At KANKUN we are proud to support MISION MEXICO we are delighted to share the the annual News letter 2014 produced by the team. Thank you for buying KANKUN and for supporting the children in TAPACHULA!
‘Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty’. Without education, one is destined to a life of hardship.
Misión México’s children have been blessed with the opportunity to advance their lives through education, thanks to the wonderful support we receive through donations, sponsorships and scholarships.
It is because of your generosity that we are able to provide quality schooling and artistic expression for our children, and for this, we are extremely grateful.
Each child is advancing in all areas of their lives, some rapidly, others at a slower rate, but all are moving forward and that is something wonderful to be a part of.
The new school year, which started in the second part of August, found many of the children challenged with the workload. After the first lot of exams, many students were not faring as well as expected and the reason was because of their music classes.
A number of the children are in an orchestra which demands four hours per day, five days a week! Even though we love music, and the fact that the children are doing so well with these lessons, we do find it extreme to have four hours per day, therefore, we had to request that they reduce their hours to three hours per day. This they reluctantly did and now thankfully we have seen an improvement in their grades.
Recent exams proved that the extra hour to study was necessary for success with each child improving and Maria Esther getting pure 10’s, 100%.
Maria 1 is continuing to study dance and loving every minute of it. She has a dream to open her own dance school in the future.
Our University Students :Our other older students who are in University are doing extremely well. Moacir has finished his studies in Business Management in Australia and is now working for a Guzman y Gomez Restaurant on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and loving life.
Dulce, who is studying Social Work is enjoying her course also with her grades being in the top ten.
Joselin is also doing exceptionally well with her chosen career, Administration, with her grades being above average. Joselin is supported through Misión México for her degree but she has also been juggling life being a single Mum and doing part time work to support herself and little Alan Jesse. We are so proud of her.
Yuri is studying Biotechnology and has classes six days a week. This degree was perfectly suited for her and she is thoroughly enjoying it with excellent grades.
Mario is continuing in his Administration degree and doing well, though living independently has been a struggle for him, juggling work and study.
Katherine continues to be one of the top students in Medicine for her level. She has done two and a half years so far which is virtually half way through her degree. Katherine is also studying English and French and has excellent grades in both subjects.
Griselda is in her last year of senior high school and even though it is extremely difficult, she is gaining top marks.
Maria, Griselda, Dulce and Yuri are in our Youth Transition Program (YTP) where they are learning to live independently. This program has almost completed its first year and we have seen incredible progress in the four young ladies.
We hope to be able to start a male transition house next year so that our young male adults can learn independent living skills in a safe environment.
We are looking for people with experience in working with youth to dedicate 6-12 months to this program. House Supervisors are needed for both the female and male houses. If you know of anyone who would be interested in these sponsored positions please email Deborah@lovelifehope.com
Homeschooling :
Homeschooling the six children who don’t ‘fit-in’ in the normal school system has been amazing with all students advancing. Vidalicia, who is almost 14 years is now able to recognize letters and numbers. She is doing simple addition and subtraction and writing short sentences.
Two new children have been welcomed into the Misión México family and are now involved with the homeschool group and are very eager to learn. We are hoping to put these two children into the public system in the new year.
Ballet classes are going well with seven children receiving scholarships from the ballet school. We have to provide their uniforms, ballet shoes, and performance costumes.
When there is a parent viewing of the classes, my heart fills with pride watching their graceful moves and beautiful posture. What a transformation from the lives that they had before.
Background
A bit of background about the difficulties faced by our students. Unfortunately here in Mexico there is an element of corruption in most areas of society and education is not free of this ‘terrible plague’. A number of our older students have suffered the consequences of not being ‘a part of it’, not falling into the trap of the corruption that exists.
At one school, a teacher in senior high failed most of his students but offered that if they gave him money, he would pass them. Of course our student was not a part of this and had to sit for an extra exam that was at a higher expense than the bribe.
Another student, who is normally the highest in her class has now found that less academic students miraculously are at the top of the class after social outings with their professor, something she refused to be a part of.
A few years back, at the end of the school year, I went to the sub-director of one school to complain that we felt that the teachers were discriminating against our kids. We had put up with a number of things but when one of the teachers was heard to say; ‘Ahh, it was probably the kids from the refuge’, for some problem that had nothing to do with our kids, a red flag went up in front of me. I could not continue to be quiet so went to visit the school. At the meeting I was quite calm when I explained to the sub-director that I felt that there was a problem, but she became incredibly aggressive, and if looks could kill, I think I would be dead now! Then when I went to re-enroll the kids for the new school year, they were banned from the school!
There is always a challenge here to deal with but we manage!
The children have been busy with the preparations for Christmas and are looking forward to the holidays. They certainly deserve a happy holiday having worked so hard this year.
We wish you a healthy and happy
new year and we look forward
to your ongoing help in 2015.
Once again, thank you for your wonderful support for these children.
God bless,
Pam and Alan Skuse and all at Misión México
