Bannisters deliver backpacks & supplies

The trip to Ojinaga was a big one. The St. James Episcopal Church and other churches in the SE Deanery of the Diocese of the Rio Grande donated almost 2/3rds of a pickup bed of sheets, towels, blankets, comforters. Then on top of all of that we had the school supply donations from Felissa and friends from Austin. The pickup was completely filled.

They have renovated the education building, again. They took down the wall separating the library area from the front room and made a teaching room with several tables. It is both larger and brighter as it has the front windows that let in light. The walls separating it from the other rooms do not go all the way to the ceiling which provides better air flow from the ceiling fans that were mounted along the middle of the ceiling. The old education room has been turned into a library with all the books that have been donated. Many of them looked rather used so we should spread the word that children’s books in Spanish would be a good donation. The kitchen area has been turned into a storeroom with all the educational supplies and the treats that they get to choose from on birthdays or other special occasions. Moving them out of the dorm building opened up that area for an office for the psychologist. At the front of the building, is a small entry area with a table and chairs for meetings. Then beside that was a locked office that holds the permanent files.

Silvia told us about a former student named Isai Espinoza who lived there in the late 1990’s. He is now a successful business man in Ojinaga with an internet café and building cell towers outside the cities to extend cell and wireless capability to the countryside. Silvia’s son who works as an accountant for the Mennonites is working with him to bring services to the Mennonite community. Stories like that are vindication of all the effort that has gone into the place over the years. Teda would be proud.