Santa Julia girls’ home receives Rotary grant
By Gail Lawton 

Casa Hogar Santa Julia Don Bosco home for girls is the recipient of a US$11,825 grant from the Rotary Club of Tryon, NC. The grant was initiated as a result of a talk by Rotarian Gail Lawton of the San Miguel Midday Rotary Club to the Rotary Club of Tryon, NC in late 2005. Rotarian Jerry Atkins of the Tryon Rotary Club wrote the proposal, which was funded by the Tryon Rotary Club, Rotary District 7670 and Rotary International.

The San Miguel Midday Rotary Club is the project partner and will be responsible for administering the grant.

This grant will provide complete uniforms, registration fees and school supplies for the 26 school-aged girls currently residing at Santa Julia. It also will provide 26 ceiling fans and 8 heaters (they currently have neither), 28 new water-saving shower heads, insulation for hot water heaters and pipes, refurbishing of the 3 homework rooms, 13 new fire extinguishers and a fully stocked medical supply cabinet.

Casa Hogar Santa Julia Don Bosco is a Catholic institution offering services to girls who, due to the absence of one or both parents or because they have been abused, come to Casa Hogar Santa Julia. The goal is to care for the girls in a home-like atmosphere where their education and overall growth are based on family values, with special emphasis upon self-esteem, responsibility, discipline and gratitude. The home, located in San Miguel, receives no governmental or church funding and relies entirely upon the generosity of volunteers and benefactors.

Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. The English-speaking Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meets every Tuesday at the Villa Jacaranda Hotel, Aldama 53. Visiting Rotarians and others interested in Rotary are invited to attend all meetings. For more information, please go to the website: www.rotarysma.org. 

Jovenes Adelante students meet their mentors
By Keith Wall

On Sunday afternoon, August 5, Jovenes Adelante scholarship recipients had an extra incentive to attend the organization’s monthly meeting at the Quinta Loreto. They were not only going to pick up their monthly stipends, but they were to meet their new mentors.

While growing contributions have facilitated more scholarship awards to deserving students, administrators worried that with the growth of the program—17 returning students and 26 new recipients—they would no longer be able to provide students the close attention and personal support they needed to succeed. 

This spring they decided to foster a mentor program and initiated efforts, including articles in this newspaper, to locate interested, qualified SMA residents.

The response was more than gratifying and by mid-July, some 40 volunteers had signed up. At an August 1 orientation meeting there were enough attendees to ensure that every Jovenes Adelante scholarship recipient would have a mentor. 

The orientation consisted of presentations and lively discussions of such issues as language and cultural differences, the Mexican character and family dynamics, anticipated needs of students in terms of support and encouragement and in some cases tutoring, based on the past experiences of the Jovenes Adelante staff in working with students.

The role of mentors, it was explained, would be to meet with their students at least monthly to check on their current progress, offer assistance and support as needed and report to the administration any issues or problems affecting the student’s success or well-being. 

Equally important is the anticipation of close, mutually instructive and nourishing friendships developing over time.

Five days later, new mentors gathered outside the door of the Quinta Loreto during the regular distribution meeting, awaiting introduction to their students. One by one, students’ and mentors’ names were called and the pairs of new friends enthusiastically greeted each other and found a place to sit, get acquainted and make plans for future meetings.

San Miguel residents who are interested in learning more about the Jovenes Adelante Scholarship Program are encouraged to contact jovenesadelante@gmail.com.

Amigos blitz
By Marie Abercrombie

Amigos de Animales is a wonderful group of volunteers, a combination of cultures with one goal—to control the population of the dogs and cats here in San Miguel. I was one of the fortunate ones who worked last weekend at their latest blitz, where we sterilized 161 animals free of charge.

For those who are curious, here is how it works. Families that have pets but cannot afford to have them neutered or spayed bring them to the blitz. There are several large blitzes each year in different neighborhoods throughout San Miguel.

Prior to the event, we actively campaign to alert the families to the time and place. The day before, volunteers come to the site to set up operating rooms, recovery rooms, check-in and check-out areas, an educational space for children, chairs and canopy for the guests, and lunch and drinks for the workers.

Once I arrived, I found a very organized group of big-hearted people, doing what they love. At check-in, volunteers help each family fill out the forms and each pet owner is assigned a number, which matches up with their paperwork and their pet’s neck tag. Then the owners and their pets wait patiently until their number is called and the animal is taken into the operating room.

After surgery, which can take 15 to 60 minutes, depending on the condition and health of the animal, the pet is taken into recovery. These rooms are a patchwork of towels on the floor for the dogs, and blanket-filled laundry baskets for the cats. Owners are reunited with their pets in recovery. To find the correct owner, the number on the pet is matched with the paperwork and a volunteer then calls out the family name and number. Because this volunteer often speaks English, on Saturday a wonderful Mexican woman followed the American’s “shout out” with the correct pronunciation, and smiles of recognition came across the faces in the waiting area.

I was assigned to the dog recovery room. I watched as often the entire family gathered around their pet and soothed him while he slowly came out from under anesthesia. The love all owners have for their pets pulls at your heart. These animals are truly part of the family. The recovery time is usually a couple of hours, during which volunteers, including two beautiful young Mexican sisters, Regina and Marcella Bustamante from San Miguel, meet with the families to explain the care that will be needed for their pet during the coming week. The volunteers also gave the dogs brand new collars and leashes with a felt pen and the instructions to put their telephone number on the collar.

It was a long day, but the weather held up for us and in the end, our job was done, although two hours past closing time. All that was left was putting things away and preparing for the next day.

I am sure you can see from all the work that goes into this effort for the animals, the San Miguel families, and our joint community that this is a very costly effort. Amigos sterilizes animals throughout the year for an average cost of 420 pesos for each surgery, not including advertising, veterinarians, medicines, sutures and educational material. Maybe you can help. This is a benefit to all of us.

Please contact Amigos through their website www.amigos-sma.org  or if you’d like to make a contribution, contact Lisa Wandler at lisa@amigos-sma.org or 415.111.4723.

In memory of actress and activist, Kendal Butler

San Miguel resident best known for her community activity Kendal Butler passed away last Friday in Utah. She was 66 years old. She had been flown to the States only days before in order to spend her last hours with her family. Kendal died after a year of wrestling with various illnesses.

Kendal’s daughter will return to San Miguel with her mother’s ashes next week. A memorial service at the local cemetery will held at that time.

Please send your testimonials to Suzanne Ludekens, editor of Atencion, at edit@atencionsanmiguel.org  before noon, Monday, August 27th.

Rest in peace, Kendal

Alcocer: Keeping a village and its people up to date
By Dianne Walta Hart

With contributions from Gregorio Sierra Díaz and Olivia Muñiz Rodríguez.

Cars struggle up the serpentine road that circles the edge of a hill overlooking San Miguel de Allende. As the road widens, drivers in both lanes speed up. By the time they reach the sign on the right that reads “Alcocer 4.5K,” they’ve hit maximum speed and are now focused on the shopping center ahead of them or the glorieta.

But occasionally cars make that sharp right turn in the direction of the Alcocer, putting them on a narrow cobblerock road that’s rough enough to grind down tires, shocks, and patience. 

The surrounding hardscrabble landscape bakes under the intense sun and wind blows plastic bags as far as the nearest sagebrush. People carrying groceries and children walk on the side of the road, often accepting rides from strangers.

On a hot afternoon, teenagers ignore the passing traffic and tie up their horses to a tree and, with their cowboy hats adding additional shade, settle down among the yellow sunflowers and thistles. Cars bump past housing developments, a furniture warehouse, and then, right around a eucalyptus tree and the picturesque ponds called bordos that collect rainwater, lies Alcocer, home to fewer than 1,000. It’s just an uneven 15 minutes from San Miguel—almost an urban rancho, Alcoceranos say, not just because of the proximity to San Miguel but also because many of them know how to read and write and survival no longer depends on their having to sell firewood from the backs of burros. 

Most people who live in Alcocer were born there, and even though many—80% of the workforce—make their living in the United States, most return for part of the year.

There’s something about the place, other than their families and friends, that brings Alcoceranos back from wherever they’ve been: the rock walls enclosing gardens; the scruffy cliffs of the Picachos looming in the background; the tall white agapanthus blossoming in the gardens; the purple-scarlet bugambilia hanging over the walls; the delicate lace covering windows; the handsome children waving on the roadside; or the centuries-old Hacienda de Alcocer providing employment to a handful and history to everyone. Or maybe it’s the gentle coming together of today and yesterday, but a today with better nutrition and education that has improved their lives. 

One man who left, returned, and witnessed all the changes, is the singer of Alcocer, José Dolores de Jesús Sierra Valle, better known as Don Lole. In a sunny patio in San Miguel, he talked of his life, one that has mirrored Alcocer’s. A short solid man with a square face, he wore a Weyerhaeuser baseball hat over his full head of black hair, sported large black-rimmed glasses, and showed his intensity as his short fingers tapped the table. He explained that his granddaughter, the brightest female student in the first grade, can already read almost anything. Then he compared her to his 34-year-old son (her father) who was also the best student. Although he went on to finish secondary school—he had to leave Alcocer to do so—as a first-grader he couldn’t read. And then there was Don Lole, father and grandfather who, since there was no school in Alcocer when he was little, wasn’t taught to read at all. 

Don Lole did learn to read, however, and he did it the hard way. He’s now 74, having lived a long good life, but as he adjusted his chair and his busy fingers, he recalled that during his childhood, a man named Jota volunteered to teach night classes, which Lole attended for three or four months. His education stopped when his father learned that the teacher belonged to the detested National Synarchist Union. As sad as that was, he said, “Jota turned on a light in my mind,” and with nothing more than those few months of studies, Lole taught himself to read. 

And where did his music come from? Around the age of 11, something happened that Don Lole will never forget: while attending Mass in San Miguel’s Parroquia, he heard, for the first time, an organ being played. He liked the sound so much that he instantly decided that someday he’d do that, too. Other than that moment, he has no memories of hearing music, but as he got older, he joined groups that sang in church festivals or on pilgrimages to Atotonilco. He realized how good his voice was, and others took notice as well. When his older brother entered a San Miguel seminary, he gave Lole a book, Solfeo de los Solfeos. Lole, by then accustomed to studying on his own, taught himself music by using a method in which syllables denote the tones of a musical scale.

As luck would have it, by the time he was 16 or 17, the sacristan in charge of Alcocer’s hacienda chapel gave Lole permission to come in and practice on the harmonio, an organ-like instrument run with an air pump, particularly effective in those days when there was no electricity. Don Lole, as he waved his hand toward his head, said that from somewhere came a supernatural gift that gave him the ability to combine his voice and the harmonio. His persistence paid off and every afternoon, when the faithful came to pray, he played the organ between each of the five mysteries of the rosary. 

The energy briefly faded from his face as he talked about his wife, Rosa Díaz Gómez, who died five years ago from complications due to diabetes. They married when he was 18 and she 16. 

At first he planted corn and beans to support his family, but his love for music continued and when his brother, by then a priest in Tepotzotlán, State of México, invited him to play the organ and sing in his church, Don Lole jumped at the prospect. For the next 32 years, Don Lole worked in the church and returned to Alcocer every other week. He became an internal migrant presaging the migration of the last few decades from Alcocer to the United States.

Don Lole brought out a thin beige book covered in protective plastic. The songbook contained the music of the Ordinary Mass, purchased in 1958, still a prized possession of his. He opened it, leaned forward, and began to sing the Kyrie Eleison (Greek for Lord, have mercy). As much as he likes tradition, he’s happy that the Latin Mass was stopped because only he and the priest knew what he was singing. “The people sat with their arms crossed and watched,” he said, “but now, with the words in Spanish, they sing.” As he talked, he moved to the edge of his chair and broke into the “Ave María.” He explained the notes as he sang, and at the same time he directed with his right hand with the timing of a metronome. He flipped through his songbook and described how he learned music by studying the instructions at the beginning of the book, just as he had learned to read and write.

Other witnesses to change include Feed the Hungry’s cooks, who have been with the school kitchen for the entire 15 years of its existence in Alcocer. Yolanda Orduña Perez and María de Los Ángeles Barrera Pichardo have watched the young leave, the old stay, and everyone struggle to become educated or improve their situation. When Yolanda, age 52, was growing up, Alcocer had no school, and all she can do today is sign her name. By the time María, now age 33, was of school age, the primary school had been built. There was no kindergarten and no secondary school which meant that María’s education stopped at the sixth grade.

At the kitchen, the cooks dish out lunch: potatoes, cole slaw, salsa, and tortillas. Students enter the kitchen quietly, ask for their food, decide exactly what parts of it they want, and say “Gracias.” The thank-yous continue when they return for a drink or when they bring back the dirty plates. Did their mothers teach them to be so polite? Maybe, but it has been reinforced by the school’s director, teachers, and definitely by the cooks. No chaos or disrespect is ever allowed. 

In Alcocer, primary school students are not required to wear uniforms, so the contemporary dress of the primary school students makes them look more sophisticated than students in remote ranchos: boys’ baseball hats on backwards, some in Abercrombie and Fitch knee-length shorts, others in Hawaiian style shirts and shorts, and one girl in a coordinated outfit of knee-length pants, a matching long t-shirt and a wide belt. The cooks note, though, that of the 140 children they feed every day, several hungrily wolf down many servings, indicating that Feed the Hungry’s lunch might be their meal of the day. 

Alcocer has been home to the cooks’ families as far back as they remember. Yolanda lives on the same land as her husband’s father and María lives where her parents and grandparents live. When they look to the future, they wonder where their children will live since their land parcels have been divided up so often that each remaining piece is small. Although their husbands do construction work in San Miguel, they suppose that their children will follow the Alcocer tradition of going to the United States. As Don Lole and the cooks know, many will go, but most will come back.

Today, with Don Lole’s eleven children grown—five of them in the United States—he sings and plays for weekly evening vigils or whenever a priest calls him. He continues to study, finding as much promise and joy in music as he did when he heard his first note. Last year, at the age of 73, he realized his youthful dream by playing the organ in the Parroquia for a mass. “Not once, not twice, but three separate times,” he said proudly. With the same energy that he brought to singing “Ave María” moments before, the singer of Alcocer leaned forward in his chair and said, “I still work at keeping myself up to date.” 

He wonders, though, what his life would have been if he had had more education. Yet he knows that with a kindergarten now in Alcocer, a primary school, Feed the Hungry’s kitchen, and within the last ten years a telesecundaria, his children, grandchildren, and all of Alcocer’s children will have the opportunities he didn’t. Imagine what they will do.


Feed the Hungry—become part of our story through your support

It's a story of success, smiles, generosity, and innovation, and of course, thousands of meals, served daily to kids who say 'gracias' and mean it with all their hearts.

Everyone has a part in this story, from those who were hungry to those who work, to those who give their time and financial contributions.

What We Do

· We are an independent nonprofit corporation in the US (Federal Tax ID # 20-1193434) and in Mexico providing hot, nutritious meals every regular school day to children who do not have enough to eat.

· Many of the boys and girls come to school without having had dinner the night before or breakfast in the morning. Our 29 kitchens provide food to over 3,500 children a day.

· We build our kitchens attached to elementary schools in San Miguel and the surrounding rural communities.

· The diet we provide is designed by a nutritionist. It is high protein vegetarian food-fresh vegetables, legumes, soy, rice, fortified tortillas and fruit

For more information visit www.feedthehungrysma.org.