^{Why Chiapas?}

^{This past Hurricane season was devastating not only to the US but to the entire American Continent. I was watching the Mexican news where they were describing scenes From Tapachula Chiapas where there were entire houses being swept by the river. It caught my attention and an idea was born. Bring Help to this people.}

^{The call was made to a few relatives in Mexico, to see if they will help us bring some help to the area. There were many replies but only one person Marco Antonio Campos Varona was willing to take time off from his Business Ferremac In Izucar de Matamoros Puebla. We put a date for the Trip it will be the weekend of thanksgiving.}

^{Nov 24th}

^{Perhaps I should started writing this journal long time ago. But due to time constrains it is now that I am faced with the time or it might be that I am Mexican and a Mexican never plans ahead, why change now. Perhaps this explains why it was 1 am and I did not have my itinerary ready. But this adventure will be an unforgettable one & I will try to illustrate my experience in Chiapas Mexico, as best as Possible.}

^{Yesterday night I went to La Esperanza to pick up a few things for the trip it was nice to see Bill Souders from Prudential Fox and Roach that was bringing a donation for the trip.}

^{Nov 24th (Gate 24 at Newark international Airport)}

^{I feel I am in Mexico; I set up my alarm clock at 3:15 am but it was 3:45 am and I was awakened by the phone it was Saul telling me that he was outside waiting for me. I took a 30 second shower, by 3:50 am I was ready. The 45 minute ride to the airport was a pleasant conversation about politics, religion and even the restaurant business.}

^{This trip is very important; it will test our ability to help others. If this trip is a success, it will be a yearly tradition for La Esperanza. What better way for thanksgiving than giving Hope. We are not going to solve any problem that Mexico might have but we will put a small dent on Poverty. More importantly La Esperanza is doing it in person; we are not depending on any charity organization to deliver our Help. It is 6:20am at the Newark international Airport. La Esperanza is going to Mexico.}

 ^{It is 6pm I am in Atlixco Puebla, about 150 Km south of Mexico City. I have not being here in over 3 years. I question myself if the change I see is good or bad. I see a mall with sears, home depot, McDonalds, burger king. Is this an American suburb? After all probably 9 out of 10 residents here have a brother a sister, cousin or lover in PueblaYork (New York City), LA, Chicago or Philadelphia. Who is bringing all this American business in to Mexico? Are we invading Mexico? Is this product of NAFTA?}

^{Nov 25th}

^{It is 5:20 am the original plan was to leave at 5 am, but hey we are in Mexico, and by Mexican standards we are right on time. Toño in American Lingo will be Toni, he will be the partner in Helping La Esperanza deliver our packages of Hope. Our destination for Today is Tapachula Chiapas. It is about 1065 KM from Atlixco about 14 hrs. There we will buy the packages that we will deliver in Tonala Chiapas. Our means of transportation is silver VW Golf, it is the most economical way to make this trip.}

^{Toño drives like a maniac; I fear for my live, I think I will get use to his driving.  It is 8:10 am we just pass Cordoba Veracruz. The roads are not great, but not bad at all.}

^{Nov 25th 8:45 am whos is he?}

^{Toño was doing 160km/hr where the speed limit was 60km/hr, we were kind of racing this pickup truck ford Lobo (the same as ford F150). Lucky us La policia Federal de Caminos (federal police) was timing us with his radar gun. Mexico is very relax, Toño gets out of the car and goes to talk to the police officer, the police officer tells him that the speed was 160km/hr. Toño replies I know he was going fast, referring to the pickup truck. The officer replies no sir it was your speed.}

^{Toño gets the usual license, registration, blah, blah. The good news Toño doesn’t have his license with him. To his defense here in Mexico when they fine you they confiscate your license and you get it back when you pay the fine.}

^{Well 300 pesos later we are on our way to Minatitlan the police officer gave Toño pointers on how to get to Tapachula. I will assume that this was not a mordida (bribery) it was a nice gesture of us because since the officer gave us directions. And this is confirmed by the camaraderie that Toño and the police officer show, you will thing they are best friends.}

^{The air is hot; the car has no AC so we have to drive with the windows down. We had breakfast around 10:30 near Acayucan. The food was Ok, it was fresh, and it was cook right in front of us.}

^{Up to Acayucan we drove on a toll road, 2 lines each way. From now on we are on narrow 2 line road. Where the most common cars you see are tractor trailers. Some of the towns that we pass by Matias Romero, Campo Nuevo, Rio Grande, Palomares, Loma Bonita, Ajal, Almoloya, Chivela, El Morrito, El Mezquite, Lazaro Cardenas, La Mata, La Ventosa, El Tuleñito, Niltepec, Las Petacas, San Juan, Guamol, Colonia Emiliano Zapata.}

^{Nov 25th 1:30PM (EL AFI)}

^{We are stopped by the Mexican FBI, here it is called AFI Agencia Federal de investigación.  There is a row block, the agents use a lottery system, if you look funny or just they want to check you, they pull you aside and question you aggressively, what is your name, where do you come from, where are you going, why, etc, etc. They informed us that they are looking for fire arms and drugs. The car in front of us is being search when the passenger a middle age lady starts cursing at the agents. They exchange a few love words, and they let her go. As soon as they leave they made comments among themselves that there was the possibility that there was something illegal in the car, they did not say what, nor do I want to know. My turn with the agent, he requests my ID, since I have a New Jersey Drivers license the questioning is more intense than the one Toño gets. They let us go, with a friendly comment that Tapachula is only 4 hours away with good road conditions, but since there are not many bridges, it could be 5 or  6 hours.}

^{Nov 25th 2:00 pm}

^{We leave the state of Oaxaca and enter the state of Chiapas. At 2:35 pm we are greeted this time by the benemerito Ejercito Militar (The Mexican army) same deal as the one by the AFI. Heavy questioning by the soldiers, the only difference now I now exactly what to say. At this point we are getting hungry we asked for a good place to eat, they recommend a place that is along the road as you enter Pijijiapan (Try saying it)}

^{Right before we get to Pijijapan we pass San Francisco, Ejido Benito Juarez, 3 picos, union Y progreso. This area is very dry, and there are plenty of wild fires next to the road. Not only that but the road from Acayucan to La ventosa is a 2 line road, with several tractor trailers that drive very slow, so if you stay behind them it will take you a long time to get to your destination. Toño has no problem passing them, I do not think I can drive the way he does.}

^{Nov 25th 2:55 pm Puente Los Patos.}

^{This is the first bridge that no longer exists; it is a 4 lane high way, with 2 bridges. The bridge that services the north bound is destroyed. Therefore the south bound services both ways. The towns nearby this bridge are: Colonia Juan Sabines, Colonia Las Piedritas, Ejido Rio Bravo, Colonia Gustavo Lopez, Colonia Cales De Chiapas, Colonia La Nueva Urbina, & chocohuilas. Note that most of the names of these towns are Colonias, which means colony.}

^{Nov 25th 3:25 Pjijiapan.}

^{The restaurant that the soldados (soldiers) recommend was not found; at this point we are forgetting that we are hungry. The last hour was awakening, we could only imagine how bad the storm was, there are many bridges destroyed, and the roads are in very bad shape. The naming convention for the small towns next to the road appear to be into flowers Pueblo Las Flores, Las Margaritas, except for el Rancho el camello. (Camel)}

^{Nov 25th 4:00 pm Mapastepec}

^{As you enter the town there is a big sign that says “Desviacion” as we leave the town we understand why the sign is there,”what bridge” ,we are told that there use to be a bridge, I see no signs of it. The locals tell me that around 4 blocks of the town were wiped out. The river was not this big, but when the storm hit it became 3 times its original size.}

^{Nov 25th 5:00pm (My first Toy)}

^{I don’t even know the name of the bridge nor the name of the town nearby. The bridge is gone, there is a police car at the entrance of the river it will seem that they are taking care of the group of people that are begging for money as the cars approach the river. We are surrounded by a group of children, asking for money. I remembered that I brought some small toys to give out; I reach onto the back seat and give one toy to one of the boys. The joy on his face is as if he had just won the lottery. He starts running back to his mother and yelling Mira, Mira, mama Mira lo que me dieron.(Look, Look). I should never have done that, by the time I was done observing this young boy enjoy his toy, The car is surrounded by mothers, fathers, little girls, little boys. Everybody wants a toy or money; at this point they are not saying please, they said you have to give me something, other ways I am not letting go of the car. Toño screams at me that what in heaven was I thinking? He tries to start going but people are holding on to the car, he keeps trying until they let go of the car.  I think it is not a good idea to do these things. I will try to behave my self.}

^{Nov 25th 5:35 pm}

^{As we get closer to Tapachula the devastation gets worst and worst. I see signs of towns that I remember seeing on the news, Motozintla, Huixtla, Scuintla. There are huge trees on the river; they look like if they were pulled out by a giant as they have all their roots intact. But nothing goes to waste here in south of Mexico; I see many people carrying fire wood, wood that was on the river.}

^{Nov 25th 6:00pm Tapachula}

^{We are in Tapachula, I was expecting a bigger city, but it seems to be a small town. We are very tired and want to rest, we asked for a decent hotel. The recommendation was Hotel Tapachula, by the center of town. We can not find it we will stay at Hotel Don Miguel, it is located at 1ra poniente #18, it is one block from El Zocalo (The center or town). Every Mexican Town has a zocalo or in some places they call it El parque. The Hotel is pretty good, except that there are no elevators; our room is on the 4th floor. I need a good shower and a good meal.}

^{Nov 25th 7:15 pm Restaurante Los Comales}

^{The concierge recommends Restaurante Los Comales it is located on los portales del Zocalo. There is festival in the Zocalo something about the indigenous heritage of the area (Festival indigena de Matias Romero de Cordova). There are old men playing the guitar singing old songs, with a tired voice. There are many young boys selling Chiclets, peanuts, toys made in china, the newest DVDs Harry potter, just come out 2 or 3 days ago, in theaters, here I can buy it on DVD for $20 pesos (about two dollars).  As I take a picture of the zocalo this young buys runs away from the camera, he asks me what that is, I tell him that it is a camera. I asked him if he will like to see himself, he says no, I tell him that if he agrees to be on camera I will buy a box of Max Air Chiclets. He agrees and laughs when he sees himself. The price for the Chiclets is 5 pesos, I give him 10 pesos he is happy with the sale. He claims it is the first time he sees himself on camera, truth or it is just a way for him to sell his candy. I would like to thing that he is genuine. Most of these infants are abuse children in some cases by their own parents or by some relative. you might want to see the picture but for some reason, it come out bad, why? poder chiapaneco! (no Clue)}

^{If you talk to one kid or buy something; every kid will try to sell you something. We are approach by another infant probably 10 years old, he is offering to shine my shoes, and I said no thank you. He sits next to our table and as the server brings our food, he keeps staring at the food. Toño asks him if he is hungry, His replied is “off course”, he claims that he hasn’t taste food since this morning. Toño fixes him a taco and he starts eating in such a way that you will think he had not had meal on a long time. I ordered taquitos de camarones, unos panuchos Tabasqueños . Toño ordered Los Comales carne Azada.}

^{We shared our meal with this boy, who after he started eating he did not say anything else. His objective had shifted from trying to shine shoes to Eat.}

^{Nov 25th 8:30 pm}

^{We are going to Sam’s Club, we need to make sure the packages that we are buying are in stock. At this point we are tired of driving we take a taxi to Sam’s. The taxi driver is listening to Hip Hop music to the highest volume setting that the stereo allows. He starts talking to and after dropping us off at Sam’s he kindly give us his business card and he assures that he is Mexican and that he will take care of us. It is obvious that he is not Mexican and that he is just trying to make some side money from us. I will guess that he is from El Salvador.}

^{We get to Sam’s club; it is just like the one you will find in the US. The sales representative tells us that during the storm, most of the merchandise was stolen, and some of it was damage by the water. We make arrangements to pick up 140 Despensas medianas (Food Packages) these despensas will be delivered to Tonala Chiapas.}

^{Nov 26th 7:15am}

^{We received a wake up call, 15 minutes later we are on our way to Sam’s club. The reason we pick Tonala is because this town is far away from the most affected towns. According to news reports these towns did not received much help from the Red Cross or federal government.  The most affected towns were Tapachula, Huixtla, Scuintla, Mapastepec and towns in Guatemala.}

^{Nov 26th 8:15 am}

^{We are greeted by a young lady that kindly asks us for our membership card for Sam’s club. The sales person is very helpful, he arranges the deliver to be @ 2pm sharp en el Zocalo de Tonala (The center of town) Toño and I decided to take 10 packages with us and give them away on our way to Tonala.}

^{After arranging all the details of the food we proceed to buy about 20 boxes of candy for the little ones. Every American brand available at my finger tips, I would like to thank NAFTA. Here in Mexico children prefer the American Brands over the Mexican Brands.}

^{On my way out I pause and thank the greeter as I look right across from us a line of beautiful looking American Christmas trees, how do I know they are Americans, the selling slogan says (Arboles Americanos). They sell for about $450.00 pesos. I could not help and ask the question that was puzzling me, how much money they make. I tell her that she doesn’t have to answer if she doesn’t want to. She smiles at me and says, “$1200 pesos por quincena, 6 días ala semana, 12 horas diarias, si bien me va; me dan tiempo para comer, y si no quiero comer por una semana, me compro un arbolito de esos que venden aquí. Pero no esta tan mal las prestaciones no estan tan mal” as she finishes this frace she smiles at me with sarcasm. She told me that her salary was about $120 dollars every two weeks, working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day. That if she was lucky she will get a lunch brake and that if she decided not to eat for a week she could buy an American Christmas tree. She claimed that it wasn’t that bad since the benefits were not too bad. (life insurance, medical insurance) But in Mexico the Health insurance is run by the government.(IMMS Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social)}

^{The security guard jumps into the conversation and he says that he only makes $1000.00 pesos about $100 dollars every two weeks. Uno de estos dias me voy para los estados unidos. He says that one of these days he will go to the US.}

^{I thank them for their time and I leave with my own conclusions that I choose not to share at the moment.}

^{According to a security guard the border to Guatemala is about 45 minutes, we asked somebody else and we are told 2 hours, how far is Guatemala we do not know. However we decided to drive in the direction of Guatemala. It is a warm sunny morning in Chiapas.}

^{Nov 26th 9:25 am}

^{We spot a young girl waiting for la combi (Mexican slang for the bus) we decided to stop and chat with her, she has a 40 day old little girls that she is taking to the nearest Hospital in Talisman for her first shots. I will guess that she is 14 years old. Her name Mari, she receives the First package of Hope.}

^{We are getting hungry we see a sing that reads “Comidad Corrida, Carnitas, barbacoa” FOOD. The improvised restaurant is in front of a house they are cooking tortillas and grilling meat on a pit fire. The menu is as follows:}

^{Carne azada servido con frijoles de olla-- Grilled steak served with beans}

^{Chilate de gallina. -- chicken soup.}

^{We picked the carne azada, it was good closed to the carne azada that is served at La Esperanza. We decided to give one package to our waitress and one Doña Elvira La tortillera(The lady that makes the tortillas) Doña Elvira has 2 daughters and a one year old grand daughter, when we left she said “Gracias y que dios se lo paque” might god repay you back.}

^{Talking to the locals they said that the amount of rain that fall in 10 days on this area was the amount of rain that Mexico City gets in a year. Perhaps this explains all the devastation.}  

^{Nov 26th 10:15am}

^{We pass a garita (immigration stop) the name El manguito( The little Mango) They stop mainly buses that come from Guatemala. Perhaps this is the first immigration stop for an immigrant from Central or South America. Perhaps some of these immigrants one day will eat at La Esperanza. Talking to the locals everybody is aware of the immigrants some of them describe it as a lucrative business and some others as a big problem for the area.  Most of the time the immigrants run out of money, they are forced to work for a couple of months until they can afford to keep going. It takes them anywhere from a month to a year to reach New York or LA. And some of them will never make it.}

^{Nov 26th 10:30 am}

^{We are heading back to Tonala; we scratch the idea of visiting the border with Guatemala. We are driving north; the traffic driving south is going towards Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua or any other country in South America. Something that has caught my attention is that there are groups of cars driving in groups of about 8 cars, one towing another car. We are talking about used cars from the United States of America going to South America, a 88 ford tempo is not worth much in the US, but in South America it is worth a lot.}

^{We cross the river leaving Tapachula the river now is 3 times its original size.  We pass by another immigration stop, were they are checking tractor trailers. It seems that it is a lottery system, if you get a red light you are search if you get a green light Vaya con dios.}

^{We are in Huixtla, we are talking to a lady that is sweeping her house, she says that this is not her house that her house is gone, and she is living with a relative until she rebuilds her house. Her name is Ofelia, she complains about el PRI (PRI, partido Rebolucionario Institucional) She says that they are not helping the people of Chiapas until it is Election time.}

^{Nov 26th 11:05 am}

^{One more immigration stop. This is the one stop I wish I did not see. The immigration office is right next to the road, right next to the office there is a jail cell of about 20 by 15 feet, and in the jail cell I will estimate there are 20 people. There are women, young children and men, they are facing the passing traffic and the only thing that you can see in their face is anguish, frustration and anger. Probably they are angry that their dream of coming to America was truncated early, probably thinking how are they going to repay the smuggler if they do not make to the US.}

^{I notice this young female I will say about 20 years old, she makes eye contact with me like trying to tell me her story. I will love to stop and talk to her, but the immigration officers will not allow that. I only had 20 or 30 seconds to see this, but it feels like an eternity.}

^{Nov 26th 11:00am}

^{Puente Gallina Correteada (The running Chicken bridge) This is the placed were yesterday I gave the toy car to the little boy. Today there are only a few people. One of them is young female of about 25 years of age, her name is Susana a mother of two and she is 8 months pregnant. Her two children are having a snack under the shadow of an improvised umbrella. Susana tells us that the government has not give them any help, that she has no house, no clothing, no food and that her baby will arrive very soon. She is living with some relatives, but the house is too crowded and that is why she gets out of the house. I gave a hand full of candy to the children and a food package to Susana.}

^{Right next to Susana is Olivia a pleasant lady of about 40 years of age; she is accompanied by her 12 year old daughter. Olivia tells me that this particular river washed out about 50 ranchos (little villages) one of them was hers; she lost her house and all her belongings. She says that one the most precious things the river took it was the cemetery. Her grand mother remains are no longer there, I have no place to go and visit her. Why?}

 

^{When I say adios, they all said Gracias “Que dios se lo pague, y que le multiplique lo que nos regalo, muchas gracias”.}

^{Nov 26th 11:45am}

^{We are passing by the bridge of Motozintla the you can see the destruction that the river caused. The bridge is gone the only thing you can see is white stones. I remember seeing this river on the news. It is hard to imagine what happened here.}

^{Nov 26th 12-38pm}

^{we are approaching another bridge, there is a sign that re-routes the traffic to the other side of the road. The North bound bridge is half destroy. we stop and to see the destruction. we can see the road that lead to the bridge, I go down the river to see it first hand.}

^{Nov 26th 1:20pm}

^{One more military stop, by now we are so use to it that it doesn’t bother us. Once again they tell us that they are looking for arms, drugs and illegal immigrants. We are about 10 minutes from Tonala, our final destination for today. Toño calls our contact in Tonala and tells her that we are entering Tonala; she says that will meet us at el Zocalo. Nery our generous contact has a list of families that really need help, we are planning to donate these packages on our own no organization or political entity is involved.}

^{Nov 26th 1:55pm}

^{We had been at el zocalo for sometime no sign of our contact yet. The Zocalo is a small plaza with a kiosk right in the center of the plaza on east side of the zocalo there is sign that reads “EL Club the Leones de Tonala” (The lions club) the front of the building has a broken window, there is a lane of people  waiting for donations. They are giving away bottle water, food packages and clotting.}

^{I notice that they are putting shoes in a pick up truck, the truck gets fill with shoes. Children climb on to the truck and start looking for shoes of their size, a guard tells them angrily to get down of the truck that these shoes are going to the garbage because they all are of different sizes and they do not match. An old lady screams out her lungs that they are still good that they should let them have them. The driver takes off as the group of people screams obscenities at them.}

^{Nov 26th 2:20pm}

^{No sign of our contact, or sigh of the delivery truck. I am getting worried. Plan A seems to be a failure. Soon we have to come up with plan B. I decide to go to the lions club and ask for help to the deliver these food packages. I nock on the door a very rude woman answers the door and asks me what do I want? I replied that if she is the person in charge of the place, she replies back that what do I want? My answer is that I have some food packages that I want to donate. She tells me to wait that she will get somebody.  The people waiting at the door start making comments that I shouldn’t give them anything that they do not help out the people that really need it but they help their friends and family. They tell me that I should give them food that they really need it.}

^{A few minutes later I explain my situation to a representative of the town. I tell him that we have a contact and that she has a list of people that we are going to donate these packages. I tell him that in the event that she doesn’t show up if they could help me donate this food. He tells me that it is very difficult that they can help me because of the short notice and that there are some events planned for tonight. He advises me not to do it along because the people sometimes get violent and it could be dangerous. The gentleman tells me to wait that he will see if there is a possibility of helping us.  A few minutes later the presidente municipal (The mayor, Miguel Angel Gordillo) arrives at el zocalo. He thanks us for being at his town and he offers his help and 5 men to help us deliver the food. This group of men will take us to 3 colonies of the town that were affected by the hurricane Stan.}

^{We are talking to a group of people from the town of Durango. They are telling us stories about the corruption of the local Government as well as the Federal government. These people claimed that the government did not deliver any help to the people that really need help. That there were trailers of food and clothing that were deliver to some houses in the town and that they have not being delivered. An old lady says that this food is being sold on the local grocery stores, that the government officials are stinking rats.}

^{Somebody notices the sign of our car that says La Esperanza and tells us that the name of the Zocalo is Zocalo La Esperanza. I could not ask for more, this is a nice coincidence.}

^{At this point the delivery has not arrived yet, I am starting to get suspicious of the hold thing and can not help to imagine that the delivery man stolen our food packages. The reason I am suspicious is that the phone # on the business car of the delivery company has being disconnected.}

^{Nov 26th 3:00pm}

^{We received a called from the delivery company, to tell us that the truck is too heavy, that since the roads are bad, he is running late. This is a big relieve, however our contact has not arrived yet.}

^{At the zocalo we are surrounded by a group of about 20 people. Everybody knows at this point that we are going to donate food. Everybody is trying to tell us their own story. A credible story “My grand mother, son, wife, daughter, uncle, and aunt die” Everybody has credible story to tell. However there are people who tell me that most of this people are here every day trying to take advantage of the situation. Some of these people had made this their job; that people that really need help do not have the means to get to this place to ask for help.}

^{One lady with 3 children begs for help, she claims that she has 15 children living at home and that she has no food. She will like to have 15 food packages. Is it credible?}

^{A group of four ladies tell me that her colonia la Seis de Septiemble (September 6 is name of their colony) really needs help. They say “Señor compadescase de nosotros” (Please have mercy on us)}

^{There is this middle age lady that speaks marvelous things of the mayor of the city. She says that he has done a lot to help the people of Tonala. That the mayor if at some point did not deliver the food on time it was not his fault. This lady claims that the local government received instructions from the state government not to deliver any help until he was told to do so. She says that this food started to go bad, and then the local government decided to give it away. She said that it was little late because some of it was already bad, but she says is the corruption of federal government, that controls the local government.}

^{The driver of the truck that will be helping us is getting impatient and asks me what is going on. I inform him that the deliver is almost here. He tells me that the night of the storm he worked about 24 hours non stop trying to rescued people by boat. He says that at the beginning people did not want to leave their houses but later on they were begging them to take them out. He says that he saw people being swept away by the water and there was nothing he could do. The driver says that it is very difficult to deal with these people; most of them are desperate and get very aggressive.}

^{Nov 26th 3:30pm}

^{No deliver no signs of our contact. The group of people surrounding us is getting bigger, my patience is getting smaller, and the truck driver is getting nervous. He tells me that we can not take the delivery of the package here that it will very chaotic and that it might not be safe. I asked what does he suggest, he tells me to go to the main entrance of the town, and there is only one way that the driver can come in to the town. I agree to it but the people that were waiting are not too happy and they scream a few non loving words (*^&*%&^$%^#$**(&%(&%()}

^{When we get to the entrance of the town, Toño has the suspicion that we might cross the delivery truck, so he goes back to the zocalo to see if it got there.}

^{Nov 26th 3:55pm}

^{The food arrives; we take the food and put it on the municipal truck to deliver it to the first colonia, which will be la 16 de Septiembre.  Toño is back from the zocalo with our contact. She was there at the zocalo since 2:00pm but she was too shy to approach us. She claims that was expecting to see a pick up truck fill with packages, and that she wasn’t expecting VW golf. OH WELL! Bottom line her list will be at the end of the day. We will deliver food to 3 colonias then it will be hers .}

^{Nov 26th 4:15 pm Colonia 16 de septiembre}

^{It is a neighborhood next to the river; people tell me that half of the houses in this colony were destroyed by the storm. Most of the houses are made of cardboard and some of them they are made out of wood and clay. The representative of the town has a list of people, only they will get a package. The rules are that one package per family and they will only get a package if they are in the list. An old man comes out of his house and asks me who am I, I replied that he doesn’t know me, but my family and La Esperanza send him something. He is not on the list therefore he doesn’t get a package. I object to that ruled and I suggest to make a new rule every family will get a package regardless if they are on the list or not. The gentleman happily accepts with the condition that he will take the names of the families.}

^{We go house by house and surprisingly there are 2 or 3 families living in one room. We are in this house were this child is screaming out of his longs crying inconsolable, he comes out of the house and I  offer him a piece of candy, he doesn’t stop crying, I offer 2, he pauses, I say 5 pieces of candy, I offer my arms and he jumps into my arms and hugs me. He stops crying, I asked him why is he crying. He tells me that is Papa hit him, I asked him what did he do, he replies that his dad Hit him. I tell him to behave and that daddy will not hit him again, I put him down and he tells me that he will be a good boy from now on.}

^{There are some rude people too; when we get there they ask what we want. We tell them that we have food for them; they take it and get in their houses immediately. But most of the people are very thankful and thank us many times.  But perhaps the most satisfying thing out of this is the smile on every child when we give them a piece of candy. Up to now I have deliver and talk to every family in the colony.}  

^{There are some houses that are falling down, because of water damage. Somebody makes a comment that it is good that Rich people like me, can do this things for poor people like them. I replied that I am not rich, that is a donation of La Esperanza Restaurant and their customers, that I am just delivering this food, and that I was born on an adobe house just like the ones on this colony. The only response I got was Ah!} 

^{Most of the people are barefoot; children are running with just underwear. We go to the houses next to the river, the river is wider, and the only thing you can see is white stones. Don Raul lives on a house next to the river; he lost his right foot on the storm.}

^{We are done with the first colonia, but things are not going well. A group of about 20 people is following us and demanding help. They do not ask they tell us that it is our responsibility to help them, I see this lady carrying a child that I know I give her one package and she is saying that we did not give her anything. As the truck accelerates so are the curses towards us. I guess the situation make us not reasonable.}

^{The next colonia is the original colonia in the plan, our contact tell us that there is a group of people waiting for us.}

^{Nov 26th 5:15pm colonia tres de Mayo(May 3rd)}

^{This colonia is on the outskirts of Tonala, it is group of farmers that live far from each other. When tropical storm Stan hit, the entire colonia was underwater. We arrived at pink House with a Hammock right up front. The people that were waiting are no longer there, we leave 30 packages and we will deliver them later on. They offer us food, but it is late and we still need to go to next colonia. We decline food, even thought I am very hungry.  Since we have no idea how to get back, Pedro the youngest of the family is going with us so he can show us our way back.}

^{Nov 26th 5:30pm Colonia PDCH (Partido Decmocratico Chiapaneco).}

^{As we enter this colonia there is a group of ladies cleaning the entrance of the colonia. They are burning the garbage right next to the street. The colonia has no running water, no sewer, no electricity & no paved streets. Our first stop is the first house on where I think the leader of the colonia lives. He will take us house by house. We start giving away packages, I noticed that they are not taking names, I do not questioned it. It could be that he is tired.}

^{We get to the center of the town there is a group of about 15 people cleaning the building; it is the future church of the colonia. Only half of the building has a roof, it is under construction, but there are some chairs and an image of the Virgin Mary surrounded by flowers and candles. The lider communitario tells us that there are 5 families and we give out five packages. As soon as we left they went back to work. It is getting dark and but we do not stop. It will be too much to write about every body, but there are many good people that we are helping.}

^{About 6:10pm we gave out the last package. The picture of all the people that help us out give out the packages is taken, and we immortalized this Saturday November 26th 2005.}

^{Nov 26th 8:00pm}

^{We arrived at the pink house that was waiting for us in the afternoon. The entire family is sitting on the corridor (the Front Porch). The father is on the hammock telling stories about when he was young. Everybody is laughing and having a great time. The mother invites us to seat at the table and have a meal. The menu includes fresh made cheese, hand made tortillas, pico de gallo, fried fish, Jaiva en caldo (crab), totopos (toasted tortillas), chicken soup. Food probably for about 20 people. They offer me a drink, they are drinking caguamas of cerveza sol. (Caguamas is a bottle of beer of 40 oz)}

^{Nov 26th 9:30pm}

^{The family ran out of beer, it wasn’t because of me because I only had 2 glasses of beer.  They suggest going to the colonia across the road to get more beer, and on the way we will bring 6 packages to some families they know. Pedro will be our driver, he gets on a Dodge full size van, and he tells us that his older brother who is in California brought this car for his mother and father. However the father doesn’t drive nor the mother, so that is why Pedro lives with them so he can drive them around. The father says that he doesn’t drive because he prefers his horse.}

^{One the families that we stopped by had a little pig, I tough it was cute so I pick it up to show it to Toño. However this did not go well with the owner of the little pig and the guys that were with us. They accuse me of trying to steal the little pig. I am being pick on. But it is ok, it doesn’t bother me.}

^{We arrived at the Tienda, (grocery store) it is a normal House, but the owner sells beer. Pedro tells him that wants 12 cuaguamas. He tells us to wait, when he gets back, se says that he only has 6 bottles. Beer is a commodity. However he has the other 6 but are hot. Pedro says that it is ok, because we can go with Doña rosa and buy ice. We stop with Doña rosa and she doesn’t have any ice.}

^{We get back to the house, which now the entire family is laughing at the pig incident. The family has 4 brothers and four sisters, of which one brother lives in California, one in chihuhua and one in puebla.}

^{Everybody is sharing stories about the storm, the neighbor down the street lost 40 pigs, the entire harvest was lost and many more stories. Somebody suggest going to a town call Durango to deliver some packages to some families, the mother yells “ni lo permita dios”. To go to this town you have to cross the railroad tracks, everybody is afraid of it, because of la mara salvatrucha. Pedro tells us that daily there are at least 500 people taking the train north, and in this intersections close to the towns there are some gang members that will rob or even kill you when you cross the railroad tracks. As soon as the car slows down to cross the tracks, they will jump in to the car and the rest is up to your imagination.}

^{Nov 27th 6:00 am Durango}

^{We slept on a hammock; I was so tired that I did not feel any discomfort. This morning the mother is making some café de Hoya (Pot coffee) and on the table there is a basket of sweet bread.}

^{Pedro will be our guide for the day. Our first stop will be Durango, there is a list of 5 families that really need help. We do not have an address we just have directions. Enter the town count 5 houses, make a left, pass an intersection, make an immediate right look for a blue house and ask for Doña Paula. Amazingly we find the house. She will deliver these packages to the families in this town. These last five count 140 families that La Esperanza, & its customers donated to the Sureste Mexicano, en Chiapas. This concludes the food business and we will go fishing Next.}

^{Nov 27th 9:30am}

^{We arrived to a small village that the main industry is fishing. We arrived at Pedro’s uncle’s house. He was hopping that we could borrow a fishing boat but there are none available. We are next to the river, Pedro talks to some children who bring fish line and fish hooks. They tell us what to do and we can star fishing. I wasn’t able to catch a single fish. However the kids catch about 20 mojarras negras(black Tilapias).}

^{When we get back to the house, the table is served there is fried fish, fresh made tortillas and pico de gallo. Doña Amelia is our cook. She invites us to seat down and eat. There is no silverware, no napkins on the table. Everybody starts eating with their bare hands. The fish tastes delicious, she still making fresh tortillas on an open fire. I reminisce about my childhood when my mother used to cook this way. But the way Doña Amelia cooks the tortillas is different to the way my mother use to cook. She has a big concrete block, that she puts firewood in it. When the firewood is gone she sticks the tortillas to the wall of the oven and waits until they are cook. She says that when they are fully cooked they will fall. I help her make some tortillas. Doña Amelia has 2 daughters and 2 sons. The entire family is very nice to us. When we leave I thank her and give her 300 pesos, she gets upset and she tells me that she wasn’t selling her food. I immediately apologize an tell that then take it as a gift for the children, she still insist that she cook for us because we were with his nephew Pedro, and that friends of Pedro are friends of the Family. Finally after telling her that it is not a payment for the food but rather a gift she agrees on taking the money.}

^{Nov 27th 10:05am Playa Boca del Cielo(The mouth of the sky).}

^{We arrived at the Beach Boca del Cielo. There is a small restaurant with a Rocola at full blast playing Los Tigres de Norte, it is 10 am but there are a few tables drinking beer.}

^{Human physiology it’s following its course, we feel the need to use the toilets. To use the toilets it is 3 pesos, when you pay, you get a small roll of toilet paper. I miss my house and my bathroom. Today I appreciate how good it is back home. It is amazing how the little things are what make a difference.}

^{On the way back we stopped at another house, Pedro’s aunt is cooking Iguana on an open fire. She immediately offer us lunch, we politely declined the offer. I would love to taste the iguana but we just ate. As we were leaving Pedro’s Tio (uncle) is getting back from a fishing trip. We want to buy fish, but he gives it for free to us. Same situation Pedro’s friends are friends of the family, and you have to take care of the family. They agree to sell us 3 kilos of Shrimp for 135 pesos, it is about 13 dollars. On our way back to Tonala we see a pickup truck and buy more shrimp at 50 pesos per kilo. They do not have a scale therefore we will be an estimate; we want 5 kilos, which I think we got like seven.}

^{Nov 27th 11:50am El Mercado}

^{We arrived at the local market of Tonala, we stop by the store were Nery our contact works at. She has been working at this store for 20 years. We thank her for all her help and hospitality and she thanks us back on behalf of the families that we help. At the local market we buy foam coolers some ice too keep cool our fish and shrimp. The local market is fill with Christmas trees, ornaments, and lights. I enjoy fresh coconut water.}

^{Nov 27th 12:45 pm Adios}

^{We take Pedro back to his house we thank the entire family for their warm hospitality. The mother blesses us continuously and tells us to have a safe trip back. We were told to take a safer and faster route back. We will drive from Arriaga to Tuxtla Gutierrez and from there to Quatzacoalcos. Instead of taking 2 line roads we will be driving on a toll highway, they claim it is safer. We will soon find out. I am super tired, and my accomplice is just as tired.}

^{Nov 27th 1:15pm}

^{We pass a town called Solo Dios Save (only God knows) and right after it there is another town called La Sepultura (The Grave). The roads are not any better, they are too narrow and there are too many turns.}

^{Nov 27th 1:20pm}

^{I do not know if those towns that we just past were trying to tell us that only god knows if you will go the grace in about five minutes. We were about one degree from being History, we are driving up the hill, a tractor trailer coming on the opposite direction pass one inch from our car, if Toño did not control his car, you might not be reading this. The fall will had being fatal, I do not think that we would survive if we had an accident. But we did survive and for that I am thank full. I ask Toño if he was afraid, he responds NO. 2 minutes later he admits that he was very afraid, an that his adrenaline was still high.}

^{1:35pm we pass Tierra Y Livertad, five minutes later Santa Elena. I am going to sleep; I will start driving as soon as we get to Tuxtla Gutierrez. The roads are not any better.}

^{Nov 27th 2:45pm Ocozocuatla}

^{My turn to drive on the Mexican Roads, Toño is close to useless his turn to sleep.}

^{Nov 27th 5:15pm}

^{I drove on a Mexican super highway, it is a toll road but is a 2 lane high way. The road was full of path holes and the pavement was very rough. Not only that but the road was lonely, I will drive for about 30 minutes without seeing a single car on both direction. We are getting hungry, we will look for food.}

^{Nov 27th 6:10pm La Isla Veracruz}

^{We are driving towards Cordoba Veracruz. We are running out of gas, and there are no signs that will tell us how close a gas station is. We decided to get out and go to La Isla to get gas. It is about 15 km from the high way. Next to the gas station there are this improvise restaurants, we go to one and the menu is as follows}

^{Chilate de pollo—Chicken soup}

^{Adobo de Costilla de Puerco—Pork on a spice sauce}

^{Albondigas—Meat balls}

^{Any of those dishes come with fresh tortillas and you choice of frijoles de olla o refritos. We pick the Adobo, it is delicious. Or it might be that we have not eating in about 8 hours.}

^{Nov 27th 6:50pm La policia Statal (The state Police)}

^{As we return to the high way, right before the entrance, another check point. We are pick for a random pick. Who are you, where are you going, where do you come from, blah, blah. They open the trunk of the car, the officer questions the coolers, we open it, he sees that is full of shrimp, he puts his hand inside the cooler and searches for something. 10 minutes later he informs us that he is looking for fire arms, drugs or anything illegal. He tells us that everything checks OK, that we can go on our way. As we take off he says “Algo para el refresco Jefe” can you give me a tip? I reach on my pocket and give him all my change in my pocket; I will say about 15 pesos, a little less than $1.50 dollars. The Mexican government claims that there is no more bravery, no more police corruption, how do you define this? I am going to sleep, and when I wake up I will drive the final hours.}

^{Nov 27th 11:02pm}

^{Trough out the trip, we saw many signs that said “El govierno del Cambio Cumple” (The government that just changed delivers its promises) Toño closes this day by saying “La Esperanza Cumplio” La Esperanza accomplished its mission. I am tired, stinky but happy to be back and even happier to be able to help mis paisanos, mi gente, mi Mexico.}

^.

^{If I was asked to do this trip again, I will do it again and if I could, I will do it every year. One of the things that I will never forget about this trip is the smile of the children I saw when they got a piece of candy. La cencillez, la bondad y la amabilidad de la gente (I couldn’t write it the same in English). One lesson that they tough me is that happiness is just like time, it is relative. The instance in time that the family was having at the end the day, tells me that after all the bad things that might happen to you. One thing that is really important is the family that family is the base of our society if we have a good family we might overcome all our troubles in life; that by staying together we become stronger. The last and the most important thing I saw; is that I might be living in a society that has better houses, better cars, but I might not have these moments with mi family as often as they do.}

^{What a better way to spend thanksgiving than doing something that you might never forget.}

^{On behalf of the people of Tonala Chiapas I would like to thank the people that Work at La Esperanza, The customers that visit La Esperanza, and specially Thank Toño alias El Negro, who took the time out of his busy scheduled to make this Trip Possible. Mil Gracias and I hope to make another trip in the near future. Since he no habla ingles.}

^Toño:

^{Quiero darte las gracias por tu ayuda, se que lo hiciste con mucho gusto, fue un placer poder compartir esta experiencia contigo. En la vida hay pocas personas que considero mis verdaderos amigos, tu eres uno de ellos. Oh, y gracias por no matarme, aunque estuvo cerca.}

^{Mil Gracias ala gente del Sureste mexicano.}

^Regards,

^{La Esperanza, The Mexican hope.}

^{Y su amigo Alejandro Cordova}

^{If you have any comments or questions about the trip email us at Chiapas@MexicanHope.com}