We started out trying to raise $1700 so that we could go. That doesn't include money for our personal expenses and passports.
We are taking shoebox gifts to the children and we deliver food to the mothers and families. We also take down whatever things we can fit on the buses to give away. There is a lot of work, and not a vacation, unless you consider 46 hours on a modified schoolbus is fun. And the buses have a few of the old schoolbus seats, a portable toilet, small table and water tank. We had three buses (two that had seats) and 42 people. I spent most of my ride sleeping on the floor of the bus.
We visit some of the poorest colonias and villiages in Mexico. These ARE NOT the places you will likely see on vacation.
Last year when the tsunami hit southeast Asia we were in a colonia nicknamed "new Jerusalem." A couple months earlier it had been hit by a large wall of water.
According to the missionaries, authorities had been warned by a farmer that a dam was about to give way. They did nothing for weeks, when finally the farmer called them and said "This is it, the Dam is gone."
A Wall of water poured through New Jerusalem and other colonias without warning, destroying hundreds of makeshift homes. Hundreds were killed, while officials watched from a hill.
At that point it was too late for them to do anything anyway.
One thing I learned last time I was there was that the people of Mexico are not the way we see or think of them. They don't have the kind of support that we do here in America. There is no unemployment, no Social Security. If the breadwinner in a family dies, they may starve.
One family a friend of mine visited, lived in an 8x8 sheet metal house, family of 5 with one on the way. Their Jobs only kept a bit of food on the table. (most of the housing material was pallets, sheet metal, cardboard and tarp. Well to do folks had some block houses, lumber is practically non-existant)
Some people say, "Why can't people just use protection, or stop having kids."
Well, lets see how many here in the states are guilty of the same things, while having NO EXCUSE! First, we have systems like "planned parenthood" and WIC. There is no such thing there.
Teachers work on a volunteer basis, no pay.
Pastors make maybe $40 a month, if they are lucky (try feeding your family on $40 a month) And couldn't afford school supplies for their kids.
Minimum wage is about $3 a day.
You work until you can't, that's "retirement"
Sorry for the little rant, but hopefully it's informative.
As it stands we have more than $1000 to raise, and the deadline has passed. We will pay our own way regardless, because we really want to do this. I am not asking for a handout, but if you feel that you could help that would be awesome. I also have some pictures from last year, hosted on limited bandwidth. I will try to dig up a URL for BUSES international too.
It's something like BUSES-international.org
here's someone's humble home:
