Little Mother of Mexico
She looked at the rubble pile, this piece of real estate,
already in disrepair then devastated by an earthquake, and
she knew somehow they would raise the money needed for the
purchase, some $130,000. This was to be the new location for
an organization that helped street children in one of the
poorest states in Mexico. Jodie Bauman had not come this far
to doubt what could be done with faith.
It seemed a million years ago when Jodi Bauman first heard
of Oaxaca (sounds like Wa HA ka). Back in the early 1980’s
she and her husband, Harold had a nice home and a
comfortable life. Both had jobs and the couple was happy.
Then in 1985 Jodi read a three year old article in an old
National Geographic magazine. It talked about an indigenous
people, the Triquis, of the San Juan Copala region in the
state of Oaxaca. In 1986 Jodi traveled to Mexico and in
Oaxaca saw first hand the problems and extremely poor life
that the people were experiencing.
She and Harold were to discover a people who were so in
need, that the word poverty seemed less than adequate.
Families had been separated both by deaths and the warring
conditions in their area. Hundreds of children and women
fled to the city of Oaxaca (population over 350,000). Many
of the males remained behind to protect their campesinos. If
the family leaves the land, the government can take it back.
Those who left traveled with what they could carry. Some
were able to find refuge with relatives; the majority
squatted where they could, seeking shelter.
Some families pay $30 per month for a tiny tin building
close to the size of some garden sheds. Most have dirt
floors. They do not have sewer or water. Some only have
three walls.
Jodi and Harold returned to the States aghast at what they
had seen; little children in the streets of the huge city,
unable to get an education, begging in the streets, selling
Chicklets and beads to buy food and water. They were to see
toddlers suffering from malnutrition and a high death rate
due to bad water, insufficient medical help and a lack of
food. Jodi discovered that over fifty percent of the
children die before they reach their sixth birthday.
“You can not go home and sleep on soft pillows and eat your
hot meals and not want to help,” says Jodi.
She returned home and prayed that God would send someone to
help the street children and their families. Her answer was
startling, “God said to me, I did send someone, Jodie. I
sent you"
Knowing that the real estate market was in a bit of a slump
Jodie said , "We'll put our house up for sale and go, if
that is what you want God, but you'll have to help."
The house barely got on the market and was sold. Their
belongings followed suit. Everything they needed to sell,
was sold in record time. Jodie knew they were truly destined
for Oaxaca, Mexico.
The couple moved to Oaxaca, bought a home and began the work
to help the Triquis people and others who were equally poor.
For ten years the Baumans supported the children
independently, using money from the sale of their
belongings.
“Each time we ran out of money, or faced an insurmountable
problem, miraculously we were aided, sometimes in most
surprising ways,” says Jodi.
Jodi Bauman is like the “little mother of Mexico”,
protective of the poor, and never fearful to wade into
dangerous circumstances if it means helping “her people”
In 1996 friends of the Bauman’s, advised the Baumans to form
a non profit organization and get others to help in the
quest of helping the street children. By then numbers had
reached over two hundred children to feed daily. Patsy a
friend had arrived from the States and joined Jodi in the
search for property. When they came across the building that
looked more like a pile of rubble than a building, Patsy
peered in through the gate and said, “we can do it!”
This would be a place where the street children could come
for a hot meal. It would be a place where visitors could get
information on how to assist in both a financial sense and
with their volunteer hours, to teach the children to speak
the Spanish they would need to survive in the school system.
(At that point the majority of all the families spoke,
Nahuatl, the language of the Triquis)
“We found this place, a wreck, more a rubble pile than a
building,” said Jodi of the building we sat in for part of
our interview. They bargained and argued for a decent price
and then set about finding a way to raise one hundred and
thirty thousand American dollars.
Jodi sent up a prayer, “ God, I did not put me here, so if
you want me to get the building, then it’s up to you.
Jodie's faith was not in vain.
The first help arrived in the form of a phone call. A friend
told Jodi ,”My mother died and has left me money, but
because I believe in the law of tithing, I must give you
$11,000 for your street children.”
Next, Jodi was also given some “worthless stock” by a friend
but she thought, “we’ll hold onto this, because with God,
all things are possible.” Two days later the stock
skyrocketed and brought in $9000. Good things continued to
happen.
Soon the money was raised for the new building on a street
called Crespo. Volunteer labor restored the place and Oaxaca
Street Children Grassroots became a reality.
Today, the center feeds over 400 children, and offers
training on computers, through volunteer teachers, often
international students who have arrived in the city to learn
Spanish. People from many different countries sent money to
develop different rooms in the center. Money is donated in
memory of a loved one, or simply because, in Jodi’s words,
"going home and sleeping on soft pillows after seeing the
children is impossible.”
Asked what he would like most in the world, one boy of ten
said, “to have a shower once a week.” Now all the children
may come and shower at the center. Here also they can learn
to sew and are given instruction in hygiene.
“We have come a long way,” says Jodi, “but still there is so
much left to do.” She often takes on chores that no
volunteer will accept. Following this woman around even for
seven hours of the day is a lesson in patience, and
understanding.
“I have to wash for lice every three months,” says Jodi, but
then she is one of the volunteers who visits the hillside
tin homes where babies crawl on dirt floors. Her love for
the children is apparent. “If you see the children, you
can’t help loving them and holding them.”
“There is always an emergency. There is always something to
do and with God’s help even more people will come to help”,
says Jodi with her ever ready smile. This little “Mother of
Mexico” continues her work, with an energy born out of her
love for the people and the knowledge that she never works
alone.
By Ellie Braun-Haley
shaley@telusplanet.net
Footnote: In the United States the Oaxaca Street Children
Grassroots is non profit organization 501-C and
contributions may be sent to them in care of Frank Vannini,
treasurer, 449 Crane Avenue South, Taunton, MA 02780 Their
web site is
www.oaxacastreetchildren.org and e-mail is
streetchildren@spersaoaxaca.com.mx In the city of Oaxaca
they are known as Centro de Esperanza Infantil A.C and they
are located at #308 Crespo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ellie has done research in Mexico over the
past few years. She is the author of three books and co
author of a fourth with her husband Shawn. Ellie has written
short stories for numerous publications to include, Chicken
Soup for the Soul, Heartwarmers of Spirit, 2theHeart and
Emerging Courageous. She says, “helping others is a
privilege and often an unexpected learning experience.”