It’s not very often that a person gets the chance to see how their generosity has changed the lives of people less fortunate but that is exactly what happened for the students at St. Francis School here earlier this month.
As one of the district schools that participated in Operation Christmas Child’s shoebox program last year, the students were shown pictures of the Mexican children lucky enough to be the ones receiving their gifts back in January.
“The children were waiting for us when we got to the villages,” said Carolyn Callan, a teacher from St. Joseph’s School in Dryden who made the trip into Guadalajara, Mexico in January.
“They had been told that we would be coming and they started lining up very early in the morning so that they could meet our bus when it arrived,” she noted.
Also joining Callan on the trip was St. Joseph’s librarian Bernice Welden. The two Dryden natives were part of a 28-member team that made their way into the poor villages of Mexico to hand deliver hundreds of shoeboxes full of toys and treats for children in the poverty-stricken communities.
“Despite the poverty in these villages, the people are very loving and happy,” Welden recalled. “To see these children open their packages and look carefully through all the things was an absolute delight.”
During their week-long stay, Callan and Welden got to experience firsthand the remarkable difference a little kindness can make in the lives of those less fortunate.
“There was one family from Calgary who lost their 10-year-old son in a terrible accident,” Welden related. “In their grief, they decided to ask family and friends to donate money so they could purchase soccer balls to give to ‘Operation Christmas Child.’
“Their son had been an avid soccer player and they thought this would be a great way to share their love of their son with other children,” she said.
“They managed to donate 300 soccer balls and you should have seen the faces of the children when they received them,” Welden continued. “I think of all the gifts they received, they were the most excited about the soccer balls.
“For many of them, this was the first time they had ever seen one and to see the looks on their faces was something I am sure I will never forget.”
Although there were many luxuries they had to learn to do without, Callan and Welden said they were honoured to have been chosen from more than 1,000 people to make the trip into Guadalajara.
“We had no running water or electricity,” Callan said. “We slept in the villages on dirt floors and we washed up in basins of water.
“Of everything there, the bathrooms had to be the worst. Everywhere we went there was no toilet paper so we had to carry toilet paper in our pockets just so we had some when we needed it.
“From many of the houses, there were open sewers and waste would be flowing down the street,” Callan added. “We also got to see the school the children went to. The school yard was overrun with chickens and roosters, and there were no desks for them to work at.
“Most of them did their work in their laps and even then, many didn’t have pencils to write with.”
In addition to their charity work, the women also had the chance to visit an orphanage that had been built by an American from his pension money.
“When we went there, we saw that the children were sleeping three to a bunk bed,” Welden said. “Though the orphanage was very clean, it was very poor. A local bakery in town donates 100 slices of bread to the orphanage a day and there are well over 80 children housed there.”
“We recently found out that they are in the process of building a brand new building,” noted Callan. “We were very happy to hear that the children would be in a brand new facility.”
Stressing the importance of kindness, the two women told St. Francis students how much the children of Guadalajara loved their special Christmas gifts.
“Many of these children had never had toys before,” Welden said. “Anything that was put in those shoeboxes was beyond words for these children.
“They were so happy with even the smallest gift.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
