Saturday, October 24, 2009

Feeling like Santa! Oct. 2009





Meet Madre Mireya!
She speaks some English and has a great sense of humor! 

She and Hermana Miriam, who are both nurses, are now in charge of
La Casa de la Sagrada Familia.  (Click on the link for a previous post with all the info.)
Just the 2 of them!  That means keeping
the home operating, taking care of medical issues, cooking and feeding, and being the sole
fundraisers for the expenses.  Can you imagine?

They have 6 patients living full time at the Casa, there was a man living there
but he recently asaulted the Madre with a hose and was removed by the police.

I just came back from visiting them and brought Sheila with me
who always comes with diapers, cleaning supplies, food, or cash.
Today was no exception.  In addition, I got to deliver a generous cash
donation from one of our fellow bloggers.
Gracias to you-know-who-you-are.

It's always fun to visit La Casa.  The nuns appreciate everything so
much and the patients are so delighted to have someone
new to chat with - or at - depending on the case.
If you live anywhere near here, do drop
by and visit, you won't regret it.  Oh, and tuck a few diapers
(adult size medium)
under your arms or a kilo of rice or a papaya or 2
while you're at it.

We sat down and put together a list of estimated monthly expenses
(These numbers are approximate and fluctuate monthly and are in pesos, of course)
so everyone can see just what is entailed in keeping a
project like this afloat for only one month

Here's how it goes:

Food:  $18,000
Madre says she goes to the Joco mercado on Thursdays between 9:30 and 2
and many vendors give her 'gifts' of food for the patients.  I asked her what would happen if she didn't have any money at all and didn't get any donations from the vendors at the mercado.  She said she can call Don Juan  :)  at the tire shop on the highway and he will give her a few pesos.  If you see her at the mercado, please, buy her a bag of beans or something to add
to her weekly groceries.

Cleaning Supplies and Personal Items:   $18,000
That's toothpaste, soap, diapers and the like.
A diaper manufacturer donates very large bags of diapers to the Casa
and the WM Bodega in Joco collects  them for the Casa.  Each patient
requires a diaper at bedtime and 2 patients need them all day as well.
That's 8 or 10 a day, all going well.

Medicines:   $25,000
Yes, they buy generics.  Medical expenses fluctuate, for example the woman
who fell out of bed needed surgery and extra meds this month.  The elderly patients are on multiple medications for high blood pressure, diabetes etc.

2 Employees:   $16,000
They have 2 employees, a woman who cleans and helps the nuns and a
caretaker/gardener/handyman/watchman who lives with his small
family on the same property.

Gas for Cooking and Bathing:   $7,000
The place is immaculate!


Electricity:   $10,000 
That includes the washing machine that does 10 loads
of clothing and bedding a day - diapers leak!

Gasoline:   $4,000
Which includes taking patients like the woman on the right who fell out of bed
 and had to go to Hospital Civil in the middle of the night in Guad - as well as follow up.

For an approximate total of:
$98,000 pesos a month

One family of a patient is able to contribute $2000/month but the rest must all
be generated by the nuns.  No help from Guadalajara, no help from the priests
or the church in Guadalajara.  They are on their own!

I am working on a fundraiser at a friend's restaurant.  Please stay
tuned for more on that. 

In the meantime, any donations you are able to give can be dropped off at
La Casa or you can email me and I'll take it over. 

If you'd like to donate money you can paypal it to me and I will deliver it like
I did today.  You can get the info on the previous post, either click on the above
link, or go to the picture of the Casa on the right column of this blog and click
on the picture.

Don't be shy!








4 comments:

  1. You are the best M.T.!! It was a pleasure to visit the Casa today with you. I think if we all give a little, it will go a long way to helping this wonderful place. Keep up your good work. I will defintely attend any benefit you can arrange and bring as many people as I can find.

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  2. Maybe what I like best about your blog is that you write about Mexican people and their lives, and places that most folks would otherwise not discover on their travels in the country!

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  3. And that is exactly what I like best about living here! It's the icing on the cake. Thanks for the heads-up, I will endeavor to keep it up finding more interesting people and places to introduce you to.

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