NOTICING YOUR NEIGHBOR

NOTICING YOUR NEIGHBOR A Reflection on Project Mexico and Saint Innocent Orphanage Fr Luke A Veronis   I was at Project Mexico this past week with 18 students from HCHC for their Spring Break. What a meaningful way for college students to spend their spring break – in loving service building a home for a family in need. We built a home for Naomi and her two teenage children. Her previous home, which was built by another non-profit organization ten years ago, burned down from an illegal electrical fire. So, she has been living in a make-shift wooden shack that had numerous tarps as her roof and a patch-work of wood panels as her walls. No door. No windows. No security. And surely lots of water pouring through the roof during the rainy season. And what a rainy season it is. I’ve always been to Mexico in the summer but this time I got to experience mud everywhere. Slippery and dangerous roads. The rain impacts anything you try to do. It was hard to imagine living under these conditions. Well, our students came here for their Spring Break – not to Fort Lauderdale or some other beach resort – they came to an impoverished area of Mexico with the hopes of building a home for someone in need. Naomi is a beautiful mother who lit up as she saw her simple home come together in only a few days. She worked side-by-side with us stuccoing her new home and we could sense how happy she was to have a place where her family can now live where the roof won’t leak and the door and windows will keep her secure. The home building director, Boone Jenkins, shared his impression on the last night of our build: “When I interviewed Naomi about the possibility of building her a home, she seemed defeated. Life had gotten her down. She was struggling to find hope and almost didn’t want to believe we would build her a home. As the week went on, her demeanor drastically changed. Each day she came and helped to build her home. As she saw her home progress a spark of hope took form in  her eyes. She saw that she had a future.” One of our students, Jimmy, also noted this: “On the first day when Naomi came home from work, I saw how emotional she got to see her new house with the walls up. It touched my heart. I have to admit that I was caught up in the physical build, focusing on the house itself. But when I saw Naomi, I realized what we were doing was so much more. We were touching a human life; we were helping a child of God, and offering our love to her. I’m sure she will face many challenges and struggles in the future, but now she knows she’s not alone. And we know also realize we are not alone. We are connected with her and her with us. We will always be praying for her." One of the things that struck me most from the week, however, wasn’t only that we were building a home for Naomi. I was inspired to learn that despite how poor and desperate Naomi seemed, she still noticed the needs of those around her. In her poverty, she wanted to help others who were struggling like herself. On the small piece of land that she owned, she allowed another family to live next to her in a tiny put-together shack. It seemed like nothing compared to the tiny house we were building. Yet it offered shelter to a family of four. When I inquired about who they were, I learned that they were friends who had nothing. Naomi allowed them to come onto her property and build their own shack. This family had no land. They were in need also. And Naomi noticed them and reached out to help them. She wasn’t consumed with her own problems. She noticed others. I think often times about those who struggle and understand suffering and how they have the eyes to see the suffering of others. They are ready to help in whatever small way they can. They notice. And they respond. As I’m reflecting on my trip this past week to Mexico, I’m also thinking of the Gospel story of the Last Judgment, when Jesus says, “Whatever you did to the least of my brothers or sisters, you did to me.” It’s not just our Hellenic College and Holy Cross students trying to help the marginalized. Naomi also was noticing and helping those in need. Christ’s command to notice the suffering all around us and to offer food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, a shelter for the homeless, and a simple visit for those sick or in prison is something we all can do. Well, Project Mexico and Saint Innocent Orphanage has been responding to this call and reaching out to those who are most marginalized in society for the past 30 years. They build homes for those who don’t have homes and they offer a place to call home for young boys and teens, and now for newborn infants and toddlers, who have been given a challenging hand of cards to face life. As orphans, with no parents, or with parents who face their own struggles of addiction and mental health issues, these boys have often suffered all kinds of physical and sexual abuse. They have no one. Or they had no one. This is where the staff of Saint Innocent Orphanage comes in. They love these boys. They offer them not only a home but a family. They try to support them, educate them, give them hope for a better future. It's not easy. There are many challenges. Past trauma doesn’t go away. Yet the staff at Saint Innocent Orphanage try to offer the best of their love. There is a wonderful Mexican staff caring for these kids, treating them as their own family. One of the newest members of the Mexican staff is one of the former orphan boys. Alejandro grew up on the ranch. When given the love, opportunity and support, he thrived and succeeded in graduating from high school, coming to the States and graduating from Hellenic College, and now returning back to the ranch to give back. He is not only a role model for all the boys to look up to as what can happen to them, but he is giving back by working with them and helping the next generation of kids find their way through life. Along with the Mexican staff, there is a group of young adults from the US who give up the comforts of our society to care for these kids and help around on the ranch. It’s not easy to live down there. I got a taste of what life is like during the rainy season, which can last from November to April. Mud everywhere. Our daughter, Theodora, has been there for the past ten months, beginning her new work four days after she graduated from college. And she’s not alone. There were 10 other young adult interns! It’s so inspiring to see these faithful young adults offer themselves in order to help the least of their brothers and sisters. They do it for little to no pay. They do if for their love of God and for their love of neighbor, seeing God in the least of their brothers and sisters. Fr. Demetri and Pres. Sophia Swanson, with their four children, live there offering spiritual guidance and support to the children there. It’s not easy for them. Yet they do it for the glory of God and for their love of their neighbor. Recently, Noel Robadaik left the ranch after serving there for 10 years working with the boys. And of course, Fr. Nicholas and Pres. Merilynn Andruchow have lived there for 10+ years raising their three boys in this atmosphere. What beautiful examples of living out the Gospel story of the Last Judgment, from Naomi to the staff and interns, all living out what Jesus said: “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me.” May we find inspiration from their examples and strive to live this out daily in our lives.