Friday, December 5, 2008

They get by with a little help from some friends.

Hi Pentaxian friends,

This article is a little outside my usual Pentax oriented posts, but since we are in the Holiday Season, and it is the season for giving, this post seemed appropriate. There are many Canadians and Northern Americans (snowbirds) that spend the winter Months down South. This is a small example how good things happens when good people work together.

My brother and his wife, from Montreal, spend their winter Months in Southern Texas, more precisely in Weslaco, Texas. Their winter housing consists of a fabricated home in one of the numerous Parks located in the area. Weslaco probably doubles in size each winter when the snowbirds arrive. They come from all the Canadian Provinces and the Northern States. Most, if not all, are retired couples. Weslaco is right across the Mexican borders.

That area of Mexico is not a rich area by any means. Poverty is all around. People live in shacks made of whatever scrap they can get their hands on. The Mexican Government let them use the land. If I understand right, the people living there are called colonias and the land owned by the Government is called EJIdos.

Several of them got together and formed a group called "Dream Builders". They collect clothing, appliances, food, etc, from local American Businesses, from the Park where they spend winter, and from other parks in the area. But in the end, it's mostly their own money that pays for the free help they give to our Mexican brothers and sisters.

Oh! I forgot to mention the most important part of their mission. Each winter, they build about ten houses for the families that cannot afford even the simplest shelter. The houses they build are not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination. They are simple and contain one room only. There is no piped water and no electricity delivered to houses in that region.

I congratulate these men and woman who devote time and money to help the less-fortunates. If you would like to help in donations, you can contact me through this site and I can put you in touch with the group. yvon@pentaxdslrs.com

Since this is a photographic site after all, we know that a picture is worth a thousand words. So here are a few thousand words more:

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

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