MAY - JUNE 2005 Misión México, Dando Amor, Vida y Esperanza.  AC.  Tapachula, Chiapas, México.

Hola a Todos, It is almost the end of the school year and the beginning of the summer holidays!  School finishes here in early July and we are starting to panic about how to occupy 35 children during the break.  This place is not suitable as there is no yard for the kids to use up their energy.  We do have a large room that we use for activities but when you have many boys who want to play soccer the room becomes a missile zone.  They often break windows and children end up crying because a ball has hit them in the head as they were trying to pass. We think most of the children, who are attending school, will pass the grade.  Some haven't done as well as we had hoped while others have excelled. Jose is in first place in his grade.  Jose lived on the streets before coming here and has now been with us for nearly three years.  He has a happy nature and tries hard at everything he does including sports.   Merril, a ´niño´ from Nicaragua has been in grade six for the full year and is in second place in his class.  His graduation is in two weeks.  Antonio, another boy from the streets, is in second place in his class.  Leticia and Francis are competing for third place also in their grade.  All these children have had extremely difficult lives so to be studying in school is an achievement and to be in a ´place´ is amazing. When school returns for the new school year, which is in September, a thirteen year old girl that we have here will commence school for the first time.  She can't read or write but is looking forward to attending school and tries to practice writing on a daily basis.   Another 14 yr. girl will commence grade four.   Most of the other children are behind academically for their ages but are doing well considering their difficult backgrounds. We are very thankful to Toni McCosker, the volunteer from Inverell, who worked for three months here in the refuge.  It was hard work but she survived!!   These children can be difficult and there is no space to call your own but Toni hung in there until the end.  Toni gave some art classes, took full responsibility of one baby and helped with the general running of the place.  Thanks Toni, we really appreciate your time with us!!

Shannon Anderson, another volunteer, from Albury-Wodonga stayed for five weeks working with the children.  Shannon was studying Spanish in Guatemala before coming to Tapachula.  The children enjoyed their reading time, piano lessons, making necklaces and their special bed time, thanks Shannon.   At the moment we have two young men, from Noosa and Brisbane, helping with activities. Ryan Roberts is teaching the children how to surf and skateboard and Wyatt Moss-Wellington is giving the children piano and guitar lessons, all of which, the children are thoroughly enjoying. Volunteers are always welcome.  The work can be exhausting, exhilarating, repetitive, stimulating, boring and exciting.  I have to admit, the work is draining and often frustrating.  At times it's too hot to do anything or it is raining too hard to escape for some peace.  There is no space to call your own but, if you can give some attention to these children, you will be rewarded.  It is not in a monetary sense but a satisfaction that you have made a difference in their lives. You see the change in them, you see them grow and gain confidence in themselves.     The children need reading and writing practice, English classes, help with homework, exercise classes, music lessons, and art, craft, sewing or woodwork classes.  They need someone to play basketball or football with or play chess or board games. We need help with cleaning, sewing, mending and cooking, it is endless.  In the future we will need help at the new house with painting, gardens etc.   So don't ever think that you have nothing to offer, everyone has some talent that they can share.   Something that I became aware of, which I believe is a reward, was that I became more tolerant and accepting and I began to understand at a deeper level what ´unconditional love´ means.   Shannon, who was here recently, was only 20 years and was afraid to take responsibility of the babies when she first arrived and also, the amount of children here was overwhelming for her, but by the time she left she was a confident carer.

We can't pay for fares but we can give you a bed and food and an experience!   So, if you would like to help, for a short or long term, please write and let us know.

We have a cute, little four year old girl, who has amazing personality.  Her name is Mercedes and she was picked up by the Welfare dept. because she was sent out to buy alcohol.  It is obvious to us that she used to beg on the streets as she knows exactly what to say and how to say it.  Apparently she was given to an aunt when she was around two.  All her front teeth have decayed and she has a very large stomach.  Mercedes complains a lot of health problems and tends to sleep much more than the others.   Mercedes recently had a blood test, as we are slowly doing to all the children; to check their blood group, to see if there are any deficiencies and also, to check if they have HIV.   So far all the results have come back negative for HIV but almost all, except those who we have had for a long time, have shown to have some degree of anemia.  Mercedes´ results show that she is anemic and that she has another problem that we will treat with medication and if that doesn't work she will have to undergo more tests.       Little Sam is doing very well.  He has now got very chubby cheeks and his little legs have filled out where the folds of skin used to be.  He is crawling around and gets into all sorts of mischief.  He still has to have his eyes checked for the problem of cross-eyes, which will be done in the near future. We have had a lot of children come and go, in addition to the migrant children.  Children that only need help for a short period of time, babies to children of 13 years.

One girl, 13 years, who was here recently, was beaten by her father.  He had also, at some stage, put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her.  Marianna stayed with us until her mother, who was separated from her father, got custody of her.  Marianna was a lovely girl but obviously needed some professional help.  She cried a lot, which is understandable but at one stage, after a fight with one of the other girls that live here, screamed and cried uncontrollably and then got a screwdriver and threatened to kill herself.  After firmly talking her through it she settled down and we only had a few minor problems after that, but I must admit, it was a strain and we were very relieved to see her go.   One of our older girls, whose step-father abused her and caused her to run away where she got involved in prostitution, is doing amazingly well.  She is a lovely girl and is content living here.  She helps where she can and is looking forward to studying next year. Her step-father got 27 years in prison for his crime against her.  Here in Mexico there is no support for single parents so now her mother is contemplating giving two children to the father in prison as the mother cannot find work to support herself, his two children and a child to another man. The heat has been so intense that it saps all your energy and by the afternoon, when most of our older children go to school at 2pm, all you want to do is sit, ´ siesta time´, but that is almost impossible.  Most shops close for 2-3 hours in the afternoon so all is fairly quiet around town but we still have around ten children who don't go to school and all the children who are in school in the morning are home for the afternoon, so there are nineteen in all.   Then, one of our older boys starts school at 4.30 pm and then at 6pm it is time to collect the afternoon kids and then take others to additional classes and then pick up the boy at 7.15pm from his school out in a poorer area of the city.  Hectic to say the least! Water has been a big problem where we had to allocate small buckets for showers, washing dishes, floors and flushing toilets etc. At times there was no water.  This situation has had me in tears many times as we cannot function without sufficient water. The amount of washing that has to be done each day is incredible, let alone, the water needed to keep the place clean.  Dirty clothes would build up, floors weren't washed as often as needed and worst of all, toilets didn't get flushed!  Now praise God, it looks as if we will receive a truck load of water each week which will relieve a lot of the tension, stress and strain. It is hard to find staff for a place like this, not too many people want to work with such a large amount of children of such diverse backgrounds.  Therefore, all the children have chores to do each day, additional to their bed and room, such as, sweeping and washing floors, kitchen duties including preparation of the food, dinning room order and cleaning, bathrooms etc. Also, all the school children have to wash their uniforms by hand each day along with all their whites. They all rotate on the roster but it is ´heavy going´ making sure everyone is doing their task as these children are like children everywhere and at times, try and get out of doing their work. Well, it is time to sign off once again.  It is now the 24th June.  Over the past week or so we have had a number of illnesses in the house; vomiting, diarrhea, migraines, colds and fatigue, this time among the adults.  Coping with that, the children and the end of the school year, has been hard.   Here, in Mexico, they graduate with a, more-or-less, formal function from Kinder as well as Grade 6, which means new clothes, shoes etc.  You have to find a ´Padrino´ who has the responsibility, among other things, to present the child with a graduation ring! Also, the other children in the school are involved in dances for the occasion. We have also had the problem of finding a secondary school for Merril and a senior high for his brother Moacir.  Merril and Moacir are illegal immigrants.  Both boys are very intelligent and are stranded here.  They have lived with us for 15 months and are great kids.  All the schools are asking for a document called an FM3 which migration won't give them at this stage.  I even reminded them that we help them a lot but it didn't swing us any favours.  All minors who live in Mexico have a right to an education but without the FM3 it seems impossible, ´catch 22´.  We have been going around in circles; schools, Immigration, Human Rights etc.  Now we have one more meeting on Monday with the slight hope that they might accept Merril because he has been studying in a primary school here for the past year.  Moacir´s chances of finishing his schooling do not look promising.  He won't be able to study in the school system and therefore won´t be able to go to university. Moacir is the one who wrote the poem of thanks to Alan and me which we sent in the last newsletter. God bless you all.  Thank you once again for your wonderful support.

Pam and Alan Skuse