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You were the miracle

11/24/2020

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Novelist Jeanine Cummins uses these lines from Chilean poet Pablo Neruda´s poem “The Song of Despair” as an epigraph in her novel “American Dirt.” The novel tells the story of a mother and son from the State of Guerrero in Mexico who wage an unbelievable struggle for life and freedom from the violence that engulfs this state and others in Mexico.

Just the other day I received a phone call from Paloma, a young mother from Guerrero who is in hiding with her husband Santiago and three small children. I have known Paloma since she was born. She has no formal education, but she is an incredible young woman and a great mother. Santiago’s two brothers were recently murdered by members of a crime cartel; Santiago managed to escape, but everyone in the village knows that his name is on the hit list. I helped the family contact a human rights organization that is trying to get them asylum in another country. However, due to the COVID pandemic, all of that paperwork is presently on hold, and the family remains in hiding.

Impoverishment, violence, corruption, discrimination, impunity, injustice … these are the daily fare of too many indigenous people living in the mountains of the State of Guerrero. The reason that the above-mentioned lines from Pablo Neruda come to my mind is that Mission Mexico has for twenty years been a “fruit” for many in the midst of the “thirst and hunger” of this reality; it has been “the miracle” for many in the midst of the “grief and ruins” of this reality.
Since the year 2000, Mission Mexico has been accompanying the people of “the Mountain” of Guerrero. Approximately 500,000 people from three indigenous cultures (Na´savi, Me’phaa, Nahua) live spread out among 700 towns and villages. Mission Mexico has partnered with several trustworthy Mexican organizations to promote projects related especially to health, education, and self-sufficiency. Transformation of such a difficult reality has never been easy, but Mission Mexico has earned the gratitude of thousands of families living in this poorest region of the country of Mexico.

Now there is COVID. Everything has changed. People have gotten ill and died. It is hard to give numbers because most of the people seldom go to a hospital; medical care always involves expenses. People have lost jobs, due to the closure of all kinds of businesses. Financial assistance from illegal workers in the United States who typically send money to their families each month has diminished. 
Education has been particularly hard hit. At the present time, there is no face-to-face, classroom education in the Mountain of Guerrero. Everything is meant to be online learning, using either television or the Internet. This presents an almost impossible situation for thousands of families in remote villages in the mountains. 

I used the expression that “everything is meant to be online learning” on purpose, because many teachers, realizing that their students have little or no access to computers or television, are going to the villages with photocopied worksheets: they leave “homework” with the students and return two weeks later to pick up the completed worksheets and to leave more. It’s not an ideal situation for many reasons: teachers risk contagion during their travels; many parents are illiterate and can’t assist their children; if a student falls behind, there is no remedial assistance. But I admire the teachers for trying to do what they consider is best for their students.

Mission Mexico began helping sixteen years ago to build the Champagnat High School of the Mountain, a residential school for impoverished indigenous youth; it is run by a Mexican religious order, the Marist Brothers. And Mission Mexico has a bursary program for university students from particularly needy families. The hundreds of students from the high school and university are involved now in online learning, which often means that students have to move to a town where there is Internet service. The support for the high school and for the bursary program is vital to the success of the students in this endeavor.

However, it is almost impossible for Mission Mexico to meet the “usual” goals in terms of financial support. COVID has hit the Diocese of Calgary too. The level of donations to Mission Mexico has diminished. This is understandable, and I assure the people of the Diocese of Calgary that their “friends” in the Mountain of Mexico are praying for them.
I also hope and pray that as the “thirst and hunger” and “grief and ruins” of the indigenous peoples here hit almost desperate levels, God might touch the hearts of people in the Diocese of Calgary to extend their generosity, so that Mission Mexico might continue accompanying these very needy people is this time of very real need. Every looney or tooney helps. 

Please consider going to the donation page on the website missionmexico.com or giving during the special collection that the Diocese of Calgary is promoting in parishes on December 12 & 13, the weekend of the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Your solidarity will change lives here. 
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​#IAMBLESSED2020 #GIVENOW to Mission Mexico
​Be that light for others during these difficult times

​Written by Mike MacDonald. Mike is the on-site project coordinator of Mission Mexico, currently living in Guerrero, Mexico. 


Photos credit: Mission Mexico
Donate to Mission Mexico Now
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Celebrate Mission Mexico!

9/13/2020

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Wednesday, September 16, 2020 is Mexico's Independence Day! 

​To celebrate and to help support Mission Mexico, an outreach program of the Diocese of Calgary, from September 14 through to September 20, the following Mexican Restaurants are collecting donations. We encourage everyone to support these great restaurants (even if its just through take out or delivery) and also support Mission Mexico. Through this initiative, you are helping support not only our these local restaurants by eating their fantastic food, but you are also able to support the dignity-affirming projects that Mission Mexico carries out in one of the poorest regions of the world, helping improve the education, health care, human rights, women's rights, and the youth in building a better future in Southern Mexico.

Thank you sponsors! 

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Fiesta Market & Restaurant
​Unit 25, 240 Midpark Way SE, Calgary
(403) 605-2829
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Mestizo Mexican Street Food
Avenida Food Hall & Fresh Market 
12445 Lake Fraser Dr SE, Calgary
​(587) 586-0125
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​Streats - Braeside Kitchen
#6, 11440 Braeside Drive SW, Calgary​
(403) 513-1339
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Molcajete
1235 - 26 a SE, Calgary
(403) 606-0644
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Chilitos Taberna Mexicana
309 17 Ave SW, Calgary
(403) 228-5528
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Golden Cactus Mexican Grill
5315 17 Ave SE #7
(403) 453-3807
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Tres Marias
3514 19 St SW, Calgary
(403) 243-5335
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Tacos Mexicos
1-7400 Macleod Tr SE, Calgary
(403) 253-5692
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Latin American Empanadas
Bay #1, 1916A 30 Ave NE, Calgary
(587)470-0186
​
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Meritorious Service Medal: Reverend Fred Monk

7/2/2020

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The Diocese of Calgary congratulates Fr. Fred Monk for the great honour of being bestowed the Meritorious Service Medal for his work of founding Mission Mexico. We thank Fr. Fred for his passion and love towards our sisters and brothers in need especially through the ministry of Mission Mexico.

Through his work in Mission Mexico, many in our Diocese and abroad have been inspired and engaged in providing assistance to the projects that empower the people of the mountainous regions in the state of Guerrero. May Fr. Fred’s living legacy continue to live not only through our ongoing support of Mission Mexico but especially through the individuals and communities who have benefitted from the projects and who are now advocates for the good, growth, and development of their communities.

Father Fred Monk, M.S.M.
Medicine Hat, Alberta
Meritorious Service Medal

Created by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Meritorious Service Decorations recognize Canadians for exceptional deeds that bring honour to our country. The cross was originally created in 1984, for members of the military. In 1991, a medal was added to the military division, and both the cross and medal were introduced for civilians.
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Fr. Fred Monk
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Meritorious Service Cross (M.S.C.)
The Meritorious Service Cross is a silver Greek cross, ends splayed and convexed, bearing the Royal Crown: on one side appears a maple leaf within a circle and a laurel wreath between the arms, and on the other appears the Royal Cypher, and within a double circle the inscription MERITORIOUS SERVICE MÉRITOIRE.

The ribbon for the Meritorious Service Cross (Civil Division) is blue and measures 32 mm wide. It has a central white stripe that is 2 mm wide, with two additional white stripes that are each 6 mm wide and centred on the outer third of each side of the ribbon.
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Meritorious Service Medal (M.S.M.)
The Meritorious Service Medal is a circular silver medal bearing the Royal Crown: on one side of which appears the design of the Cross, and on the other appears the Royal Cypher, and within a double circle the inscription MERITORIOUS SERVICE MÉRITOIRE.
​
The ribbon for the Meritorious Service Medal (Civil Division) is blue and measures 32 mm wide.  It has a central white stripe that is 2 mm wide, with two additional white stripes that are each 6 mm wide and centred on the outer third of each side of the ribbon. These two white stripes are each further divided by a single blue stripe that is 1 mm wide.
History of Mission Mexico
“The first book gives an overview of the issues faced by the people.  Book 2 is our response.  The photographer, is a young man, from one of the villages, who has worked closely with us over the years.  Actually, I guess he is no longer young!  I bought him his first digital camera 18 years ago and he is now a full-time photojournalist. 

The following links will take you to a PDF of the books that I keep on my personal website.  Just scroll through and you will have a good understanding of the many wonderful groups we have partnered with and the smiles of so many whom we have been blessed to be associated with over the past 20 years.”
​
  • Faces:  Book 1  The Need    https://fredmonk.zenfolio.com/d272848624.pdf
  • Faces:  Book 2  Our Response   https://fredmonk.zenfolio.com/faces-book-2.pdf
 
Media
  • The Governor General of Canada: https://www.gg.ca/en/media/news/2020/governor-general-unveils-list-123-remarkable-canadians
  • Medicine Hat Newspaper: https://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2020/07/02/loonie-priest-honoured-for-mission-mexico/
 
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