Mexican Schools Project

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who helped out this year and in past years.  Without your support, none of these worthwhile projects could have happened.  Here are some of the highlights from 2009:

My arrival in Puerto Vallarta was mid-October.  It was still a tad warm but the children were all in school and it was well before the all-consuming Christmas celebrations; a perfect time to get things done!  It was so nice to reconnect with the local folk.  Following three weeks of searching far and wide, our friend Margarito was finally able to free up some time (and a vehicle) to travel into the remote areas where we finally managed to create a ‘wish list’ for over 20 schools.

When we got back to Puerto Vallarta it was wonderful to see how different projects were doing around town.  One of these was Pasitos de Luz, a rehabilitation and teaching centre in a very poor area that provides day care over 100 special needs children so that their parents can go to work.  Pasitos was recently able to hire a medical specialist on a part-time basis from Guadalajara University Medical School.

New classroom at special needs center in el tuito

We also visited  El Tuito where a new classroom and kitchen addition had been added to their Special Needs Centre, thanks to the Medicine Hat Grad Committee who donated $5000.00!  As icing on the cake we were also able to donate money for the purchase of some playground equipment.

Robert and Annette

We came across the original orphanage, and town, of Villa Juarez co-incidentally, or providentially, when on trip to Mexico mid-1989. At that time there were just 3 children. In early 1991, when we drove a car donated by a friend from Denver to Villa Juarez, the orphanage had grown to 20 kids. After staying for a week we decided we could be of use, and in early 1992 we went down to help. A year later the founder, a young Mexican teacher, quit and we inherited the beast.

Over the next few years we spent an average of 9 months each year in Villa Juarez, and in the remaining 3 summer months we worked to raise money to keep the orphanage going. The orphanage now has 32 kids, and we’d changed the layout of the original two buildings (built in 1992) so that they are less like dormitories and more like two “houses”. For many years we personally covered all the operating expenses beyond a small amount that we then received from a sponsor organisation in Ontario (CHER Canada). In those days we spent our summer weekends away speaking in churches, sometimes on Saturdays (our own Adventist) and on many Sundays, trying to raise interest. We set up booths at conferences in BC, in Alberta and in different towns in the States.

When in Mexico we ran the place and had four sets of Mexican house parents to look after the four houses; there was also a cook. We slowly built new buildings, these included an elementary school (one of the house fathers was the principal), chapel, guest house, storage building, and director’s house in 1998. We lived in trailer, and hired a Mexican pastor to be the director. Sine we started running the orphanage there have been four different directors.

In 1996 we incorporated the Mexican Children’s Relief Fund (MRCF), a registered charity, so we could issue tax receipts to the increasing number of people outside of churches that wanted to help. We slowly developed sponsorships and a core group of donors, and as the Canada Revenue agency wouldn’t let us be a “one off” group, we sought out other unincorporated projects in Mexico that we could help by receiving donations from Canadians, and issuing tax receipts.

Over the years all sorts of things weredonated, and through contacts with the Air Force numerous Hercules and Buffalo flights brought supplies down to Mexico; some for the orphanage itself, but mostly for hospitals, schools, fire departments etc.

When we had fully developed the old orphanage, we had visiting school/church groups stay with us and help with programmes for the kids and work projects in the community. They also built a church and a treatment centre for handicapped children. As we promoted the idea, Annette and I were made honorary citizens of Villa Juarez! Big deal, eh – but we don’t have to pay taxes.

We personally visited projects that the MCRF helped in Michoacan, Jalisco, Sinaloa and elsewhere in Sonora. Now can say we’ve seen some of the Mexican Schools Project works, both in Barra de Navidad and on Cabo Corriente.

Five years ago a hurricane destroyed the former orphanage and we re-built on donated land on the campus of University of Navojoa, about 40 miles from original location. Building essentially finished in 2008, and Reach International (US) took over management of the orphanage in March 2009. We resigned our involvement with MCRF in July 2009, and have little to do with the orphanage any more (thank the good Lord!)

Robert & Annette

A friend just sent this to me…

Pretty Sweet to say the least..

Hi Bob,

We visited our daughter, Louise, and her husband, Adam’s home in Red Deer for Thanksgiving.  They have two sons, Ty (5) and Brody (21/2).  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Our grandson, 5, had big surprise for us!

We were doing some early planning for Christmas.  We talked about giving some money to a charity rather than buying each other gifts.  I mentioned the Mexican Schools Project and Pasitos de Luz.  Louise asked Ty if he would like to help the children in Mexico.  He said “yes”.  He left the table without any prompting and came back with a small coin purse that he dumped on the table.  He had 5 dollar bill and some change.  He took out the quarters and left all the rest for the children in Mexico.  His donation totals $5.90.  I will send a cheque for that amount to the Mexican Schools project.  He said he wanted to keep the quarters ($1.75) so he could take them to school to give to the United Way.  He is in kindergarten.  Ty gave away all his money!  We are so proud of him!!!

Ty Erickson

An excerpt from the Aspengrove School website:

The Grade 2 class recently had a visit from a “Superhero” named Bob Johnson, who has been helping children across Mexico for the last 20 years! He has been going to extremely remote areas, where children don’t have schools, electricity…all of the things that we are so lucky to have, and raising money to build schools and homes and provide school supplies to the children and teachers. Please check out his blog for more details: www.mexicoschoolsproject.ca

After the presentation, the children discussed what they learned and feelings they had (see the attached photo). As Action is a big part of the IB curriculum and philosophy I told them that when people learn about these types of situations and think about how they feel, it often leads to them taking action. I asked the children if they thought we could take action and they came up with the idea of raising money via a bake sale. We wrote a class email to Mrs. Fitzgerald, asking for permission, and she granted it on 1 request: that we make a commitment to eating healthy for 1 week. The children have risen to the challenge and have been giving up certain items from the lunches (food high in sugar). Don’t worry, I have labeled each item and they will be returned to your child on Friday. It is actually quite amazing how little has had to be handed over, as the Grade 2 student’s snacks and lunches are of excellent nutritional quality!

This entire process has also enabled the students to learn about goal setting and decision making, which are a part of the Grade 2 BC curriculum learning outcomes.

Student reflections after Bob's visit