Serving People in Need in Mexico by Removing Barriers to Physical and Spiritual Wholeness, One Community at a Time
Transformacion
Summer 2009
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Board of Directors
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Alisa Allen
Larry Cox
Bill Eaton
Dr. Judy Erickson
Don Eubank
Lee Forland
RIchard M. Gozia
Matt Merrill
David Robinson
Frank Roby
Dr. Nancy Rodriguez
Chad Townes
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Medical Director
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| Dr. Nancy Rodriguez |
Mission Director
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| Larry Cox |
Executive Director
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| Ellen Curnes |
Contact Us
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Juntos Servimos
12801 Central Expressway
Suite 1560
Dallas, TX 75243
www.juntosservimos.org
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Contact Larry or Dr. Nancy:
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Save These Dates
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October 26, 2009
Juntos Servimos Golf Tournament
March 6, 2010
Esperanza 5K Run |
Please Add Me to the Juntos Servimos E-Mail List
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 A van and special motorized vehicle, both donated, give Edgar, a 15-year old community resident with muscular dystrophy, more mobility.
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From the roof of the new dining room. The public elementary school is in the
background and the foreground is the expanded care facility. The foundation for the expansion was dug by volunteers from Custer Road UMC in December. |
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Greetings!
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Welcome to the first issue of "Transformacion", the Juntos Servimos newsletter. Its purpose is to reach out to the Casa Bugambilia community, wherever its members reside, and provide news of transformation and hope that happens everyday at Casa Bugambilia.
Juntos
Servimos was formed to support Dr. Nancy Rodriguez and Larry Cox in their
work in the canal colonias near Matamoros. Many of you worked with Dr. Nancy and Larry in the early days of their mission and remember the needs of the community in those days. The need is still great, but if you have recently visited Casa Bugambillia you know the transformation that has already occurred and continues to occur.
Since its founding in 2004, Juntos Servimos has raised over $1.2 million. But as the medical and education activities expand to touch more colonia residents, the resources needed, both for volunteers and finances, also grows. Casa Bugambilia currently provides care and shelter for ten ill and abandoned persons and, when the expanded care facility is complete, will provide for up to twenty persons.
Qualified teachers provide supplemental tutoring for over thirty elementary students, as well as "learning ready" classes for preschoolers, in dedicated classrooms built by volunteers. Another classroom facility, also built by volunteers, stands ready in the Ampliacion Santa Maria colonia when teachers and the resources to support them can be found.
We welcome your ideas and suggestions as to the best way to bring the Casa Bugambilia community to you through this newsletter -- the subjects you're interested in and the best format. I can be reached at ellen@juntosservimos.org.
~Ellen Curnes, Executive Director
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One Community
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This photo of Lupita was taken on
her 9th birthday, just a few weeks ago.
She is being fitted in a standing frame
by Julie Luttrell, Will Jiron, and Mathew Jiron, volunteers from First United Methodist Church Mansfield.
Lupita's smile registers only a small
part of the fear which she felt moments earlier when she stood up for the first
time, experiencing the world in a way she never had before.
Lupita lives with cerebral palsy.
She struggles with control of her body and does not speak yet. The Casa
Bugambilia community began assisting in her care about 16 months ago. At that
time, Lupita weighed about 22 pounds and she could not hold her head up at all.
Mimi, Lupita's mother, was
invited to join Naty in the Casa Bugambilia kitchen and bring Lupita with her.
Mimi is paid for her work. Lupita is able to be with her mother while she
works and with the Casa Bugambilia community about six hours a day, five or six
days a week.
When Lupita, Mimi and their family became part of the Casa Bugambilia community, no one knew what level of development Lupita could reach.
The only sure thing was to give her a clean and comfortable environment and to
pay attention to her. To learn from her what she needed. Since then, Lupita has
gained weight and become much stronger. Volunteer physical therapists from Indiana
and Texas have taught exercises to give her more body control. She can
hold her head up now!
It's uncertain how much more
Lupita will develop. We will continue to pay attention and learn from her. Thankfully, volunteers have worked generously with Lupita during their
missions and therapists visiting from time to time offer helpful
ideas. Most important, though, is Lupita herself. With her perseverance,
and with so many who care for her, there is great hope that this child will
develop so much more. |
Help the Casa Bugambilia Community
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You can help relieve suffering and bring transformation to the colonias communities. Please consider a donation.
If you would like to volunteer your time or talents to serve in Matamoros or from your home community,
please contact Larry Cox or Ellen Curnes.
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Removing Barriers -- Sharing the Gift of Mobility
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Earlier this summer, volunteers from First UMC Mansfield spent a weekend delivering wheelchairs in the colonias.
Teresa Sherwood, Director of Mission Ministries at First UMC Mansfield, shared that "we watched as Juan received a gift for his 9th birthday, a highly specialized children's wheelchair, personally adjusted to fit his needs. Six year old Ramiro radiated with joy as he was able to walk on his own in his new gait trainer."
This trip marked the 750th wheelchair delivered to Mexico by First UMC Mansfield through their partnership with Joni and Friends Ministry. The volunteer group included a wheelchair specialist to do specialized fittings at a day-long distribution event.
Teresa also shared that "We were surprised on our arrival by a 'celebration of gratitude' from the staff, volunteers, and clients of DIF (the Mexican Governmental Social Services). They had prepared an entertainment event featuring singers, musicians, dancers, a visit from the mayor, and words from key people in the partnership. By 2:00 pm, we had distributed 75 wheelchairs, many of them specially adapted to the specific needs of the recipient, as well as a few other specialty equipment pieces that our technician had brought."
Teresa noted that "It is such a blessing to share the gift of mobility with those who have been left out of life by their disability. Thanks to the ministry of Juntos Servimos, we are privileged to be a part of that blessing."
UMC-Mansfield volunteers plan to deliver 200 more wheelchairs over the Labor Day weekend. The volunteer group will include trained technicians and support volunteers.
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Serving Together -- A Note From Larry Cox
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The fewest number of words to describe what is happening
with Juntos Servimos is "We work to relieve suffering." We have the ill and
abandoned with us at our albergue called Casa Bugambilia. There are hundreds of
people with untreated diabetes within walking distance of Casa Bugambilia.
There are also hundreds of children failing to advance in their education. In
different ways they all suffer, and I believe we all have a growing awareness
as to how that suffering crushes people. How painful and unnecessary it is!
Dra. Nancy and I are here almost every day, but we are
not the "We" written above. Juntos Servimos means "Together We
Serve." We are hundreds of people who volunteer in Matamoros each year and
an untold number of people remaining in their home communities who support
those volunteers. The volunteers have described their reasons for coming here;
it is a surprisingly long list. There is at least one common thread amongst all
the reasons. There is the expectation that a transformation will occur; there
is the expectation of a good result. This is something we look for with each
person in our care, whether the care is medical
or educational or other.
You are invited to be here with us in Matamoros. Nancy
and the rest of us here will do our best to host you well. We have construction
work for you: the expansion of Casa Bugambilia to care for more ill and
abandoned people, to care for more people with diabetes and to educate more
kids and the building of homes for people living in shacks. There is medical
work for you, including physical therapy and campaigns like our work to prevent
cervical cancer. And there is a wide variety of educational and other
activities for you with the kids.
I am a volunteer with Juntos Servimos. And I am a
financial contributor as well. Please consider a donation to Juntos Servimos.
Your contribution will be converted to "relieve suffering." You can be sure of
that. We are spending about $35 an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That
works out to an amount over $300,000 a year, a lot of money. Our financial records are reviewed by a certified public accountant, and we post our annual financial statements and tax information statements to
our website.
Yes, 24 hours a day. We work to relieve suffering - 24 hours a day. How? The
commitment of people serving in Matamoros whether for one day or much longer
and the generosity of those who donate.
Please contact me at larry@juntosservimos.org or by telephone at the numbers above or Ellen at ellen@juntosservimos.org
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