Give school & love to abandoned girls in Mexico

As Mercedes tells us now “I was born in a very poor home, we suffered hunger and violence. My mother is schizophrenic and was sometimes violent; my father had no money for her medical treatment.  I was taken apart legally from my home and taken to foster home care at 3 as they told me my life was in danger.  This orphanage / foster home took good care of me but nobody adopted me so I was taken to Puerta Abierta´s foster home at age 8.“

56.7 % of Children who have suffered violence will repeat the violence cycle if not properly treated. In Puerta Abierta we work with a loving family model that takes care of emotional, physical, academic spiritual and social needs of our girls.  This model encourages them to become independent, responsible and self-sufficient so they can build a nonviolent family.  

But Mercedes was not able to handle the violence and abandonment she had suffered and kept telling us “ It is unfair, my mother never hurt me, they (DIF: Legal Government area that protects children) are telling lies “. Neither her father nor mother fought to get her back, at that time they just were not present.

Puerta Abierta always believed in her, we got her to learning therapies, tutoring and emotional support, we kept supporting all her needs, at some points we thought she wouldn’t finish elementary school as she did no progress.  She was always frustrated and had disruptive conducts and bad temper. Lucy, the “mother-caregiver“ kept supporting her against all odds, specially in her emotional needs, we all kept loving her and showing her how much we cared.

At age 15 she kept dreaming of a family she wanted, not the one she had, at this point Puerta Abierta´s team and all the specialists around Mercedes decided we had to confront her with reality. Assessed by  a therapist Mercedes had one contact with her father in a very contained environment. After that meeting WHAT SEEMED IMPOSIBLE BECAME A REALITY, Mercedes got a straight A in math in her 2^nd grade of secondary school. Since then Mercedes shows a personal motor that keeps her pursuing her dream.  As she says “ I want to become a university graduate so I take care of medical treatment for my parents“  Mercedes has one more year to go before heading to University. 

With all the support from generous donors and Puerta Abierta, Mercedes can now tell a successful story, we are very proud of Mercedes and grateful for your suport, as without you it wouldn’t be possible! 

Links:

• web page

Telling a story about life is not easy at all, describing you what we do every day could be easy and impossible at the same time, because we work with souls and feelings. Because our aim is to give hope and love. How to describe in words these concepts?

Our little girls arrived when they were just four years old and today they are normal kids with all the problems that you can imagine. How are the girls living in Puerta Abierta? They are just like our children , we want you to imagine them like your daughter or son. Only, with one difference: they have a big sorrow, they have been abandoned. Working with them means one has to be doctor of the heart. Working with them means one has to mother, educator and friend. Do you already know theirs names? I want to introduce you our precious girls: Moni the youngest, Angeles Maria and Lupita our twins, Ana Gaby, Mercedes, Juanita ,Karla and Margarita the oldest one.

Moni is sweet and really needs a lot of love , she needs to be hugged , she needs you to look at her… and Angeles …she speaks through her eyes.. she speaks a lot but her eyes are the real image of her heart… Karla pretends to be the coolest of all, can you imagine that!! Imagine them coming back from school every day laughing and screaming like every child, imagine them hungry after school running to ask : “what we are going to eat today” and then… try to smell our soup or pasta which Gris, one of our workers, is cooking for them. It’s a normal home’s scene isn’t it? But there is more behind their voice.. there is more behind their hunger. Because every day one of them starts to be sad without no reason , becomes angry without an apparent explication. Here is where our work starts: to think along their side, to love them, to hug them… to tell them that everything will be settle out for the best..

Today is Partner Rewards Bonus Day, we need your help to keep being doctors of the heart, all you donate today will be matched by 50% by GG while funds last !! Just click the link below and become part of this great project !

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/family-and-school-for-9-abandoned-girls-in-mexico/

Thank you with all our hearts.. we would like to finish this short letter with some words of one of our girls’ favorite songs …

“time stands still , beauty in all she is, I will be brave, I will not let anything , take away What’s standing in front of me , Every breath, Every hour has come to this.. One step closer..”

With all the best,

PUERTA ABIERTA I.A.P.

Links:

• web page

In Puerta Abierta we aim to give Hope and Love because our girls are just like our children, we want you to imagine them like your daughter or son. Only, with one difference: they have a big sorrow, they have been abandoned.

Working with them means one has to be doctor of the heart.

Working with them means one has to mother, educator and friend.

Do you already know theirs names? You already know our girls as you have been supporting them but maybe you dont remeber their names, Moni the youngest, Angeles Maria and Lupita our twins, Ana Gaby, Mercedes, Juanita, Karla and Margarita the oldest one.

Puerta Abierta will be part of Microsoft Bonus Day April14th and we need you as a friend, as a mother and as an educator, your support this day will get them a Mother, a Friend and an Educator. Be part of the future of our girls.

Please go to our project TOMORROW April 14th not today as the matching funds will be released on the 14th of april at 9am EDT Mexico 8am. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO DO IT EARLY MORNING 14th APRIL! If yu want to help you can paste this link to your browser and that will get you to our project

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/family-and-school-for-9-abandoned-girls-in-mexico/

Thanks to people like You our little girls can dream: BE PROUD OF YOURSELF, IT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFT you can do to someone. You are giving a future to these children, this means that YOU are changing the world: because children ARE OUR FUTURE.

From the bottom of our hearts thank you!

Puerta Abierta

Links:

• web page

The “Mother” of our Girls at Puerta Abierta

To talk or discuss the “Mother figure” of our Girls at Puerta Abierta is certainly challenging.

Pregnancy is said to be a time to be prepared to become a mother. But how to develop this attachment and caring when a “new Mother” comes to the house and is told to care for them, look after their education and more importanltly….to love them? It is certainly very challenging when there are no real previous attachments developed

Learning to love the girls has not been difficult. Not because of their precarious situation of being left alone, but because each one of them presented personal and emotional challenges that helped her develop these essential ties between them. With each day that passes, new opportunities develop these strong ties that eventually will help these girls transform themselves and help shape a better and more livable society.

What is what this “new Mother” is offering these girls that came hurt by their previous life?

First, the certainty and confidence of being accepted even though there is no biological or family ties. Second, the acknowledgement of being respected, even in spite of emotional bursts brought about by their previous life experiences. Third, her everyday presence and loving care, helping them to develop a better woman-mother figure and a better auto-perception as girls and eventually as mothers themselves, hopefully in a position of offering the same love, solidarity, and respect in their own families sometime in the future.

The family is the basis of society. The mother is the axis of the family. This “new mother “, is the axis of Puerta Abierta.

Links:

• Puerta Abierta IAP web page

Several studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of expressing emotions through art in children that have experienced abandonment.

The girls at PA were very lucky to be selected by a Mexican Foundation to participate in an Art Expression Workshop. A year has passed since the girls first began to receive weekly art classes at home.

We can proudly say that they have discovered in art an extra vehicle to express their feelings as well as to discover their abilities and talents in this area.

At the end of this school cycle, the Foundation made an art exhibition in which the projects of the participating children were presented. The exhibition took place in an important place in the city, and there were prizes for the most outstanding paintings.

Two of our girls received first and second places for their work. They were surprised as well as pleased to realize that their paintings were selected among many others.

This experience awakened their curiosity to get acquainted with artists from Querétaro as well as to better understand the underlying meaning of these paintings.

As a result of this experience, new horizons have opened for them, awakening within them the light of creativity. As these abilities grow, we are sure they will develop a new-found sense of self-confidence, allowing them to transcend their fears of taking risks in their life.

We all hope one day we will have great artists in PA.

Links:

• web site