I would rather visit a market like this than a museum, any day.Later on we went to a taqueria for dinner and it was good. I mean, Chicago has some great Mexican food but this was absolutely amazing. The tacos al pastor were probably my favorite.
Monday was our first real day of work at the Home. This board shows photos of the kids who live there and where they’re at in terms of sponsorship. Many of the kids are not technically orphans, but their parents are unable to care for them for a variety of reasons such as being in prison, experiencing extreme poverty, etc.
This is the home, where all of the kids stay as well as their house parents. There is a separate building on the property for visitors like us, and for the other full time staff. This is Chula…sweetest dog ever.Ok…darling, right? I hung out with Sally one afternoon to give her mom a break. Sally’s parents both work at the home and have their hands full between work and caring for their two little girls.
The pit…as we liked to call it…was where we spent a lot of time during the day! We were sifting rocks out of the sand so that the sand could be used for a volleyball court and the rocks could be used for concrete. That was the most manual labor I’ve done in a long time (if ever…)
We had a couple of opportunities to see places where the Staff from FFHM (the organization that owns the home) serve their community. Our group visited two prisons in Oaxaca state, as well as the area pictured below called Yagai.I’ve only seen such severe poverty one other time in my life, in a dump in Ecuador. It is amazing and heart breaking to see people living each day in these kind of conditions. We learned that the government owns the land, so these people are essentially squatting illegally on the land, and because they are there illegally they are not entitled to any government aid. One of the things we did there was help hand out bags of vegetables, which the woman below is holding.Cutest kid ever! On the right you can see a wash area that one family has put together – where dishes & laundry are done, teeth are brushed and food is prepared.Jamie played soccer with a bunch of the kiddos.This is Raquel, one of the girls in our group…hanging out with some more kids from Yagai.Its crazy to see that not too far away their is a regular neighborhood (although definitely still poor) where people live in houses with electricity and running water.
On our last day Jess & Leah (two of the lovely staff from the Home) took us to see the ruins of Monte Alban, which was pretty incredible.The view of the outskirts of Oaxaca city from the ruins.
We also went in to Oaxaca city to do some exploringGrasshoppers, anyone? Free samples in the market…
Lots of kids were helping their families to make money by selling things in the market. We didn’t buy anything from Paula but she was pretty sweet and took a little break at our table.
I’m still processing the things that we experienced during our week in Oaxaca, but one thing I took away was how amazing the work of FFHM is. Because of the commitment of the staff, the kids who live there are given a chance to break the cycle of poverty in their lives and have a healthy childhood. I think we all went there with the intention of doing something good/helpful but we received so much more than we gave – it was a privilege to be there!