Program of Hand of Help at Santa Maria del Mexicano, Colon, Queretaro, Mexico

There is an old dam above santa Maria built around the turn of the century. The water form this dam supplies water to irrigate the vegetable gardens, fruit trees and grounds around Santa Maria. This system was recently improved with help from the kids of the Hand of Help program and volunteers form Colorado.

Chlorinators have been installed in all four houses of the Hand of Help program. Problems with illness associated with unclean water dropped dramatically after there installation in 1991.

Elderly people live in small apartments at the retirement facility.

Homework is an important part of every day at the Hand of Help program. The staff here tries to give each child the best education possible. Also a structured day can give needed order to a child's life that only experienced chaos and abusive before coming to the Hand of Help program.

Our 1991 Christmas Card Picture sent out to Donors

Secondary (highschool) aged kids entering class at Santa Maria. The secondary school is now a private school run by the Staff of Hand of Help since there were numerous problems when the school was government run. A new school is being built to house an private elementary school run by the Hand of Help program to improve their educational opportunities.

There is now a computer lab at the secondary school at Santa Maria where classes are taught on keyboarding and computers. The computers were donated from people in the U.S. giving their older computer models to Santa Maria where they can still be useful.

This old bus continues to serve Hand of Help well, carrying the kids from place to place. Santa Maria is about 5 miles from the town of Colon where the other houses are located so a bus is needed to bring the kids in town out to Santa Maria where there is room to play on weekends. The isolation of Santa Maria where the older kids are housed helps shield them from the temptations of town.

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Three times a day the kids share in meal preparation, cleaning up and dishes. This doesn't interfere with their formal school time, but teaches them responsibility. They are organized into teams supervised by a rotating system of the kids themselves and the Hand of Help staff. Keeping enough nutritious food available to all these growing bodies is a continuous struggle accomplished only with help from many people in Mexico and the United States..

Music is an important part of the daily masses given at Santa Maria or in Colon for the kids. The children fill the mass with their singing accompanied from guitars played by some of the kids. Many learn quite a bit about music while at the Hand of Help Program.

Sports of course are always a part of young peoples lives and at a Santa Maria there is room to spread out and exercise, but even at the houses in town there is a large play area where the kids can get good exercise.

Each child at Santa Maria has his or her own story why they ended up at the Hand of Help program. Many of them are sad stories and too many of them are quite terrible. At the Hand of Help program they get the love and security they need to heal and development into healthy adults. Many go on to become doctors, carpenters, business owners, teachers and many other professions. After they leave the program Father Norman helps many to get scholarships and apprenterships to continue there educations. The faith that Christ handed down to us is one of service. Serving him in our children and those in need who helplessly cannot defend themselves because of any number of valid circumstances that he/she has unfortunately been given at birth or shortly afterwards. In Mexico there is no welfare. Programs for children are very rare and if existent they are always underfunded and poorly managed. Santa Maria is a welcome exception to this pattern.

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