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On the steep slope of Mazatlán´s Cerro del Vigia, overlooking the tranquil
bay of Olas Altas, sits what was once a Carmalite convent. The nuns living
there maintained a medical dispensary for impoverished Mazatlecos. In 1975,
Hurricane Olivia hit Mazatlán with such force it almost totally destroyed
the convent. In the interests of safety, the nuns were relocated and the
building was abandoned. Several months later, 29 year old Father Pedro Tovar
Cortes was wondering where and how he could house the growing number of
street boys who were quickly filling his parish home. A contemplative walk
took him up the Cerro del Vigia. When he saw the convent ruins, he knew
this was where he would establish his boys´ home, a project which would
become his life´s work. While the church willingly allowed him use of the
derelict buildings and land, the caveat was they would offer no financial
assistance. Father Tovar was on his own. With a little help from friends
and acquaintances, Father Tovar slowly began the long, and still incomplete,
task of making the Hogar habitable for boys who never knew a home. Initially,
the male school-aged children of convicts sentenced to the Islas Marias
penal colony formed the basis of the Hogar. While inmates at the Islas Marias
(a penal island in the Pacific Ocean 90 miles south of Mazatlán) were and
still are allowed to have their families live with them, initially there
were no schools. Father Tovar opened the Hogar to them as a place to live
while attending school on the mainland. When primary schools were finally
built at Islas Marias, the Hogar reverted to a home for street boys. Today,
Hogar San Pablo houses 36 boys ranging in age from 9-18 years old. The home
consists of two dormitories with 24 beds each, bathrooms and showers, a
dining room, kitchen, reading/computer room, basketball court, laundry,
chapel, and office and living quarters for Father Tovar. A recent addition
was living quarters for the four nuns who oversee the daily running of the
Hogar. Sister Amalia is Father Tovar´s right hand and chief administrator.
“We have street children from everywhere,” she explained, “from Sinaloa,
Guadalajara, Mexico City, Sonora and even Guatemala. Some come from the
jail in Juarez. Some |
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the police bring
to us. Here we offer a safe family. The older boys watch out for the younger
ones and help them adjust.” Sister Amalia points out that all the children
have special needs, the most immediate of which is getting an education.
“In Mexico, you cannot attend school unless you can produce a birth certificate.
Many of the children don’t have one. The second problem is that having lived
on the streets so long, some cannot read or write even at age 13 or 14.”
With very limited resources, the nuns try to provide educational beginnings,
from basic reading and writing to shop mechanics. If they lack the expertise,
they search for a knowledgeable volunteer to help. For the boys who do attend
school, the Hogar manages to give them a school allowance — 5 pesos a day
for primary students and 20 pesos for high school students, from which they
must pay for their bus fares and supplies. Several of the boys have gone
on to university and come home to the Hogar for visits. Father Tovar is
now 76. His health, he says, is up and down. As the prime mover of the Hogar,
he still spends hours daily trying to keep the home financially afloat.
Friends pay the utilities and water bills, several Mazatlán organizations
and individuals give sporadic assistance by way of clothing and bedding
donations. The Tres Islas fund recently agreed to donate 1000 pesos a week
for food, the American Legion donates 1500 pesos quarterly and Friends of
Mexico donates school uniforms and supplies. Occasionally, a fisherman will
drop off some dorado, or a volunteer will come forward to fix one of their
six broken computers. Father Tovar estimates he needs 1000 pesos a day just
to maintain the boys. Upkeep and upgrade on the Hogar comes a distant second.
The welfare of the boys continues to be Father Tovar´s priority in life.
And ever the pragmatist, he has arranged for another priest to replace him
when the time comes. That way, Hogar San Pablo will always be a safe, welcoming
haven for the street kids of Mazatlán. (Hogar San Pablo is located at Paseo
del Centenario No. 9. Tel: 982-3720, 981-6121. For further information in
English about the Hogar, contact Lenda McKay, Tel: 985-2925, email: lendamck@netscape.net.
Donations (no cash or checks, please) can be dropped off at the Pacific
Pearl office.) |
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