Since the onset of corona virus, we have been giving out more and more food baskets. We hear of cases of corona virus, of no paycheck for two months, of hardships with healthcare because of corona virus cases swamping the hospitals, and even deaths.

For some weeks we have had a young mother, Maria, with her 5 young children wait in line for a food basket. We serve the elderly first, so sometimes her wait time was extensive, but she always had a thankful attitude. She lives in Rojo Gomez, which is one of the poorer communities in our parish, and the hilly walk to get a food basket is about 4 miles round trip. So sometimes we have given her a ride and even played with her children. About two weeks ago we asked when she was due. She said in two days. That day, while waiting in line, she asked if she could get her food basket right away, as she was in a lot of pain. We gave her the food basket and offered a ride home. She declined saying she had a taxi waiting. Two weeks later she returned with her newborn baby. She told us that as soon as she got home, she and her husband then took the same taxi immediately to the hospital. They did not make it. The baby was born in the taxi with the taxi driver flagging traffic, and the dad doing the delivery. There was a scare at the hospital about the umbilical cord not being tied off, but it turned out okay.

From time to time we have done an profile of an migrant family. Here is Edil’s family’s story.

My name is Edil. My family and I left our country, Honduras, to have a better life. I have two children, 9 and 7 years old. My wife is 6 months pregnant. When we arrived at the Mexico/US border hoping to apply for asylum in the US, we found that COVID-19 had delayed all such requests. So, we have decided to find a way to make a living in Mexico.

We currently share a room with other families. At least we have a roof over our heads and can get something to eat. When COVID-19 started, I had already been unemployed for more than a month. It has been very humiliating to not be able to provide food for my family. Thank God for the Church. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate have given us a food basket every week. I have found some work, but it is not every day. As an illegal in Mexico, it is difficult to find work.

At least we are not living in the daily fear that gangs will rob us, kidnap our children, or seduce our children into a criminal life. We hope to make a better life for them. Thank you for your support. My children, my wife and I are infinitely grateful.

We had a record year for students graduating through our scholarship program including 17 university and 15 high school.

2020 Graduates

Langarica Aguirre Josue Jahir- Logistics engineer

Gonzalez Jocobi Laura Elena- Teacher

Arista Cruz Ileyn-Lawyer

Medina Garcia Nadia- Nurse

Juarez Gonzales Mildred- Psychology

Rathley Zuñiga Carlos Armando- Industrial engineer

Perez Cortes Yesica Sandra- Industrial Engineer

Aguilar Sanchez Valeria Oyuki-Industrial Engineer

Del Angel Del Angel Jose Alexis- Communications

Medina Villegas Liliana- Communications

Oros Bram Erick de Jesús- Teacher

Oros Bram Luis Fernando- Nurse

Lopez salvador vianey- Teacher