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Shoes for Shoeless Residents of Tuxcueca, Jalisco I met Luz Maria Bernal for the first time in 1998 after interviewing her former farmworker brother in Salinas. At the time, she was caring for both her aged campesino father and young son near the plaza in Tuxcueca. Luz is very aware of where the most impoverished residents of her town live. Whenever Center staff visit Tuxcueca, Luz graciously opens her home as a location from which clothes, dental supplies and toys can be distributed to the neediest residents.
Luz informs me that shoes are the item most lacking in the lives of those most impoverished. She claims that shoes sold in Mexico are expensive and don’t wear well, whereas shoes from the U.S. often last for years. One of the most impoverished families in Tuxcueca lives right down the road from Luz. Though the door to their “residence” appears like almost everyone else’s, entrance into their dwelling is a shocking testament to the extent of poverty in the region. The visitor is immediately assailed with the strong odor of mold emanating from the damp adobe brick walls from which the dwelling is constructed. Dim lighting and almost no furniture or household items at all muster an image of the three families living in a moldy cave, rather than a home (see photos below). Children in this “cave” environment are especially lacking in basic essentials. The oldest son in one family has a systemic infection and allergic reaction to the mold that results in the whites of his eyes appearing bright red. In combination with the malnutrition he is experiencing, his immune response is compromised, and he complains of skin rashes and stomach aches. In a recent visit to Tuxcueca, none of the children living in the “cave” had functional shoes. I learned from Luz that many other families with children in Tuxcueca live in comparable poverty. Of services that the Center can provide these children, what is most needed for the children of Tuxcueca are functional shoes (see photos below). Please donate here so that we can supply every needy child with a functional pair of shoes and sox on our next trip to Tuxcueca in early 2009. The "cave" — a so-called home for a family of six:
Shoes for the needy...
Please donate generously so that we can continue this important work.
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