Guadalajara’s Mi Gran Esperanza celebrates 30 years of helping kids with cancer

Cancer is frightening capable erstwhile it afflicts adults. To spot it onslaught children is genuinely heartbreaking. But what astir children whose families person nary security and nary resources? 

In 1995, Bertha Padilla de Pérez came upon specified children successful Guadalajara’s Fray Antonio Alcalde Hospital — excessively galore of them.

Children and volunteers astatine the 30th day celebrations. (Mi Gran Esperanza)

Bertha had been invited to circuit the infirmary by her cousin, pediatrician Horacio Padilla.

“How tin I help?” she asked him.

In abbreviated order, she and 14 friends acceptable up an Asociación Civil, a nonprofit enactment collecting food, clothes, and medicines for the needy families.

They called themselves Mi Gran Esperanza, My Big Hope, and, small by little, they reached the constituent wherever they could bargain a location wherever household members of the children — who came from each implicit Jalisco and neighboring states — could stay, escaped of charge.

6,500 kids later

“This is however we started out, with zero pesos,”  I was told by Mayte Medrano, the present-day Director of Mi Gran Esperanza, “and during the past 30 years we’ve been capable to assistance implicit 6,500 patients. Today, galore of those patients person grown up, wholly recuperated, with families of their own.”

Erick Cervantes and Mayte Medrano with immoderate of the children that Mi Gran Esperanza has helped implicit the years.(Erick Cervantes)

At the moment, Mi Gran Esperanza is helping immoderate 500 families.

“We supply them with a nutrient basket, medicine, treatments similar immunotherapy, x-rays, oregon mammograms, but we besides springiness them workshops, which is precise important erstwhile the occupation is cancer. They request steadfast nutrient and bully hygiene and we marque definite they get the message.

“My occupation arsenic Director is to support funds coming successful truthful each this tin spell on, to interaction government, foundations, embassies, corporations, to docket events, and to bid an interdisciplinary team.”

Transparency

Medrano told maine she is moving connected ways to marque Mi Gran Esperanza much international, truthful donations they person from overseas volition beryllium tax-deductible successful the donor’s country.

“I’m reasoning astir radical successful the U.S.,” she told me. “They are precise generous with causes similar ours. Here successful Mexico, determination is much skepticism. So 1 of the pillars of our enactment is transparency. We privation radical to beryllium definite that each peso they springiness to Mi Gran Esperanza goes straight to the patients’ treatments. This has go portion of our reputation. People cognize that we bash things well.”

One of the ways Mi Gran Esperanza raises wealth is by holding a bazaar erstwhile oregon doubly a month.

I asked 1 of the volunteers astatine the bazaar, expat John Baird, what it’s like.

Knick-knacks and a coffin

“After my woman died,” Baird told me, “I was looking for thing to do, truthful I started going to their installation successful downtown Guadalajara and offering to help. They person 3 oregon 4 trucks that spell retired each time and marque the rounds, and they prime up recycled paper, vessel caps, knick-knacks, furnishings and clothes, which they bring to the recycling halfway wherever it gets sorted by volunteers similar me. By the way, you ne'er cognize what is going to beryllium successful a container oregon a container erstwhile you unfastened it. For example, we recovered a miniature, handmade coffin 3 weeks ago. There were 43 hearts painted connected it, truthful I knew it referred to the 43 students successful Guerrero who disappeared successful 2014. This coffin was astir apt carried successful a march.

“Once a month, they besides person donations of nutrient items, which they springiness to radical who person a household subordinate being treated successful the Civil Hospital. I assistance manus retired the nutrient erstwhile I can. 

“I usually spell determination doubly a month. It’s sweaty, bully enactment for a bully cause. It’s fun!”

You tin find conscionable astir thing astatine Mi Gran Esperanza’s bazaar. (John Baird)

Since Mi Gran Esperanza has been astir for 30 years, I asked Mayte Medrano if she could enactment maine successful interaction with 1 of the children they helped years ago, present grown to adulthood.

From crab diligent to manager

“That’s easy,” she said. “We person a unit subordinate close present who came to Mi Gran Esperanza 25 years agone with crab and contiguous helium is our Communications Manager. Meet Erick Cervantes!”

“I’m from Guadalajara,” Cervantes explained. “When I was 7 years old, they discovered I had a signifier of Hodgkin’s Disease. So I went to the aged Civil Hospital, and past they accepted maine successful the caller building. That’s erstwhile I got assistance from Mi Gran Esperanza for medicines that I needed and for treatments that the infirmary couldn’t provide.

“For 10 months, I received chemotherapy astatine the infirmary and 20 oregon 25 sessions of radiation therapy. After that, they pronounced maine escaped of cancer, but for the adjacent 10 years, I was monitored and had to marque regular visits to the infirmary for studies and checkups.

“So I was capable to spell survey Business Administration… and contiguous I’m a manager astatine Mi Gran Esperanza,

“I’m blessed to beryllium giving thing backmost to Mi Gran Esperanza for what it gave to maine and to my mother.”

John Pint has lived adjacent Guadalajara, Jalisco, for much than 30 years and is the writer of “A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area” and co-author of “Outdoors successful Western Mexico.” More of his penning tin beryllium found on his website.