Mexico Program

2007-2008 Program: Thursday, June 19 - Monday, June 30

Meet the Mexico Team Leader: Peter Ingle

Ocotlan, Mexico

Our visit to the town of Ocotlan was especially rewarding this year, as students in the YouthLINC Mexico program worked with others to teach, share, and offer hope.

This was our third year in Ocotlan, which is located just 40 miles south of Guadalajara in the heart of Mexico. As in years past, students worked side-by-side with Rotarians to teach at health fairs in five outlying impoverished pueblos. Parent-teacher workshops in special education issues and family consults were done at Escuela de Education Especial (EEE), a school for children with disabilities. The physical and occupational therapists and medical team also consulted with families in need of service through the town's Division of Family Services.

YouthLINC participants painted murals, held a carnival, and cleaned the grounds of a local school.

"The hard work and dedication of the poor support the society in which we live. My home, my clothes, my car, i-pod, computer, my everything are made by my brothers and sisters. The greatest ability is the capacity to have meaningful relationships with others regardless of their circumstance. I won't forget that all our lives are connected."
-- Smitty Monson, Mexico 2007

Microenterprise Program Implemented

An important part of our trip was the implementation of a microenterprise program in the impoverished communities of La Primavera and an area called the Brickyard. "The situation is precarious," one YouthLINC student wrote. "Some live in houses constructed from wood pallets and tin roofs with their children. They have next to nothing."

As community partnerships are central to the YouthLINC program, we are working with an established women's group, El Grupo Puente, to provide on-going hygiene, reading, writing, and sewing lessons to the impoverished single women and families in these communities. We are providing a donation of 20 sewing machines, supplies and material so El Grupo Puente can teach the poorest women a way to earn a living. When a woman learns to sew well enough, she will be eligible for a small loan for a sewing machine of her own. The YouthLINC team left business lessons for teachers and students for use by the group.

2007-2008 Efforts

Next year, our team will continue to work in the poorest of the poor pueblos surrounding Ocotlan, providing supplies and support through partnership. The microenterprise program will continue, reaching more impoverished families who are willing to work to lift themselves up. Our efforts with those with disabilities will continue, mostly as an outreach program to those who do not have access to services. We will continue our community health efforts. Most dramatically, we hope that through a Rotary International Matching Grant and the financial and technical support of the Rotary Club of Ocotlan, we will be able to provide clean piped water to almost 1000 people in La Primavera pueblo.

"I think the biggest lesson I learned while in Ocotlan is the fact that I still have a lot to learn in life and that the only way to learn more is to see opportunities to stretch yourselves beyond what you would normally think you are capable of doing. I learned that individual people really do have the power to change lives."
-- Merrit Denison, Mexico 2007