I had the pleasure of spending a portion of my Spring Break last week at Casa Bugambilia, located in Matamoros, Mexico. I spent time there capturing the great work Casa B does for the people of Mexico. They provide needed health care, they house residents with serious illnesses and conditions, they educate the children in the Colonias, reunite and assist families with rehabilitated residents of Casa B, build homes for the poor, maintain relationships with those in need, as well as doctors, specialists, and hospitals all over to provide assistance for those that desperately need it, but could never afford it. As I filter through the hundreds of photos taken, and all the lives of the people there I was invited into relationship with, I feel really overwhelmed at how rich the friendships are, and will be for me with the people there.
One area called Santa Maria is one of the more desolate areas, I’ve seen. If you can close your eyes and imagine thin scraps of wood, hammered together to provide shelter, pieces of wood and tin providing a roof, that’s indicative of the area we visited to go see Margarita and her sons, two of which have severe autism. As we were driving off, I saw the light and how it fell on the hot sauce on a table across the street and the string of popcorn bags lined up just there in the midst of houses where we traveled. You saw such creativity, effort, and life in the people I met there. I was curious if selling these popcorn bags was someone’s livelihood, what they were like, how many children they had, and how much I’d like to meet that person, tell them there’s a world out there that cares about them, and through it, discover what they might teach me.