Tuesday, Helping with Feed the Hungry

The girls and I, in 3 different cars with 3 different volunteers, went into the country today at the foothills of the mountains to several campos, areas where there are many families living together in a community. There are about 300 campos around San Miguel. Some are better off than others, but what is happening in Guanajuato is that a majority of the men have left to find better lives and many of them are in the U.S. illegally. Some of them send money home, but many of them are not caring for their families at all, the wives are left with kids to manage alone, and many of them are not managing at all. Sometimes the moms are turning to drugs and alcohol, and the kids end up in orphanages like Santa Julia where we are volunteering. Many live in the campos with their mothers but have no male role models. The school is the only good thing going on, and Feed the Hungry sends food to the schools to make sure that the kids get good, hot meals during the week in the summer months. I (Pam) went with a lady today who heads an organization that helps build the kitchens where the food is prepared. The other thing they do is build libraries on the school "campuses" and provide books and reading support for English. They have also helped build real bathrooms, clean water holding tanks, and they also do bible clubs and summer youth camps (Christian) in the areas where they have already helped. I got to see first hand what the food is being used for, where it goes, and what Feed the Hungry and this organization do. I spent the morning with Sarah, the director, and we talked about what we may be able to do with them next year if and when we all come back to San Miguel. It as awesome! Definitely a divine appointment, as Christians are sort of hard to find here in SMA. I had a wonderful morning and got to meet some of the kids from the countryside, as well as a man that helps administrate the schools in the campos. It was a wonderful day. We are going to work on a project for them this week that they will use in their bible camp next week. We are helping with organizing a craft.

It is raining now. We are heading up to the orphanage this afternoon. Looking forward to it, as always.

Pamalita