Our charity is more than the number of people we helped, the number of children we fed and the accounting we provide for every dollar we spend as a charity. Paper Houses is an advanced charity. It is a grown-up and it is a difficult charity.
Although we list our many accomplishments and account for every dollar, Paper Houses Across the Border is serving more than those lists. Our charity is a commitment and a sacred trust. Our help is not conditional and is certainly not affected by the dangers of the cartels in Acuna or the impact of the economy on our personal lives. Our commitment to sacrifice and service to the poor of the colonias is not based upon the shifting sands of safety and the economy. Changing conditions only means that we work harder to keep our sacred promises and commitments.
We do not honor Paper Houses Across the Border, but we honor the people Paper Houses serves. We strive to be worthy of the example of the people we serve. We strive to be worthy of Juan Pedro and Ambar - both very young children who smile, laugh and play in spite of the fact that they each lost a leg before their 10th birthday. We strive to be worthy of every working family that remain living in terrible poverty and who are surrounded by violence.
We are all broken and living lives of imperfection. With all of our great wealth, and we have all been blessed with great wealth, we still feel lacking in some ways. We honor the people of the colonias who give us time to reflect and to put our own difficulties into perspective. They give us opportunities to fill the voids in our lives. We honor these people as they give us many opportunities to fix something - right now! We feel frustrated because we cannot fix the economy, the unemployment, the mounting national debt and we cannot end hunger or prevent the injustice of amputations and poor health. The children and people of the colonias give us some things we can fix - right now. We can provide medicine that heals a few children and they do not need to undergo amputations. We can provide prosthetic limbs, surgery that prevent blindness and we can feed a child. We can walk into a child's life and say, "Here! I can buy you a good meal every day at school. It only cost me $3 a month!" Although we may fill their little bellies, they fill our souls!
Our time and our money are blessings entrusted to us and we are expected to invest both wisely. We honor the children of the colonias for the opportunity they provide for us to do so in an awareness of our physical mortality and our spiritual immortality.
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Violence in Acuna
Acuña is now caught in the middle of a drug war that involves multiple cartels and the Mexican Military. We are able to pay the bills at every shelter and program we support through the banks without traveling into Acuña. However, there are still little kids and parents waiting to see me about getting treatment for their children. Some of these children have cancer. Others need surgery. Many need bus tickets to the big hospitals in Monterrey and those must be purchased.
My presence in the colonias continues to give the people hope. I am their friend. They need to see me on the street and at the hospital. I will not travel after dark and will not remain in Acuña overnight. I know where the military installation is at and can easily avoid driving near that facility. There is no reason for any cartel to have an interest in the colonias where I will travel. I know many of the places where drugs are sold and where people connected with drugs reside. Naturally, I will avoid these places.
More than ever, there will be needs among the poor. Church groups and charities from the U.S. will cease their activities. The people they were helping will now need our help. We need to get the word out to everyone we know to provide support.
At the end of the day, the children still need to eat. They still need medicine. The children in the shelters need someone to help pay the bills or the power gets turned off and the food and water can't be purchased. The shelters we normally support are fine. I am writing about the other shelters that depended on visiting groups from America for help. They are going to need our help.
My presence in the colonias continues to give the people hope. I am their friend. They need to see me on the street and at the hospital. I will not travel after dark and will not remain in Acuña overnight. I know where the military installation is at and can easily avoid driving near that facility. There is no reason for any cartel to have an interest in the colonias where I will travel. I know many of the places where drugs are sold and where people connected with drugs reside. Naturally, I will avoid these places.
More than ever, there will be needs among the poor. Church groups and charities from the U.S. will cease their activities. The people they were helping will now need our help. We need to get the word out to everyone we know to provide support.
At the end of the day, the children still need to eat. They still need medicine. The children in the shelters need someone to help pay the bills or the power gets turned off and the food and water can't be purchased. The shelters we normally support are fine. I am writing about the other shelters that depended on visiting groups from America for help. They are going to need our help.
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