Fatima

Our social calendar is getting very full at the moment. Some of our snowbird friends from Nova
Scotia are going back at the end of the month and Barb wants to have them over to our place to see our casa and visit a bit before then. Kay and Paul, who are from Kentville and have been coming down here for about 4 years, were over Saturday night. Although we have been to some functions with them and met them frequently on the street (they are great walkers every day), this was the first opportunity to really get to know them. Next Saturday, Cathy and Gary, who did live in Five Island Lake but bought another house and moved to Fall River, have accepted our invitation to visit next Saturday night.

Today, Barb and the four women from Nova Scotia (Kate, Cathy , Kay and Sonya) went in to Tlaquepaque. It was successful and they arrived back safely in due course, having done a fair bit of shopping.

Sunday we went to the picnic for the godparents and children from Amor in Acción. It was held in a beautiful house in Vista del Lago, which is a gated community about 7 miles east of Chapala on the road to Mexcala. The development, which has its own private security force, also contains the Chapala Country Club; I’m not sure if the golf course is 18 holes or 9 holes. It is kind of out in the country. However, the houses are very grand. The house for the picnic is a 2 story on a hill. You come in to the main upper floor at street level. The ceilings are high with large beams for rafters, much like our house. The lower level opens on to a large patio; then the property goes down to a 3rd level where the pool is and another building, that may have been a casita, but it is now a games room (with a billards table and large bar). It is quite spectacular.

The kids loved the pool, as you might imagine. Barb had already been assured that we could have the 3 girls that Barb had decided were her first choices for godchildren. However, only Fatima (the emphasis is on the middle syllabele) was there (see the photo). The twin girls, (Dareli and Dariana, again emphasis on the 2nd last syllable) were both sick and unable to come; we had noticed that both had coughs on Friday. We found out a bit more about Fatima (about 3 years old). She has 4 other siblings in the shelter by the same mother. The little baby (I’ve forgotten her name), about 10 months old, is a full sister by the same father; however, 2 older sisters and a brother, have different father(s). Fatima seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the people. She was a bit afraid of the pool, but did finally, after a lot of coaxing by the other kids, get into the water. When asking about the twins, one of the staff, who is a registered nurse, talked to us and said that they needed some antibiotics and decongestant. We agreed to buy what she said was needed and dropped it off at the shelter at about 8 p.m. The medicines were not expensive, but the shelter is operating pretty much hand to mouth; however, volunteers are stepping forward. There was an article in the Guadalajara Reporter (an English language weekly that does a lot of reporting on the Chapala area) did a story this week. It featured a girl (about 12 years and who was at the picnic) whose father had held her hand over flames and burned them. She has just had a 2nd operation to correct some of the damage. That will probably bring more people to volunteer and support the shelter.

There was a short meeting of the godparents. Apparently, this programme was started only last fall and has been a terrific success. Over 90 % of the children now have godparents. Some of the latter are snowbirds so there was discussion about how they could remain in contact and assure the children that they would be returning while they were north for the summer. Anabele, the woman who started the shelter and who is the director, was there and I was greatly impressed. She started this from nothing about 6 or 7 years ago. What impressed me was her determination to ensure that the children get an education so that they will be prepared and have the opportunity to have a decent life. She wants to use the gifts the godparents give to be used as incentives for the kids to do well in school. One of the older girls (15 years) made the honour roll at school. Her Canadian godparents agreed to buy the cell phone that she wanted as a reward. Anabele is pretty firm; if they don’t do well, “then we’ll say,’Too bad; maybe if you work hard next year, then you’ll get a gift.’” The sponsorships for the older kids pay for school uniforms, shoes and school supplies; for the young ones, the money goes into an education fund which pays for a pre-school teacher to go in mornings to work with the pre-schoolers.