Meeting Felipe

Sunday Mar 23, 2008

Last July we learned of a program administered through La Gloria English School which helps Isla visitors sponsor high school students who struggle with school expenses. Although school is "free", going to school costs quite a lot: clothing (sometimes a uniform), lunch, books and notebooks, paper, pencils and pens, internet time, a calculator, etc. Many bright but poor kids can't afford these expenses and drop out.

We are suckers for those heart-tugging infomercials for Save the Children and Christian Childrens' Fund, etc. that one sees on TV, but this program seemed a better way to make a difference in a place that we love. So, assisted by some folks on the My Isla Chatter Board, we began to send a monthly check. We were assigned a promising young man who was just starting high school. Abdiel, nicknamed Felipe, is bright and motivated but his family lives in Colonia La Guadalupana (sometimes known as La Invasion - the squattertown) and they haven't much money. Chemistry gave Felipe some trouble in the first semester and he was slightly below the grade average he must maintain to stay in the sponsorship program, but things are looking better this semester.

We were anxious to meet Felipe during our early March trip and Maggie arranged for us to meet on a Saturday morning at Alexia & Giovanny's loncheria. As luck would have it, A&G's was closed - so we moved over to the next loncheria. We were happily surprised to have not only Felipe arrive with Maggie and Tom but also his mother and his two little brothers. Dad, an albanil, was working. We had a lovely breakfast with questions and answers ably translated by Maggie. Felipe, who is also taking English classes at LGES, managed to communicate directly with us some of the time. We brought him a Red Sox cap as a gift or recuerdo (remembrance).

One of Mom's questions was why would we do this for them - people we don't even know. I tried to explain that much has been given to us and that we wanted to pass it on or pay it forward. She seemed to understand and with a big smile she said that we are all equal anyway. So true. I also said that in a funny way Felipe feels like an extra son to us and Gilberta said that we were like his madrina and padrino (godmother and godfather).

There was much hugging after breakfast and I thought the occasion was over when Felipe's mother unexpectedly invited us to their home. So we piled into two taxis (Tom rode his bike) and barreled down the road to their home. I didn't take pictures because it seemed an invasion of privacy, but I was humbled by their living conditions. Home is made of corrugated metal, Felipe studies by the light of a fluorescent tube attached to a car battery, there is no running water and cooking is done on a two burner gas stove. They have a few pieces of furniture, one of which protects an album of wedding, birthday, baptism, first communion and confirmation photos that we dutifully paged through. One photo showed how much their living conditions have improved in two years - then they lived under a plastic tarp with a fire pit for cooking. If they are able to stay on the plot they have occupied for a certain period of time, they will be able to build a house. While we were there, the little brothers quietly worked on their homework - The five year old was already doing addition problems!

After more hugs and blessings, we left with very full hearts.