Our little tale begins a number of years ago. I won’t bore you
with the details, but, suffice it to say that Judy and I played host
to a young , teen-age Mexican boy whose parents wanted to send him
to Canada to be immersed in the English language, so as to be better
able to succeed back home knowing English.
Guillermo (Gui) arrived in February 1994, lived with us for 4
months, learned the language very well and went back home in June.
Over the succeeding years, we kept in touch via telephone and
mail (this was before we finally broke down and bought a computer).
Gui would repeatedly beg us to visit him and his family in his home
town (city) of Comitan, Chiapas. As neither of us knew any more
Spanish than ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’ and ‘2 beers please’….we
were very hesitant to embark on such an adventure. Not to mention
the cost.
Well, early in 1999, we received a letter from Gui along with an
invitation to attend his parents 25th wedding anniversary
celebration coming up in June of 1999. As fate would have it, Judy
and I were celebrating OUR 25th wedding anniversary in
June also. So we threw caution to the winds and began making
arrangements and bought tickets to Mexico. After getting our
passports, all our shots, arranging my medications and working A LOT
of overtime to have some money to spend, we left Canada on June 23rd,
1999 on Mexicana Airlines. (in the case of an emergency water
landing, your goat my be used as a flotation device……..just
kidding….GREAT airline…highly recommend it)
We arrived in Mexico City, met our buddy Gui at the airport and
were whisked away to an uncles’ home in one of the barrios in the
city. (everybody has an uncle or aunt wherever you go in Mexico, and
they ALL put you up). The reason we stopped first in Mexico City was
that his parents, Miguel and Nelly, were repeating their vows in
honour of their anniversary in the same church in which they
originally got married.
Anyway, we witnessed their wedding in the traditional Mexican
way. Very beautiful.
We spent several days in and around Mexico City and then,
accompanied by Gui, we flew to Tuxtla Guttierrez, the capital of the
state of Chiapas in Southern Mexico. From there we were driven, by
Gui, to his home in Comitan.
We enjoyed their home, local sights, Mayan ruins, wonderful food
and great company.
One day, during our stay, Nelly said that she was going to visit
the local Alberge (orphanage) to see if the boys needed anything.
Miguel and Nelly are what you might call ’benefactors’ of the
two orphanages in the city of Comitan. They have a loose network of
friends who help out the orphanages whenever possible. Albergues or
orphanages in Mexico are run, at least in this instance, by an order
of Dominican Nuns. They receive little or no funding from the church
and, in the case of the boys orphanage (San Martin De Porres), since
it is located outside of the city limits, receive no funding from
the city. The girls’ orphanage, which is located inside the city,
receives a little money (not much). The nuns are almost totally
dependant on donations and whatever they can make to sell at the
Mercado (market).
Between the two orphanages, they house and care for anywhere from
50 to 100 children, ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years old.
The boys are taught a trade, the girls are taught how to make crafts
to sell and all receive some education.
Miguel and Nelly keep in close touch with the nuns and if any of
the children are in need of medical attention or if something is
needed, they make a couple of phone calls and it is provided. At
Christmas time Miguel and Nelly gather gifts of used clothing to try
to provide each of the kids with a shirt or pants or dress and also
take one or more of the kids into their home to celebrate Christmas
with them.
They also see that the two orphanages are provided with tortillas
and milk regularly. For instance, this month Mr. Rodrigues provides
enough milk for the kids, while Mr Gonzales provides the tortillas.
At any rate, we accompanied Nelly to the boys orphanage. We met a
number of the young boys and the nuns and toured the facility. Of
course, we immediately fell in love with the kids, who insisted on
holding on to our hands for the entire time. We spoke no Spanish and
the kids spoke no English…. It really didn’t matter. The nun
told Nelly that three of the boys were in need of glasses, each pair
costing about 500 pesos ($50.00 U.S.). Of course Judy immediately
pulled out $50.00 and gave it to the nun as a donation. Nelly said
she would see what she could do for the other pairs of glasses.
(FYI.. Nelly made one phone call upon returning home and got another
500 pesos donated. When Judy asked her about the third pair, Nelly
just smiled and said “I’ll talk to Miguel when he gets home from
work” Needless to say, the kids all got their glasses.)
As we were leaving the Albergue, Judy asked Nelly what else the
kids could use. Nelly immediately said that they could always use
food, since they usually only get to eat meat about once or twice a
month.
So, we made a visit to the Mercado (open air market). We bought
meat, cheese, tortillas, fruit, vegetables, milk and a bunch of
candy, literally FILLED the trunk of the car and only spent around
$40.00 U.S.
As we were enjoying ourselves on our shopping spree, we happened
to run across the Nun from the girls’ orphanage who knew Nelly.
She invited us to visit the girls’ orphanage also while we were in
Comitan.
We took the food back to San Martin De Porres and presented it to
the nuns. The nuns and the boys were thrilled. Since they can only
afford meat occasionally, it and the cheese is a real treat….not
to mention the candy. I can’t count the number of times we were
thanked and blessed by the nuns (ever been KISSED by a nun?!)
That evening we made plans with Nelly to visit the girls
orphanage (Casa Hogar Don Bosco) which is located in the heart of
the city. Nelly suspected that we got the invitation from the girls’
nun when she saw us buying food for the boys orphanage. We were more
than willing to duplicate our shopping spree for the girls (Hell, we
could fill the car for $40.00!) The following day we made another
trip to the market and loaded up and took everything to visit the
girls. We were, of course, warmly greeted by the nun and some of the
girls and once again were thanked and blessed by the nuns. While we
were there we also bought a bunch of stuff that the girls make in
order to raise money. Things like crucifixes, baskets, prayer beads,
jewellery, bracelets and the like. They made excellent, and very
inexpensive, souvenirs for family and friends upon our return to
Canada.
On our flight home from Mexico, Judy and I discussed how we could
further assist these two orphanages.
When we got back to work we told everyone and anyone who would
listen about our trip and especially about the kids. Judy set up a
couple of boxes in her department to solicit donations of new or
used toys, school supplies or anything else co-workers might like to
donate. After a few weeks we had three large boxes stuffed with
various and sundry donations. One of our co-workers even donated the
postage costs for one of the boxes. When we went to the Post Office
to mail away the packages, we were shocked! In order to send these
boxes to Mexico, cheapest rate available was a staggering $110.00!
In addition, the Post Office would not insure the packages and could
make no guarantees that they would reach their destination, since it
was Mexico. The contents of the three boxes could not have been
worth any more than $50 or $60 TOPS!
Well, we made the decision to mail them anyway since people were
expecting their donations to actually get to the kids. But we
thought at the same time “How much good would that $110.00
Canadian have done to help those kids?”
The boxes DID , in fact, reach Comitan, although they took over a
month to arrive. They just happened to arrive about the same time as
some of the kids first communion. So, the toys and school supplies
and such were used as gifts for the communion festivities.
Judy and I then made the decision that any further donations
would have to be in the form of cash. I got the bright idea to go to
Costco and pick up a couple of large bags of candy, transferred that
kilogram of candy into individual sandwich bags and put them beside
my desk to sell for $1.00, all profits to go to the kids.
It immediately became a success. That fall, another of our
co-workers wished to donate a 6 foot wooden Santa to our cause. We
sold tickets on the Santa and if memory serves me, we raised $350.00
from that draw alone. We received a few cash donations that fall and
I sold a bunch of candy. In December 1999, we sent via Western Union
$850.00 Canadian or $4760 pesos to our friends in Comitan. No money
raised was used to pay for the transfer fee at Western Union. I paid
for the transfer out-of-pocket. In that way we made certain that
every dollar raised went to the kids.
We asked that the money be used to buy each boy and girl a
Christmas present, give each child a Christmas dinner and for any
left over money to be used as the nuns saw fit. We received a phone
call from Gui who informed us that the nuns were speechless with our
donation and that the $850.00 was the single largest donation that
the orphanages had EVER received. The Guillen family took the money
and bought each child a gift. They arranged for both orphanages to
meet at a local church on Christmas Eve, which is the big night in
Mexico to celebrate Christmas. Everyone was treated to a Christmas
dinner and after the meal, the family walked in with bags full of
gifts for the children. In most cases, this was the FIRST Christmas
present that the children had ever received! Needless to say, this
was the best Christmas the children had ever had.
In the year 2000, we continued selling snack bags of candy for
$1.00. The orphanage fund was becoming self sufficient. That being
we could buy the candy at Costco, using the funds’ money, break up
the bags into snack sizes, and make double the cost of the candy.
Prior to that, I was buying the candy at Costco out of my pocket
mostly. In the fall of 2000, I approached one of our team leaders
with the request to possibly hold a few draws to help raise even
more money for the Christmas donation. The team leader thought that
it was a great idea and a very worthy cause and gave his blessing.
We went again to Costco and picked up a couple of gifty type
items (out of pocket) and began selling tickets. We received a
number of item donations from family and co-workers. It was
successful beyond anything we could have imagined. In December 2000,
we wired $1700.00 Canadian or $9924 pesos to Mexico. We had DOUBLED
the previous years total!
If memory serves me correctly, the money that year bought,
besides the toy, dinner, clothes and whatever , a small TV for their
enjoyment.
As the year 2001 rolled around and due to the relatively large
amounts of money being raised, we decided to start sending donations
twice per year, at Easter time and at Christmas.
Due to the continued success of the candy sales, we were able to
wire $500.00 (2889 pesos) just before Easter. Then, in the spring of
the year, a number of our co-workers got the great idea to produce a
cookbook, filled with family recipes, ethnic recipes and, of course,
Mexican recipes. The ’Manna For Mexico’ Cookbook Committee,
consisting of Elma Renders, Jean Setler, Larraine Henderson, Heather
Vadovic, Cheri Palin, Margaret VanDaalen, Marlene Bellamy and Judy
Puskas, was formed.
Through their hard work and perseverance, 200 copies of the Manna
For Mexico cookbook were produced and sold for $8.00 each. The
cookbook proved an overwhelming success. After all production costs
were taken care of, the ladies presented me with a cheque for
$886.00 for the kids. We again held draws in the fall of 2001 and
accumulated an additional $720.00. Several people during the year
insisted on making cash donations (one person continually saves her
change and gives us a jarful 2 or 3 times a year). We received
$114.00 from donations. The profits from the candy sales that year
were $610.00. Since the Easter donation, we had acquired a total of
$3000.00 or $16,812 pesos which we wired to Mexico in December.
Taking into account the initial $500.00, we had sent $3500.00
that year. We had DOUBLED our donation once again!
Just as a sidebar, when we visited Comitan back in 1999, Gui had
taken us down to the town square, where we had a drink at a small
outside café. While we were there, we were approached by a
particular young shoe shine boy. This young lad happened to be a
favourite little guy of Gui’s. Gui would always make a point of
getting his shoes shined by this little fellow and would give him
maybe 10 pesos instead of the usual 1 peso for a shoe shine. Judy
remembered the shoeshine boy and suggested that we ask Gui if he was
still around and if so, to use some of the donation to buy the kid a
Christmas present from us. Gui informed us that, yes, Vincente was
still shining shoes and that he would do something for the boy. In
fact, what Gui did was to find the boy, go with him to his home (a
converted garage type structure with dirt floors), meet his parents
and present his parents with $1000 pesos ($100.00 U.S.) which was to
go towards giving this boy an education. The father wept. Gui had
told us during our visit that many years ago his own father started
out as a shoe shine boy and because he was taken in by the priests
and educated, that he became a successful accountant Gui hoped that
this gift might make the difference in Vincente’s life as it had
his fathers.
We received word from Gui and his parents that, in addition to
the usual dispensing of the money, that the nuns were able to afford
to have the orphanages painted and even were able to have a
basketball court constructed for the kids. We received a letter from
Gui telling us how things were going at the orphanages and also
received a TON of artwork, photos and ’thank yous’ from the
kids, which we posted outside of our cubicles at work for all to
read and see.
In February of 2002, we again played host to another member of
the Guillen family. Rafael (Raffa) is Gui’s youngest brother, and
he was 19 years old. Miguel and Nelly contacted us and wished to
know if we would take Raffa into our home to learn about English the
way we had Gui. We, of course, said yes. We had met Raffa when we
were in Mexico. He arrived and surprisingly spoke very good English
right away. We got him a tutor and he joined the choir at the local
Catholic church. In May, Nelly, Miguel and middle brother Miguel Jr
(Mike) flew to Canada for a visit and we showed them the sights.
Niagara Falls, Skydome, CN Tower, Bruce peninsula, etc, etc, etc.
Raffa talked his parents into allowing him to stay in Canada for an
additional year and attend St Clair College in Windsor, where he
graduated from his English course with his TOFL, which is the
certificate to TEACH English internationally.
At Easter, we sent another $800.00 or $4395 pesos. We received a
phone call from Gui, thanking us again for the money. He told us
that the nuns considered the donation to be a miracle because it
just so happened that the orphanages were in some sort of financial
crisis at that particular time and the money arrived just in time to
solve whatever problem they had.
Also, there was enough money left over, that they were able to
have two additional bathrooms installed, complete with showers.
Apparently, prior to this, San Martin De Porres had ONE bathroom
which had to serve for up to 50 boys and the nuns! Now, $800.00 or
the leftovers after the financial crisis was not a lot of money to
build two bathrooms. This is the great thing about Miguel and Nellys
group of benefactors. One benefactor might be a plumber, another
might be an electrician, while still another might be a builder. In
this way, donating their time and getting professional discounts….a
little money accomplishes great things.
Since we had hosted Gui, lo those many years ago, and had visited
Mexico in 1999, we had really grown to love Mexican food. Since Judy
is a great cook, she has been cooking Mexican a great deal and has
shared a lot of recipes with co-workers. During the year, Judy
thought it might be fun to hold a Mexican cooking class for a few
people. The 6 week class was a great success with the people
learning how to make their own tortillas, refried beans, etc, from
scratch. For the class, we made up on the computer a small cookbook
for the students called ’Judys Cocina Mexicana’. After the class
was over, several of the people suggested that we make up more of
these booklets and sell them to raise more money for the kids. Great
idea!
We ended up selling $102.00 worth of Mexican cookbooks that year.
In August, Raffa went back to Mexico to visit his parents before
the fall semester was to start at St Clair College. We went to the
Dollar store and bought up a bunch of Canada souvenirs and toys for
him to take beck with him to give to the kids. We also let it be
known at work that if anyone so chose, they could donate some small
toy or souvenir for us to send on their behalf to the kids. Raffa
ended up taking back two additional suitcases full of various
souvenirs, toys, school supplies etc. The gifts were greatly
appreciated by the kids, who sent back letters and artwork in
thanks.
Also during the year, I came up with the idea of contacting
Samaritans’ Purse organization with the thought of putting the
orphanages names up for receiving shoe boxes from Operation
Christmas Child. I contacted , by E-mail, the organizations’
Canadian representative. Jorge was most gracious and obtained all of
the information on the orphanages and forwarded it to his Mexican
counterpart. At Christmas 2002, each of the kids received a
Christmas gift box!
We had $119.00 in cash donations, $744.00 in draws and profits of
$735.00 in candy sales. In December 2002, we wired $1700.00 or
$10,760 pesos to the kids. Again, that year, $1000 pesos was given
to Vincente, the shoe shine boys family for his education. We were
now at a grand total of $8,550.00 wired to Mexico since the
inception of this venture.
We received word from Gui in January that in addition to
everything else our donation provided , part of the money was used
for an operation for one of the young boys. This little guy had
something wrong in his chest (Gui was not able to explain fully the
medical condition). At any rate, the child HAD the operation, which
was fully successful, and he was recovering nicely.
Once again we received Christmas greetings from the nuns and the
kids which we again posted on our baffles. We also received an
E-mail from Sor Sofia Laura Rangel Salazar who is the Mother
Superior of the Hermanas Dominicas De Maria (the Dominican order who
oversees the orphanages). She happened to have been one of the nuns
we met when we visited the girls orphanage in 1999. She had since
been promoted (?) to Mother Superior and was stationed (?) in San
Miguel Allende, Guanajuato. She REMEMBERED us and our visit and had,
of course, been informed of our donations over the years. She was
very gracious and thanked us for everything. Translated, she wrote
“We are very grateful to you for all your help and your work for
our children. You are always in our minds and prayers, we hope you
the best for this new year and God bless your family.”
Once again, at Easter time of 2003, thanks to ongoing candy
sales, we send another $1000.00 Canadian or $9550 pesos. This time,
in addition to the usual things the money went for, the kids were
able to purchase a VCR. During the year more draws were done, in
December a co-worker had a Mexican themed Christmas party, borrowed
some of our Mexican paraphernalia, and put out a donation box with
the idea that guests could make a donation instead of exchanging
gifts. We were presented with over $100. Also during the year,
another co-worker experienced the loss of a loved one. This
co-worker stipulated at the funeral home that donations could be
made to us for the orphans, since the loved one was a great
supporter of our cause. We were humbled by her presentation of
several hundred dollars on behalf of her dearly departed.
We rounded out the year by sending a donation of another $2000.00
Canadian or $16,396 pesos. This year, when Gui tried to locatr
Vincente, he was told by Vincentes mother that he had moved to
northern Mexico to work. The money earmarked for Vincente went to
the orphanages and we only hope that Vincente is doing well.
We had sold $263.00 in cookbooks, had cash donations of $313.00,
draws totalling $941.00 and candy profits of $384.00. Our running
total now stood at $11,550.00 Canadian or $73,089 pesos !
In January of 2004, I was stricken with a couple of very serious
medical problems. After a 27 day stay in London hospital, we decided
that I would have to retire medically. Through the welcomed
assistance of a couple of co-workers, the candy store operation
still operated. I had pretty much resigned myself that our fund
raising campaign was going to have to come to an end since I no
longer would be there. However, the day that I came into the office
to clean out my cubicle and bid farewell to everyone and announce
the end of the fundraising, our co-workers insisted that it would
continue with their help. Tania also very graciously gave her
blessing to the continuation of the candy store. We were still in
business!
When we received photographs of some of the children in January,
we had noticed one little girl who was wearing an eye patch. We
wired our Easter donation of $600.00 Canadian or $4903 pesos and
when we contacted Gui with the details, we asked that some of the
money go to medical attention for the little girl in the photo. If
she needed surgery or something to correct her sight problem, then
that’s what she would get.
Gui got back to us and informed us that , unfortunately, the
little girls eye was permanently damaged. She apparently had been
abused and beaten by a step-father, which was why she was at the
shelter. However, Gui told us that the eye patch which we saw in the
picture was a very hard plastic one and that they had purchase an
more expensive, comfortable cloth patch and she was very happy with
her new patch.
In the summer of 2004, a new ’Candy Man’ came into being.
Phil Martens graciously accepted the chore.
When DSB moved into its King St location, and did not have any
pop or candy machines available at the site, it was suggested that
we branch out a little and start supplying bottled water, full sized
chocolate bars, chips and microwave popcorn. Sales increased
greatly.
In late fall, we were asked if we were going to have our
traditional Christmas draws. The ‘Candy Man’ formed a small
group of helper elves ( Julie Stoffyn, Jeff Millington, Christiana
Hawksworth, Jeni Powell, Agnes Bloxham, Diane Guyett and Stephanie
Rossi) who worked, not only in DSB, but at the other sites and the
draws began and were very successful . Also in late fall, Judy, who
was currently working at the Post Office, was asked if she could set
up the candy store at that location. After approval from management,
‘The Candy Store Annex’ was created and is doing great things,
so far.
On December 10, 2004 I wired our Christmas donation to Gui. With
the success of our fall draws, we wired $1600.00 Canadian or $14,042
pesos to the kids. The breakdown for this year is: Cash Donations of
$179.00, Draws bringing in $785.00 and Candy Profits of $636.00
Our total donations to Casa Hogar Don Bosco and San Martin De
Porres now stands at $13,750.00 Canadian or $92,034 pesos.
Judy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tania and
the management team for their permission to carry on this project,
Vicky White for her invaluable assistance, Phil Martens and his
little band of merry elves without who, this cannot have carried on.
Most of all, we would like to thank all of you who are reading this
for your kind words and thoughts for the kids, your generosity in
donating money and items for draws, and finally, everyone who has
that ’sweet tooth’ and can’t resist the goodies!
