Oaxaca Education Fund – Frequently Asked Questions
1) How will my donation make a difference?
The OEF is presently mostly supported by donations from the generous parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church (OLMC) in Rancho Penasquitos, San Diego, CA and of St. Mary’s Parish in Escondido, CA , as well as by friends, colleagues, and family who have heard about the fund. We are always on the lookout for more parish, private, or corporate donors. We are sometimes able to take up collections through the Diocese of San Diego’s Missionary Cooperation. If you would like your parish or school to be involved, please contact us!
Your donation will go directly to the fund which provides school supplies to all the schoolchildren (K-12) in five villages in the Sierra Mixteca, Oaxaca, Mexico, at present 1400 children. We also send a small monthly food stipend to 49 orphaned or disabled children in San Jorge Nuchita, San Juan Piñas, and Zochiquilazala who have lost one or both parents to illness or accidents, or who need extra help for their disabilities. We are proud to announce that this year (2024) we are co-sponsoring 20 students to attend university in Huajuapan de Leon and Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, and in Puebla and Mexico City. Twenty of our former scholarship recipients have already graduated, and are working in nursing, teaching, law, engineering, psychology and nutrition. In 2020, the Anna Seethaler Clinic in Oaxaca, TASH, Inc, took on 5 of our students for full scholarships, significantly increasing their chances of completing their degrees. Three of these students have recently completed their degrees and TASH has generously taken on three new students to take their places.
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2) Who are the people behind the Oaxaca Education Fund?
OLMC has had an active ministry with migrant workers since 1985. Most of the agricultural land within our parish’s community was converted into housing developments beginning in 2010 and the majority of the migrants, who had been an important part of our parish community, had to move away to find work.
The Migrant Outreach ministry of OLMC continues to serve the few men who still work in the area, but decided to expand their vision to provide help for their families in Mexico on consultation with the local people, because their economic situation continues to be very challenging.
Michael Akong and Christauria Welland-Akong coordinate the Oaxaca Education Fund, with the help of other volunteers for the mission from the parish, including co-founder Martha Martin and Cecilia Ayala. Other volunteers from San Diego have accompanied us on the annual mission trip. Michael Akong, LAc, and his coworker Patricia Palm from Mexico City, have provided free acupuncture to hundreds of patients while we are in the villages. Dr. Welland provides psychological talks to the community on healthy family relationships and avoiding violence and alcohol abuse, when time permits. We also provide reading glasses to the older women of the communities who wish to continue their intricate embroidery but have been stopped by the onset of presbyopia.
3) How and why were these communities chosen?
Historically, most migrants congregate in communities in the United States where their relatives and friends have paved the way for them. The great majority of the hundreds of migrant workers whom we have come to know over the decades come from three villages: San Jorge Nuchita, San Juan Piñas, and Santos Reyes Zochiquilazala. Since 2014 we have also been able to help two more villages near San Juan Piñas – San Marcos Zochiquilazala and San Jorge Rio Frijol.
These remote indigenous villages are found high up in the Sierra Mixteca, Oaxaca, one of the poorest states in Mexico, where the only work is agricultural. Since most do not own enough land to support their families, they must migrate to provide for them.
We continue to work with migrant workers from these villages here in San Diego, and so are in constant contact with their families, their needs, their aspirations, and their achievements.
4) Can I go down to Oaxaca with you for this mission?
The villages are very remote and we rent a van every year for the trip from Oaxaca City. The van can only accommodate a maximum of 7 people. There are no hotels in the villages, and space in local homes is limited. Each person who comes on the trip must pay for their own airline ticket to and from Oaxaca, the shared cost of the car rental, and their lodging and meals. At present, it is unrealistic to add more people to the annual trip. We do appreciate your prayers and donations!
5) How else can I help?
Getting the word out by sharing this website with your community and family would be an important contribution to increasing awareness of the educational needs of the children and young people of Oaxaca.
The more people who donate to the fund, the more we can accomplish, and the more sustainable the fund will be far ahead into the future. We are also always on the lookout for volunteers with expertise in grant-writing, who could help us to expand this effort over time. If you are interested in helping in any way, please contact us!
Thanks for your interest in the Oaxaca Education Fund!
