Update from the Oaxaca Education Fund!
From August 5 to 12th, six of us went to the villages in the Sierra Mixteca to see our friends and do the annual school supply distribution. Present were Mike Akong and Patti Palm, our acupuncturists who saw over 165 patients, Marti Martin and Cecy Ayala from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in San Diego, Linda Arreola from the Diocese of San Diego and Catholic Relief Services, and una servidora, Christauria Welland. We loaded up donated hundreds of primary school workbooks from Montenegro Editores and purchased supplies from our donations for 1600 children K-12, with the help of friends from San Jorge Nuchita. We spent the next week meeting with the families and autoridades of 4 villages. We also had the excitement of providing small scholarships to 13 young people who had just graduated from high school and had registered at university, 11 from San Jorge Nuchita and 2 from San Juan Pinas. We are very proud of them and of their desire and initiative. We will be helping them twice a year with fees and transportation costs. For the two students that received the highest grades in San Jorge, we are providing more. Students are studying engineering, nursing, teaching, and anthropology.
Oaxaca has been struck by 2 severe earthquakes this month, Sept. 7 and Sept. 19. The villages are far enough away from both epicenters that they suffered minimal damage, and no loss of life. Nevertheless, it was a terrifying experience, and the closest city, Huajuapan de Leon, where we buy our supplies, saw several buildings collapse.
We also lost a dear friend, an 18 year old student, Jaime Tello, who died from an accident in San Juan Pinas on Sept. 15. He wanted to go to university next year. He was a generous and joyful young man, and will be sorely missed.

As our ministy grows, we need your donations more than ever!