As soon as we passed customs, the electronic doors opened, and we were greeted by the friendly Juan Munoz, who shook our hands enthusiastically.
“Bienvenidos a Mexico!” Welcome to Mexico, he exclaimed
Juan was Ascari’s uncle and would be hosting us at his home for the next seven days. The strong smell of trash and pollution quickly filled our noses. It was a three-hour ride from the airport to Hidalgo and an hour to meet our leader, Ascari, at a near by bus stop. Ascari Arias, one of Dr. Brown’s former students, had started the nonprofit organization Vidas De Esperanza, “Lives of Hope”, after seeing the need in his hometown. The big white van that was transporting us quickly filled with small talk from those who had previously been on the trip and those who were eager to start helping.
After a long trip and a pit stop to eat pastes, we arrived at the two-story orange house where Juan’s sons and lovely wife, Zoila,were waiting for us. We
quickly set up our sleeping arrangements and began making small bags filled with school supplies that we had collected from our family, friends, and the Reinhardt community.
On our first day, we visited a small school where we painted the courts and jungle gym, handed out school supplies, and even distributed Beanie Babies. The school was small, and we were welcomed with open arms.
Each parent showed up that day to help beautify the school and made sure to thank us for all we were doing for their children. As a token of their appreciation, they fed us. The families didn’t have much, but they all came together as a com-munity to show their gratitude. As we finished our plates, they offered us more and more, hoping we’d understand how thankful they were for the work we had done.
This was something that we saw throughout the week. We watched as communities came together to thank us by feeding us with all the resources they
All photographs by: Karina Rodriguez
The children at Loma de Xothi enjoying their freshly painted jungle gym.
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"We were giving, but not everything we had—and they were."