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Archives for February 2017

Never Give Up!

February 10, 2017 by Barbara Spencer, MSW Leave a Comment

Mission Accomplished

In Mexico, school days are divided into two sessions, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. It’s at the discretion of the school as to which session a student enters. Veronica, one of our scholarship students, entered high school last August, and was placed in the afternoon class.

It wasn’t until very recently I learned that her classes didn’t end until 9 pm. Veronica then had to catch the bus, which dropped her off one-half hour later,
1.5 km (1 mile) from her home. Trudging up a steep hill through a short residential district and then along a lengthy, unlit dirt road in the pitch dark was her daily route until she safely arrived home at 10 pm.  

Her mother anxiously spoke to the school requesting that Veronica be moved to the morning class but was told there was no room available. Each class already had their quota of 50 students to a lecture room!

Being worried about Veronica’s safety, I went to the school with a volunteer, Pily, to talk with the Vice-Principal. I felt it important to impress upon her that Veronica’s safety was at risk. The community where she lived was infested with drug, alcohol and sexual assault problems.

While the Vice-Principal was very compassionate to the issue, her hands were tied. She had a folder full of students who wanted to move to day school for health or other reasons. It occurred to me that this just wasn’t a safety issue for Veronica but an issue for every girl who gets out of school late at night and has to find her own way home.

The Vice-Principal suggested that Veronica move to another school. However, this school had the program that Veronica wanted to study. Her family would never have been able to afford the high tuition on their own and it was a privilege for our charity, through her sponsors, to be able to pay the enrolment so that Veronica could study the field that she loved in order to have the career that would bring her joy. I vetoed that option pretty quickly.

I then asked the Vice-Principal to whom I should speak at the school board level. She gave me a name but also assured me that they would then call her to see if there was space in the morning class. Apparently, lack of adequate classrooms and lack of teachers have been an ongoing issue for those in education.

It was starting to sink in that this was a much bigger issue than one girl’s safety. That perhaps we weren’t going to get Veronica moved immediately because there was nowhere to move her to until the school added more classes.

Not willing to give up the fight, I tried one last strategy. I asked, “What will it take for those education decision-makers to wake up? To realize that they are putting their quota of students in a class over the safety of girls who leave school late at night? Does a young girl like Veronica have to be kidnapped, raped or murdered for the schools to realize the risk of sending a young girl home so late at night? Mexico is one of the largest hubs of sexual trafficking and I don’t want Veronica to be another statistic.”

Something shifted ever so slightly in the Vice-Principal’s eyes. To my surprise, she said she’d talk this over with the Principal and get back to us. Two days later, Veronica was moved to the morning class!

 

Interview With Veronica

CFKLP: When did you learn you had been switched to the morning classes?

Veronica: First, the school social worker called me to ask where I lived, if the bus drove near my place, what time I got home from school, my grade point average…I was very excited when they told me a couple of days later that I was being moved. I couldn’t believe that in one instance something could change so quickly. Honestly, I was really scared walking alone at night.

CFKLP: Why did you choose that school?

V: I want to study construction. I like to design things. My course is really the foundation to a career in civil engineering, which is the profession I want to study.     

CFKLP: Why that profession?
V: It’s a career. I have always imagined something in my mind and then I imagine it already constructed. I also like to draw.

CFKLP: I see you now have a home made of block. Were you involved at all in the design?

V: My dad built most of it but I wanted him to shape the house in a rectangle.

CFKLP: Now that you’re in day classes, will you return to boxing?

V: Not right now because it’s cold and I’m lazy. I like to be in a warm house. Also my gloves tore. But I will return when it’s warmer.

CFKLP: What are your dreams for your future?

V: I want to be a civil engineer and to be an example to show that everything’s possible. When you’re younger, you think everything is easy but as you get older you realize that maybe life isn’t so easy after all. When I was younger I didn’t feel everything is possible but now I do.

CFKLP: What makes you feel now that everything is possible?
V: I just have to want it and then do something about it. I’ve been reading books about life, sadness, affection and teaching and these books inspire me. Everything I read has a message.

CFKLP: What’s the message that you keep getting?
V: Things happen for a reason and never give up. In the novels I read, the character has a problem but the end result is never give up.

CFKLP: What do you do in your spare time besides read?

V: I’m sometimes on Facebook and chat with friends – only people I know. I sometimes go to movies – action or romantic movies.

CFKLP: What’s the most important thing your family has taught you?
V: To follow my dreams and never give up.

CFKLP: Why is education important to you?
V: It’s something that’ll help you in your whole life, to have a career and to be an example for your own children so they can have an education.

CFKLP: Tell us about your community service?

V: Both another scholarship student, Magui, and I work together. It takes two of us because the kids are out of control. They want to be free and play but both Magui and I think it’s important the kids also learn important things. We teach them multiplication tables and how to add and subtract. We get about five or six kids around 7, 8, and 9 years and they don’t know their arithmetic. At the end we do jigsaw puzzles or something else that’s fun.

CFKLP: What’s your impression of the scholarship program?
V: It has helped me a lot. It takes effort to stay in the program. It’s an excellent program because it gives me everything I need such as tuition and school supplies. My life would be a lot more difficult without this scholarship. I’m not sure if my parents could pay the tuition on their own and I don’t even know if my parents would have enough money for bus fare.

CFKLP: Is there something you would like to say to our readers?
V: It’s such a huge help you’re giving us and doing for us, helping us in our studies and for our future. Thank you.

 

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Great Ways to Help

Good Search
Please remember to use the search engine Good Search and Good Shop so that our charity can earn money every time you search the internet or shop on-line. Go to their website and select Care for Kids La Paz (Dilworth, MN) as your designated charity. It doesn't cost users a thing and those pennies can really add up!
Spread the Word
Help spread the word about Care for Kids La Paz. Do you belong to a group or a school who would like to hear more about us? We'd love to come and talk about our work. Better yet. Visit us in beautiful La Paz and you can give your own presentation.
Scholarships
There are a number of students with good grades who would like to have a scholarship. If you would like to share in a special relationship with a student and their family, please contact us for more details.
Coming to La Paz?
If you're travelling to La Paz, please keep a little space in your luggage for books, toothpaste, toothbrushes, pencils and children's vitamins.
Improving the Lives of Children and Their Families

Mexicans with few resources live in the poorest
and most marginalized communities.
Many have no access to piped-in water,
electricity or basic sanitation.

We want to help those families live with dignity, hope and opportunity.

 

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Care for Kids La Paz Mission Statement

Care for Kids La Paz is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of impoverished children and their families in La Paz, BCS, Mexico. Our focus is to promote hope and opportunity by providing long-term support guaranteeing access to food, education and health care to children whose families want to participate in a process of development to enhance their quality of life.

Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter

We'd love to send you our newsletter about the work we're doing in La Paz!

Connect with Us

Care for Kids La Paz

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