Care for Kids La Paz

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Love Springs Eternal

January 19, 2018 by Barbara Spencer, MSW Leave a Comment

Keeping Warm

Imagine not having a blanket to keep you warm on cold winter nights. It’s unthinkable, isn’t it? But that’s exactly what a number of families in Vista Hermosa face every night when the temperatures fall and the wind whips through the cracks and crevasses of their poorly built homes. Thanks to the generous donation from the Gerbrandt and Graves families, we delivered 92 blankets to Mexican families, as well as toques to children, lovingly knitted by La Paz resident, Sylvia Sperling. It means so much to the recipients to know that someone cares enough about their warmth during those chilly nights in the harsh, desert environment. More photos here.
Helping Out

We received an email from a family who would be travelling to La Paz for Christmas. They wanted to help make Christmas special for a Mexican family in need. On December 24, the two families met and told each other a little about their lives. The children received gifts – dolls, soccer balls and clothing – and the parents, food. Both families departed feeling very blessed for this opportunity to be involved in each other’s lives, if only for a few minutes. More photos here.

We met this little boy when we were handing out blankets. It was a cool, windy day, too cold to be out barefooted but that’s how this little boy was walking. We asked his mom what happened to his shoes and she replied that what he had were no longer wearable. It was a no-brainer. The boy needed shoes; our charity is in the business of helping. We went out to one of the many shoe stores in La Paz that carries every size, colour and style imaginable, found him a pair of sneakers and made one boy, and mom, very happy. Who doesn’t love new shoes?

Making Lives Better

Dr. Jose Luis Ortega, who provides free medical care to newborns up to late teens in the community where our charity serves, saw twenty-four children, including two brand new babies, a three-day old boy and a three-month old girl, who were brought by their first-time moms for a “well-visit”. Caring for a newborn baby can be an overwhelming experience for new mothers and the support they receive from Dr. Ortega is indispensable to their well-being as well as their baby’s health.
Community Service

Magui is one of our scholarship students, who does her community service in our After School program, where kids in the community come to play games, draw, read, do homework, and just be silly…which kids are really good at!

The scholarship students must do four hours a month at whatever they choose. This school year, they have been volunteering at the After School program, their church, their school, and government agencies.

Heading Back to School

Guess who got new school supplies just as they were heading back to school after Christmas vacation? Thanks to clients of Tailhunter International Sportfishing who kindly donated the supplies, and Araceli, a follower of our FB page, for all the lovely used clothing handed down from her daughter. More photos here.
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Filed Under: Interviews, Newsletters, Updates

Interview with Jennifer of Vista Hermosa

December 31, 2015 by Barbara Spencer, MSW Leave a Comment

jennifer-vhToday’s interview is with Jennifer, a 13 year old student living in Vista Hermosa.

CFKLP: Thank you for doing this interview, Jennifer.Tell us a little about your family.

Jennifer: I live with my parents and younger brother. My father works as a security guard and my mother cleans an office. I was born in La Paz but we moved to the mainland for a while and returned seven years ago.

CFKLP: What’s the most important thing your parents have taught you?

Jennifer: To be a good person, to have good fellowship with others, to respect others and to be polite.

CFKLP: Those are beautiful qualities. Have you been able to live the way your parents have taught you?

Jennifer: Some students in school aren’t polite but I address everyone with respect and good words. I treat others as I would like to be treated. If people aren’t polite and don’t treat others with respect, there will be problems. I have friends but they realize I’m different and they treat me with respect and talk to me without using profanity. If someone wants to be my friend, they have to treat me with respect. People who use profanity complicate life with their harsh words.

CFKLP: I couldn’t have said it better. What is the significance of education to you?

Jennifer: To have a good job, to develop it well and to help others. I also know that what I learn in one class can be applied to another class. For example, something I learn in biology, may be applied to Phys. Ed. You can do this in life. What I learn in biology, may help me make a right decision in a real life problem. Everything we learn at school can be applied to our lives.

CFKLP: What dreams do you have for your future?

Jennifer: I want to finish school and have a career but I don’t have any idea what that will be. I’ve been thinking of becoming a doctor and then I compare it with other careers and I really don’t know.

CFKLP: What’s your favourite subject at school?

Jennifer: Math and Biology. I like to solve complicated problems. It’s fun for me. I like to learn about my surroundings. We all take the sun for granted, for example, but we never pay attention to its importance in life. I realize how we take for granted all those things in nature but we don’t see the importance of them.

CFKLP: You’re doing amazingly well in school with a 10 GPA. Does school come easily to you?

Jennifer: I’ve always studied hard. I like to study. It’s easy. When we don’t pay attention and we fool around, everything is hard. I participate, I pay attention and hand in my homework.

CFKLP: What have you learned from your parents about education?

Jennifer: It’s important to be prepared, and to get knowledge so you won’t be cheated in life. You can face problems if you have a good education. And to value education and our teachers because they work so hard to teach us. If we don’t listen to them, we won’t get what they have to teach us.

CFKLP: What activities do you participate in school?

Jennifer: If someone important comes to our school, I’m usually asked to deliver the speech the teachers have written. I was the speaker on Flag Day (national holiday to honour the country’s flag). I was part of a presentation reading a poem to a teacher.

CFKLP: What do you do in your spare time?

Jennifer: I read suspense books. The school loaned me a book about how mummies were made. I was fascinated. I also like to write about how I’m doing at school or I’ll study a subject I’m having trouble with. I’ll help my brother with his homework, I play soccer and sometimes I play on my cell phone, but I don’t like to do that much.

CFKLP: Tell us about your community service.

Jennifer: I work in a library in another community. The library is run by retired teachers. I clean books, put the books back in their place and look for a book for someone. There are some computers with Internet and sometimes I’ll use them for homework. Our school doesn’t have Internet and we rarely have access to the computers there. Most of my homework requires Internet.

CFKLP: How would life be different if you didn’t have the scholarship?

Jennifer: We wouldn’t be able to buy some things like an English dictionary. It helps me get the supplies I need to study. Paying for the bus would become very hard and even though you don’t notice how much you’re spending, you notice it at the end of the month. I would still be able to go to school but it would be difficult.

I don’t take lightly the scholarship I’ve received. We have to value it and it comes with a big responsibility. We have to make an effort to bring good results. It’s not just taking but giving back.

CFKLP: How would you describe poverty?

Jennifer: People who don’t have a good wage. Life is difficult because the prices keep going up. They don’t have a good place to live, they struggle getting food, don’t have much clothing – only the basics – and don’t have a good quality of life. It’s a big struggle when their kids get sick because they don’t have the money for medicine.

CFKLP: How do you see your family in terms of what you’ve described?

Jennifer: You could say we are okay. We’re stable and don’t lack anything except light. (They don’t have electricity) Before the hurricane, we had three rooms built of concrete and a kitchen made of wood. One of the concrete rooms didn’t have a roof. After the hurricane, the kitchen was destroyed. So my father put a roof on the concrete room and we now use it as a kitchen. I sleep in the same room with my brother. We have a dirt floor in our room.

CFKLP: With a dirt floor, I’ve heard from other people that it’s not unusual to find snakes and cockroaches crawling through the room.

Jennifer: We used to when the rooms were made of wood but not so much now. We sweep the dirt floor to keep it clean and for me it doesn’t matter if the floor is concrete or not.

CFKLP: If you had all the money and time in the world, what would you do?

Jennifer: I’d fix up other communities that are worse than ours. I’d put lights in all the houses and build the houses out of concrete.

CFKLP: If you were the President of Mexico, what would you change to make this a better country to live in?

Jennifer: I’d have more work for people, better paid jobs, lower prices, and stop the violence because we shouldn’t be like that.

CFKLP: Is there something you’d like to say to our readers before we close this interview?

Jennifer: It’s a good thing to help. It’s not easy for us. Donations help us get the things we couldn’t get on our own. It’s important to improve our community and donations help us become better people. Thank you.

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Filed Under: Interviews

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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.

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Care for Kids La Paz

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