Mexico Program
Tentative Mexico Trip Dates: June 15th – 28th, 2010
Announcing the new site in Chiapas, Mexico!
Meet the 2010 Mexico Team Leaders: Paul Masuyama
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The YouthLINC team will be serving at a brand new service site, the tiny village of Bautista Grande, just outside San Cristobal de Las Casas, a mountain village located near Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital city. Chiapas is the southernmost state in Mexico and borders Guatemala to the east. The people of Bautista Grande are a humble, reserved and loving people who speak their indigenous language of Tzotzil, an ancient Mayan tongue. The village is in need of a water catchment system, a medical clinic, junior high and more kindergarten classrooms. They are also in need of education, community health and first aid training and micro-enterprise opportunities. They are excited and grateful to be partnering with YouthLINC for the next few years and can’t wait to work alongside the YouthLINC participants.
YouthLINC alums, friends, and family will be the first group to help in Bautista Grande. Read about their activities!
Ocotlan, Mexico Report -2009
The YouthLINC team returned one final time to Ocotlan, Mexico, a small town about 40 miles outside of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. Participants once again worked with several different communities during their two week stay and had wonderful opportunities to share their talents and strengths with the people of Ocotlan. The group focused on 5 different health fairs in 5 different communities, worked with special education students and their parents, provided social work expertise to those struggling with abuse and addiction problems, completed a new roof at a primary school in El Fuerte and did lots of painting. Though it is sad to leave a community we have served for such a significant amount of time, our participants came home feeling accomplished, most of them expressing that they felt our work had been completed there and it was time for us to move on. A special thanks goes out to the Rotary Club of Ocotlan for five wonderful years of partnership and for their efforts working with YouthLINC to improve the lives of the people in Ocotlan and the surrounding communities.
One of the moments that really impacted me was during our reflection meeting on our last night in Ocotlan. It was an emotional experience as I listened to everyone’s personal thoughts about the trip and how it has impacted them personally. I have become closer to my team than I could have ever imagined.” -Jessica Taylor, Mexico 2009
Medical
The Medical team put together several health lessons that they taught each day in five different communities. Lessons included hygiene, sexually transmitted diseases, dental hygiene and mental health. They taught anywhere from thirty-fifty people each day and handed out over 200 basic hygiene kits everyday in each community. One of the social workers on the team also worked with the parents of special education students to understand how to cope and deal with their children’s disabilities.
Education
The YouthLINC participants focused on work with special education students in several of the communities. Social workers and special education teachers consulted with many students and parents, most of which deal with neurological damage that goes undiagnosed their entire lives. The team also donated supplies to Jamay, El Fuerte and the orphanage in Ocotlan as well as spent time playing games with the children at the orphanage.
Construction
YouthLINC helped complete a new roof for the primary school in El Fuerte and provided tables, chairs and other equipment for their lunchroom through a Rotary International Grant. The grant also provided a deep well for the community of San Juan Chico. Much thanks to the Rotary Clubs of Richfield, Vernal, and Sugar House for their support of this grant, as well as the Rotary Club of Ocotlan for their administration.
The YouthLINC team tiled a new floor in the community center in El Fuerte and provided play ground equipment for a school in Jamay. YouthLINC participants also spent a lot of time painting schools and a new community center room, re-painting playground equipment and several students used their artistic ability to paint murals on several different schools in Ocotlan and the surrounding communities.
Physical Therapy
YouthLINC has focused in the last few years on physical therapy in the community, as the members of Ocotlan have asked for help in this area. Physical therapists and students did consults in each community and spent time training rehab nurses in the area about safe physical therapy practices and techniques. Students also made home visits and took much needed supplies for the disabled such as bathroom supplies, prosthetic limbs, therabands and exercise equipment.
Social Work
Social work students alongside trained professionals provided consults to many community members and spent time teaching classes on substance abuse with DIF, Mexico’s Child and Family Services Center. The social workers were a big connector between the community members and the resources that are already available in the community. The Social work committee helped the community learn how to utilize the few resources available and answered questions from the community about options for help.
Cultural Exchange
The cross-cultural committee held a carnival for the community of El Fuerte, where they played games, painted faces, had piñatas and gave out prizes to the children. One YouthLINC participant shared his talents with the community and played the bagpipes for everyone present at the carnival. Participants also held opening and closing ceremonies for Ocotlan, singing the National Anthem, sharing speeches and presenting the city of Ocotlan and the members of the Ocotlan Rotary club with a plaque from YouthLINC expressing thanks for five full years of community partnership.
One day we were in El Fuerte painting and cleaning- I was sweeping the basketball court when a few women came to help. Suddenly, a group of boys came to help too! It was so neat to see that my example could inspire others. I felt hope for the World, because little things can create big change.” – Marisa Andrews, Mexico 2009
2009 Program: June 18 - June 29, 2009
Meet the 2009 Mexico Team Leaders: Alison Merrit and Bonnijane Black Monson, ATC
Ocotlan, Mexico
This year the YouthLINC Team returned to Ocotlan, Mexico, a small town located just 40 miles south of Guadalajara in the province of Jalisco. Students worked with several different communities in the surrounding areas teaching, building and sharing hope with the people in these communities. The team split up into several groups and covered several different fields of expertise including social work, special education, physical therapy and construction.
I was able to help El Grupo Puente (a local women's cooperative) get more funds so that their members could get sewing machines and make money for their families. The women in this group live in very difficult circumstances. It hit me hard how important the job is that we are doing." --Christopher Morin
San Juan Chico
In This small community of about 260 people, the YL team worked hard to prep and paint a primary school, adding a beautiful mural to one side of the school. They also cleaned up the grounds of the school, gathering trash, cutting grass and weeds and helping with upkeep of the school grounds and surrounding area.
Next Year
Thanks to a Rotary International Grant, YL plans to build a water well in San Juan Chico providing piped, clean water for the entire community. YL also plans to partner with El Grupo Puente, a Women's group in San Juan Chico to provide a loan to start a mop-making business to help provide income for their families.
El Fuerte
With a population of 500 people, El Fuerte sits on two sides of a drainage ditch on the outskirts of Ocotlan. The YL Team made physical therapy home visits and the social workers focused on group topics for community therapy sessions. They also put together a large health fair in the community, teaching lessons on drug and alcohol abuse, hygiene, insect bites, physical health and exercise and public health. They medical team gave physicals to the children in daycare and had a fabulous experience working with a program for young workers, assessing and consulting with high school age students.
Part of the YouthLINC experience in Ocotlan includes visiting DIF, an organization that acts as a Department of Child and Family Services. They have a broad range of programs including employing several social worker and psychologist to aid the community, a day care center for less than school age children of single mothers, and several pre-schools, which they run in different communities. They also have a school lunch program in impoverished areas and have started up a micro-enterprise program and were eager to partner with us this year.
The YL participants worked with DIF participating in community health fairs, teaching classes on substance abuse, working in and visiting day cares and schools in the area.
Next Year
YL plans to continue its partnership with DIF and will continue participating in health fairs. In El Fuerte YL plans to build a nursery school, provide more group therapy sessions with more professionals involved, and thanks to an International Rotary Grant, plans to build a lunchroom to add on to the school in El Fuerte.
T he people of Ocotlan are amazing people. They are so hardworking and care so much about improving their community. Our presence and our partnership help the people improve their lives and make important long-term changes."
-- Ali Stringham
Jamay
Most of the time spent here in this community was at the school for disabilities, where the participants painted murals, planted trees and flowering plants, played with the children, and painted buildings that needed help and upkeep. The medical team and special educators worked hard doing family consults with much of the community and the physical therapists and students worked with the disabled children. They brought down many donated ankle and leg braces to give to the children so that they can walk and possibly run like normal children do. They saw great success and many smiling faces in Jamay.
I think we had an overwhelming impact at the international site. We impacted each other and had the time of our lives. Nothing felt like a chore - it was just people helping people. Everyone had something to offer and the generosity was incredible."
-- Olivia Wee
Next Year
YouthLINC would like to provide a playground with playground equipment for the school and will plant more trees to provide shade. Other plans including bringing medical supplies to the Red Cross Hospital in Ocotlan, providing more special educators for next year and plans to spend more time working with the children in the schools.