It has been a very good week, soothing and happy, with wonderful little events bringing zest and excitement to us and to the little lives with whom we have recently teamed.

Funding in place, Juan Dominguez found an apartment on Wednesday for Daniella, Relely and their family with electricity and a bathroom. In the following days, their mom cleaned the apartment and they moved in their few possessions. The girls are really excited about having both lights at night, a bath and a toilet. On Friday, when the mother visited our clinic to express her thanks, our Mexican director, Noemi Noriega was grateful to see the mother clean and happy, already looking years younger. Today, Sunday, the family was given a nice bedroom set including a large dresser and a double bed. The six of them will be sleeping in the same bed tonight.

In the recent week we have also been doing “rounds” to check up on our Agua Prieta friends. Tiny little Plinia of Chiapas has been a friend of Board Member Chris Pignotti’s ever since their first meeting four years ago in one of the newest barrios growing south of the city. Plinia was missing her front teeth and seemed to be the age of 13. She was with three little children and seeing them together, Chris reached out to what he realized was their plight, insufficient food. He gave Plinia $200. She flushed with joy and in her sweet way said in English, “God Bless You”. Fast forward, Plinia fooled us all. She was really 23 and these were her children, but there is more to tell. Rather than spend the money on food, Plinia bought concrete and gathered rocks and sand from the deep arroyo near their terrible little shack and built a substantial footing for a real room. Of course we were flabbergasted, and Chris said “Plinia, take another $200 and if you would like, we will help you buy ladrillo (adobe brick), and we can bring used windows and doors and we can all work together to help you build this fine room, safe for your family.” It all happened with the help of Colorado volunteer Ron Becker and our Mexican constructor Marcelino Enriquez. We stopped by Plinia’s today to drop off a size 5 party dress someone had given us. Our surprise was the dropped dry wall ceiling started in the great room (winter insulation), a sturdy front door, and iron grills on the windows. And, I should mention, Plinia has some fine front teeth that our free dental clinic provided some six months ago.

The Mexican highways are very dangerous. In December three teenage daughters died here after a family accident coming home from Juarez. Had there been an ambulance and an EMT crew, the little girls would most surely have survived. This can all be fixed and here is how. Cruz Roja, no relation to the Red Cross of the US, struggles with inadequate training and equipment, yet they are the emergency response in every Mexican town. In Agua Prieta, we teamed with the Cruz Roja leadership to create an EMT/Paramedic model training program led by Douglas Fire Captain Manuel Ayala. Our Utah Rotarians and the town council of Hyrum, Utah, have provided a fully-equipped ambulance for Cruz Roja which will be presented after the training program which is held three days a week for six months. They will graduate in September. Manuel is very pleased with the quality of the 28 EMT/Paramedic students. This model will surely spread to other towns, which is, of course, the goal.

This Friday, July 18, is our regular monthly Crisis Intervention Clinic, and more stories on how Wings of Angels is helping will be posted.

Posted by Wings of Angels on Monday, July 14th, 2008 @ 8:23AM
Categories: 2008