| Amigos del Bajio Fund, Message from Karen May |
Tamaula, Irapuato | In August of 2007, I had the good fortune of being able to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming involved in community development work in Mexico. This dream was realized primarily through meeting Adriana Cortes Jimenez, the Founder and Executive Director of the Bajio Community Foundation in the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. The Bajio Community Foundation, founded in 1998, is a community development non-profit organization with a transnational approach, seeking cooperation between communities in Mexico and in the United States that are heavily impacted by migration. The Foundation partners with rural communities in Guanajuato that have a high rate of emigration in an effort to empower residents to strengthen their communities. Guanajuato has one of the highest rates of emigration in all of Mexico. We work to holistically and comprehensively increase the quality of life in terms of education, health care, infrastructure, and the economy so that people are not forced to leave their communities of origin in search of economic opportunity.
In March of 2008, I had the honor of being invited to join the Board of Directors of the Bajio Community Foundation. I am currently living in Guanajuato for an extended period and working more closely on community-based projects. Projects we are working on include building an internet-based high school in a rural community so that teens have the opportunity to take classes and build hope for their future, bringing potable water to rural communities, building a local community technology center, partnering with local univerisities to offer business incubation for micro-enterprises, and building a bridge so that women can safely walk their children to school without having to traverse fast moving water and jagged rocks.
Our approach to migration is that the solutions must be humanistic rather than punitive. We recognize the strengths of local communities, the beauty and richness of the Mexican culture, and the value of family. These families and values are being torn apart by the economic deprivation that causes migration to be the only alternative for many who leave to work in the United States. We believe that building viable communities in Mexico represents a better investment than building walls.
Please help me in this work by making a donation to the Bajio Community Foundation through the Amigos del Bajio Fund. Funds for community development work in Mexico are extremely scarce and the Bajio Community Foundation needs your help to support the very basic needs of the organization. Your donation via the Amigos del Bajio Fund will allow you a tax deduction under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Service code. Thank you for your generosity, for recognizing the value of our approach, and for upholding the dignity of the communities we serve. |
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| Current Donations: $7,025.00 |
| Current Goal: $25,000.00 |
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| 22% |
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