Our Godson Felipe

March 24,2009

We sponsor a high school student through La Gloria English School. His nickname is Felipe. He is a good kid, smart and motivated. His home is in the new colonia “La Guadalupana”. Last year, when we met him and his family for the first time, his mother unexpectedly invited us to their home. It was a very humbling visit for Donald and myself because we saw that despite their difficult living conditions they are a strong and happy family. His mama said we were like Felipes "padrino" and "padrina" - godparents - and we are honored with the title.


In order to study at night, Felipe connects a fluorescent light to a car battery, and when the battery runs down he has to carry it some distance to get it recharged. Their home has corrugated metal walls, a blue tarp roof and their water comes by pail from a well. The papa is an albanil often out of work and mama sells perfume to supplement their income. Felipe’s little brothers are also bright kids. The $50 a month that we contribute to his education allows Felipe to pay for registration fees, books, notebooks, uniform, computer time, etc. Without the help he probably would not be going to school.

To stay in the sponsorship program, he must meet certain academic standards and last semester Felipe struggled with Physics. We urged Homebrew and Maggie to allow Felipe to continue – Maggie described Felipe as a “mensch” – and luckily they did keep him on.

When we met last year, Felipe was essentially tongue tied with regard to English conversation. Maggie graciously served as our translator. But this year was a triumph! We surprised Felipe by showing up at his evening English class at LGES and had the fun of helping out with the lessons. We arranged to meet on the afternoon before we returned home, and we were on our own language wise. We walked down the hill to La Bruja and ordered snacks and refrescos; we talked about how school is going, his plans for the future, what he does in the summer, how his family is doing... We traded Spanish and English vocabulary. It was easy to communicate for over an hour; the progress he has made in just a year is surprising and gratifying – thanks to his efforts and the good work of the teachers at La Gloria English School.

We look forward to next year’s visit when our handsome Isla son will be 18 and in his last year at Collegio de Bachilleres.



Thank you to HomeBrew, LGES, Lupe the Office Manager and Jana the Banker for making this sponsorship program work.