Living at Lake Chapala in Mexico

Here is another link to photos from the website Jocotepec.com. Many of these photos are in the club house area of the Raquet Club.

http://jocotepec.com/news.asp?article=1735

What's Next?
We're reported that kids are back to school in San Juan, the students have returned to the orphanage, the shelters are emptying with homeless staying with friends--so what's next?

Folks I know who have been to San Juan and visiting families they know there are concerned about the amount of help that is needed in the village before folks can get back to the business of real life.

There are many homes that need repairs--some extensive, some moderate and the next step has to be getting folks back into their homes and self-sufficient.

Many more homes are still without a table or stove or cupboard. There has been an outpouring of clothing, but there is much more needed.

One very reliable woman (she is a reporter for another publication) told me that when she visited her god-daughter and family, she discovered that her goddaughter and husband were too busy working on the house the first two days to go for the food being served. At first they sent the kids--then they've gone too. They still have no stove or way to cook in the house. Of course they also don't have a table or chairs--or dishes or pots for that matter.

She said that as of Sunday this is the case in many homes in the village. This reporter said she heard from the people that there was less assistance for the folks in the west half of town than there had been in the eastern portion.

This is going to be more difficult and more expensive than donating blankets and our old clothes and some groceries. It's going to be hard to determine who needs what help most and how best to distribute the building materials, labor, appliances, furniture--the list goes on and on.

We know that there were 261 affected homes in the village, plus those in the Raquet.. Not all of these lost everything, but I suspect that many lost a lot. The other side of this coin will be the other folks in town. I suspect that there are many homes in San Juan that have never had a refrigerator. How do you place one into a damaged home knowing that three neighbors have never had one?

I'm happy that my job here is thinking about and reporting the problems, not trying to solve them fairly.

Please think about these issues and how we're going to be able to help.

Meanwhile--there are still folks who can't cook at home and workers who need to be fed. Please continue to donate foods to be cooked or large quantities of cooked foods at Lupita's (Viva Mexico) restaurant a block west of the church.

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Judy King is publisher of  Mexico Insights' Living at Lake Chapala, a monthly online magazine for people interested in Mexico's Lake Chapala region, in the state of Jalisco.

Judy, a 16-year resident of Ajijic on Lake Chapala's north shore, conducts weekly newcomer's seminars, shares her expertise about Mexico in her monthly online magazine, and in the "Mexico Lindo" column for the Lake Chapala Review.

Judy also is a speaker for local organizations and visiting tour groups about the Lakeside area and Mexican customs and holidays.