Bringing a little hope to Jojutla
Recovering from a natural disaster tests survivors, even the able-bodied and prosperous. For those with a disability and limited resources, disaster survival is near-impossible. Such is the plight of a young woman whose son has cerebral palsy.
Perla and her 12-year-old twins, Itzel and Axel were left homeless by the earthquake that struck Mexico last September. Survivors of domestic violence, Perla and the kids are on their own.
They’ve spent the past six months residing in a tent, sleeping on cots and using a portable toilet and communal shower. Having lost all their belongings, they’re getting by on donated supplies and clothing, housewares and a table and chairs distributed by individual and church volunteers. Perla cooks on a small wood-burning stove that doubles as a heater. The crude accommodations are challenging for everyone but especially for Axel who uses a wheelchair.
A binational group has stepped in to help. Moved by their suffering, a dozen volunteers, six each in Kansas City and Mexico City are working to build Perla’s family a new house. It’s the group’s inaugural project in their long-term campaign called “Restoring Jojutla: One House at a Time.”
“I selected Perla (for the first house) due to her rough living situation and many issues aside from the home,” says Aracely Van Kirk of Kansas City, who launched the campaign in September.
She’s coordinating fundraising here locally. In November, she took the first $1,000 to Mexico. There, Van Kirk met with volunteers, including the Mexico City-based architect who helped found the group and provided pro bono architectural services. He designed the wheelchair accessible house for Perla. Van Kirk also met Perla’s family in Jojutla.
The rural market town in Morelos State was one of the hardest-hit in the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck on Sept. 19. Very near the quake’s epicenter, Jojutla sustained extensive damage.
“Sixty percent of Jojutla was destroyed; 2,700 houses are gone,” Van Kirk says.
Amid the rubble are the schools Itzel and Axel attended. Itzel is back in class in a makeshift school, but students like Axel with mobility impairments are out of luck. Scant resources are meeting more urgent needs.
A limited income is compounding the family’s woes. Perla has returned to work, but she isn’t guaranteed compensation; she works on commission in an industry that relies on tourism, which has fallen off dramatically.
Construction will begin on her house as soon as Van Kirk’s group raises $5,000. They’re nearly halfway there, but time’s running short.
“I hope we can get all the money by the end of March so we can start construction … and avoid the rainy season,” Van Kirk says. “Once they start construction, building the house is going to take just six-to-eight weeks.”
The cost for the new fully wheelchair-accessible house is $9,114. Upon the 64-square-meter home’s completion, Van Kirk’s group plans to help Perla furnish it.
They’re organizing fundraisers to benefit Restore Jojutla. One of the volunteers in Mexico is setting up a Facebook page in Spanish; another is collecting furniture donations. The Kansas City area volunteers want to hold a dinner dance this month. The tentative date and place is March 24 at the Guadalupe Center. Plans for a T-shirt fundraiser are also in the works.
“We’re in the process of finalizing the T-shirt designs and print,” Van Kirk says.
She contacts Perla weekly. On Three Kings’ Day, when most children in rural communities in Mexico ask for toys, Axel asked for a new home. Van Kirk told Perla to assure him the Three Kings heard him, and they’re working on it.
“What happened in their lives was bad, but what’s happening now is even worse,” Van Kirk says. “We’re trying to bring a little hope.”
