On 9 October Jan and I paid our annual visit to Pasitos de Luz, the charity where our son Chris works. Pasitos’ building is set in farmland along a deeply rutted dirt road which the rains fill with deep pools of water. As we approached, four vultures flew low over the road, possibly seeking out a dead cow or some other carrion.
The bus that brings children to Pasitos was just behind us, newly rotulado with images to promote the charity as it takes children for a day of therapy, education and good food. So soon after we arrived the dining room was full of hungry children impatient for their breakfast. We fed a breakfast of pureed courgette, beans and potato, washed down with jugo verde (green juice, whose ingredients vary, but typically include pineapple juice, prickly pear fruit, celery, spinach) to Kaleb, a cheery little boy with Downs syndrome and Regina, who also had Downs and whose left arm was missing its hand and part of the forearm. Kaleb and I celebrated his hearty breakfast by jiggling to the rhythm of the Village People’s YMCA.
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| Breakfast with Kaleb and Regina |
Also at our table was Mayte, who was nine years old that day. So, before they day’s therapy and education sessions could begin, we all gathered in front of the table where Mayte was now wearing a plastic silver tiara and colourful garlands. Her mother, siblings and grandparents, stood behind her. They had brought a cake to mark Mayte’s big day. We all sang along to the Mañanitas, the Mexican happy birthday song and then gave a rousing porra, a chant heard at football matches and on many special occasions. At Pasitos the porra ‘words’ were roughly: A la bim a la bam a la bim bom bam, Mayte ra, ra ra! Followed by loud applause.
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| Kaleb with a book donated by Thames & Hudson |
After the distribution of the cake, we moved on to the nursery, where more children, fresh from their therapy sessions needed to be fed. Gael, who was my responsibility, proved tricky. He was really more interested in his juice or the banana smoothie, but I was told that this was a trick to avoid eating his vegetables. While Gael and I were engaged in quite a struggle and negotiation, Jan has a more amenable charge, Sebastian, a chatty young boy.
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| Kaleb playing with a glove puppet book (a bee) donated by Book Aid international |
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| Jan and Regina reading a book donated by Book Aid International |
We had brought our annual suitcase full of books donated by Book Aid international and Thames & Hudson, which this year included a substantial number of board books, some with special features such as flaps, animal ears and glove puppets. Jan and I are long out of practice with young children, so our efforts to entertain the children were as amateur as usual. The glove puppets brought smiles to some faces, and another with rabbit ears excited some interest.
While we were on the play mat showing the children the books and trying to avoid our glasses being removed, an official looking group of people arrived, led by a figure dressed in sombrero, check shirt, blue jeans, an elaborate leather belt and boots, the rural man-of-the-people look for local politicians. This turned out to be José Antonio Arreola López, formerly Director of Development of Social Wellbeing, now a newly elected regidor (municipal councillor) of BahÃa de Banderas, apparently the wealthiest municipality in the state of Nayarit.
After talking briefly to Jan, the José Antonio introduced himself to me, adding that his nickname is el güerito, a Mexican slang term that denotes a person of fairer complexion than the typical Mexican darker hue. I joked that, in the güerito department, I was easily the winner. I asked him if the municipality has any programmes or funds to support disabled children. He said that there is not much political interest in that kind of thing, but that his mother had recently died of cancer so he was hoping that children with cancer could benefit from the facilities of Pasitos de Luz. Although Pasitos cares for children with disabilities, not cancer, the management of the charity hope that the personal interest of the güerito might translate into a beneficial relationship.
Over lunch Chris, Jan and I shared a table with the accountant of Pasitos de Luz. I asked her whether Pasitos receives any support from the federal, state on municipal governments. The answer was not really, although the charity refers families to a federal agency known as DIF (Desarrollo Integral Familiar: Integral Family Development). She also told me that the families of disabled children receive a monthly payment of 2,000 or 3,000 pesos (about £80-£120). In short, although the Mexican government provides some elements of support, the parents (often a single parent, usually a mother) of a disabled child are pretty much on their own, except for the helping hand provided by (rare) charities such as Pasitos de Luz.
How to fund the needs of these children is the daily preoccupation of Chris and his communciations team.
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| Pasitos' capital projects |
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| Pasitos' necessities |
To find out more about the essential and inspiring work of Pasitos de Luz go to: https://pasitosdeluz.org/
